Virginia Native and Civil War Veteran James A. Crenshaw wed Henrietta Barker Elliott in Kentucky in 1870. Two years later, with their first child, they moved to Bolivar Peninsula and constructed a two-story house in this vicinity. James, a successful farmer, transported his produce across the water to Galveston markets using his fleet of nine sailboats. The couple eventually had ten children; two young daughters died, one in 1875, the other in 1882, and the family buried them here in a grove of oak trees close to the house.
The family’s home survived the 1900 Galveston hurricane; after the storm, the J.A. Crenshaws left the Peninsula. Two sons remained, and daughter Helen Crenshaw wed Dr. Newell W. Atkinson in Edna, Texas, in 1907. The land containing the burial ground remained in family hands, but the iron fencing around the cemetery gradually disappeared except for a portion imbedded in a tree. In 2003, two descendants of Helen and Newell Atkinson donated land, including the burial ground, to the Galveston Independent School District, which maintains the historic cemetery as a link to early Bolivar settlers.
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It was saved thanks to me, I worked on the contract taking the old barbed wire fence, and met the architect. He was observing the land and asked if I cared to see the blueprints, I noticed a Science Building proposed. So I asked exactly where the lab was supposed to be and he pointed out the oak trees, so I told him that wasn’t a good idea and told him of the cemetery. Next month or two at the ground breaking he proudly showed me the revised plans that showed the protected area you see now.