Salyer

Salyer

Texas Historical Marker: no

• Primary Town: Granger
• Secondary Town(s): Mozo,Weir
• Cemetery Relocated to: no relocation

Historic Texas Cemetery Designation: Yes (6/13/2023)

• Williamson County Clerk Instrument Number: unknown
• Williamson Central Appraisal District Property ID: R012637

Salyer Photo Courtesy Wayne Ware 2018

Salyer Photo Courtesy John Christeson 2014

Salyer Photo Courtesy Wayne Ware 2019

Salyer Photo Courtesy Wayne Ware 2018

Salyer Photo Courtesy Wayne Ware 2018

Salyer Photo Courtesy Wayne Ware 2019

Notes:

2016 WCAD — can see on GOOGLE Satellite View.

E of Weir; E on FM 971; S on CR 158, at first sharp turn, drive in private road, cemetery on prominent hill.

Find-A-Grave:  The cemetery is reached by driving up the water course to its end. If the field is clear of crops you can drive right up to the cemetery. If not, you will have to park at the end of the water course and walk a short distance to the cemetery.  On private property.

In 2018, this cemetery is maintained by the “Cemetery Restoration Volunteers” as one of the abandoned cemeteries maintained on a rotation basis of 19 cemeteries in Williamson County.  The volunteers are under the direction of WCHC’s Cemetery Committee Chair, Joe Plunkett.  In 2019, there are 9 volunteers, using their own equipment.  Donations received by WCHC help to defray costs of restoring tombstones.

Narrative about this cemetery:

I will start with a short narrative of the beginnings of this homestead in the 1870’s, and follow with a list of the people buried in the cemetery.

I was born in 1950, to put things in perspective.

This is what my grandfather John Olive Salyer told me when I was a boy in the 1950’s and early 1960’s, what his cousin Myrtle told me as a teenager, and a little bit of research based on their stories.

John Elliot Salyer (1852 - 1932) was my great-grandfather. He was revered as the patriarch, the young individual who brought his family to Williamson County in the mid-1870’s when Weir was the only settlement in the area before the railroad came north from “Taylorsville.” The town of Granger naturally grew where the Georgetown road (FM 971)  crossed the tracks, beginning in 1882. Granger, the closest town, came to be their home town, where my father’s generation went to high school.

I use John Elliot’s middle name because his father was John James Salyer, my grandfather was John Olive Salyer, and my father was J. E. Salyer (for John Elliot). I also had an Uncle John Redford Salyer.

John Elliot and his Susannah were both born near Salyersville, Magoffin County, Kentucky. They traveled by train with three children to Georgetown, where they bought a wagon and headed east. They camped for a year on Berry Creek just west of Weir. No kidding.

They purchased their farmland from a family named Henderson. John Elliot built a house that was approximately 100 feet west of the cemetery. I remember the old house from my childhood, and the barn, whose stock stalls bore the roughly painted names of the horses and mules that my great grandfather and grandfather owned. Cotton was king, and they were proud cotton farmers.

John and Susannah, his wife, raised nine children. The first to be born on the home place was Daniel Boone Salyer (my father’s “Uncle Boone”) in 1878. Five followed: four boys and five girls in all.

John Elliot also bought land east of Granger on Willis Creek for its timber. He sold the timber to help make ends meet. I do not know what became of the land.

My grandfather, John Olive Salyer (1882 -1968), inherited the farm but lost it during the Great Depression. When I was a boy, the land was owned by a family named Brundage, but I do not know who owns the land now.

An interesting fact about my branch of the Salyer family was their heritage. Both John Elliot and his wife Susannah Higgins were both half Cherokee. My great-great grandmother Elizabeth Allen Salyer was full Cherokee. She is buried in Purves, Texas next to her husband, John James Salyer. He has a proper headstone. She, an Indian, rests beneath a pile of rocks.

My father, J. E. Salyer, had the straight dark hair and brown skin, as did two of his siblings. I’m rather proud of that.

Respectfully,
Steven Paul Salyer

Salyer Family Cemetery Graves

John Elliot Salyer    1852 - 1932
Settled the homestead in the mid-1870’s with his young family and established the cemetery.

Susannah Higgins Salyer    1850 - 1927
Wife of John Elliot Salyer

Cam Salyer    1869 - 1894
Son of John Elliot and Susannah

Sarah Salyer Wilson     1885 – 1909
Daughter of John Elliot and Susannah

Dovie Salyer Oglesby     1890 – 1945
Daughter of John Elliot and Susannah

Charlie Aurand     1898 – 1898  (one month)
Infant son of Dulce (“Docie”) Salyer Aurand, daughter of John Elliot and Susannah

Infant, name unknown    1907 – 1907 (two months)
Infant son of A. R. Fuer and Mary Salyer Bird, relationship unknown

Nan Goodson     ? – 1900
Wife of H. Goodson, a traveler whose wife died on their journey. John Elliot granted him a place in the family cemetery for her grave.

Location is Approximate (1999 Map Information): (1999 mapped G3) Verified 9/9

Latitude: 30.67927450
Longitude: -97.51038127