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Local family opens up about Eli Jackson cemetery damage

1 year 9 months 1 week ago Sunday, June 19 2022 Jun 19, 2022 June 19, 2022 12:54 PM June 19, 2022 in News

According to descendants of Nathaniel Jackson’s son, Eli Jackson, several grave sites inside the Texas historical landmark of the Eli Jackson cemetery have been damaged by the heavy machine work of the nearby border wall.

RELATED: While border wall construction has been suspended following President Biden's executive order, work on private land continues

The Yarrito's, Singleterry's, and Jackson's, the descendants of Eli Jackson, say vibrations and environmental changes caused the desecration.

The family is using Juneteenth weekend to open up and share their struggle with the border wall construction to remind people of its sacred history.

In the 1800s, Eli Jackson's father, Nathaniel Jackson, bought five thousand acres of land in Pharr near the Rio Grande - where he would settle down with several freed slaves he brought from Alabama.

The area would be used as a passage to freedom and was called part of the underground railroad by the family.

This holiday the family is taking time to remember their heritage and discuss plans how they plan to fix the damaged gravesites and how to protect the cemetery that is near the border wall.

Watch the video above for the full story.

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