Van Alstyne Methodist Church
VAN ALSTYNE METHODIST CHURCH HISTORY
HAD BEGINNING OLD MANTUA IN COUNTY
GUS W. THOMASSON COMPILED IT 31 YEARS AGO WITH ASSISTANCE OF SON AND GRANDSON OF COLLIN McKINNEY--SOME IMPORTANT FACTS CONCERNING CHURCH DEVELOPMENT DURING NEARLY 90 YEARS.
July 13, 1936
Editor R. S. (Scott) Fulton is Chairman of the official Board of the Van Alstyne Methodist Church. He has a letter written by Gus W. Thomasson, now District Director of the Works Progress Administration, Dallas, which gives the interesting history of the Van Alstyne Church. The historical sketch was written by Mr. Thomasson, in 1905, during the period of his residence in that little city located about sixteen miles north of McKinney. He was assisted in compiling it by the late Y. S. McKinney and J. D. L. McKinney.
According to Mr. Thomasson the old Liberty class was organized in 1847 in a log cabin near a place which was afterward occupied by the Jim Creagor residence one and three-quarter miles south of Van Alstyne. The spot the cabin occupied is in a field now owned by G. W. Kidd and is exactly on the Grayson-Collin line, he said.
There were six charter members of the class, William Creagor, Mrs. Bertie Creagor, Hiram Carroll McKinney, Patsy McBride and a sixth member whose name is not positively known but believed to have been Holcomb or Ornstadt.
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First Revival.
The class was organized by Joab Biggs, then in charge of the Dallas Methodist circuit and M. F. Cole, a blind man well known to Methodists of later years. The class met regularly in the cabin for nine years.
The first revival in the history of the class occurred in 1855. A regular quarterly conference had been held and about the time of its closing, a rain came up and kept the members overnight. The time was occupied with a sermon and such interest was manifest that Y. S. McKinney took charge and preached the next night and continue the meeting for three weeks.
In 1856 it was decided to move the place of meeting to a new frame building erected at Mantua. The name of the class was changed to Mount Zion.
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Railroad Built.
In 1873, the Houston and Texas Central railroad was built through Grayson county and Van Alstyne was established. The old Mount Zion class tore down its building at Mantua, then the second largest town in Collin County, and moved it by sections to Van Alstyne, selecting a site near the present Van Alstyne cemetery.
In 1893, the old church building was sold and a new one erected on the present site. With the last move, the name Mount Zion was dropped and the class became simply the Van Alstyne Methodist church. In the fall of 1890, the church at Van Alstyne became a station. Membership of the church in 1905 numbered 404 and the salary for the two years ending in 1906 was $1,000 per year. Mr. Thomasson said in closing his sketch.
Since the writing of the sketch a brick church was erected. It was first occupied in the spring of 1917.
***
Camp Meeting.
In the notes used by Mr. Thomasson is a statement that a camp meeting was held in the early days of the church at a place within 100 yards of the residence of D. K. Tate, under an old tree known as the Centennial oak. The term centennial was used with reference to the celebration of the completion of 100 years of Methodism.
The first district league n the Southern Methodist church was organized in Van Alstyne in the spring of 1894, according to the Rev. J. F. Archer, former pastor.
Y. S. McKinney, who aided Mr. Thomasson in preparing the history in 1905, was a son of Collin McKinney and was a very old man at that time. J. D. L. McKinney was his son.
J. D. L. McKinney kept a diary throughout his life in which the names of all pastors of the Van Alstyne church were recorded.
HAD BEGINNING OLD MANTUA IN COUNTY
GUS W. THOMASSON COMPILED IT 31 YEARS AGO WITH ASSISTANCE OF SON AND GRANDSON OF COLLIN McKINNEY--SOME IMPORTANT FACTS CONCERNING CHURCH DEVELOPMENT DURING NEARLY 90 YEARS.
July 13, 1936
Editor R. S. (Scott) Fulton is Chairman of the official Board of the Van Alstyne Methodist Church. He has a letter written by Gus W. Thomasson, now District Director of the Works Progress Administration, Dallas, which gives the interesting history of the Van Alstyne Church. The historical sketch was written by Mr. Thomasson, in 1905, during the period of his residence in that little city located about sixteen miles north of McKinney. He was assisted in compiling it by the late Y. S. McKinney and J. D. L. McKinney.
According to Mr. Thomasson the old Liberty class was organized in 1847 in a log cabin near a place which was afterward occupied by the Jim Creagor residence one and three-quarter miles south of Van Alstyne. The spot the cabin occupied is in a field now owned by G. W. Kidd and is exactly on the Grayson-Collin line, he said.
There were six charter members of the class, William Creagor, Mrs. Bertie Creagor, Hiram Carroll McKinney, Patsy McBride and a sixth member whose name is not positively known but believed to have been Holcomb or Ornstadt.
***
First Revival.
The class was organized by Joab Biggs, then in charge of the Dallas Methodist circuit and M. F. Cole, a blind man well known to Methodists of later years. The class met regularly in the cabin for nine years.
The first revival in the history of the class occurred in 1855. A regular quarterly conference had been held and about the time of its closing, a rain came up and kept the members overnight. The time was occupied with a sermon and such interest was manifest that Y. S. McKinney took charge and preached the next night and continue the meeting for three weeks.
In 1856 it was decided to move the place of meeting to a new frame building erected at Mantua. The name of the class was changed to Mount Zion.
***
Railroad Built.
In 1873, the Houston and Texas Central railroad was built through Grayson county and Van Alstyne was established. The old Mount Zion class tore down its building at Mantua, then the second largest town in Collin County, and moved it by sections to Van Alstyne, selecting a site near the present Van Alstyne cemetery.
In 1893, the old church building was sold and a new one erected on the present site. With the last move, the name Mount Zion was dropped and the class became simply the Van Alstyne Methodist church. In the fall of 1890, the church at Van Alstyne became a station. Membership of the church in 1905 numbered 404 and the salary for the two years ending in 1906 was $1,000 per year. Mr. Thomasson said in closing his sketch.
Since the writing of the sketch a brick church was erected. It was first occupied in the spring of 1917.
***
Camp Meeting.
In the notes used by Mr. Thomasson is a statement that a camp meeting was held in the early days of the church at a place within 100 yards of the residence of D. K. Tate, under an old tree known as the Centennial oak. The term centennial was used with reference to the celebration of the completion of 100 years of Methodism.
The first district league n the Southern Methodist church was organized in Van Alstyne in the spring of 1894, according to the Rev. J. F. Archer, former pastor.
Y. S. McKinney, who aided Mr. Thomasson in preparing the history in 1905, was a son of Collin McKinney and was a very old man at that time. J. D. L. McKinney was his son.
J. D. L. McKinney kept a diary throughout his life in which the names of all pastors of the Van Alstyne church were recorded.
