Jas. A. McKinney
1851 - 1923
Van Alstyne Leader
December 6,1923
JAMES A. McKINNEY
The
history of any people or of any section is the
history of its pioneers
- of the men and women who blazed the trail,
laid the foundation and
erected the pillars upon which the life of the
people, or the section,
was formed and fashioned.
The
chronicles of this section are rich in the
legends of the
pioneer. Their recording has not as yet
reached the period at
which the death of one belonging to the older
generation does not
occasion sorrow, and cause the minds and
memories of the living to
wander again in the channels of the days when
men with iron in their
very souls wrought to the end that their
children and their children's
children should live happily.
It is
in a vein such as this that one would write of
James A. McKinney.
Born in this community on October 4, 1851, his
life, covering a period
of 72 years, 1 month and 29 days, was spent
within a short distance of
the spot on which he first saw the light of
day. He literally
grew up with this community and during all of
his life played a quiet,
though unostentatious part, in its
development.
Mr. McKinney was a son
of Mr. and Mrs. Marcus McKinney and a
great-grandson of Mr. and Mrs.
Collin McKinney.
At
an early age, he professed a belief in the
Savior, and united with the
First Christian church remaining all through
his life a faithful and
devout member of that faith. His
Christianity was of the reserved
kind; the injunction of pray in secret found
all acknowledgment in his
method of life; his communion with his Master
found free expression in
the cloistered sequestration of his individual
privacy as well as in
the singing of the songs which he loved and
the hymns which expressed
his sentiments.
In his daily walks,
and his contact served. His very
quietness caused with people, he
was nonetheless rehim to see detached, and yet
this element was the
most impelling force of his life. For,
when one came to know him,
the calm reserve amounting almost to shyness
was found to cloak
conceptions of rare excellence and ideals of
sterling worth.
Mr.
McKinney was a charter member of Van Alstyne
Lodge of Odd Fellows, and
the exalted principles of that brotherhood had
no more ardent exponent
in both word and action than he. The
teachings of Odd Fellowship
found in him a ready pupil and the demands and
constant exemplification
through him.
Funeral services were
held at the First Christian church on Tuesday
afternoon, Revs. Leo
Johnston the pastor, and R. C. Hicks, pastor
of the Methodist church
officiating. The scripture lesson and a
prayer were given by Rev.
Hicks at the opening of the service.
After the singing of Mr.
McKinney's favorite hymn, "In the sweet
bye-and-bye," prayer was
offered by S.H. Pattie. A most eloquent
tribute was paid the
deceased by Rev. Johnston.
Interment
was held at the local cemetery, the body being
committed to the earth
from whence it came according to the burial
service of the Odd Fellows,
the local lodge attending in a body.
The
large concourse of people present from this
community and from other
sections, and an abundance of floral offerings
attested the esteem in
which Mr. McKinney was held by all who knew
him.
Mr.
McKinney is survived by three sisters and two
brothers, as follows:
Mrs. Jim Kemp of Whitesboro, Mrs. James Abbott
of Alvin, Mrs. M.E.
Rollins of Eastland, L.M. McKinney of El Paso,
and Will McKinney
of Dodsonville, to whom the sympathy of the
entire community goes out.
Van
Alstyne Leader
December 6, 1923
ATTENDING THE McKINNEY
FUNERAL
The following immediate
relatives attended the funeral of James A.
McKinney Tuesday:
W.C. McKinney and
daughter; Mrs. F.C. Brauns of Dodsonville, Mr.
and Mrs. Chas.
Abbott of Alvin, Mrs.
M.E. Rollins of Eastland, L.M. McKinney of El
Paso, Mr. and Mrs. Jim Kemp
and daughter of Whitesboro, Frank Kemp and
Mrs. Minnie Stacks of Fort Worth.
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