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.
|