 Denison  Section 1
 The Dallas Morning News in
those days printed society snippets for towns all over North Texas. In
1892 they ran a couple of one-line items for Henrietta noting that Emma
McCray of Denison had visited her sister, Mrs. Myra. M. Donley.
The 1880 Census shows Mya, age 31, living in Henrietta with
husband Richard M., 33, and their three children. Richard was shot in
the head two years later by a political opponent, who took offense at
something Richard said about him. He's buried in Henrietta. By the time
Emma visited Myra there in 1892, she had been a widow for about 10
years. At some point during the next nine years Myra moved from
Henrietta to Denison, perhaps because her son found work there. The
1901 Denison City Directory lists Myra M. Donley, widow of R. M.,
running a boarding house at 510 W. Morgan. The 1903 directory lists
Myra M. Donnelly at 401 W. Sears, two doors east of Mary Allen and Emma
McCray at 411. By 1905 Myra Donley was living at 331 W. Munson. The 1920 Census shows Myra Donnelly in Greenville as the HOH of a residence that included her widowed daughter, Clyde Tapp (presumably it was supposed to be Mrs. Clyde Tapp), and a grandson, Clyde Fowler. Mrs. Clyde Tapp was the informant on Mary's and Emma's death certificates. But before she arranged for her aunts' burials, Mrs. Tapp buried her brother and mother in 1921. She shipped Myra's body back to Henrietta to lie next to the ill-fated Richard. So the three McCray sisters all died between 1921 and 1925. The Denison Daily Herald reported in July of 1907 that Ed Donley had been arrested for passing counterfeit money. Fourteen years later his obit (attached) said that he moved with his mother to Greenville "some sixteen years ago." I don't know the result of his arrest, but 16 years is close enough to 14 years to suggest that the Donleys may have decided to leave town shortly after he was arrested.    Zola Mae Allen 6 December 1905 - 5 May 1985 The Sunday Gazetteer Sunday, February 5, 1893 Thursday night between 8 and 9 o'clock Conductor Ed Allen, of the Ft. Worth division, was killed in the yard near the Mirick avenue crossing in south Denison. No one saw the accident and just how Mr. Allen met his death will never be known. The train was from the south, had entered the city and was pulling in on one of the freight sidings in the repairing yards. The supposition is that Allen left the caboose and was going forward on the top of the train, expecting to get on the engine to ride down to the roundhouse, when he slipped and fell between the cars. In a short time one of the car repairers came along and found the remains partially across the track and and under the train. One foot and a portion of the leg was mashed off, the other leg and the lower body was badly cut. The remains were placed on a stretcher and removed to the L. Lindsey undertaking office, where they were prepared for burial. While the undertaker was at work Mrs. Allen, wife of the dead man, arrived. The lady was wild with grief and excitement and it was impossible to control her. Mr. Allen has been a resident of the city 3 or 4 years, and, if the Gazetteer mistakes not, was a brakeman on the train with Conductor Woodard when that gentleman sustained injuries that finally resulted in his death. Mr. Allen was married something over a year ago at Henrietta, and since that time has resided with his wife at 519 North Austin avenue. The remains were interred Friday afternoon in Oakwood Cemetery. Mr. Hopkins, the rear brakeman, gives the following with reference to the accident: "We were pulling into the yards when Allen told me to remain at the crossing and cut the train and that he would go ahead and signal the engineer. The train stopped and I mounted the ladder to give a signal for it to go ahead when a man called out, 'you have killed a man.' I ran down, saw Mr. Allen's lunch basket by the side of the train and I knew it was he. I called to him but he made no answer. We carried him into the caboose and he died in a few minutes without speaking a word." The Sunday Gazetteer Sunday, February 5, 1893 pg. 4 LOCAL CONDENSATIONS Friday, February 3 - The remains of Conductor Ed Allen were interred in Oakwood cemetery this evening under the auspices of the O.R.C. EDITOR'S NOTE: Mary Allen has two Texas Death certificates; one lists her birth date as September 10, 1856 and her death place as Dallas, Dallas County, with Mr. Clyde Taft of Denison as the informant. The second death certificate lists her birth date as September 10, 1857 and her death place as Denison, Grayson County, Texas with a Mr. Bomadale of Dallas as the informant. The birth year of 1856 is more likely the correct birth year for Mary as it matches the ages for her listed on the federal census for Denison, Grayson Co., Texas and Dallas, Dallas Co., Texas. Her obituary states "She lived in Denison more than 30 years ago." which would indicate she left Grayson County for Dallas about 1898. However, she is listed as living at 411 W. Sears Street in all Denison City Directories, 1896 - 1905. After her husband was killed on the train in February 1893, she moved to Sears Street from 519 North Austin Avenue. She rented out furnished rooms at 411 W. Sears Street until she was about 48 years of age, at which time she left Denison. The 1908 Dallas City Directory lists Mary F. Allen, widow of Edward, renting out furnished rooms in a house on Cadiz Street; the 1910 Dallas census shows Mary and her sister, Emma McCray, living at the same residence and continuing to rent rooms for several years. The 1921 Dallas City Directory shows Mary living at 3310 San Jacinto, the address on one of her death certificates.   OAKWOOD CEMETERY
Susan Hawkins
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