McGrady Cemetery lies on private land along County Road 401 off FM 3206, about four miles from Saint Jo in east-central Montague County. It was not founded by a church, a county commission, or a town’s need for municipal burial infrastructure. It was founded by a death. In the 1860s, a man employed on the McGrady family farm was killed by Indians. He was buried on the property. That burial became a cemetery.
The founding circumstance makes McGrady Cemetery unusual within Montague County’s documented burial landscape. Most frontier-era cemeteries here record a similar era of danger — Confederate veterans, Indian raid casualties, and early settlers who died before the frontier was fully secured — but few have a founding story as specifically documented as this one. The Texas Historical Commission recognized the significance of that story when it erected a historical marker at the site in 1991.
Allen R. McGrady and the Clear Creek Settlement
Allen R. McGrady and his wife Elizabeth Cox McGrady arrived in Montague County in 1859, two years after the county’s formal organization. They settled 160 acres of land along Clear Creek in what is now the Saint Jo area — east-central Montague County, a drainage zone that attracted early settlers for its water access and agricultural potential.
The McGradys were among the county’s earliest documented settlers. Their arrival in 1859 placed them in the window of post-formation homesteading that followed county organization in 1857; the 1859 timing suggests they may have received land through a Texas public land claim or purchased from an earlier speculator, though the precise acquisition mechanism has not been confirmed in available sources. Texas General Land Office records would hold that documentation.
The McGrady farm enterprise is consistent with the agricultural and pastoral settlement pattern of the era: a family-based operation on creek-bottom land, likely running cattle and farming crops. The employee who was killed — whose name and specific role are not documented in available primary sources — was part of that operation.
Both Allen R. McGrady and Elizabeth Cox McGrady died in September 1899. The month and year of their deaths were confirmed through Phase 2B Tier 0 verification in May 2026, based on aggregated marker text from accessgenealogy.com and related sources. Both are interred at McGrady Cemetery, making them the two most recently documented notable burials.
The Founding Death
The employee who initiated the cemetery by dying on the McGrady farm was killed by Indians — the research record’s phrase — during the 1860s, likely in the window from 1863 to 1870 that corresponds to the most intense period of frontier raiding in Montague County. The exact year is not confirmed. His name is not in the record.
The founding circumstance connects McGrady Cemetery to the broader pattern of frontier violence that shaped early Montague County. Perryman Cemetery in Forestburg also documents an Indian raid casualty — “Mr. Jones,” a well-digger killed by Indians in 1863, whose burial on the Perryman farm similarly anchored an informal cemetery. Montague Cemetery’s 19th-century burial cohort includes Confederate veterans and “a few early Texas Rangers,” reflecting the overlapping conflicts of the era. McGrady Cemetery belongs to this same landscape: a private farm burial ground that preserved the record of a single violent death, then absorbed the family’s generations.
The detail that distinguishes McGrady Cemetery’s founding — the specificity of “employee” rather than “family member” or “settler” — suggests something about frontier social structure. The unnamed worker was not a McGrady. He was a laborer. His burial on the family’s land, rather than in a town or church cemetery, reflects both the remoteness of the farm and the practical reality that his employer was responsible for his interment. That informal obligation created a cemetery.
The 1991 Texas Historical Commission Marker
A Texas Historical Commission historical marker was erected at McGrady Cemetery in 1991. The 1991 date is notably later than the frontier-era markers at Montague Cemetery (1985) and Perryman Cemetery (1983), suggesting either a delay in documentation or a more recent recovery of the historical record that supported the marker application.
The specific marker number and HMdb record have not been confirmed. A search of the Historical Marker Database (hmdb.org) did not locate an entry for McGrady Cemetery under that name. The marker may not yet be digitized on HMdb, or it may be listed under a variant name. The THC Atlas direct search by location — CR 401, FM 3206, Saint Jo, Montague County — would provide the definitive record.
Access, Maintenance, and Current Status
McGrady Cemetery sits on private land. Unlike Perryman Cemetery, which Levi Perryman formally purchased and deeded to Montague County in 1883, there is no documented county deed transfer for McGrady Cemetery. The burial ground appears to remain a private property matter, with access and maintenance controlled by the current landowner rather than a public organization.
Visiting the cemetery requires permission from the property owner. Prospective researchers should contact Saint Jo community leaders or the Montague County Historical Commission for current ownership and access information.
The current maintenance status — condition of stones, grounds upkeep, whether any cemetery association operates — has not been confirmed. The rural private-land character suggests informal, family-based maintenance rather than organized stewardship.
Comparison to Other Frontier Cemetery Founding Stories
McGrady Cemetery’s founding story stands in useful contrast to other Montague County cemeteries from the same era:
Montague Cemetery (1862): Founded by a deliberate act — James M. Gibbons donated land specifically for his wife Elizabeth’s burial, creating a planned community burial ground from the start. Governance transferred to the Montague Cemetery Association. THC marker 1985.
Perryman Cemetery (~1862): Founded informally on the Perryman family farm, then formalized when Levi Perryman purchased the land and deeded it to the county in 1883. That formal transfer created public access and long-term stewardship. THC marker 1983. The Perryman Cemetery also documents an Indian raid victim — Mr. Jones, 1863 — making the parallel with McGrady Cemetery direct.
McGrady Cemetery (~1860s): Founded by the involuntary circumstance of a violent death on private land. No documented public transfer. Private access, informal maintenance. Later institutional recognition (1991 THC marker) arrived after the founding context was already well in the past.
The contrast between Montague Cemetery’s deliberate founding and McGrady Cemetery’s circumstantial one reflects the range of conditions under which rural Texas burial grounds came into existence.
Genealogical Access
The Find A Grave record for McGrady Cemetery was not fully confirmed in available research. Phase 2B aggregator data references approximately 70 records, but this count requires direct Find A Grave page verification. Texas Death Certificates (1903 onward) are indexed on FamilySearch and would cover 20th-century burials. Earlier records — including the 1860s founding burial and the 19th-century McGrady family interments — require county probate records, Texas GLO land patent records, and any family papers held by McGrady descendants.
The Montague County Clerk’s Office holds deed records that would document the land’s ownership history. McGrady family descendants, if locatable, are the most direct source for specific burial names and founding details.
Sources
Notable Burials
- Allen R. McGrady d. September 1899
- Pioneer settler who arrived in Montague County in 1859 and settled 160 acres along Clear Creek. His farm became the site of the cemetery after an employee was killed by Indians. Both he and his wife died in September 1899 and are interred here. Source: Phase 2B Tier 0 verification, 2026-05-11.
- Elizabeth Cox McGrady d. September 1899
- Wife of Allen R. McGrady; co-settler of the Clear Creek property. Arrived 1859. Both spouses died in September 1899. Source: Phase 2B Tier 0 verification, 2026-05-11.
- McGrady employee (name unknown) d. 1860s (est. 1863–1870)
- Unnamed farmhand killed by Indians while working on the McGrady farm; his burial on the property initiated the cemetery. Name and exact date require county records or genealogy database research.