Grayson County TXGenWeb


EDITOR'S NOTE: The following article was prepared for the LEADER by H. D. Hynds.

The Van Alstyne Cemetery was started before the Civil War as a family burial ground for the Collin McKinney Family. The first person buried in the Cemetery was in 1845 and was the first wife of Collin McKinney. Soon afterward the Milam, Kelly, Greer, Cannon, Hayhurst, Fulton, Cartwright and Garver families were buried here.

In 1871, James Ashley McKinney, son of Collin McKinney, deeded four acres to the public for a cemetery and in the deed he requested that one acre be set aside for the African Descent. The four acres has been filled up years ago. The Cemetery has grown to over 60 acres.

The Cemetery is operated by seven directors elected by the lot owners at the annual meeting held the fourth Tuesday in January each year at the First National Bank. The Directors then elect the officers for the ensuing year, President, Vice-Prescient, Secretary and Treasurer.

The present Directors are J. O. Sterling, present; Don S. Flesher, vice-president (and lot salesman); H. D. Hynds, secretary-treasurer, J. W. Shied, D. E. Billups, R. E. B. Fielder and Alfred Baldwin are Trustees.

The directors do not receive any money for looking after the Cemetery. They are all public named citizens and freely give of their time.

In former years, other such citizens as Bill Echols, Scott Fulton, Jim Kelly, W. D. Benton, L. K. Fox, John Douglas, Henry Benton, J. O. Sterling, H. D. Hynds and Don Flesher put in many hours for the Cemetery. From 1925 until 1945, W. D. Benton acted as the secretary of the Cemetery. From 1945 until the present date, the Cemetery has been managed by John Douglas (deceased), J. O. Sterling, H. D. Hynds and Don Flesher.

Bailey Harris is Sexton and in charge of funerals and the upkeep of the Cemetery. He has held this position for the past 17 years and has done an excellent job.

The Cemetery Association has recently spent $2000 to blacktop all the streets in the Cemetery for a total of two and a half miles.

The Cemetery Association has had to purchase a 12 horsepower, 48 inch mower this year at a cost of $1650. Also an edging mower at a cost of $185 has been purchased. An aluminum flag pole has been purchased at a cost of $500. The cost of operating the Cemetery for labor, road unmaintained, trees and shrubbery, gas, oil, and repairs, not including new equipment, has averaged $6000 to $7000 each year.

The Cemetery is mowed and edged from 15 to 20 times each year depending on the rainfall.

The money from the upkeep of your Cemetery comes from the lot owners, relatives and friends and from interest from the foundation. The City of Van Alstyne does not pay any part on the streets or upkeep of the Cemetery.

In 1961 a Van Alstyne Cemetery Foundation was organized for the permanent upkeep lot owners. A fee of $500 for a full lot and $250 for one-half lot perpetual upkeep. A certificate is issue to cover this perpetual upkeep. This donation is deductible from your income tax. None of the Principal can ever be used, only the interest on the principal can be used for the upkeep of the Cemetery.

The Van Alstyne Cemetery Foundation, Inc. shall always be directed by five trustees till the end of time, the Mayor of Van Alstyne, the President and Vice-President of the First National Bank of Van Alstyne, and the President and Secretary of the Van Alstyne Cemetery Association.

They also meet on the fourth Tuesday in January to elect officers for the ensuing year. At the present time those officers are: Robert H. Hynds, president; O. M. Selby, vice-president, and H. D. Hynds, secretary-treasurer. Some 50 lot owners have joined the Cemetery Association.

With the aid of the Van Alstyne High School Typing Class, about 1500 letters are sent out to let owners and relatives each year requesting donations for the upkeep of their lots in the Cemetery. The directors of the Van Alstyne Cemetery Association wish to thank the public for their splendid support of the Cemetery. The Cemetery enjoys the reputation of being one of the best kept and attractive Cemeteries in Texas.

Collin McKinney who started this Cemetery was a signer of the Declaration of Independence of Texas. Collin County and McKinney, Texas were named after him. He was a charter member of the First Christian Church of Van Alstyne; which is the oldest Christian Church in Texas, started in 1846. Near his gravesite in the Cemetery is a historical marker.

The Directors invite the public to visit the Cemetery. We think it is an asset to our community.  Each year Decoration Day is scheduled for
Mother's Day of that year.

Van Alstyne Leader
Thursday, April 20, 2000

Cemetery Still Stands as Monument, Resting Place for African-Americans
By Becky Seevers, staff writer

In 1845, Collin McKinney and his relatives moved to north central Texas. Because he was a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence in 1836 and a member of the drafting committee for the Texas Constitution, Collin was granted land in the area.

His son, Ashley, and his nephew, James, both fought in the Texas Revolution against Mexico, so they also received generous portions of
land here. However, James died in 1836 before he could reach home on the eastern border of Texas, so his wife Polly and their children
along with the rest of the McKinney family relocated to the area that later became Van Alstyne. Their home was on what became the corner
of Austin Street, facing the railroad tracks.

As early as 1846, the McKinney family established a private cemetery when the wife of Collin's nephew, Hiram Caroll McKinney died. A year later, Collin's son, Ashley, also died and was buried in the same family cemetery. When Collin McKinney died in 1861, he was buried there too.

Therefore in 1871, prior to the establishment of the city of Van Alstyne, James Ashley McKinney, the son of James and Polly McKinney, obviously named for both his father James and his uncle Ashley, deeded four acres for use as a public cemetery. The area he set aside was a short distance east of his mother's home, specifying that the northeast quarter was set aside for use by those "of African descent."

All of that occurred before the city of Van Alstyne emerged. When the railroad created the depot town, the cemetery lay immediately to the
east of the designated site of the city.

In recent years, the cemetery has been enlarged. As land adjacent to the grounds became available, it was purchased to add to the cemetery. Today, it covers about 40 acres.

Located east of the railroad tracks and south of Jefferson Street, the Van Alstyne Cemetery is still in use today. Lots are sold by Flesher Funeral Home on FM 121.

Each year Mother's Day is considered "Decoration Day," and many people visit the cemetery to place flowers on the graves of their loved ones. On that weekend, a tent is set up there, and those who want to make donations for the perpetual care of the cemetery may do so.
Those who purchase lots in the cemetery may also join the Cemetery Foundation.

Van Alstyne Cemetery
Susan Hawkins
©2025

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