Graves Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm passing it along to you straight. Robert Russell Graves was born in 1814, and by 1838 he had packed up everything he had and headed from Alabama to Texas. He brought his wife Esther, she was born a Hinkle in 1815, he brought their children, and he brought his father-in-law, Joseph Hinkle, who came into this world all the way back in 1771.

That's a family on the move, generations and all, rolling toward something new. They made it to Texas, but they weren't done moving yet. In 1857, the Graves family came to Ellis County and settled on 510 acres they purchased from a man named Thomas C.

Marchbanks. Five hundred and ten acres of Texas ground, and they put down roots. Now, the oldest marked grave on this site belongs to Joseph Hinkle, the patriarch who made that long journey from Alabama.

He was interred here in 1859. Think about that. He crossed states and decades alongside his daughter and her family, and this piece of Ellis County earth became his final resting place.

Esther herself, born 1815, passed in 1865. Robert, who had started all those miles of traveling back in 1814, lived until 1897. Their son, C.

R. Graves, was born in 1857, the very year the family settled in Ellis County. He and his wife Emma Callie Graves, also born in 1857, made sure this ground would hold its purpose.

In 1895, the two of them deeded 1.06 acres, including the spot where old Joseph Hinkle lay, and set it aside as a family burial ground. Emma Callie passed in 1927. C.

R. followed in 1938. And the cemetery kept on. Many early pioneer families of the area near the Rockett community found their way here, and Graves Cemetery continues to stand as a chronicle of the pioneer days of Ellis County.

A family came out of Alabama with nothing but each other and 510 acres worth of ambition, and what they left behind is still here, still speaking.

What the marker says

Robert Russell Graves (1814-1897) came from Alabama to Texas in 1838 with his wife Esther (Hinkle) Graves (1815-1865), their children, and her father Joseph Hinkle (1771-1859). They came to Ellis County in 1857 and settled on 510 acres purchased from Thomas C. Marchbanks. The first marked grave on this site is that of Joseph Hinkle, who was interred here in 1859. Robert and Esther's son C. R. Graves (1857-1938) and his wife Emma Callie Graves (1857-1927) deeded 1.06 acres including Joseph's grave for a family burial ground in 1895. Many early pioneer families of the area near the Rockett community are represented here. Graves Cemetery continues as a chronicle of the pioneer days of Ellis County. (2000)