Shain
Mr. Jesse Shain
Jesse Shain was born on October 8th, 1849 near Brandonburg, Kentucky. Shain moved to McKinney, Texas with his family in 1851. His father was a blacksmith and farmer when he arrived in McKinney. Jesse Shain’s father then became Deputy Sheriff and got killed in the line of duty while chasing down a horse thief in 1860. This forced Jesse Shain to have to take care of his family and begin running his family’s farm at a very young age.
In 1871, Shain married Fannie Eubanks from Sherman, TX. They had a son, Jack Shain, who passed away at the young age of three. The couple then adopted a daughter named Maggie Shain. Maggie later married Fletcher. B Pope.
Shain started out as a grocer until he joined the bank in the 1880’s. By 1902 Shain became the president and director of the Collin County National Bank.
Shain was very invested in the growth and prosperity of McKinney, TX. He had been a city official for over twenty years. He was an official on the board of Collin County Mill and Elevator, The McKinney Compress, McKinney Cotton Oil Mill Company, the Collin County National Bank, the Stiff Dry Goods Company, the Shain Packing Company, New Century Milling Company of Dallas, Burris Mill and Elevator Company, and the McKinney Telephone Company.
Shain became such a good businessman and became credited with being Collin County’s first millionaire. Shain began being interested in investing in real estate at the early age of 18. He built many of the buildings located on the historic square in downtown McKinney. He never wanted to sell any of his properties because he believed in the growth and prosperity in McKinney. One of his more infamous buildings he constructed was the building he named after himself, The Shain Block Building located on the corner of Virginia and Tennessee Street.
At the age of 56 Jesse Shain passed away on April 26th 1906. Shain’s whole family can be found buried on the front street in the historic Pecan Grove Cemetery. Jesse Shain’s will can be found in the McKinney Courier-Gaz on May 3, 1906.
