McKain Family Home
Wills Point, Van Zandt County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Built 1874 for Thomas J. and Mattie Cornelia Bagby McKain-- first couple married in Wills Point. McKain had come to Texas in 1870 from Florida; his bride, born in Virginia, was educated at Old Trinity University, Tehuacana. McKain (1849-1922), a merchant and Texas immigration promoter, served as the first (and also later) mayor of Wills Point, and was alderman and school trustee. Lumber for the house came by ox-wagon from Longview. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, 1968
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Thomas J. McKain came to Texas from Florida in 1870 and, four years later, built this house for his bride Mattie Cornelia Bagby — the first couple married in the young town of Wills Point. The lumber traveled by ox-wagon all the way from Longview. A merchant who promoted immigration to Texas, McKain served repeatedly as mayor along with stints as alderman and school trustee, helping shape the community in its formative decades.
Why it matters
Homes of a town's founding families capture how merchants and local boosters knit raw settlements into lasting communities in post–Civil War Texas.
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Related people
- · Thomas J. McKain
- · Mattie Cornelia Bagby McKain
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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William A. Wills
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Tennessee native William A. Wills moved his family to Texas in 1847 and settled along the Dallas–Shreveport Road, where the Wills home became a welcome stop for travelers. He served the young county as tax assessor-collector, road overseer, and commissioner, and by 1855 court records were already calling the area around his property 'Wills Point.' When the town was laid out along the Texas and Pacific Railroad in 1873, it took his name for good.
County Seat War
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A surveyor's error in 1850 placed Van Zandt County's seat on private land, and by 1877 discontent boiled over into a full-blown "county seat war." When Judge Cadwell Walton Raines ordered the records moved from Canton to Wills Point, some 200 armed men marched in protest, and Governor R. B. Hubbard had to send militia to keep the peace. Bloodshed was averted, the records went back to Canton in 1878, and the seat stayed there for good.