Eli Jackson Cemetery
Pharr, Hidalgo County, Texas
Marker Inscription
In 1857, Nathaniel Jackson came from Alabama and established a ranch in this area. A former slave owner, Jackson, who was white, came with his wife Matilda Hicks, who was black, their children and his freed slaves. On his 5,500-acre ranch, Jackson raised livestock and grew vegetables, cotton and sugarcane. He also established a chapel that served family and friends. He was known for his generosity and hospitality, and many, including runaway slaves, came to the ranch in need of lodging and other resources. Upon Jackson’s death in 1865, his heirs divided the property. The share to his son Eli included this site, the family cemetery. Eli and his wife, Elizabeth Kerr, and their children continued the family tradition of hospitality. Eli served a county official, as did his son Nathaniel “Polo” Jackson. Polo’s daughter Adela operated the ranch and cared for the cemetery until her death in 1992. Today, the Eli Jackson Cemetery represents the early area ranching communities. The burial ground is a tie to the Jackson family, and to their friends and neighbors from the past who share this as a final resting place. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2005
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In 1857 Nathaniel Jackson, a white former slaveholder from Alabama, settled a vast ranch in the Rio Grande valley alongside his Black wife Matilda Hicks, their children, and the people he had freed. On thousands of acres the interracial Jackson family raised crops and livestock and offered lodging to travelers in need — including runaway slaves who sought freedom near the Mexican border. The Eli Jackson Cemetery, passed to a son and tended by descendants into the 1990s, remains the family's enduring imprint on the land.
Why it matters
The Jackson ranch stands as a rare antebellum haven of interracial family and refuge, tied to the southern routes of the road to freedom for the enslaved.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · Nathaniel Jackson
- · Matilda Hicks
- · Eli Jackson
- · Elizabeth Kerr
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Bethel Baptist Church
McAllen, TX
In 1936, finding no church for African Americans in McAllen, Eugene and Georgia Hubbard founded Little Bethel Baptist Church on a corner of Fresno Street. Though the humble building had neither electricity nor indoor plumbing, it quickly became the heart of Black community life in the area. In 1941 the congregation moved to this site, built a new church with their own hands, and shortened the name to Bethel Baptist.
Restlawn Cemetery
Edinburg, TX
Founded in 1928, Restlawn is believed to be the only cemetery in Hidalgo County set aside for African American burials, established for a growing Black community of workers and entrepreneurs who had previously been allowed graves only in private ranch cemeteries. County sheriff A.Y. Baker designated a half-acre in a corner of Hillcrest Cemetery for a segregated "Black Cemetery," renamed Restlawn in 1993. Among those buried here is World War II veteran Jacob White, namesake of a local American Legion post.
Rabbi Sidney A. Wolf
Corpus Christi, TX
A trained pianist ordained in 1932, Rabbi Sidney A. Wolf came to Corpus Christi's Temple Beth El for a three-month trial that became a forty-year career. In the Jim Crow years he championed integration and interfaith worship—regularly inviting African American pastors and choirs to his pulpit and trading Thanksgiving sermons with an Episcopal rector—and in 1945 he helped found the Corpus Christi Symphony Orchestra.
The Pharr Riot
Pharr, TX
On February 6, 1971, a protest against police discrimination and brutality outside the Pharr Police Department swelled into a confrontation that turned deadly when an officer's gunfire killed bystander Alfonso Loredo Flores. In the weeks that followed, groups like Union y Fuerza picketed city hall and boycotted local businesses, drawing national attention to the Rio Grande Valley. The pressure forced the resignation of the mayor, commissioners, and police chief, and in 1972 Pharr elected its first Mexican American mayor.