Site of Wilmeth-McKinney Homestead
McKinney, Collin County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Joseph Brice (J.B.) Wilmeth (b.1807) and Nancy Ferguson (b.1807) were married in Tennessee in 1826. They settled here on 320 acres of virgin prairie in 1846. They began to farm their land and soon built a grand two-story family home at this site. Elder J.B. Wilmeth, along with pioneer settler Collin McKinney, established Collin County's First Christian Church at Liberty in 1846. J.B. organized McKinney's First Christian Church in 1848, and early worship services were held in his home. Between 1848 and 1887 the Wilmeth home also was the site of a free school taught by J.B. and his children. J.B. served on the commission that selected the Collin County seat and later served as district clerk and county judge. In 1850 the Wilmeths' daughter, Martha, married Daniel L. McKinney, grandson of Collin McKinney. Following the deaths of J.B. and Nancy in 1892, Martha and Daniel lived in the Wilmeth home until Daniel's death in 1906. The homestead was next occupied by Martha and Daniel's son, John Brice, and his wife, Annie (Magers), until their deaths in 1968. Materials from the original Wilmeth home were used to build a new house here in 1941. The property continues to be recognized as an important site in early Collin County history. (1994)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
When J.B. and Nancy Wilmeth staked out 320 acres of untouched Collin County prairie in 1846, Texas had been a U.S. state for less than a year and the frontier was still raw. Their two-story home became a hub of pioneer life—a place of worship for the First Christian Church congregation J.B. organized, and a free school he and his children taught for nearly four decades. J.B. helped choose the county seat and served as district clerk and county judge, while marriages knit his family to that of Collin McKinney, the county's namesake and a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence.
Why it matters
The homestead shows how a single frontier family could seed a county's church, school, and government at once, embodying how civic institutions took root across the newly annexed Texas.
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Related people
- · J.B. Wilmeth
- · Nancy Ferguson Wilmeth
- · Collin McKinney
- · Daniel L. McKinney
Related events
- · Founding of Collin County's First Christian Church
Themes & tags
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