DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm passing it along to you straight. Out among the rolling hills near Manor, Texas, there's a small patch of ground that holds just five graves. Five.
That's the whole of the Boyce Family Cemetery — and every one of those stones carries a story worth slowing down for. The patriarch was Aaron Boyce, born in 1800. His wife was Elizabeth Judah Ely Boyce, born in 1804.
They had a son, James, born in 1826, and a daughter, Elizabeth Ely Boyce, born in 1834, who would later become Elizabeth Knight. And there's one more — a tiny grave for an infant boy, R. Reason Pumphrey, who died in 1850.
Five souls, tucked into a plot of land that Aaron Boyce himself staked out. Now here's where the story gets heavy. The first known burial in that cemetery was fifteen-year-old James Boyce — killed and scalped by local Lipan Apache Indians.
That was the ground's first grief. Back in 1837, Aaron had moved his family to Texas and settled on a 1,280-acre plot, the very land where that cemetery now sits. They came in the days of the Republic of Texas, and by every account, the Boyces were instrumental in helping settle the town of Manor.
Aaron himself died in 1846. His wife Elizabeth lived on until 1884. Their daughter Elizabeth died in 1870.
All of them, gathered back to that same piece of ground Aaron chose when he brought his family west. Five graves on 1,280 acres of Texas hill country — and the land remembers every one of them.
What the marker says
Set among rolling hills in Manor, the Boyce Family Cemetery only has five graves, consisting of the family patriarch, Aaron Boyce (1800-1846), his wife, Elizabeth Judah (Ely) Boyce (1804-1884), their son, James Boyce (1826-1841), their daughter, Elizabeth Ely (Boyce) Knight (1834-1870), and her infant son, R. Reason Pumphrey (d. 1850). The first known burial at the cemetery was fifteen-year-old James Boyce, who was killed and scalped by local Lipan Apache Indians. In 1837, Aaron Boyce moved his family to Texas and settled on a 1,280-acre plot of land, which now holds the small family cemetery. The Boyces were instrumental in settling the town of Manor in the days of the Republic of Texas. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2017