Muse
Old McKinney Home Being Remodeled
July 30. 1920
(Hon. J. M. Muse is having his big two-story residence on Waddill street remodeled. This old Southern home is a landmark at McKinney. Its erection was commenced sixty-two years ago. By special request, Mr. Muse wrote the following story of his old home which hi is now having remodeled.)
The Story of an Old House.
In 1857 Rev. James Sanford Muse, pioneer Christian minister and teacher, father of T. H. Muse and of the late Judge P. B. Muse, came to this country; and, sixty two years ago, he began the erection of the house, which I, his grandson am now laving remodeled and repaired. It took part for two years to build it. A man named Courcy took the contract for $3000 which in those days was 'some money' though it would not be considered as so very much now. When the $3000 was exhausted the building was about half completed. Courcy gave up the job, and my grandfather hired carpenters at $1.50 per day to complete it. When completed it cost$6000.
Among the carpenters who worked on it were M R. Johnson, a millwright, a Mr. Reaves, a Mr. Burke, and a negro man Jim, who belonged to my grandfather. Jim was a son of Aunt Melviny and a brother of Aggie Doty, who now lives in the suburb of Lewisville. The head carpenter was William Ballew (no kin to Moot Ballew), who was an uncle of the only white man ever legally executed in Collin county. The head painter was a Norwegian named Spanberg, who was said to have served an apprenticeship of seven years at Christiana before he was allowed to ply his trade.
The house was set upon bois d'arc blocks, and the sills were oak logs 8 x 10, cut in East Fork bottom and sawed at the old Watts sawmill. The balance of the lumber was all heart pine, hauled on ox wagons from Jefferson, Texas. Uncle Mose Wright, who lives in East McKinney tells me that he hauled some of the lumber. It is said that my grandfather stood by and personally saw that now a single stick of lumber that was not all heart went into the building.
All the lumber was dressed by hand at the work bench, and the doors and wainscoting were all made by hand. This was before the days of sized lumber and sash factories inn this country. The frame work of the house was put together with mortise and tenon and a pin put through the tenon, as at that time they had no spikes and this was long before the days of round nails--the largest nail used in the house being a ten-penny cut square nail. In addition to the ordinary frame of 2 x 4, the house was framed like a mill with 8 inch square pine logs, mortised and tenoned together marking out the outline of the rooms. On the inside corners these eight inch square logs had four inches cut out, so that they showed four inches on which to nail ceiling each way, still showing the full eight inches on the outside each way- making a solid corner. The studding rough and unsized some of it 3 xx4 instead of 2 x 4 was mortised into the sill below and the plate above and for greater security, diagonal braces of oak were mortised into these corner posts sills and places. This method of construction made it possible to leave out any inside wall and fill its place with folding doors for the whole side of a room, and his was done so that four rooms could be throws into one. The overhead ceiling which was only half an inch thick was hand dressed and ploughed for tongue and groove at the work bench. and fitted together so smoothly that the joints were practically invisible when painted, and it is said that Spanberg the painter almost made good his board that he would make the ceiling so smooth and glossy that the old gentleman could look up and see himself a in a mirror.
Its many large windows, three and one half by six feet in size, overlooked the country in all four directions. About one hundred and fifty yards to the south was the large two story residence of Judge R. L. Waddill, Sr., father of R. L., G. M. and Miss Fannie Waddill. The old Waddill home burned down several years ago. Some distance off to the south east tops of a few houses forming the then little village of McKinney could be seen. To the west was the residence of Albert Graves, father of our fellow townsman Wick Graves and of Lucretius H. Graves deceased. A little north of west was the handsome two story residence of Isaac Graves deceased, grandfather of Vernie Graves and of Goodney Graves, which house had been remodeled and is now owned and occupied by Beecher Cameron and family. The old houses mentioned were all built about the same time. Following what is now Waddill street north and west in the direction of Pilot Point out several miles there was a house occupied by a man named Rodman and another by the name of Champion. Down the hill a couple of hundred yards west of the house was a little row of one and two room shanties known as "the quarters." A vivid picture of such scenes as this will come up in the minds of some of the older people; but we of the younger generation have a very hazy conception of the trappings and accoutrements of that relic of barbarism, which was outgrown and finally thrown off by the American nation in the throes of Civil War.
There were no roads fenced on either side as in these days; folks were not confined to a certain traveled way; they could mount a house and take a straight course for the place they wanted to go to, over gently rolling prairies and through skirts of timber. Barbed wire had not been thought of and there were no fences except around little patches here and there and those fences were zigzag rail fences (worm fences) which had to be rebuilt after almost every storm. men would sometimes ride upon the square in McKinney with a dozen Indian scalps at their saddle bow-- this is mentioned to remind us that our ancestors were not too civilized to make the Indian take his own medicine occasionally. If a man raised more corn than he needed it sometimes happened that about the best he could do was to give the surplus to his neighbors, as there were no transportation facilities hence practically no market. One of the principal articles of merchandise in McKinney was corn, whisky, and we had a distillery in those early days over on East Fork.
Soon after the completion of the house, in the fall of 1860, Lincoln was elected President, and when he came to take the oath of office in march 1861, the flames of civil war broke out. My father, Thomas H. Muse at that time less than seventeen years of age together with his older brother, James Martin Muse (afterwards killed at the battle of Shiloh, and for whom I was named) volunteered and went to war in Company I Ninth Texas Infantry, the only company which went as infantry out of the seventeen companies that left Collin county. The company was commanded at first by Capt. Joe Dickson afterwards for a short time by William Ballew (the carpenter, who was Justice of the Peace here when the war broke out_ and finally by Captain Milt Board. It is impossible for me to secure a complete list of those who went in this company, but the following have been remembered. ....
My grandfather called his home and residence Mount Pleasant because the house was situated upon the brow of a gently swelling hill, where the cool breezes wander over its wide porches and play hide and seek among its many windows. Soon after the war he started a school in his house, and many of our most prominent citizens acquired their education within its walls. By way of advertising in those days they gave what they called exhibitions. The big doors were folded back throwing four rooms into one, and the windows were opened so that the overflow crowd could have a look in. It is remembered that John L. Lovejoy, now President of the First National Bank, then a small boy, performed some stunt at the first exhibition that was given.
Miss Mary Belle Bently, a young lady just out of college came to assist my grandfather with the school. My father, then a young man recently returned from the war, naturally became interested; and as time passed, my grandfather concluded it was all settled between them, so he told Miss Bentley how pleased he was that she was to be his daughter. But my father had not yet "spoken," so it was an embarrassing moment for Miss Bentley. However he did speak a short time afterwards and was accepted. Then my grandfather said, "Tom that is the best day's work you ever did." Looking back now over their almost fifty years of married life, their nine children, and the work they have done together, I am inclined to think grandfather Muse was right.
My earliest recollection is of the occasion of my grandfather's funeral, when he was carried a short distance north from the house to a little family burying ground, where a few cedars have stood from that day to this. I presume that beautiful Pecan Grove cemetery had not then been established. Anyway since that time those graves have all bee removed to Pecan Grove.
In the distribution of my grandfather's estate over forty years ago, the old house and the plat of ground containing it came to my father. My father lived out beyond it on his farm, so it became a tenant house and was occupied by a number of different families. It fell into a state of bad repair, and finally stood for a number of years as a vacant house. The window lights were broken out, the big chimneys fell down; the doors sagging on rusty hinges, creaked and groaned in the wind; and it became the Haunted House, especially with the colored population.
Almost twenty years ago, I wooed and won Miss Claudia Acker, daughter of the late Z. T. Acker of Frisco (Rock Hill), and my father gave me as a wedding present the "Haunted House" and the acre of ground on which it stood. I made some slight repairs; and our wedding tour consisted of a drive in a two horse carriage from Rock Hill to our future home in company with Hon. and Mrs. L. J. Truett, then a young married couple. The old house was dressed up, partly with wedding presents, and loving hands had spread a bounteous repast on the dining table. No matter how much money is spent on it, it cannot look more beautiful to me than it did that day.
July 30. 1920
(Hon. J. M. Muse is having his big two-story residence on Waddill street remodeled. This old Southern home is a landmark at McKinney. Its erection was commenced sixty-two years ago. By special request, Mr. Muse wrote the following story of his old home which hi is now having remodeled.)
The Story of an Old House.
In 1857 Rev. James Sanford Muse, pioneer Christian minister and teacher, father of T. H. Muse and of the late Judge P. B. Muse, came to this country; and, sixty two years ago, he began the erection of the house, which I, his grandson am now laving remodeled and repaired. It took part for two years to build it. A man named Courcy took the contract for $3000 which in those days was 'some money' though it would not be considered as so very much now. When the $3000 was exhausted the building was about half completed. Courcy gave up the job, and my grandfather hired carpenters at $1.50 per day to complete it. When completed it cost$6000.
Among the carpenters who worked on it were M R. Johnson, a millwright, a Mr. Reaves, a Mr. Burke, and a negro man Jim, who belonged to my grandfather. Jim was a son of Aunt Melviny and a brother of Aggie Doty, who now lives in the suburb of Lewisville. The head carpenter was William Ballew (no kin to Moot Ballew), who was an uncle of the only white man ever legally executed in Collin county. The head painter was a Norwegian named Spanberg, who was said to have served an apprenticeship of seven years at Christiana before he was allowed to ply his trade.
The house was set upon bois d'arc blocks, and the sills were oak logs 8 x 10, cut in East Fork bottom and sawed at the old Watts sawmill. The balance of the lumber was all heart pine, hauled on ox wagons from Jefferson, Texas. Uncle Mose Wright, who lives in East McKinney tells me that he hauled some of the lumber. It is said that my grandfather stood by and personally saw that now a single stick of lumber that was not all heart went into the building.
All the lumber was dressed by hand at the work bench, and the doors and wainscoting were all made by hand. This was before the days of sized lumber and sash factories inn this country. The frame work of the house was put together with mortise and tenon and a pin put through the tenon, as at that time they had no spikes and this was long before the days of round nails--the largest nail used in the house being a ten-penny cut square nail. In addition to the ordinary frame of 2 x 4, the house was framed like a mill with 8 inch square pine logs, mortised and tenoned together marking out the outline of the rooms. On the inside corners these eight inch square logs had four inches cut out, so that they showed four inches on which to nail ceiling each way, still showing the full eight inches on the outside each way- making a solid corner. The studding rough and unsized some of it 3 xx4 instead of 2 x 4 was mortised into the sill below and the plate above and for greater security, diagonal braces of oak were mortised into these corner posts sills and places. This method of construction made it possible to leave out any inside wall and fill its place with folding doors for the whole side of a room, and his was done so that four rooms could be throws into one. The overhead ceiling which was only half an inch thick was hand dressed and ploughed for tongue and groove at the work bench. and fitted together so smoothly that the joints were practically invisible when painted, and it is said that Spanberg the painter almost made good his board that he would make the ceiling so smooth and glossy that the old gentleman could look up and see himself a in a mirror.
Its many large windows, three and one half by six feet in size, overlooked the country in all four directions. About one hundred and fifty yards to the south was the large two story residence of Judge R. L. Waddill, Sr., father of R. L., G. M. and Miss Fannie Waddill. The old Waddill home burned down several years ago. Some distance off to the south east tops of a few houses forming the then little village of McKinney could be seen. To the west was the residence of Albert Graves, father of our fellow townsman Wick Graves and of Lucretius H. Graves deceased. A little north of west was the handsome two story residence of Isaac Graves deceased, grandfather of Vernie Graves and of Goodney Graves, which house had been remodeled and is now owned and occupied by Beecher Cameron and family. The old houses mentioned were all built about the same time. Following what is now Waddill street north and west in the direction of Pilot Point out several miles there was a house occupied by a man named Rodman and another by the name of Champion. Down the hill a couple of hundred yards west of the house was a little row of one and two room shanties known as "the quarters." A vivid picture of such scenes as this will come up in the minds of some of the older people; but we of the younger generation have a very hazy conception of the trappings and accoutrements of that relic of barbarism, which was outgrown and finally thrown off by the American nation in the throes of Civil War.
There were no roads fenced on either side as in these days; folks were not confined to a certain traveled way; they could mount a house and take a straight course for the place they wanted to go to, over gently rolling prairies and through skirts of timber. Barbed wire had not been thought of and there were no fences except around little patches here and there and those fences were zigzag rail fences (worm fences) which had to be rebuilt after almost every storm. men would sometimes ride upon the square in McKinney with a dozen Indian scalps at their saddle bow-- this is mentioned to remind us that our ancestors were not too civilized to make the Indian take his own medicine occasionally. If a man raised more corn than he needed it sometimes happened that about the best he could do was to give the surplus to his neighbors, as there were no transportation facilities hence practically no market. One of the principal articles of merchandise in McKinney was corn, whisky, and we had a distillery in those early days over on East Fork.
Soon after the completion of the house, in the fall of 1860, Lincoln was elected President, and when he came to take the oath of office in march 1861, the flames of civil war broke out. My father, Thomas H. Muse at that time less than seventeen years of age together with his older brother, James Martin Muse (afterwards killed at the battle of Shiloh, and for whom I was named) volunteered and went to war in Company I Ninth Texas Infantry, the only company which went as infantry out of the seventeen companies that left Collin county. The company was commanded at first by Capt. Joe Dickson afterwards for a short time by William Ballew (the carpenter, who was Justice of the Peace here when the war broke out_ and finally by Captain Milt Board. It is impossible for me to secure a complete list of those who went in this company, but the following have been remembered. ....
My grandfather called his home and residence Mount Pleasant because the house was situated upon the brow of a gently swelling hill, where the cool breezes wander over its wide porches and play hide and seek among its many windows. Soon after the war he started a school in his house, and many of our most prominent citizens acquired their education within its walls. By way of advertising in those days they gave what they called exhibitions. The big doors were folded back throwing four rooms into one, and the windows were opened so that the overflow crowd could have a look in. It is remembered that John L. Lovejoy, now President of the First National Bank, then a small boy, performed some stunt at the first exhibition that was given.
Miss Mary Belle Bently, a young lady just out of college came to assist my grandfather with the school. My father, then a young man recently returned from the war, naturally became interested; and as time passed, my grandfather concluded it was all settled between them, so he told Miss Bentley how pleased he was that she was to be his daughter. But my father had not yet "spoken," so it was an embarrassing moment for Miss Bentley. However he did speak a short time afterwards and was accepted. Then my grandfather said, "Tom that is the best day's work you ever did." Looking back now over their almost fifty years of married life, their nine children, and the work they have done together, I am inclined to think grandfather Muse was right.
My earliest recollection is of the occasion of my grandfather's funeral, when he was carried a short distance north from the house to a little family burying ground, where a few cedars have stood from that day to this. I presume that beautiful Pecan Grove cemetery had not then been established. Anyway since that time those graves have all bee removed to Pecan Grove.
In the distribution of my grandfather's estate over forty years ago, the old house and the plat of ground containing it came to my father. My father lived out beyond it on his farm, so it became a tenant house and was occupied by a number of different families. It fell into a state of bad repair, and finally stood for a number of years as a vacant house. The window lights were broken out, the big chimneys fell down; the doors sagging on rusty hinges, creaked and groaned in the wind; and it became the Haunted House, especially with the colored population.
Almost twenty years ago, I wooed and won Miss Claudia Acker, daughter of the late Z. T. Acker of Frisco (Rock Hill), and my father gave me as a wedding present the "Haunted House" and the acre of ground on which it stood. I made some slight repairs; and our wedding tour consisted of a drive in a two horse carriage from Rock Hill to our future home in company with Hon. and Mrs. L. J. Truett, then a young married couple. The old house was dressed up, partly with wedding presents, and loving hands had spread a bounteous repast on the dining table. No matter how much money is spent on it, it cannot look more beautiful to me than it did that day.
