My Grandparent’s House

By: Dusty Williams

Published January 16, 2015

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, although 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 Sept. 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 01, 1878 to Sarah Margaret Bradley. Maggie was born in Tennessee on July 24, 1857 to 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 known if the three room house was already there, or if Doc McKinney built it. However, if it was not already there, then it was most definitely built in 1885 as Doc took up residence there 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 1979, 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 Vinson. All of the children, except for Eula, were born at or near the McKinney home on Main Street. Also residing and being reared by the McKinney family was Anabel Hughes, a niece of Maggie. She would marry E. M. McKinney, a cousin of Doc. 

Anabel passed away in 1917 just days before her 32^nd birthday. Although Anabel passed away in Amarillo, she was laid to rest in the Van Alstyne Cemetery…it was Anabel’s funeral that was held in the living room of the McKinney house. She left behind two children, the daughter having had stayed on living with Doc and Maggie for a while after her mother’s death. 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.

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. 

 DOC McKINNEY BELOVED CITIZEN

Of the children of Younger Scott McKinney, only two of them are now living, Samuel “Uncle Leak” McKinney and James David Leslie, “Uncle Doc.” There has been much written about Uncle Leak, who is eleven years older than his brother, and in a characteristic way, Uncle Leak said he didn’t think he had anything to say, when approached by a reporter for the ERA.

“Uncle Doc,” if not the best known many in town, approaches that distinction. He was the youngest son of the youngest son of Collin McKinney, St. He was born about four miles south east of Van Alstyne in 1857, and still owns the house in which he was born, reared, and resided for several years after his marriage. He was married in a house which stood on the lot where Cage Hunter now lives. Uncle Doc was remembering things the other night such as:

“I remember in the summer after the evening meal the family, each with a chair in hand, hastened to the long, south porch where the breeze was blowing, and began to chattering common to other families, I stretched on the floor, and soon fell fast asleep. Later on in the night the commanding voice of once of the older ones called ‘Doc, get up and wash your face, take off your clothes and get in bed.’ I slept for some years in the trundle bed, which was made to slip under Pa’s and Ma’s bed.

In those younger days silver dollars looked like cart wheel and if our clothes were spun and woven into cloth on a home-made loom manipulated by Ma’s hands and feet, we were eager for a ready made suit out of the store. I would venture up to Pa and ask for it, only to hear ‘No, I have to lay up money for my taxes.’ The tax was thirteen-dollars on five or six hundred acres of land. My parents had bought nine hundred acres for one dollar an acre.

Since I could remember we sold good corn for fifteen cents a bushel, oats for twelve and a half cotton for four cents, hens for seventeen cents each, and roosters for five cents. When we “barred off” the cotton field to get a stand. I hoed three days to the acre. We ate corn bread for breakfast, except Sunday, when we had biscuits. We bought a barrel of brown sugar once a year, and each of the children was given a big lump at the grand opening. This was a most delicious and rare treat.”

Uncle Doc is a very active and energetic citizen, and a steward in the Methodist church. It would be hard to imagine the church or the town without him and his cheery wholesome self.