Bain
BAIN FAMILY
From historical marker application
In 1865 Anna Melissa Hicks Bain, the widow of John Alexander Bain, a prosperous cattleman, moved her family six miles south from the farm she and her husband had developed on Indian Creek to the new settlement of Farmersville in Collin County, Texas. There she had purchased six and a three quarters acres of prime real estate, which included the entire east side of the village square and land adjacent o the south side of College Street for a homestead. [...] It was to be her home until her death in 1906. After her husband died in 1862, she never remarried. At the home on College Street she reared five daughters; Mary Clorinda (1853-1927), Martha (1856-1921), twin girls Catherine (1859-1928) and Christina (1859-1921), and Margaret (1861-1874). Christina, an invalid, never married, and Margaret, the youngest daughter, died in childhood. Mary Clorinda and Catherine married brothers, Henry Dickenson Honaker and Andrew Jackson Honaker. Martha married William Sayles Aston. All of Anna Bain’s children remained in Farmersville throughout their lives.
Anna Melissa Hicks was the daughter of Absalom and Christina Matheny Hicks. She was born in Roane County, Tennessee in 1834. Her father, Absalom (1793-1877), was a native of Surry County, North Carolina and died in Fannin County, Texas. Absalom Hicks fought against the Creek Indians in the War of 1812. For his military service he received 80 acres of bounty land. On May 7, 1826, he married Christina Matheny, the daughter of Elijah and Mary Davis Matheny. They had eight children, five sons and three daughters. Like many Southern yeoman farm families of their time, they migrated west, farming for a while in Tennessee and Arkansas, before taking up land in Fannin County soon after Texas was admitted to the Union in 1845. From 1850 until Absalom Hicks’ death in May 1877, they farmed land near the English Fort at Bonham, Texas. Following his death, Absalom Hicks’ widow, Christina, received a widow’s pension for his service in the War of 1812. She lived to be 91, spending her last years in the home of her eldest daughter, Anna Melissa in Farmersville. She died on April 5, 1897. Both Absalom and Christina Hicks are buried in the IOOF Cemetery there.
On January 19, 1853 Anna Melissa Hicks married John Alexander Bain in Fannin county, Texas, where his parents lived near Honey Grove. John Bain was born on March 15, 1823 in Robeson County, North Carolina, the second son of William C. and Catherine McKennon Bain. In 1846 the recently widowed Catherine Bain, her four sons, two daughters and 22 slaves moved to Texas. There they settled on land she had purchased on the North Fork of the Sulphur River at Honey Grove, Fannin County. Two years later Catherine Bain deeded this land to her sons Hugh, John and Kenneth. After John married Anna Melissa Hicks they settled on newly opened farm land near Indian Creek, in eastern Collin County. The tax records of the period list him as a cattleman. They remained there until Bain’s death in November 1862. His widow and five daughters continued to live on the farm until the end of the Civil War, when the moved Farmersville. Although she moved her family to town, Mrs. Bain retained the farm and 212 acres in Fannin County as sources of income until her death in 1906. [...]
In 1906 when Anna Bain died she left her home to her twin daughters Cassie and Christina, with the understanding that Cassie would look after her invalid sister, an epileptic, for the remainder of her life. By the time of her mother’s death, Cassie had been widowed and married a second time. In 1889 she first married Andrew Jackson Honaker (1858-1892), the younger brother of her sister Molly’s husband, Henry. Soon after his marriage in 1889 and the birth of his son the following year, he entered the University of Kentucky’s School of Medicine to study dentistry, but contracted meningitis and died. He was 33 years old. During his time at medical school in Kentucky, Cassie and their son, Bain, live with her mother. They remained there after his death. Cassie eventually married James E. Jones.
From historical marker application
In 1865 Anna Melissa Hicks Bain, the widow of John Alexander Bain, a prosperous cattleman, moved her family six miles south from the farm she and her husband had developed on Indian Creek to the new settlement of Farmersville in Collin County, Texas. There she had purchased six and a three quarters acres of prime real estate, which included the entire east side of the village square and land adjacent o the south side of College Street for a homestead. [...] It was to be her home until her death in 1906. After her husband died in 1862, she never remarried. At the home on College Street she reared five daughters; Mary Clorinda (1853-1927), Martha (1856-1921), twin girls Catherine (1859-1928) and Christina (1859-1921), and Margaret (1861-1874). Christina, an invalid, never married, and Margaret, the youngest daughter, died in childhood. Mary Clorinda and Catherine married brothers, Henry Dickenson Honaker and Andrew Jackson Honaker. Martha married William Sayles Aston. All of Anna Bain’s children remained in Farmersville throughout their lives.
Anna Melissa Hicks was the daughter of Absalom and Christina Matheny Hicks. She was born in Roane County, Tennessee in 1834. Her father, Absalom (1793-1877), was a native of Surry County, North Carolina and died in Fannin County, Texas. Absalom Hicks fought against the Creek Indians in the War of 1812. For his military service he received 80 acres of bounty land. On May 7, 1826, he married Christina Matheny, the daughter of Elijah and Mary Davis Matheny. They had eight children, five sons and three daughters. Like many Southern yeoman farm families of their time, they migrated west, farming for a while in Tennessee and Arkansas, before taking up land in Fannin County soon after Texas was admitted to the Union in 1845. From 1850 until Absalom Hicks’ death in May 1877, they farmed land near the English Fort at Bonham, Texas. Following his death, Absalom Hicks’ widow, Christina, received a widow’s pension for his service in the War of 1812. She lived to be 91, spending her last years in the home of her eldest daughter, Anna Melissa in Farmersville. She died on April 5, 1897. Both Absalom and Christina Hicks are buried in the IOOF Cemetery there.
On January 19, 1853 Anna Melissa Hicks married John Alexander Bain in Fannin county, Texas, where his parents lived near Honey Grove. John Bain was born on March 15, 1823 in Robeson County, North Carolina, the second son of William C. and Catherine McKennon Bain. In 1846 the recently widowed Catherine Bain, her four sons, two daughters and 22 slaves moved to Texas. There they settled on land she had purchased on the North Fork of the Sulphur River at Honey Grove, Fannin County. Two years later Catherine Bain deeded this land to her sons Hugh, John and Kenneth. After John married Anna Melissa Hicks they settled on newly opened farm land near Indian Creek, in eastern Collin County. The tax records of the period list him as a cattleman. They remained there until Bain’s death in November 1862. His widow and five daughters continued to live on the farm until the end of the Civil War, when the moved Farmersville. Although she moved her family to town, Mrs. Bain retained the farm and 212 acres in Fannin County as sources of income until her death in 1906. [...]
In 1906 when Anna Bain died she left her home to her twin daughters Cassie and Christina, with the understanding that Cassie would look after her invalid sister, an epileptic, for the remainder of her life. By the time of her mother’s death, Cassie had been widowed and married a second time. In 1889 she first married Andrew Jackson Honaker (1858-1892), the younger brother of her sister Molly’s husband, Henry. Soon after his marriage in 1889 and the birth of his son the following year, he entered the University of Kentucky’s School of Medicine to study dentistry, but contracted meningitis and died. He was 33 years old. During his time at medical school in Kentucky, Cassie and their son, Bain, live with her mother. They remained there after his death. Cassie eventually married James E. Jones.
