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 Ellison Family Graveyard Posted by:  rilekyle
N 32° 14.117 W 098° 37.777
14S E 534895 N 3566575
One of two historical markers located alongside Ranch Road 8, this marker details the history of one of the first settlers of southeast Eastland County and the graveyard he established here.
Waymark Code: WM1ETX
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 04/22/2007
Views: 28
Marker Number: 1462
Marker Text:
The first settler in this part of Eastland County, James Madison Ellison (1840-1923) built a cabin near Ellison Springs in 1858. He married Eliza Jane McGough and was a stock farmer in this area for half a century. As a young man, he was permanently disabled while serving in a militia company defending frontier homes against hostile Indian attack.
Ellison established this cemetery after the death of his mother Nancy Baird Ellison (1818-1876), a native of Georgia and midwife for her pioneer neighbors. Although intended for family burials, the plot has always been available to friends and others in need. An unknown child, from a family who camped on Ellison's land as they moved west, died of pneumonia and was buried here. Ellison's son John, his younger son J.T., killed in a fight over a horse, and his daughter Lanie are among the 12 family members interred here. The cemetery contains 26 graves in all. In 1901 the land was legally deeded for use as a graveyard.
In 1918 petroleum was discovered in the county, and Ellison leased his land for oil exploration. He moved to the Rio Grande Valley with a granddaughter and her family, and bought a citrus farm. He died there in 1923 and now lies buried in the family cemetery. (1977)
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