Judge C. C. Binkley
Sherman, Grayson County, Texas
Marker Inscription
(January 12, 1826 - March 15, 1886) Christopher Columbus Binkley came to Texas in 1852 and became a law partner of Sherman's first mayor. He served as district judge from 1870 to 1874 and Republican national committeeman for many years. As a founder and the first president of Merchants and Planters Bank, Judge Binkley was the financial leader of the county and was considered one of the most trusted and outstanding businessmen of his day. Upon his death, Judge Binkley was acknowledged as Sherman's leading citizen. (1997)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Christopher Columbus Binkley reached Texas in 1852 and became law partner to Sherman's first mayor before serving as district judge from 1870 to 1874. A longtime Republican national committeeman during Reconstruction, he founded and led the Merchants and Planters Bank, making him the financial anchor of Grayson County. At his death in 1886 he was hailed as Sherman's leading citizen.
Why it matters
Binkley's blend of law, Republican politics, and banking illustrates how Reconstruction-era Texas towns knit together their legal, political, and economic power in a single trusted figure.
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Thomas Jefferson Shannon arrived in Texas in 1839, when it was still an independent republic, and settled in the area that became Grayson County in 1845. As the county's first state legislator he pushed to move the county seat to present-day Sherman and donated the land for the townsite, earning the nickname "Father of Sherman." A pioneering cattleman, he even imported Durham cattle said to be a gift from Queen Victoria in 1848, while his daughter Julia named the town's first streets.
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Thomas Randolph arrived in Grayson County as a boy in 1859 and, groomed for business, joined the Merchants and Planters Bank at nineteen. Rising to president in 1886, he led the bank for more than three decades, using its influence to draw new industry to Sherman and to help found the city's first hospital. Though he also chaired a St. Louis bank's board, Sherman remained his home until his death in 1918.
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