OVER COLLIN CO.
Monday, Sept. 29, 1952
On the Wing
By Capt. Roy F. Hall
In the study and
writing of history there is one infallible landmark usually passed over by
historical authors. This is our older cemeteries, or graveyards, as they
were called up to fifty years ago. In them lie the pioneers who made the
country what it is. Many, all too many, lie there with only the tombstone to
note their passing; the part they played and the history they made having
been long forgotten.
It is the
intention of this writer to note, from time to time, some of these old
cemeteries and, so far as possible, the histories of our forefathers and
mothers who lie there in eternal sleep. If somebody does not do so, in the
immediate future most of them will pass beyond the memory of those now
living, and their names lost from the world forever. Many of them deserve
that this be not so.
One of the
oldest graveyards in Collin County is the McLarry Cemetery four miles north
of McKinney in the old Wilmeth settlement. This burial ground was started in
1851 when John R. Jones, who owned the headright, buried an infant son
there. Several early settlers were also buried in the cemetery, which was,
at time, a private one. None of these are marked, the earliest stone with a
date is that of Mrs. Eliza A. Jones, wife of J. W. Jones who died in 1887.
In this
graveyard lie the remains of Polly McGarrah, wife of John McGarrah, the
founder of old Buckner, the first county seat of Collin County. John
McGarrah, or Jack, as he was called, went to California in 1849 and died in
Panama on the way back. With him went Tola Dunn his son-in-law, who was born
within a quarter mile of the present cemetery. Tola also failed to return.
Both men left several children. Many of the McGarrah family lie here.
Several
Confederate veterans rest in this burial ground. Francis M. Hunn and R. A.
McLarry are two of them. Uncle Frank Hunn was born in Kentucky in l838, and
came to Collin in 1844 with his father. He served in the Civil War first in
Johnsons Spy Company from McKinney, then in Patton's regiment and finally
was under the great Confederate leader, Gen. John Morgan. Frank Hunn married
Cynthia Ann Dunn, daughter of Tola, in 1868, and had 13 children. He died in
McKinney, April 1, 1933.
R. A. (Bob)
McLarry was also in Morgan's cavalry, Company I, Duke's Kentucky Cavalry,
and was with the Confederate general when he made his famous raid into
Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio in July, 1863, with 4,000 men. A comrade of Frank
Hunn's in the war, he came to Collin County in 1869 and married Hunn's
wife's sister, Mary Virginia (Jennie) Dunn, in 1872. Aunt Jennie died in
1901, and lies in the cemetery which by now was known as the McLarry
graveyard. Bob McLarry had bought land adjoining Hunn's on the north, and
the cemetery was now on his farm. R. A. McLarry died in McKinney, April 5,
1929.
Cynthia Ann Hunn,
Francis M. Hunns wife, was born May 5, 1845 in a log cabin which stood in
McLarry's field, within a half mile of her home after she married, and 400
yards of her final resting place in the McLarry cemetery. She, so far as
known, was the first white baby girl born in what is now Collin County. Many
of her children lie in the cemetery with her.
Here, in a
single grave, lie the pioneers of the Wilmeth settlement, Joseph Brice and
Nancy Ferguson Wilmeth. They were both born in the same year, 1807, and both
died in the same year, 1892, the same ago, 84 plus. Mrs. Wilmeth died on
January 14, 1892, and Mr. Wilmeth the next day, and both were married in the
same grave.
The Wilmeths
came to Texas early 1845, to Dallas, and to their permanent home two miles
north of present McKinney in early 1846. He was district clerk at old
Buckner, helped locate and survey the town of McKinney and served in various
capacities in the new County of Collin; Chief Justice (County Judge), and
several other offices. His wife was Nancy Ferguson, a granddaughter of Gen.
Patrick Ferguson, who was defeated and killed while leading the British
forces against the Americans at Kings Mountain during the American
Revolution of 1776. Wilmeth settlement took its name from them.
Here too, lies
Daniel Leak and his wife, Martha Marilia McKinney. D. L. (Leak) McKinney was
a grandson of Collin McKinney, and Martha was a daughter of J. B. Wilmeth
mentioned above. Mr. McKinney was born in 1827 and died in 1906. Aunt
Martha, as she was called, was born in 1831, and died in 1930 at Van Alstyne,
age 99. They had lived since their marriage, in 1850, in and near Van
Alstyne, but moved to the old Wilmeth homestead in 1893.
R. J. Straughan
and his wife, Mary, are buried here. R. J. (Romey) Straughan came to Texas
with the Wilmeths and his uncle, Jordon O. Straughan in 1845. Jordon O. was
a leader in the affairs of the new county of Collin from its organization,
serving in several official capacities. R. J. Straughan married the daughter
of Hi Wilmeth, the son of J. B. Wilmeth, named heretofore. Mr. Straughan
died in 1926. His wife, 1935.
J. F. McGarrah
was born in Arkansas in 1838 and died in McKinney 1938, age l00. He and his
wife, Mary Ann, are buried in the McLarry cemetery. J. F. was the son of
George McGarrah, a brother of John who founded Buckner. George came to Texas
in 1843, a year after his brother, and settled just south of him at Buckner.
His wife died in 1934.
Here also lies a
man of whom practically nothing is known, save his name, James S. Sallie.
Except that he was high in Masonic circles, little was known of Mr. Sallie.
This writer, reared as his neighbor, knew a little, and that he told me
personally. For some reason not recognizable he took a liking to me as a
boy, and once, just before he died in 1899, he told me the following story
in his home: He said that he was ten years older than even his wife thought,
and that he was born under Lafitte the Pirate on Galveston Island in 1822.
He said his father took him to Maine when the pirate stronghold was broken
up by the U. S. Government and reared there in wealth. He, his wife and a
small son came to Wilmeth and purchased a farm about the middle 1890s. After
telling me this, and swearing me to secrecy, he went to his fireplace,
rolled back the carpet on the floor and lifted a trap door. In a box, sunk
in the ground, were ten or fifteen big swords, strange-looking knives and
muskets with belled muzzles. He said they had belonged to his father and
that they would be mine some day. His son married and is now dead, as are
all his children. I often wonder what became of those weapons
Of the 200 or
more graves in this cemetery, only some 50 are marked with stones. The rest,
including 30 or 40 slaves, are indicated by bois d arc stobs, or not at all.
The graveyard is still used, but only by those who already have relatives
buried there. It is situated far back off traveled roads on the rim of Honey
Creek valley, and few people have occasion to ever pass that way. In the
course of time all these old pioneer cemeteries will be abandoned, and it
seems fitting that something should now be said of those courageous
settlers, their wives and their children who paved the way so that you and I
can live unafraid in a peaceful land.
Historical marker, 1981
McLARRY
CEMETERY
THIS SITE
WAS FIRST USED AS A
CEMETERY
IN 1851 WHEN PROPERTY
OWNER JOHN
R. JONES BURIED HIS
INFANT SON
HERE. THE LAND WAS
LATER
DONATED AS A PUBLIC BURIAL
GROUND FOR
THE PIONEER SETTLERS
OF THE
SURROUNDING WILMETH
SETTLEMENT
BY MARY VIRGINIA
DUNN
McLARRY AND HER FATHER
ROBERT A.
McLARRY. THE EARLIEST
MARKED
GRAVES ARE THOSE OF A
BROTHER
AND SISTER, HENRY E. AND
ADELLA M.
HALL, WHO DIED IN 1870.
ALSO
BURIED HERE IS J. B. WILMETH,
FOR WHOM
THE COMMUNITY WAS
NAMED. THE
SITE IS NOW USED BY
DESCENDANTS OF THE PIONEER AREA
FAMILIES.
CEMETERY
INDEX
Recommended citation:
McLarry Cemetery - McKinney,
"CEMETERIES OF COLLIN COUNTY." Collin
County, Texas History and Genealogy Webpage by Genealogy Friends of Plano
Libraries, Inc., <http://www.geocities/genfriendsghl>
[Accessed Fri February 13, 2004 ].
