Grayson County TXGenWeb

What happened to the
little town of Mantua?

On a windy hill just a little south of Van Alstyne, the only sounds seem to be cars speeding down the highway and the only lights, trees and fence posts. But there was a time when this pasture was a lively town square and the community surrounding it was in high gear. The town of Mantua was the culmination of a dream for the early pioneers in this area, but now there appears to be nothing left. What was Mantua? And what happened to this little town?

The early 1830s saw several families migrate to this area for the good quality land and the opportunities it afforded. In 1841, William Throckmorton and his family established one of the first settlements, located west of present Melissa. Early accounts relate to the stockade's protection at Throckmorton and a cemetery is said to hold the remains of settlers massacred by raiding Indians.

By 1846, Collin McKinney and his large extended family had settled here on land grants awarded to some of the McKinney men for their service in the Texas Revolution. The McKinney families had lived at McKinney Landing near present day Texarkana in the Red River District.

At the age of 70, Collin McKinney helped draft and later signed the Declaration of Independence from Mexico on March 2, 1836. He then served in three Congresses of the Republic. Judge Richard Ellis, who had appointed McKinney and four others for the drafting committee, described McKinney's personality as one that "drew the delegates to him. He was a many of mature years and his open face was an index to his true character."

In early accounts of Collin and Grayson counties, Collin is referred to as the "old patriarch" of the McKinney clan. Collin McKinney immigrated here with not only his adult children and their families but those of his deceased brother, Daniel. He also acted as guide for other pioneering families from his home states of Kentucky and Tennessee making eleven trips between 1844 and 1846.

In 1861, Collin McKinney died at the age of ninety-five and was buried in the McKinney family cemetery leaving a distinguished legacy to Texas and this area. His final resting place became the Van Alstyne Cemetery and McKinney's grave has been honored with a Texas Historical Marker.

Under the leadership of Collin McKinney the first church to organize in this area was the First Disciples of Christ in 1846 in the home of Hiram Carroll McKinney. There was a reorganization of the Christian Church founded at McKinney's Landing in 1841. There were 21 charter members including J.B.Wilmeth, pastor and his wife, Nancy, Collin and Betsey McKinney, nine others in the McKinney family and five McKinney slaves. The congregation was known as the Old Liberty Church when it built its first log house in 1850. Dr. Asbury Cartwright who had come to Peter's Colony about 1846, also preached at the Old Liberty church. Cartwright along with William C. McKinney and G. W. Vernon were elders. Collin McKinney and Solomon DeSpain were deacons.

In 1847, the Methodist denomination organized as the Old Liberty Class. They met in the log cabin of William and Bexie Creager which was said to be on the Grayson and Collin counties line. The six charter members were the Creagers, Hiram Carroll and Sarah Ratta McKinney, Patsy McBride and another unidentified member. Joab Biggs and M.F.Cole were the organizers.

The pioneers from the McKinney and Throckmorton settlements realized that the time had come to formally establish a new community and school. Near the northern border of Collin County between the Liberty Christian and Methodist churches, are ample springs from Hurricane Creek. And it was this location that became tie site for Mantua.

On February, 23, 1854, Joseph Wilcox, J.W.Throckmorton and John Throckmorton bought 33 acres of land from William C. McKinney, Collin's son. The four established undivided interests in the property and founded the new town of Mantua on a twenty-five acre townsite.

The town was surveyed by Younger Scott McKinney and laid out in a "hollow square." The streets were named in honor of the heroes of the Texas Revolution: Crockett, Milam, Fannin, Bonham, Travis, Sherman and Rusk. The alleys, however were named for local men: Throckmorton, Wilcox and McKinney.

The proceeds from the sale of lots in Mantua were appropriated to the building and furnishing of a school. The deed to all lots included a unique but very potent clause. The sellers had the power to take back the land and any improvements if it were proved that the owner should ever "cause suffer or allow vinous or spirituous liquors to be vended or sold on the lot of land hereby conveyed." There are no known forfeitures. However, a clever businessman, Oscar Riddle opened his saloon just outside the city limits.

Horatio N. Walcott is said to have purchased the first lot for $60. He erected a two story building for his general merchandise store, the first in Mantua. Dr. James Lafayette Leslie arrived in 1853 and opened his practice and drug store here.

In 1854, the Liberty Christian church built a larger building in town and was renamed Mantua Christian. Captain George Cooper furnished the wine each Sunday for Communion from the vineyard at his home west of Mantua.

The Old Liberty Methodist class moved by 1858 when a deed from William Creager gave the church land for the building. The church was also renamed Mt. Zion Methodist.

It was on February 7, 1857 on the second story of Walcott's store that the Mantua Lodge, No. 209 A.F. and A.M. was organized. Original members were H.N.Walcott, Y.S.McKinney, James M. Enloe, William A. Portman, James Lafayette Leslie, William Akens, Andrew J. McDonough, Arch C. White and G.H.Fields.

On August 7, 1858, the Mantua Masonic Lodge united with the stockholders of the town of Mantua and voted to begin construction of a school building and a Lodge room. A site was designated on the north east corner of the town limits and the school was to be known as the Mantua Seminary. Already $900 had been raised from lot sales and subscription.