Elizabeth Crockett - Acton Cemetery - Acton, TX
N 32° 26.400 W 097° 41.054
14S E 623688 N 3589969
Elizabeth Crockett, wife of one of the heroes of the Alamo, is buried near the center of Acton Cemetery, and an interpretive sign provides some good reading about her and the "King of the Wild Frontier".
Waymark Code: WMYRJB
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 07/17/2018
Views: 3
Mrs. Crockett is buried in a plot with her son, Robert Patton Crockett, and his wife, Matilda Porter Crockett. A daughter, Rebecca E. Crockett Halford, is buried outside the plot, with an impressive granite slab marking her grave. The fenced-in plot is considered to be the Acton State Historic Site, and in addition to a beautiful statue and slab that mark Mrs. Crockett's grave, the sign provides some background, showing insets of a copy of the
land grant bestowed on the family by a grateful Texas, associated paperwork, Mrs. Crockett's quilt, a list of the Alamo dead, and two photos and two postage stamps of Davy Crockett:
Elizabeth Crockett
From Tennessee to Texas
In 1815, Elizabeth Patton married Davy Crockett, becoming Crockett's second wife. In the mid-1850s, many years after Crockett's 1836 death in the battle of the Alamo, Elizabeth moved her family from Tennessee to the Acton area to claim a land grant for the heirs of Alamo defenders. She and two of her sons settled on the 320 acres granted to them by the Republic of Texas. After her death on January 31, 1860 at the age of 72, Elizabeth was laid to rest in the Acton Cemetery, dressed in the widow's black she had worn since hearing of her husband's death. In 1911, the state placed a monument at her burial site, commemorating the widow of one of the nation's most celebrated folk heroes.
A Texas Land Grant
The Hood County Robertson Bounty, granting 1280 acres of land to David Crockett, his widow and heir in 1855.
Elizabeth's Quilt
When the Alamo granted permission to document and photograph this fragile quilt top, Helen Ogden Widener created Scraps of Life. Her book takes a historical look at Elizabeth's life and the joys, sorrows and hardships of frontier life. It includes family genealogy and is also a step-by-step guide to creating her quilt.
Remember the Alamo
List recording the names of those who fell in the Alamo at San Antoni[o] de Bexar on March 6, 1836.
Living with a Myth
Davy did not discourage the myths and legends that grew up around him -- the taller the tales, the better. This eccentric image of "Davy" Americans came to love for his backwoods persona -- the one that rode a lightning bolt and could wring the tail off Halley's Comet. The young Republic was eager for stories of common-folk heroes and Crockett filled the bill.