Inscriptions by John Mead
Location: On Hwy 291, 6 mi N of Alanreed, Texas, and 0.25 mi West on County Road X (Bruce Nursery Road). The cemetery is North of McClellan Creek, on the W side of the road on top of a tree lined hill.
History: The Eldridge cemetery is probably the oldest organized cemetery in Gray County.
Last, First, Birth, Death, Comments
Cupell, Tennie, ?, 1896, (Died in childbirth, girl baby lived.)
McKeen, Lucinda, 1837, 1896, (Mother, and wife of Amos. Pink
granite marker)
McKeen, Amos, 1829, 1898, (Father, husband of Cinda)
Owen, O. L.., Jan. 18, 1889, Aug. 31, 1892, (Son of George
P. and Nellie Owen, first settler on McClellan Creek.)
Shelton, Charlies E., 1861, 1931, Pioneer trail driver,
stagecoach stop operator, Married 3 miles east of here (Jan. 4,
1887)
Shelton, Infant of Janie Woods Shelton
Shelton, Janie Woods, 1865, 1890, Pioneer wife and mother
Wartham, Johnson, ?, 1894, (Confederate soldier, who died
of typhoid fever. The original cross marking the grave had been
burned by prairie fire. Evidence of the grave were found by Delbert
Trew, who organized an effort to restore the cemetery. He found
the chared remains of the cross and a hand made square nail that
had been used in it's construction.)
Unknown 12-year-old girl, (plot covered with small white
stones and flanked by two cedar trees, planed by the parents of
the girl who were passing through by covered wagon, when a rattlesnake
struck the girl who was riding on a wagon tongue. Without medical
treatment, the girl died, and the parents remained camped there
for several days morning the death of their daughter. Their other
children collected rocks to cover the grave and the parents transplanted
the two trees from the creek.
Unknown cowboys, (last names: Lewis and Freeman) two who
fought and died over a lariat while on a Kansas trail drive, were
brought back and buried side by side. The two were reported to
have been friends.