Elliott Cemetery
Van Alstyne, Grayson County, Texas
Marker Inscription
David Elliott (d. 1909), for whom this cemetery is named, was a pioneer settler in the southern part of Grayson County. Born in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, in 1817, he joined the crew of a boat on the Mississippi River at an early age. He later served as a riverboat captain before his ordination as a Baptist minister. In 1847, two years after Texas became a state, the Rev. Mr. Elliott migrated to this area. Settling on land at this site, he noted evidence of earlier pioneers, including several graves with crude markers of a sandstone not common to the area. The stones contained no inscriptions or identifying marks. When David Elliott's daughter, Virginia F., died in 1855, he interred her near the pioneer graves. Later, as other settlers moved into the area, the Elliott Family Cemetery was opened for use as a public burial ground. From 1905 until 1950, it was maintained by Pilgrim's Rest Baptist Church, of which the Rev. Mr. Elliott was an organizer. Others buried here include longtime residents, early teachers, and military veterans. Still used, the site serves as an important historical reminder of the individuals and families who opened this area for settlement. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836 - 1986
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
David Elliott, born in Tennessee in 1817, went to sea young on the Mississippi and rose to riverboat captain before his ordination as a Baptist minister. In 1847 he settled in southern Grayson County, where he found unmarked pioneer graves in sandstone foreign to the area; when his daughter Virginia died in 1855 he buried her nearby, and the plot grew into a public cemetery. Maintained for decades by Pilgrim's Rest Baptist Church, which Elliott helped organize, it holds early teachers, longtime residents, and military veterans.
Why it matters
The cemetery is a quiet record of the families who first opened this stretch of Grayson County, layered atop the graves of even earlier, unknown pioneers.
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Related people
- · David Elliott
- · Virginia F. Elliott
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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This Grayson County burial ground began in 1866 on J. W. Whitaker's farm with the interment of Joseph McLean, serving the Clayton schoolhouse community. Its settlers — farmers and ranchers who had come from Mississippi and other southern states — formally bought the cemetery in 1880 and kept burying their dead there. In 1967 their descendants founded an association that still tends the graves and holds a memorial service each May.
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