History & Genealogy For the Active Researcher   

IF YOU LIKE, PLEASE NOMINATE US FOR  TEXAS COUNTY OF THE MONTH NOMINATIONS

RETURN TO INDEX PAGE

GENEALOGY FRIENDS OF PLANO [TEXAS] LIBRARIES, INC.
                                              SUPPORTING GLADYS HARRINGTON LIBRARY

                                               THE LARGEST GENEALOGY COLLECTION IN THE COUNTY

 

                                                  GENEALOGY FRIENDS is not associated with any genealogy societies.

                                               We are certified under Section 501[c] [3] corporation of the Internal Revenue Code.


SHACK CEMETERY - McKINNEY

VFW Hall, Church Street

Cemeteries of Collin County, Texas, Joy Gough

In a thicket just west of the current VFW Hall there was a cemetery some 20 feet square that contained about 10 graves. The graves were marked with bois d'arc markers, or unmarked. For years the graveyard stood out in the middle of a plowed field. Someone finally plowed it under. No one knows who was buried here. It is thought to have been a colored cemetery. This is about the same area as Shack's hanging. Both cemeteries were written about by Capt. Roy Hall.

Shack Culwell was an 18-year-old black man who was hanged for killing a white man on August 18, 1882. He thought his boss, W. R. Norvell, had cheated him out of $5.00, so he killed him. The whole county attended the trial and they all went to watch the hanging. Shack was taken to a dead oak tree on the north side of town in a wagon with his coffin. He was supposedly buried at the foot of the tree where he was hanged. His grave was marked for a long time by a rail pen that was 10 feet in diameter. The sight of his grave is said to be about were Joe Ledbetter had his store. There are several historic accounts of Shack's hanging. Time was measured by Shack's hanging, whether things happened before or after the hanging.

CEMETERY INDEX

Recommended citation:
Shack 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 ].


Send mail to GenFriends@comcast.net with questions or comments about this web site.
Copyright © 2004 Genealogy Friends of Plano [Collin County, Texas] Libraries, Inc.
Post Office Box 860477, Plano, Texas 75086-0477, USA 
Genealogy Friends Activities and Events
Copyright 2003 by Genealogy Friends of Plano Libraries, Inc. This material may be viewed, downloaded, and printed by individuals for personal, non-commercial use only. The use of this material for any other purpose, including but not limited to publication on another web site or in print, is prohibited.
Genealogy Friends of the Plano Library, Inc. is a non-profit organization certified under section 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Code. All contributions are directed to the improvement and expansion of the Gladys Harrington Library Genealogy Section.

Last modified: March 27, 2004
1