Known locally amongst families, in obituaries and on death certificates by various names, this hard to find cemetery is south of the Border Barrier, a block from the Jackson Methodist Chapel and Cemetery (aka: Jackson Ranch Cemetery). Turn north into the parking area from the street or use the little dirt road between the cemetery and a field to use the side entrance.

History:
Selling both his Georgia and Alabama plantations and migrating in a wagon train from Alabama with their grown children and extended mixed race families in 1857, Nathaniel Jackson, a white pious Quaker turned Methodist, and his black slave wife and lifelong companion Matilda Hicks founded the Jackson Ranch after purchasing part of a Spanish land grant and settling in the Valley along the Rio Grande. They were later conductors of the Underground Slave Pathways into Mexico and freedom for countless slaves.

Their son Eli (1829-1911) and wife Elizabeth Kerr settled on the same property. Eli was a rancher, served as Hidalgo County Commissioner (1890-1892) and was well respected in the growing community.

In 1866, Matilda's daughter and Nathaniel Jackson's stepdaughter, Minerva Singleterry, married William T.G. Brewster and ranched just east of her uncle, Eli Jackson. She later sold her land to Eli. The custom of the day was what are now called Ranchito Cemeteries- each ranch would have their own cemetery. It is highly probable the two ranchito cemeteries merged into the cemetery we know today.

The earliest graves, unmarked, are believed to be that of Nathaniel Jackson, who died 12 May 1865, and of Matilda, between 1877 and 1800, exact date unknown. The oldest existing marker is George Brewster (June 18, 1899), the son of Minerva Singleterry and William Brewster and the grandson of Emily Smith-Jackson.

The name Eli Jackson Cemetery was made official when his great granddaughter, Diana Cardenas, submitted the Texas Historical Marker application and a report to the Hidalgo County Historical Society in 2004.

Awards and merits:
Received a Texas Historical Commission Marker in 2004.
Recognized nationally as a "UNITED METHODIST HISTORIC SITE" in 2021 for the important impact Nathaniel, Matilda and their children had on the faith, Methodism, Underground Railroad, and culture of the region.

The cemetery has no legal owner (Eli Jackson died intestate) and remains open for burials. There is a Preservation Association and relatives are banding together to help maintain the cemetery.