THE
J.D.L. 'Doc' McKINNEY FAMILY

The
Trails
of Our Past
My
Grandparent’s House
By: Dusty Williams
For as
long as I can
remember, every Christmas Eve has been
spent at my grandparents at 576 N.
Main,
formerly 402. It has, for me, created
many festive memories of family
gatherings for many generations of my
family. I’ve often wondered who else
made
this their home and created memories
such as mine, for surely a house as
old as
this has many tales to tell…and so our
story begins.
My
grandparents, Wayne and
Sherry Ferguson Jeffers, bought the
house in 1979 for themselves and
their two
daughters. Since living here, they
have had many occasions throughout
the years
when someone will stop and share a
story about their home. One of the
earliest
stories that I can remember hearing
about is that an elderly woman
stopped by
and proclaimed that she used to live
there with her aunt. At the time of
her
residence, her mother passed away
and they held the funeral in the
living room
of the house. Another instance of a
time gone by first made an
appearance when
my grandparents turned the upstairs
loft area into an actual bedroom.
While
removing some paneling, they
uncovered an old leather strap that
was used to
sharpen a shaving blade…they
couldn’t understand why it was
placed behind a
wall. Sometime later the mystery
revealed itself when a man stopped
by who also
laid claim to a past residence here.
His family resided here and in order
to
prevent further punishment by way of
a leather strap, this gentleman hid
the
leather to save his hide.
Although
much of the intricate history of any home can
never truly be known,
some interesting facts have been uncovered
about my grandparent's
house, alt hough it has not formerly been
published in any histories
that I am aware of. The house over at
576 N. Main was originally
the Doc McKinney homestead and was located two
doors down from his
sister, Mrs. W.H. Cave. James David
Leslie McKinney, or "Doc" as he
was referred to was the grandson of local
pioneer, Collin McKinney and
son of Younger Scott
McKinney.
Doc was born on September 28, 1857 and
was raised on his father's
farm east of town off of what is now Jim
Cannon road. Doc was
married on December 2, 1878 to Sarah Margaret
Bradley. Maggie
was born in Tennessee on July 24, 1857,
daughter of Thomas and Sarah Waters
Bradley. Mrs. McKinney served as the
first president of Parsonage
and Home Mission society, which would later
evolve into the Woman's
Missionary Society. In 1885, Doc moved
from his farm near Cannon
and purchased the lot on N. Main Street on
February 20, 1885 from S.L.
McKinney. It is not know if the three
room house was already
there, or if Doc McKinney built it.
However, if it was not already three,
then it was most definitely built in 1885 as
Doc took
up residence that year, according to his own
personal statements.
According to records, Doc purchased lot
1 in block 1, so it is
likely that Doc built, or had the house
built...this is the same house
that currently stands, although it has been
added on to since the 1885
construction.
Newspaper
articles and other histories reveal that Doc
McKinney was very involved
with the Methodist Church, sometimes even
officiating funerals.
In regards to his occupation, all
records indicate that he was a
dry goods salesman for 20 years and a salesman
for the Sherman Nursery
Company and Terrell Nursery. When my
grandparents moved here in
1879, there were Plum, Apple, Peach and Pear
trees on the property.
There has also been evidence of
newspaper ads promoting the sale
of "Doc McKinney's Plums" in Pilot Grove.
One of Doc's favorite
possessions was the pen that was used by
Collin McKinney to sign the
Texas Declaration of Independence...thus
meaning that the artifact was
once housed at 576 N. Main in Van Alstyne.

Doc
and Maggie were the
parents of Eula, Sewell, Virginia,
Pauline and Vincent. All of the
children,
except for Eula, were born at or
near the McKinney home on Main
Street. Of his
many titles, Doc was also one of
the Vice Presidents of the Collin
McKinney Descendants
Memorial Association. Doc passed
away on Oct. 6, 1932, followed by
Maggie on
November 2, 1936. The couple were
interred in the Van Alstyne
Cemetery where
many of their friends and
relatives are also at rest.

Front Row (L-R): J. D. L.
McKinney, Virginia
McKinney Eagleton, Vincient
McKinney, Maggie McKinney, Pauline
McKinney Shervill
Back Row (L-R): Eula McKinney Ferris,
Raymond Ferris, Anabel Hughes
McKinney, Sewell McKinney
J. D. L. McKINNEY - James David
Leslie McKinney; nickname
"Doc"
VINCENT McKINNEY - nickname
"Vinson"
MAGGIE McKINNEY - Sarah Margaret
McKinney; nickname "Maggie"
ANABEL HUGHES McKINNEY, a
niece, was
reared by the J. D. L. McKinney family.
Her mother, Molly, was Maggie McKinney's
sister. She died
very young
and left Anabel, a very small child.

The Cave
House, which is
two doors to the north, is a history
in its own right, having been built by
Mr.
and Mrs. W. H. Cave. The house in
between the two homes served as a
boarding
house, catering to the Interurban
railway which ran directly behind all
three
properties. Around 1948 and the last
year of the Interurban, Cecil and
Stella
Bastell purchased the property and
turned the boarding house into a
residence.
From Stella the Jeffers family learned
many things about the history of their
neighborhood. On one occasion, Stella
gave the family some encyclopedias
from
the 1800’s that had been given to her
by Miss Cave, a school teacher from
next
door.
As the tides of time
continue to sweep across Texoma, my
grandparent’s house sits quietly
tucked
away over on North Main Street, across
from the tracks that built this town.
Although just as old and important,
perhaps even older, as many of the
early
homes in Van Alstyne, it has casually
escaped fame and publication from many
of
the local histories. Regardless of its
future, the house has been the shelter
of many happy memories since the
earliest days of Van Alstyne.
To be published in the Van
Alstyne Leader
Dusty Williams is the author of "The
Trails of Our Past" column, which will
be printed twice a month in the Leader.

Biography Index
Susan Hawkins
©2025
If
you
find any of Grayson County
TXGenWeb links inoperable, please send me a
message.
|