Jas. W. McKinney
14 February 1861 - 30 July 1945
Hellen McKinney
15 December 1860 - 9 October 1946
James W. McKinney, Age 84, Passed Away
Last Monday Afternoon
James W. McKinney, 84,
prominent Van Alstyne resident, died at his
home Monday afternoon after four years of
illness.
Mr.
McKinney was born in the Van Alstyne community
January 15, 1861, the
son of Ashley and Jane Bliss McKinney, and has
continued to reside here
with the exception of two years in
Sherman. He was married Feb.
25, 1888 to the former Miss Helen Howard of
Bonham at Dallas. The
couple moved into their present home
immediately following their
marriage.
Mr. McKinney
entered the hardware business in 1900,
retiring several years ago
because of his illness. A member of the
Methodist Church, he had
served on the board of stewarts and as a
trustee for a number of
years. He is a descendant of Collin
McKinney.
Funeral
services were held Tuesday afternoon at the
Methodist Church, with the
Rev. W.H. Vail, conducting assisted by Rev. T.
Lennox, pastor of the
Christian Church. Interment was at Van
Alstyne Cemetery under the
direction of Fox-Fanning.
Survivors
are his widow; two sons, Claude A. of Van
Alstyne and Eugene McKinney
of Galveston; three grandchildren, Mrs. E.
Garrison of Springfield,
Mo., Eugenia McKinney of Van Alstyne and David
Wayne McKinney of
Galveston; and one sister, Mrs. Lizzie
Slaughter of Midland.
Pallbearers were W.W.
Blassingame, Gus Lewallin, Roscoe Garver, Carl
Umpress, Jim Kitching and Robert Fielder.
Otis McKinney
1
February 1892 - 28 July 1909
s/o
James & Hellen McKinney
Otis McKinney Is Dead
Found Dead in Bed When
His Mother Went to Call Him to Dinner.
The town was shocked from center to
circumference Wednesday at noon
when news that Otis McKinney, the 17-year-old
son of Mrs. and Mrs.
James W. McKinney, had been found dead in bed
at the family residence
near the Christian Church.
A
Leader representative repaired to the
residence and found the house
thronged with sympathizing friends and
relatives doing all they could
to comfort the distracted parents. In an
upper room was the body
of the dead boy on the bed where it was when
the discovery of death was
made. The right arm
was in a drawn position and had become
rigid. The lips were slightly dark and
there were a few dark
splotches about the face. After
considerable work the arm was
gotten to a natural position and the splotches
were pretty well removed
from the face.
From the
father of the dead boy it was learned that the
discovery that he was
dead was made by his mother when she went to
his room to call him to
dinner. Mrs. McKinney told him dinner
was ready and enumerated
some of the things that were on the
table. Getting no response,
she turned back the cover and was horrified
and prostrated to find the
boy cold in death. Screams of the
distracted mother alarmed the
neighborhood and many hurried to the McKinney
home to be of assistance
and learn the cause of the mother's condition.
Mr.
McKinney stated that Otis had not been well
for three or four days and that on Monday he
had sent
a
physician to see him. Tuesday he arose
late in the morning and
was about the store some during the day, went
to the ball game in the
afternoon and attended services at the
tabernacle Tuesday night.
From the tabernacle he went to the club rooms
of the Business Men's
League and remained a while, going from there
to his room about 11
o'clock. As he went to his room he asked
his father if his
brother Claude had come home. Being
informed that he had, Otis
went into his room and retired, sleeping in
the same bed with his
brother.
When Mr.
McKinney
arose Wednesday morning he went to the boys'
room and awoke Claude,
asking him to go and open the store.
Owing to Otis' illness he
did not disturb him, intending to allow him to
sleep as late as he
wished. At that time Mr. McKinney says
Otis was lying with his
head toward the foot of the bed. Claude
got up and left the room
taking no special notice of his brother.
When the dead body was
discovered the head was toward the head of the
bed, and the condition
of the bed clothing would indicate that there
was no struggle.
Mrs.
McKinney left the house about 10 o'clock to
attend the services at the
tabernacle, supposing that her son was still
sleeping, as had been his
custom since he had been indisposed.
Rumors
that it was a case of suicide became
prevalent. The father
stated, however, that he had not the slightest
idea that the boy took
his own life and Dr. J.M. Slaughter, when
asked as to what the ascribed
death, said it was due to acute indigestion.
The
funeral services were conducted at the
Methodist tabernacle at 10
o'clock Thursday morning by Rev. J.B. Davis
and J.D.L. McKinney and the
body was laid to rest at the Van Alstyne
cemetery, the following
friends of the deceased acting as pallbearers:
Louis Golden, Leslie
Douglas, C.B. McAnally,
Roy Denton, Jim Baker, W.D. Benton.
These said rites were attended throughout by a
. . . throng of
sorrowing relatives and friends.
Otis
McKinney was reared in Van Alstyne, was
educated here and since leaving
school was associated with his father and his
brother Claude in the
hardware business in this city. If he
ever had the slightest
inclination to be wild this writer has no
knowledge of it. He was
a quiet, respectful young man and his
associates were the flower of the
young people of the town.
In
his death, made doubly shocking by it
suddenness, his devoted parents
and his two brothers have sustained a blow
under which it is hard for
them to bear up. That burden, however,
will be lightened if the
sympathy and prayers of good people are potent
to that end.
Out
of respect for the memory of the dead boy the
ball game scheduled for
Wednesday afternoon was annulled and the
business houses closed
Thursday morning, while the funeral services
were in progress.
The
following out-of-town people attended the
funeral: Mr. and Mrs. Dee
Stubbs, Mr. and Mrs. Mark McManum, Bonham; Mr.
and Mrs. Grenell,
Sherman; John Elliott, Whitesboro; Ray Gumm,
Dallas; ?.J. Reynolds,
Sherman; Richard and Fulton Slaughter,
Sherman; Zac Slaughter,
Arlington; Mr. and Mrs. A.B. Weisner, Pilot
Point; Mrs. E.F. Sewall and
children, Arlington.
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