 J.M. Binkley  The Sherman Courier
Wednesday, August 15, 1917 pg. 11 Fiftieth Anniversary Edition A PIONEER GRAYSON COUNTY PREACHER One of the most active, practical and forceful preachers Grayson county has ever known was Rev. J.M. Binkley, who for more than 50 years, lived and taught practical Christianity amongst this people. Rev. Binkley was the first stationed preacher the Methodist Church had in Sherman, having been given charge of the church in 1859, and it was under his leadership that a brick structure was built on South Travis Street in that year. In addition to his ministerial work, he always took an active interest in political, secular and social affairs and he perhaps did more toward driving the legalized whiskey traffic from Grayson county than any other man. As an opponent of evil, he knew no such thing as compromise and his ready natural wit coupled with his logic, which he used with great force both in the pulpit and on the rostrum, gave him an audience that always staid to the end of his sermon or address, however long. Rev. Binkley passed away at his home in Sherman January 13, 1916, and left behind as a monument a work which neither "moth nor rust can corrupt or take away." REV. J.M. BINKLEY TELLS OF FOUNDING FIRST SCHOOLS AND CHURCHES IN THIS COUNTY - ALSO GIVES NAMES OF FIRST PREACHERS One of the most beloved men Grayson county has ever had was Rev. J.M. Binkley, one of the leading ministers in this county. The following interview given to a Courier representative in 1910 will be found of much interest and value: "I came to Sherman in 1853. I went to school with Rev. Barton W. Taylor, a brother-in-law of old man Geo. Dugan, on of the old settlers and an uncle by marriage of Dan Dugan, who lives just across the street from me now. Taylor's school stood on the lot where the new Methodist church now stands, that is, the boarding house stood where the church is and the school building was on the back end of the lot. That was in 1854 and I guess he must have had in his school at the time something like a hundred students, many of whom were from a distance. Jesse Loving, who is here, went to school there at the same time I did, and so did Ed Moore and his wife, and Tom Richards' wife and a number of others around here. At that time there was a union church with a Masonic hall above where the opera house now stands and Ezekiel Couch was the pastor. Other preachers of that day were Wm. Stovall, Andrew Cummins, and Louis Crouse, and some others. Rev. Garrison of the C.P. church had a school here along about that time. Dr. B.F. Hall preached here then for the Christian Church. The Baptist church organized a church here about 1857 or 1858 with Rev. McComb, who is yet living, was their preacher. There was a union church building here along about that time and it belonged to the M.E. Church South, the Protestant Methodist, Presbyterians, and Christians. All that was before the war. The old Methodist church that stands down here on South Travis was built in 1859. I was the first stationed preacher the Methodist ever had in Sherman. The Baptists built a church on their present site in 1859 and the Christians built one about the same time down here on east Houston Street. There were very few church houses in Grayson county except here in Sherman until after the war. The Baptist built a church out here west of town at Pecan Grove and I think the Methodist had a church at Basin Springs and one down at Farmington. Services were held here all during the war at different places by different denominations, but most of the preaching in Grayson county until after the war was in school houses and under brush arbors." Rev. J.M. Binkley is buried at West Hill Cemetery, Sherman and a Texas State Historical Marker has been placed at his gravesite. Biography Index Susan Hawkins © 2024 If you find any of Grayson County TXGenWeb links inoperable, please send me a message. |