Capt. R. M. Board
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CAPT. R. M. BOARD IS MCKINNEY’S OLDEST MASON;
PIONEER MERCHANT JOINED ORDER HERE IN 1858; HELPED ORGANIZE R.A.M. [Royal Arch Masons] McKinney newspaper, 1923. Captain R. M. Board of this city is the oldest Mason in McKinney. This statement is made after considerable inquiry and search of records for Captain Board and the late T. J. Cloyd of this city. Captain Board was made a Mason in McKinney shortly after he was twenty-one years of age – therefore, he has been a member of the ancient fraternity for sixty-three years. After being made a Master Mason, Captain Board and others went to Jackson, Miss. and received the Chapter degrees and became Royal Arch Masons and aided in establishing Haggai Chapter here. Haggai Chapter No. 53 was chartered June 14, 1856. Dr. T. W. Wiley of this city is another veteran Mason and is following closely after Captain Board’s record. Dr. Wiley was made a Mason in Troy, Ala., in 1860 and consequently he has been a Mason for sixty-one years. Dr. Wiley’s father, Judge James McCaleb Wiley, was Most Worshipful Grand Master of the State of Alabama at the time his son was raised. Dr. Wiley himself has served as Grand Master of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows of the state of Texas, was a member of the First board of trustees that located and built the W. &. O Home at Corsicana, and served for years on the board. Dr. Wiley landed in McKinney on Christmas Eve, 1866 and has been a continuous resident since, being until his retirement a few years ago one of the most widely known physicians in Northern Texas. *** Another Veteran Mason. Captain J. L. Greer of this city, Confederate veteran, pioneer educator, founder of the town of Anna, ex-legislator and successful farmer for many years, has been a Mason fifty-six years. He was made a Mason in Alabama in 1865 and later was master of the Van Alstyne lodge. He is now a member of the St. Johns lodge here. Captain Greer went into the Confederate army a private but came out a captain. He participated in many of the most memorable struggles between the contending two armies. He followed Stonewall Jackson until that great hero fell and then was with Lee at the surrender. Of the two hundred men who enlisted, only nine were let to surrender. He was an eye-witness to the famous battle between the Monitor and the Merrimac, was shot through the arm at Spottsylvania Court House where he was made a prisoner and later was a member of the immortal six hundred who ere subjected to the most harrowing cruelties and placed under the fire of their own guns. After coming here in 1867 he engaged in teaching and farming and later served two terms in the Texas Legislature. Captain R. M. Board, who holds the record of being McKinney’s oldest Mason in point of membership, is one of the pioneer merchants of McKinney. He is now in his eighty-fifth year and is frequently seen on our streets and around the court house engaging in conversation with his old friends. While he has lost his eye sight and his hearing is greatly impaired he enjoys good general health and is able to come to town by himself. He came to McKinney from Kentucky sixty-six years ago. He was a Confederate soldier and served for a while as the first lieutenant. During the battle of Shiloh he was promoted to Captain. He was in many of the most memorable battles of the war. |
Capt. R. M. Board
Mrs. R. M. Board
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CAPTAIN R. M. BOARD, EIGHTY-NINE YEARS OLD FRIDAY; McKINNEY’S EARLIEST LIVING CITIZEN
He and His Dear Old Wife, Both Living, Were Married Here Sixty Years Ago At Home of the Late I. D. Newsome.
McKinney Democrat Gazette, May 20, 1926
Born May 13, 1837 at Rocky Mountain, Va. First arrived in McKinney in 1855. Married April 25, 1866 at home of I. D. Newsome in McKinney to Miss Adelia E. Willingham. Eld. J. S. Muse officiated.
Sunday, April 25, was an eventful day in the lives and memories of one of McKinney’s most beloved old couples, Capt. R. M. (Milt) Board and wife. On that date they celebrated their sixtieth wedding anniversary. It is true that they did not celebrate it in a formal manner. But it was nevertheless tenderly remembered by themselves and numerous good friends also remembered it by making personal calls upon them during the day or by sending beautiful flowers typifying love and good wishes for the dear old people.
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Wedded In McKinney.
Their marriage vows were made to Eld. James S. Muse, a pioneer McKinney Christian minister and educator who was the grandfather of Attorneys James M. and Mort W. Muse. The bride’s maiden name was Adelia E. Willingham. Their marriage took place in McKinney which has been their home ever since. The nuptials were solemnized at the home of the bride’s brother-in-law and sister, the late Mr. and Mrs. I. D. Newsome, Sr. The Wedding was a 8 o’clock in the evening, April 15, 1866. The late Tom H. Muse, was best man while a young lady friend of the bride, Mrs. Adams, was bridesmaid. She was the daughter of a McKinney school teacher, Philip Hocker, who taught here for several years in the earlier days of McKinney. He taught in the old Masonic hall that then stood on the present site of the splendid big F. B. Pope home, corner of West Virginia and South Church streets. The late R. C. (Cope) White, another particular friend of the gallant young bridegroom, also attended the wedding as did a number of other friends of the young couple. Cope White became one of McKinney’s widest known attorneys, who died at his home here a number of years ago and whose honored, exemplary life and memory are revered to the present day by many of our older citizens.
Oldest Resident of McKinney.
Capt. R. M. Board, pioneer McKinney merchant is the oldest living resident of McKinney, so far as we are aware, from the standpoint of continuous residence here. He was born at Rocky Mountain, Va., May 13, 1837, and is therefore, today observing his eighty-ninth birthday. When only 13 years old he came to Texas and to McKinney, which he has continued to call home for seventy-one years. Prior to the Civil war he principally engaged in teaming with ox wagons from Houston and Jefferson to McKinney. He was thrifty and industrious and was always a money maker.
In 1853 he volunteered with other brave pioneers to protect the frontiers of Texas from Comanche Indian raids. He served as one of the earliest postmasters of McKinney, holding that position before he was twenty-one. He cast his first vote for Gen. Sam Houston for governor and has never cast a vote outside of Collin county. He enlisted in the Civil was as a private at McKinney, but soon rose to captaincy and was the youngest captain in years, but the oldest in rank in the Ninth Texas Infantry. He surrendered his company in Alabama and disbanded its remnants at Meridian, Mississippi. His company was composed of one hundred and two enlisted men, besides the officers, at the beginning of the war. After more than four years of hard service in the area of the hardest conflicts, he had only sixteen men to surrender at the close of the war. His men fell in many battles and skirmishes and are buried in five or six different states, where they fell on the field of honor and duty. Capt. Board never answered a sick call during the four years of awful conflict in which his company was almost annihilated. He was slightly wounded twice while his canteen was shot from his side and his clothing more than once perforated by bullets and shell fragments. He was devotedly loved and followed by his men as he led them in the thickest of every fray. His escape from serious injury, sickness and death was a continuous miracle throughout his four years of hard military service.
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McKinney 71 Years Ago
There were only a very few stores in the young town which was chartered in 1848, just seven years before he arrived in McKinney. He remembers I. D. Newsome was here then. Also another merchant, Milton Wilkinson, which business later became the firm of Skidmore & Wilkinson. John Haynes conducted a little drug store. After the war when he returned to McKinney he entered the mercantile business with I. D. Newsome, under the firm name of Newsome, Board, and Daugherty. The third member of the firm, Frank Daugherty, was the father of the late W. H. Daugherty at Gainesville. Their store was a crude plank building which stood about the center of what is now the north side of the public square. That store burned and the firm located at ? Newsome store stand on the southwest corner at the square which has been known as the Newsome building ever since and which was two-story brick structure recently torn away for a new and more modern building that is now under construction. Capt. Board later embarked in the dry goods and clothing business and in the cotton business alone. During his long business career, Capt. Board materially aided more people in the city and county and accommodated them with credit than perhaps any other citizen within the history of our city. His tender heart, noble impulses and generous spirit were often taken advantage of by the unscrupulous. But he always maintained faith in humanity and tenderly sympathized with suffering humanity wherever he met up with it.
Daughter Baptist Preacher.
Mrs. Board was the daughter of Thomas Willingham, a native of Alabama and a pioneer Baptist minister and teacher of Texas. She is a lady of culture and refinement. She retains possession of all her faculties to a remarkable degree. She is a constant reader and takes and animated interest in current events about her. She is a devoted Christian mother and would easily pass for a lady of not more than sixty-five, although she became a bride sixty years ago.
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Parents of Three Children.
Capt. Board and wife were the parents of three children of whom Edgar M. Board is deceased. The two surviving children are Forest O. Board, former city secretary, assessor and collector and also later serving as county tax assessor, to which honor the voters of Collin county twice elected him. The other child is Mrs. T. F. (Fred) Everett, wife of a prominent McKinney business man. Capt. And Mrs. Board are happily spending the evening of life in the Everett household, where they are lovingly and devotedly looked after most tenderly by both Mr. and Mrs. Everett. While old in years, both of them keep young in spirit and are always the centre of a wide circle of friends of all ages who frequently call to see them and enjoy a few moments of inspiration in their company and presence.
He and His Dear Old Wife, Both Living, Were Married Here Sixty Years Ago At Home of the Late I. D. Newsome.
McKinney Democrat Gazette, May 20, 1926
Born May 13, 1837 at Rocky Mountain, Va. First arrived in McKinney in 1855. Married April 25, 1866 at home of I. D. Newsome in McKinney to Miss Adelia E. Willingham. Eld. J. S. Muse officiated.
Sunday, April 25, was an eventful day in the lives and memories of one of McKinney’s most beloved old couples, Capt. R. M. (Milt) Board and wife. On that date they celebrated their sixtieth wedding anniversary. It is true that they did not celebrate it in a formal manner. But it was nevertheless tenderly remembered by themselves and numerous good friends also remembered it by making personal calls upon them during the day or by sending beautiful flowers typifying love and good wishes for the dear old people.
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Wedded In McKinney.
Their marriage vows were made to Eld. James S. Muse, a pioneer McKinney Christian minister and educator who was the grandfather of Attorneys James M. and Mort W. Muse. The bride’s maiden name was Adelia E. Willingham. Their marriage took place in McKinney which has been their home ever since. The nuptials were solemnized at the home of the bride’s brother-in-law and sister, the late Mr. and Mrs. I. D. Newsome, Sr. The Wedding was a 8 o’clock in the evening, April 15, 1866. The late Tom H. Muse, was best man while a young lady friend of the bride, Mrs. Adams, was bridesmaid. She was the daughter of a McKinney school teacher, Philip Hocker, who taught here for several years in the earlier days of McKinney. He taught in the old Masonic hall that then stood on the present site of the splendid big F. B. Pope home, corner of West Virginia and South Church streets. The late R. C. (Cope) White, another particular friend of the gallant young bridegroom, also attended the wedding as did a number of other friends of the young couple. Cope White became one of McKinney’s widest known attorneys, who died at his home here a number of years ago and whose honored, exemplary life and memory are revered to the present day by many of our older citizens.
Oldest Resident of McKinney.
Capt. R. M. Board, pioneer McKinney merchant is the oldest living resident of McKinney, so far as we are aware, from the standpoint of continuous residence here. He was born at Rocky Mountain, Va., May 13, 1837, and is therefore, today observing his eighty-ninth birthday. When only 13 years old he came to Texas and to McKinney, which he has continued to call home for seventy-one years. Prior to the Civil war he principally engaged in teaming with ox wagons from Houston and Jefferson to McKinney. He was thrifty and industrious and was always a money maker.
In 1853 he volunteered with other brave pioneers to protect the frontiers of Texas from Comanche Indian raids. He served as one of the earliest postmasters of McKinney, holding that position before he was twenty-one. He cast his first vote for Gen. Sam Houston for governor and has never cast a vote outside of Collin county. He enlisted in the Civil was as a private at McKinney, but soon rose to captaincy and was the youngest captain in years, but the oldest in rank in the Ninth Texas Infantry. He surrendered his company in Alabama and disbanded its remnants at Meridian, Mississippi. His company was composed of one hundred and two enlisted men, besides the officers, at the beginning of the war. After more than four years of hard service in the area of the hardest conflicts, he had only sixteen men to surrender at the close of the war. His men fell in many battles and skirmishes and are buried in five or six different states, where they fell on the field of honor and duty. Capt. Board never answered a sick call during the four years of awful conflict in which his company was almost annihilated. He was slightly wounded twice while his canteen was shot from his side and his clothing more than once perforated by bullets and shell fragments. He was devotedly loved and followed by his men as he led them in the thickest of every fray. His escape from serious injury, sickness and death was a continuous miracle throughout his four years of hard military service.
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McKinney 71 Years Ago
There were only a very few stores in the young town which was chartered in 1848, just seven years before he arrived in McKinney. He remembers I. D. Newsome was here then. Also another merchant, Milton Wilkinson, which business later became the firm of Skidmore & Wilkinson. John Haynes conducted a little drug store. After the war when he returned to McKinney he entered the mercantile business with I. D. Newsome, under the firm name of Newsome, Board, and Daugherty. The third member of the firm, Frank Daugherty, was the father of the late W. H. Daugherty at Gainesville. Their store was a crude plank building which stood about the center of what is now the north side of the public square. That store burned and the firm located at ? Newsome store stand on the southwest corner at the square which has been known as the Newsome building ever since and which was two-story brick structure recently torn away for a new and more modern building that is now under construction. Capt. Board later embarked in the dry goods and clothing business and in the cotton business alone. During his long business career, Capt. Board materially aided more people in the city and county and accommodated them with credit than perhaps any other citizen within the history of our city. His tender heart, noble impulses and generous spirit were often taken advantage of by the unscrupulous. But he always maintained faith in humanity and tenderly sympathized with suffering humanity wherever he met up with it.
Daughter Baptist Preacher.
Mrs. Board was the daughter of Thomas Willingham, a native of Alabama and a pioneer Baptist minister and teacher of Texas. She is a lady of culture and refinement. She retains possession of all her faculties to a remarkable degree. She is a constant reader and takes and animated interest in current events about her. She is a devoted Christian mother and would easily pass for a lady of not more than sixty-five, although she became a bride sixty years ago.
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Parents of Three Children.
Capt. Board and wife were the parents of three children of whom Edgar M. Board is deceased. The two surviving children are Forest O. Board, former city secretary, assessor and collector and also later serving as county tax assessor, to which honor the voters of Collin county twice elected him. The other child is Mrs. T. F. (Fred) Everett, wife of a prominent McKinney business man. Capt. And Mrs. Board are happily spending the evening of life in the Everett household, where they are lovingly and devotedly looked after most tenderly by both Mr. and Mrs. Everett. While old in years, both of them keep young in spirit and are always the centre of a wide circle of friends of all ages who frequently call to see them and enjoy a few moments of inspiration in their company and presence.
