Jackson Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker at Jackson Cemetery tells it — and it's quite a story for one patch of Ellis County ground. Now, you have to picture this: the year is 1852, and a man named Henry L. Jackson is heading west.

Born in North Carolina, trained as a medical doctor, he and his wife Nancy Ann — she was a Holland before she married him — they're bound for Oregon. That's the dream. But before they can get there, they've got family business.

Nancy Ann's people are down in Burnet County, Texas, so the Jacksons swing south to pay a visit. They stop at Fort Gates, out in Coryell County. And Coryell County in those days was no gentle stroll.

The marker's plain about it: that area was prone to Indian raids. So when there's an effort to recover stolen property, Dr. Henry L.

Jackson joins in. He's on expedition. He's doing something about it.

And that's when the news finds him. In 1853, out on that expedition, Jackson learns that Nancy Ann has died. His wife.

The woman he was taking to Oregon, the woman he'd detoured through Texas to see her family — gone. Think about that moment. A man on the move, far from home, getting word like that on the trail.

But life moves, even when grief doesn't want it to. Later that same year — 1853 — Henry Jackson moves to Ellis County. And there, he weds Mary Presley, who was sixteen years old.

He had nine children from his marriage to Nancy Ann, and nine children from his marriage to Mary. Eighteen children across two lives. The man was not a man who stood still.

In June of 1856, Jackson received title to this property and established his homestead right here. A place to put down roots after all those years in motion. The cemetery began the way so many do — with grief.

A child named Mary E., daughter of Henry and Mary, died on January 23, 1864. She is the first marked grave. And the last marked grave belongs to Henry himself, who died December 19, 1880, at age seventy.

He is interred here — though neither of his wives is buried on this ground. Eighteen children, two marriages, a continent's worth of wandering, and he ended up here, in Ellis County, the place he chose. Large stones mark several burials with no names attached.

The unnamed ones are part of this story too. The Jackson Cemetery and the land around it have stayed in the family for five generations. Five generations holding onto the same ground that Henry Jackson received title to back in 1856.

It now serves — as the marker says — as a link to the area's early settlers. Some people spend their whole lives looking for a place to land. Henry L.

Jackson found his, even if it took leaving North Carolina, aiming for Oregon, and losing just about everything in between.

What the marker says

While moving to Oregon in 1852, North Carolina native and medical doctor Henry L. Jackson and his wife, Nancy Ann (Holland), were in route to visit her family in Burnet County, Texas. They made a stop at Fort Gates, in Coryell County, Texas, an area prone to Indian raids, and Jackson joined efforts to recover stolen property. During an expedition in 1853, Jackson learned of Nancy Ann's death. Later that year, he moved to Ellis County, where he wed sixteen-year-old Mary Presley. Jackson had nine children from each marriage. In June 1856, Jackson received title to this property and established his homestead. The family began a cemetery here when Mary E., daughter of Henry and Mary, died January 23, 1864; hers is the first marked grave. Neither of Jackson's wives is buried here, where he is interred. He died December 19, 1880 at age 70, and his is the last marked grave. Large stones indicate several unmarked burials. The Jackson Cemetery and surrounding property have remained in the family for five generations. It now serves as a link to the area's early settlers. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2003