Van Alstyne Leader

DALLAS REJECTED IN FAVOR OF SISTER GROVE
The Leader’s continuing series of historical articles on the Van Alstyne regions this week focuses on the Cannon area east of Van Alstyne. Julie S. Morris, historian for the Van Alstyne Historical Society, traces the history of the community from the time it was surveyed by J.P. Dumas, surveyor of the City of Dallas, through its
rich 19^th century years and the long decline of the 20^th century.

By Julie S. Morris
In 1839, John Neely Bryan left his clerking job at Holland Coffee’s Trading Post on the Red River and struck out on his own, heading south to the Three Forks of the Trinity to start a settlement of his own.
By early 1844, with only Bryan’s crude cabin and possibly one other standing in what was to become Dallas, James P. Dumas, his wife and 12 male companions drove ox carts into Bryan’s little village, migrating north from Buck Snort on the falls of the Brazos near Marlin.
Dumas was just the person Bryan needed. He was an experienced surveyor, and only surveyors could properly mark claims and lay out towns in the rapidly growing frontier area.
By spring, Dumas had laid out the town, including an area to accommodate wharves on the Trinity and a 100-foot-wide thoroughfare.
For his services, Dumas was given a deed to the lot where his cabin was built on Houston and Elm Streets in Bryan’s new city. In a letter to a Dallas paper in the late 1880s, Mrs. Dumas recalled, “We never preserved the deed for the lot, thinking it was worthless, as it was our intention to move from there to Sister Grove the next spring.”
True to their intentions, J.P. Dumas and family arrived in July, 1845, in what is now Grayson County and established the Sister Grove Ranch on a 640 acre head right.
Looking back at that period today, it might seem shortsighted of Dumas not to record his Dallas deed; but he left a lasting legacy in both family and enterprise in Grayson County when he died in 1875, whereas John Neely Bryan spent much of his time away from his Dallas family on frontier adventures and died a broken man in a state mental institution in 1877.
Soon after Dumas arrived at Sister Grove, he left to fight in the Mexican War. Upon returning he resumed his successful surveying career and became county surveyor.
The position of county surveyor is allowed in the state constitution, but it is an unsalaried position, currently held in Grayson County by Jerry Montgomery. In earlier days, the position was one of considerable respect and some power.
Dumas was again paid in land script for his services; and this time he did record his deeds. It was said he could ride on horseback from his Sister Grove Ranch to Sherman without ever leaving his property.
The Dumas family built the Sister Grove homestead on what is now Wolf Front Road, running south from Cannon. Not far from the old home site is the Dumas Family Cemetery, where an ornate headstone marks the final resting place of J.P. and his wife M.A.E. Thompson Dumas. The cemetery has been recognized by the State of Texas with an historical marker.
In 1854 Dumas began cattle ranching with E.M. Jones running hundreds of head of cattle in the area. Bright Ray, in her “Legends of the Red River,” said Dumas held a contract with the Confederate government selling “good meat” for 8 to 10 cents a pound. By 1860, Dumas’ worth in real property was valued at $114,825.
Dumas’ son Travis M. Dumas, in a 1935 Sherman Democrat article, remembered the first banking ventures of his father, in the years after the Civil War. The younger Dumas would “get on my pony with saddle bags and go first to Milt Steel’s, then to Guyton Lewis’, then to Uncle Dickie Brewer’s, then to Abb Lewis and tell them to send all the money they had on hand.”
The elder Dumas would then deliver the cash to Tom Richards in Sherman, who had the only safe in the county. Soon thereafter, in 1872, Dumas helped organize the Merchants and Planters Bank in Sherman, serving as vice president until his death.
J.P. Dumas also left his mark on the central and western parts of south Grayson County. A believer in good straight roads, he surveyed a road from Pilot Grove through Cannon, Van Alstyne, Elmont and on west of Pilot Point, naming this new pike the Air Line Road. No explanation of the name is available. A contemporary reference to the road called it Heir Line Road – but the document had various other misspellings.
Modern travelers on FM 121 would probably prefer the Dumas straight design (still evident by the Cannon Cemetery) as compared to the sometimes treacherous curves of the “new” highway (built in 1949).
The rich and fertile Sister Grove farmland attracted yet another influential family in 1852. Elijah Cannon, a recent widower with 11 children, arrived with his family from Pickens County, S.C. He brought along his widowed sister Patsy Brown and his slaves.
Cannon bought 700 acres and began developing and cultivating his farm. He soon built a large two-story house from native materials and lumber hauled from Jefferson. The “old home place” was on the corner of FM 121 and Jim Cannon.
Road and burned some 60 years later. Another home, still standing, was built to replace the old one. For many years this was the home of Clyde Massie.
Elijah and his children did much for the development of Cannon. They established a church, store, school and cemetery. Upon the Emancipation Act, Jan. 1, 1862, Cannon freed his slaves and gave them the name Boyd and 20 acres of land each.
The Cannons organized a Congregational Methodist church that met in homes and brush arbors and was ministered by circuit riders. It wasn’t until 1892 that a permanent church house was erected. L.N. Hood, Joseph Powell, Jim Allen and Val Hunter went to Jefferson for lumber to build the new church. In later years, highlights of the services were the singing conventions led by Bro. Frank Mann, who was joined by as many as 50 other singers.
The need for local provisions prompted the establishment of a general store. The Cannon family operated their store for many years. It also served as a meeting place on Sunday afternoon for the local young people. In the early days horses and buggies crowded around the store, but later they made room for new automobiles lining up at the gas pumps.
In 1866 Cannon established a school that became the Centennial Academy in 1877. It was built on the high rock hill north of the corner of FM 121 and FM 2729. An adjacent dormitory had 30 rooms. When the dormitory burned, W.R. Massie opened a boarding house nearby. The old academy building burned in 1888 and was replaced by another school building where classes were held with as many as 138 students until school consolidation in the 1940s.
Elijah Cannon donated land just west of his homeplace for a community cemetery. The first burial at the Cannon Cemetery in 1857 was Nancy J. Bowen, daughter of Thomas H. Bowen who came to the Cannon area in 1853. He also was a native of Pickens County, South Carolina. Bowen established the first grist mill in the area. Elijah later was laid to rest in the Cannon Cemetery in September 1887, at the age of 91.
Reese, Cannon’s son, married Texana Dumas, daughter of J.P. and M.A.E. Dumas in 1862. It is said that Texana, born in 1846 was the first white child born in Grayson County. Dumas built a house for his daughter not far from his homestead. Later Reese and Texana built another new home just west of FM 2729.
The original house of Texana was bought by John R. Grider in 1904 and has been in the Grider family ever since. Elba Grider married John’s son Doak and has lived in the house since 1942.
She said the elder Grider came with his family from Kentucky in 1893. “He first leased and cleared land on the Milam lease,” she said. “When he had saved enough, he bought Texana’s house.”
She added, Later, he moved into ‘town’ and bought another house and five acres from B.D. Emerson just west of the school.” That house, too, is still there, having recently been remodeled.
In a history of the Cannon family written by Catherine Cannon, Reese is described as having a flair to be an enterpriser.”
After serving in the Confederacy, Reese returned home realizing the importance of a new crop in Texas, cotton.
In 1868, he financed the building of a gin south of his home. The oxen-powered gin was built by Reece Bowen and could put out five bales a day. Wells were dug in 1903 and 1905 to supply new steam-powered engines. The gin was later sold to the Van Alstyne Gin Co. Reese Cannon was a charter director of both the Van Alstyne Cotton Oil Co. and the Van Alstyne Gin Co. The gin in Cannon closed in the early 1950s.
Reese was also instrumental in organizing the Centennial Masonic Lodge #500 in the late 1870s. The lodge met on the second floor of the Centennial school. The lodge later joined the Mantua Masonic Lodge #209 in Van Alstyne.
On June 27, 1877, the Cannon Post Office, named in honor of Reese Cannon, was opened with H.D. Hoard the first postmaster. At that time the population was about 400.
Elijah Halston Cannon began a wagon factory south of his parent’s homeplace. “Hoss,” as he was called became known as the premier wagon builder of north Texas. In 1894, he moved into Van Alstyne and continued his successful wagon building business at his home on Kelly Land.
Another son of Elijah, John R., was a local harness maker and carpenter. In 1856, John build the house that Jim and Catherine Cannon would later occupy, south of the homeplace. It is still standing. He also built the Y.S. McKinney home in 1856 and the Elijah McKinney Milam home in 1858. The latter two, as well as Mrs. Grider’s home, are featured in the Van Alstyne Historical Society’s 1994 calendar.
John R. and his brother Oscar had business ventures in Van Alstyne. They built several early brick buildings there, including the Cannon Building in 1890, who now houses City Drug Store. Eliza Cannon married Dr. T.M. West, who had a dental practice in Cannon before serving in that capacity in the Confederacy. Sultana married Sam T. Blassingame and their son Winn was longtime mayor and school board president in Van Alstyne.
Over the next several decades very little changed around the small town. Activities still centered around the school, church, store and gin.
The Cannon School District #3 was very active. Both boys and girls basketball team competed successfully in tournaments. The baseball team played to championships on the home field and some of the Cannon boys went on to play on Van Alstyne’s semi pro team, the Grays. A favorite practice area on Wolf Front Road was known as Pebble Ridge because of the rocky nature of the soil.
Notices in the 1925 Van Alstyne Leader record the school term closing. Mrs. D.W. Jay (Willie McMillan) was principal and Ruth McMillan and Marie Lucas were her assistants. Lucile Massie McDonough was in charge of music. By the fall term in October, Mrs. Roy Cotton became principal.
The May 1925 graduates of the Cannon school were Adelle Simpson, first honor student; John Dudley Ireland, second honor student; and Mattie Opal Powell, Leslie Omer Blankenship, Minnie Ruth Allen and Willie Garvin Bray.
The store in Cannon, always a popular spot, was purchased from the Cannons by Jimmy McDougal who also operated a store in Sedalia. A succession of owners through the years included the Duttons, C.P. Neathery and Junior Hunter. The last to operate the store were Mr. and Mrs. A.A. Timmons who sold the stock and moved the building in the mid-1960s.
Today a drive through Cannon may not at first indicate its rich history, except for a small cluster of houses and an historical marker. But a closer look and visits with those living there reveal that history is all around.
The low areas of Sister Grove were once soggy and dense thickets filled with wildlife. Wolves would run out in front of pioneer wagons and horses on the early trails. Hence the name Wolf Front identified the road heading south over the rock mounds.
Farmers may still unearth tiles buried in their fields generations ago to drain the land for planting. A high rock mound east of town is silent reminder of the generosity of the people of Cannon. It is known as the “catch all.” A little house on the mound served as an early day halfway house for families moving through or down on their luck. When one family was about to move on, another was under its roof by sundown.
The Congregational Methodist Church still holds services in the same building, under the ministry of Gary Sutton. In 1985, some 10 years after the first settlers came to the beautiful Sister Grove area, Rev. John Wade and several families founded the Cannon Baptist Church.
Above all, the Cannon Cemetery, nestled in the red buds of spring and the red oaks of fall, is marked with familiar names on both old and recent graves. It is our reminder of the trials and successes of our predecessors.

Many people helped in the research for this article, and we thank them profusely.
Assistance was given by Melba Grider, Betty Norwood, Helen Cannon, Virginia Yoder, Bill Benton, Susan Berryhill, Grayson County Judge Horace Groff and Rob and Mary Gattis.
A great deal of information on Cannon area families is available in the Van Alstyne Public Library in such works as “History of the Cannon Family and Cannon Community,” written by Catherine Cannon and researched by Cannon descendants; and “Cannon Cemetery Inscriptions” compiled by Donna Nell Hill and Burles Hall Allen.

Resource books include:
“History of Grayson County, Texas,” by Grayson County Frontier Village, 1979;
“Illustrated History of Grayson County,” Graham Landrum, 1960;
“Legends of the Red River Valley,” Bright Ray, 1941;
“Black Land, Red River,” Sherrie B. McLeRoy, 1993;
“Lusty Texans of Dallas,” John William Rogers, 1951;
“Biographical Souvenir of the State of Texas,” 1889.