The Texas Spirit Quest
is a series of Caches placed by many individuals, near cemeteries and historic sites in hopes of paying respect to the many pioneer ancestors that have ‘walked’ before us.
There are hundreds of cemeteries in the rural communities across Texas. This series will introduce you to many of them. The cache pages will provide a virtual history tour of the cemeteries, tombstones and local lore.
This humble "cemetary" (as the hand-made sign has it) is a very low-key affair with a simple rustic wooden fence and ramshackle gate, and several headstones that are not much more elaborate than slabs with dates carved into them. However, it is nevertheless of considerable interest. It should not be confused with the John Crayton Cemetery in nearby Martindale, but it is inextricably linked to that site. John Crayton was a widowed white slave owner who acknowledged the child he had with Riley Kimble, a Native American slave from Oklahoma. Their son was James Crayton, who was born in 1854. He became a cowboy and went on to marry Jane Bell Spruill in 1872--whose mother had also been an Indian slave. It is their descendants who are buried here. Their daughter was Tennessee Mulkey, which is why this location also goes by the name of the Mulkey-Crayton Cemetery. The John Crayton Cemetery, where some of the Spruills are also buried, probably is the resting place for the "other" branch of the family.
There may be over 20 interments here, although I am not completely confident about the validity of my primary source, nor am I sure that there are that many headstones at the site. The most recent burial was as recent as 1992, and the site appears to receive some periodic maintenance. To find the cache here, you will have to enter the grounds, but the gate is not locked. And as always--any refinements to the listed coordinates are welcomed.