Mark L. Morris
One of the first settlers in the St. Paul area was Mark L. Morris, born in Alabama in 1823. He and his family were among those who came to the area with the Burns, Summers, and Scotts to Texas from McNarry County, Tennessee. With their show moving ox drawn wagons, they arrived in McKinney after 52 days of traveling on November 20, 1852.
On January 1, 1853 Morris settled on a 317-acre tract of land near present-day Wylie. Today the land is known as the Mark L. Morris Survey. Elizabeth Farmer became the first Mrs. Morris. She was the mother of 8 children. She is said to be buried in an unmarked grave in the Forest Grove Cemetery. The children were: Billy, John Wesley, Mark Lindsey, Linnie Maude, Reathey, Mary, Ella, and Harriett.
Mark Morris was a Second Sergeant in the 16th regiment of Capt. Gabe H. Fitzhugh's Texas Cavalry Volunteers in the Civil War. After the war Morris farmed and hauled freight.
Methodists and those of other faiths congregated at the homes of Mark L Morris and William Spurgin for afternoon services, which were sometimes led by a circuit rider preacher. When a Methodist Conference was held in Arkansas on July 26, 1865, Morris was appointed one of three members as a Board of Trustees for a Campground meeting place. He immediately gave two and 2/3 acres of land so that families could gather for old fashioned camp meetings.
in 1872 Morris, along with John and Elizabeth Skelton, deeded a plot of land to be used as a school and a church. It was given the name of Morris School and Liberty Chapel, but was better known as "Rawhide" because the door was made of rawhide stretched over a frame. It was later called Dump.
Mark Morris died in 1909 and is buried in an unmarked grave in the Wylie Cemetery.
On January 1, 1853 Morris settled on a 317-acre tract of land near present-day Wylie. Today the land is known as the Mark L. Morris Survey. Elizabeth Farmer became the first Mrs. Morris. She was the mother of 8 children. She is said to be buried in an unmarked grave in the Forest Grove Cemetery. The children were: Billy, John Wesley, Mark Lindsey, Linnie Maude, Reathey, Mary, Ella, and Harriett.
Mark Morris was a Second Sergeant in the 16th regiment of Capt. Gabe H. Fitzhugh's Texas Cavalry Volunteers in the Civil War. After the war Morris farmed and hauled freight.
Methodists and those of other faiths congregated at the homes of Mark L Morris and William Spurgin for afternoon services, which were sometimes led by a circuit rider preacher. When a Methodist Conference was held in Arkansas on July 26, 1865, Morris was appointed one of three members as a Board of Trustees for a Campground meeting place. He immediately gave two and 2/3 acres of land so that families could gather for old fashioned camp meetings.
in 1872 Morris, along with John and Elizabeth Skelton, deeded a plot of land to be used as a school and a church. It was given the name of Morris School and Liberty Chapel, but was better known as "Rawhide" because the door was made of rawhide stretched over a frame. It was later called Dump.
Mark Morris died in 1909 and is buried in an unmarked grave in the Wylie Cemetery.