this is a little about my ggg grandfather:
JACKSON RANCH CHURCH CEMETERY
HISTORY: Jackson Ranch was founded in 1857 by Nathaniel Jackson (1800-1865) who arrived from Alabama in five covered wagons bringing his wife Matilda, his seven grown children, their families and 11 freedmen.
He purchased Porcion 71 (5535 acres), which had a river frontage of .7 mile and extended north 13 miles. Jackson paid 36 cents an acre. He raised livestock, and grew corn, sugarcane, yams and pinto beans close to the river.
After high waters washed away the little Methodist Church in nearby Hidalgo, in 1884 his son Martin deeded an acre of land for a church, believed to be the first Protestant church in Hidalgo County. Methodists met there for 15 years.
The church building also served as a ranch school. A cemetery was established in the churchyard when Nathaniel’s oldest son Columbus Jackson (c1806-1896) died. (Nathaniel himself was buried in the adjacent Eli Jackson Cemetery.)
After the 1909 flood filled the church half-full of water, the congregation removed to McAllen, Pharr and Edinburg. Members who remained at Jackson Ranch were served by a circuit minister, and later by missions from established churches in Pharr.
