Robert Russell Graves (1814-1897) came from Alabama to Texas in 1838 with his wife Esther (Hinkle) Graves (1815-1865), their children, and her father Joseph Hinkle (1771-1859). They came to Ellis County in 1857 and settled on 510 acres purchased from Thomas C. Marchbanks. The first marked grave on this site is that of Joseph Hinkle, who was interred here in 1859. Robert and Esther's son C.R. Graves (1857-1938) and his wife Emma Callie Graves (1857-1927) deeded 1.06 acres including Joseph's grave for a family burial ground in 1895. Many early pioneer families of the area near the Rockett community are represented here, and the cemetery continues as a chronicle of the pioneer days of Ellis County.