Jackson Family Cemetery

Duane's take

The official marker for the Jackson Family Cemetery in Hardin County tells it this way, and I'm going to do it justice. Now, 1835 is a long time ago in Texas years, but the story starts simply enough — a man named Stephen Jackson, born in 1803, had come to settle in the Lorenzo de Zavala colony. And the colony granted him one league of land right here in this area.

One league. That's four thousand, four hundred and twenty-eight acres, in case you're wondering how much room a man needed to feel at home in early Texas. Jackson built his home near this very site.

He cleared the land, ran cattle and horses across most of those acres. Sounds like a solid frontier life, and it was. But here's where the land starts to reveal a little something extra.

That grant didn't just come with pasture. It came with palmetto thickets, mineral springs hidden back in the brush, and lakes — whole lakes — of sulphurous water. Now, sulphurous water is not exactly what most folks would call a selling point.

Smells like the underside of a bad decision. But settlers? They came from all around seeking cures in those waters.

And when people start gathering, a community tends to follow. One grew right near Jackson's home. In 1851, Jackson sold the land.

But a man who knows what he's got doesn't stray too far. By 1856, Stephen Jackson had acquired a controlling interest in the spa that had developed on that very property — sitting about five miles northwest of here. He knew where the value was all along.

His daughter Minerva, born in 1838, and her husband James A. Merchant, born in 1836, were still operating the spa's hotel as late as 1878. That's the kind of enterprise that runs in a family.

But Stephen Jackson died in 1860, and they buried him near his home — the home he'd built from cleared land and four thousand acres of Texas ground. His widow, Susan Choate Jackson, born in 1807, kept that homestead going. And in 1871, she did something that speaks to a particular kind of love and foresight.

She set aside four acres of her homestead as a cemetery — making sure her husband's grave was included in that ground. She was subsequently buried there herself, along with five of their children. Susan Choate Jackson died in 1873.

James A. Merchant in 1886. Minerva in 1911.

The years kept turning, and the cemetery kept receiving. Other members of the Sour Lake community found their rest there too, along with numerous descendants of Stephen Jackson. The surnames carried forward in that ground — Frazier, Guedry, Herring, Merchant, Mowbray, Moye, and Pietzcker — tell you that one settler and one league of land in 1835 branched out into something a whole lot bigger than any one man's pasture.

Four thousand four hundred and twenty-eight acres. Four acres set aside. Sometimes what endures isn't the land you worked — it's the ground you gave back.

What the marker says

Stephen Jackson (1803-1860), a settler in the Lorenzo de Zavala colony, was granted one league (4,428 acres) of land in this area in 1835. Jackson built his home near this site and cleared pastures for cattle and horses on most of the land. The grant also included palmetto thickets shielding numerous mineral springs and lakes of sulphurous water. Settlers frequented the lakes seeking cures, and a small community grew near Jackson's home. In 1851 he sold this land but in 1856 acquired a controlling interest in the spa that had developed nearby (then located about 5 mi. NW). As late as 1878, Jackson's daughter Minerva (1838-1911) and her husband James A. Merchant (1836-1886) were operating the spa's hotel. Jackson died in 1860 and was buried near his home. In 1871 his widow Susan Choate Jackson (1807-1873) designated four acres of her homestead as a cemetery, including her husband's grave. She was subsequently buried here, along with five of their children. Other members of the Sour Lake community have been buried here, as well as numerous descendants of Stephen Jackson. Surnames of Jackson family descendants represented here include Frazier, Guedry, Herring, Merchant, Mowbray, Moye and Pietzcker. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836-1986