OLD McKINNEY CITY CEMETERY -
McKINNEY
Church Street
N33.1954
W96.6178
Cemeteries of Collin County, Texas, by Joy
Gough
This cemetery
served as the old McKinney cemetery before Pecan Grove Memorial Park was started
in 1870. According the Capt. Roy Hall, the cemetery was started around 1851. It
is referred to at various times as the cemetery in Lovejoy's pasture and the Old
McKinney City Cemetery.
One of the people said to be buried here is George Lovejoy, son of John L.
Lovejoy, who died around 1856. Another is Joe Peake, who was the first homicide
in McKinney. He was killed January 4, 1854, by Alfred Johnson in an argument in
a saloon. Johnson was found innocent of manslaughter. A third person known to be
buried here was the mother of James Curis Lowery, for whom Lowery Crossing was
named. She was the wife of William L. Lowery and died about the end of the Civil
War. A fourth person said to be buried here was Milton Wilkerson, who is said to
be one of the first settlers of McKinney.
A newspaper
article by Capt. Roy Hall says the bones of those interred in this old cemetery
were moved when the church was built. According to COLLIN COUNTY CEMETERY
INSCRIPTIONS I, Milton Wilkerson is currently buried at Pecan Grove Cemetery. He
died in 1867, which was before that cemetery was started. No record was found
for the other people said to be buried here.
Capt. Hall says there were never more than 30 graves in the cemetery. One old
resident, who is now dead, said she remembered playing in the cemetery as a
child. She said there were stones that covered the whole area to Henry Street
and that there were no burials after 1869. That would coincide with the idea
that it was the old city cemetery until Pecan Grove Memorial Park was started in
1870. The cemetery was never used by the Presbyterian church.
The Trinity Cumberland Presbyterian Church had a wooden building in this area as
far back as the early 1870's. This church building was erected in 1926. At that
time there were no remaining stones in the cemetery. According to Capt. Hall,
when the building was constructed, bones were uncovered. A search of the Trinity
Presbyterian Church records did not find any mention of the cemetery in the
1870's or the 1920's. James W. Thomas sold the land to the trustees of the
Cumberland Presbyterian Church, one of whom was John L. Lovejoy, with the deed
listed in Vol W, p 232. At one time this church was called the Central
Presbyterian Church. They tried to unite with the First Presbyterian Church and
were denied.
The Trinity Presbyterian Church congregation has moved about 15 miles west to
the Stonebridge Ranch area. The old building has been sold but so far nothing is
being done with it.
McKinney
CEMETERY INDEX
Recommended
citation:
Old McKinney
City 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 ].
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