Trails of Our Past

The Myth of Two Sisters
By: Dusty Williams

For as long as I can remember I have heard countless tales of how the naming of Anna, Melissa and Van Alstyne came about. Perhaps the most common and most believed theory is that Mr. Van Alstyne had two daughters, Anna and Melissa, thus the naming of all three towns. In fact, I have seen references to this theory as early as the 1940’s. Just like many individuals believe that the old site of Mantua is on the west side of highway 75 near the old water tower, not realizing that the town was, in fact, on the east side just southeast of where Kelly Ln. meets County Line Road - but that is a different story in itself. For this article I am here to put in writing an end to the elusive myth that the naming of the three before mentioned towns were in some way connected through family relations…the only relation any of these towns have with one another is mother railroad.

As stated in a previous article, the land for Van Alstyne was sold to the railroad from William L. McKinney, an orphan, and in 1873 the town of Van Alstyne was officially underway. Many have stated that Van Alstyne was named for William A. Van Alstyne, one of, if not the largest stock holder in the railroad upon the creation of Van Alstyne. That’s pretty good for a man who had passed away 6 years before…wouldn’t you say? The truth is, is that Van Alstyne was actually named for his widow, Maria Hill Wright Van Alstyne, who inherited her husband’s estate. There are even newspaper articles written that boasted the title in the early part of the 20^th century, “Van Alstyne, only town in Grayson County, named after a woman!” Prior to her marriage to Van Alstyne in 1843, Maria Hill had been married to F. B. Wright and had two children: William B. “Frank” and Caroline. Mr. and Mrs. Van Alstyne had three children: Maria Louisa, Mary Ashley and Albert A. Van Alstyne. That’s right, no Anna nor Melissa. The Van Alstyne family were extremely prominent citizens in Houston and were natives of New York and continued to make frequent trips back to that state. Maria passed away in 1901. So famous and influential were the Van Alstyne family that The Rice Thresher, a Houston newspaper, reported on September 2, 1988 when discussing an upcoming play that “Carol Younkin is the only other female member of the cast, playing the vivacious Maria Van Alstyne, a friend of Rice’s in New York.”

Maria Van Alstyne, the rich, popular and influential citizen of Texas for whom the town of Van Alstyne was named for, lies resting in an unmarked grave in Houston, Texas near her husband.

Like residents of Mantua quickly relocated to Van Alstyne when the railroad bypassed them, the same can be said for residents of Highland flocking to the new town of Melissa in 1872. The first postmaster of Melissa was James R. Rogers, having taken the job on May 16, 1873. Sources state that Melissa was named after a railroad official’s daughter. Some state that the railroad official was George A. Quinlan, while others state that Melissa was the daughter of C. P. Huntington. Research reveals that Quinlan did not have a daughter named Melissa nor was he a prominent official in the railroad at the time of the establishment of Melissa. It is still not known if C.P. Huntington had a daughter named, Melissa.

Greer Family
Back row: Anna  Lou Greer Walker, far right

Anna remained nonexistent until the early 1880’s. The first postmaster was appointed May 29, 1883… he having been William Y. Barnet. While it is not entirely impossible, it is extremely unlikely that two towns formed more than 10 years apart from one another were named after sisters…different people were in charge at different times in regards to the naming of towns. Two reliable sources are in existence in regards to the naming of Anna. The first is that it was named for Anna Greer, daughter of John F. Greer who owned the first store in Anna and also had the first residence in the town. However, according to my research, Anna Lou Greer Walker was born August 12, 1883…that’s several months after the post office had been established and had already been given the name of Anna. I have heard that Anna was named for Anna Greer because she was the first baby born in the town. The second part of this rumor is probably true, however it appears that she was named for the town, rather than the town for her. The other disproving fact to this scenario in regards to the naming of the town is that Anna’s own brother wrote an article that Anna was named for Anna Quinlan, daughter of railroad official, George A. Quinlan. Upon doing research on the Quinlan family I discovered that George A. Quinlan and his wife, Kate, had two children, Anna born 1878 and George A., Jr. born 1880. Did you catch that? Anna Quinlan. Furthermore, research revealed in his wife’s obituary in the early 1880’s that George A. Quinlan was Assistant Superintendent of the Texas Central railway. After splashing through more historic records I found that George A. Quinlan, although he resided in south Texas, made frequent trips north through Collin and Grayson Counties all throughout the 1880’s. In fact, he even owned land in Grayson County and remember, Anna was created in 1883.'

The last bit of evidence that I will throw out there in regards to the naming of Anna is an official letter from the Southern Pacific Company, dated May 19, 1964 which reads in part as follows: “Our records show construction of the Houston & Texas Central, which later became a part of the Texas and New Orleans Railroad, was started northward from Dallas in 1872, and was completed through Anna to Denison in March, 1873. The T&NO, a wholly owned subsidiary of Southern Pacific Company was merged into the parent company in November 1961.

As additional information, your city was named for Miss Anna Quinlan, daughter of G. A. Quinlan, former superintendent of the H&TC.”

Anna Quinlan was married to Ed Tom Randle, a lawyer from Dallas.

Quinlan, Texas was named for George A. Quinlan.