Located near the little town of Acton and only .006 of an acre, the tiny fenced-in area where Elizabeth Crockett, wife of Davy, is buried constitutes the smallest state park in Texas.
Though Davy Crockett was a Tennessee son first, a former congressman, he joined up with the Texians to fight for their independence from Mexico. In recognition of her brave husband who perished at the Alamo, the Republic of Texas granted Mrs. Crockett some land. It took 17 years for Texas to make good on the promised repayment for the loss of her husband. Mrs. Crockett received a check for $24.00 and a grant of 1,280 acres of land.
At that time, Elizabeth was living in Tennesee, but upon the issuance of her grant, moved to Texas to stake her claim in 1853. A surveyor took half her acreage as payment and Elizabeth accompanied by a son and a daughter and their respective spouses, built a cabin on Rucker's Creek - just a few miles outside of the present town of Granbury. Elizabeth died in 1860 at the age 72 just after a walk near her home, still wearing her black "widow's weeds" that she continued to wear since hearing of Davy's death.
Then, in 1911, the state of Texas declared her gravesite a state park, and erected this marble monument:
Buried alongside Elizabeth is daughter, Rebecca, whose second husband, James Halford, died during the Civil War.
The Acton State Historical Site is located approximately 4.5 miles east of Granbury on US 377, then 2.4 miles south on FM 167 to Acton, then left (east) on Hwy 4. The cemetery is about a mile down the road, on the right.
2 comments:
Thank you for this, right up our alley and will put it on the list for future travels. Love your photographs, very similar to what I take as we toodle around.
Rosie, and thank YOU for the nice comment!
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