History
1899 Automobile Trip
On October 5, 1899, Edward H. R. Green drove his newly-acquired "St. Louis" automobile from Terrell to Dallas. Accompanied by the car's manufacturer, George B. Dorris, Green passed through Forney on his historic journey. The five-and-one-half-hour, thirty-mile trip was marked by an accident in Forney, necessitating repairs to the automobile by a local blacksmith.
History
Baker Cemetery
John Baker, his wife Eliza, and their family migrated to Texas from Illinois in 1835, settling on land granted to him. Baker Cemetery began as a family burial site with the death of their infant son William in 1848. Gradually this site became a three-acre community burial ground, serving other pioneer families and their descendants.
History
Birthplace of City of Kaufman; Site of King's Fort
(Founded 1840) Established by Wm. P. King and 40 pioneers he led from Holly Springs, Miss.; this was then in Nacogdoches County, Republic of Texas. Caddo, Cherokee, Delaware and Kickapoo Indians roamed the area. Settlers built log cabins inside the fort. When the Indian menace lessened, Kingsboro (or early Kaufman) began to grow. Supplies came from San Antonio, in arduous yearly trips there.
History
Brooklyn Lodge No. 386, A.F. & A..M.
Following the arrival of the Texas and Pacific Railroad in the village of Brooklyn in 1873, the town name was changed to Forney in honor of John Wein Forney, a director of the railroad. The local Masonic Lodge was organized the same year, using the original town name. The lodge first met in a building shared with the local school and Union church.
Military
Capt. Edward Thomas Broughton and the Johnson Guards
Alabama native Edward Thomas Broughton, Jr. (b. 1834) came to Jasper, Texas, with his family in 1847. Broughton married Mary Elizabeth Douglas in 1856. He studied law in Smith County and was admitted to the bar in 1857. By 1860 the Broughtons were living in Kaufman, Texas, where Edward was elected district attorney in 1861.
History
Captain Israel Spikes
(1824 - 1879) Pioneer patriot. Spikes Prairie named for him and his family. In 1875-1876 Spikes served as an elected spokesman from this district in state convention to reestablish free government. He rode horseback to Austin with John H. Reagan, former Confederate Postmaster General, later United States Senator. The Constitution these men helped write has been in force for nearly a century.
Architecture
Carnegie Library Building
Completed in 1904, this library building is located on land owned in the 1890s by local publisher O. B. Colquitt, who later became the governor of Texas. It was designed by the Waco firm of Messer and Smith and features classical detailing.
Civic & Local
Carnegie Public Library
Opened 1904 through the efforts of local women's clubs. Building a gift of public benefactor Andrew Carnegie. Only library in Kaufman County; has been information center for students of five local colleges and a site of early civic functions. Has over 14,000 books.
Architecture
Cartwright House
Victorian residence, 1883. Built by third generation Texan, Matthew Cartwright (1855-1925), rancher, banker, civic leader; married Mary Cynthia Davenport. Had ten children. Entertained artists, statesmen in this house. One of first large homes in Terrell; enlarged 1893. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, 1968
Architecture
Church of Our Merciful Saviour
Rural Gothic architecture. In parish formed 1883. Site given 1898; built 1909 under lead of Mr. and Mrs. Woodson Nash. Consecrated May 2, 1909, by The Rt. Rev. A. C. Garrett, first bishop of Missionary District of Northern Texas. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1967
Architecture
Church of the Good Shepherd
Organized as mission by Rev. John Portmess, vicar, Trinity Sunday, 1877. First services were held at Terrell Academy, a private school founded by the vicar. In 1878 first church edifice was built on this site and consecrated. Parish was admitted to Diocese of Dallas at its Primary Council in 1895. Victorian Gothic church was completed in 1907.
History
City of Crandall
Named for The Rev. C. F. Crandall (1827-1906), Methodist minister who came here from Indiana, 1877, and bought 1800 acres of land. When Texas Trunk Line Railroad built east from Dallas in 1880, he gave bonus for rail service and was first postmaster when post office was created in 1881. Baptists, Disciples of Christ, and Methodists built churches. Townsite plat was recorded in 1889.
History
Colonel Isham Chisum
(1818-1884) One of leading early citizens of Kaufman County. Represented the county in Texas Secession Convention, Jan.-March 1861. Later in 1861, he fought in Confederate cavalry of Col. Tom Green in New Mexico campaign. As Colonel of 2nd Partisan Rangers, Walker's Division, fought at Mansfield and Pleasant Hill (La.), in Red River Campaign to prevent a Federal invasion of Texas in 1864.
History
Cottonwood Cemetery
Established in 1882 on land donated by settler J. W. Swayze for a church building, school house, and cemetery. First grave was that of J. R. Swayze (1850-1882), a brother of the donor. Now enlarged to five acres, the cemetery includes acreage donated by Bessie Goodman from land of her ancestor, C. L. Tippett, as well as property given by J. A. Hugghins from Swayze tract.
Architecture
Dick P. Moore House
Built in 1910, this home dates from a period of economic boom enjoyed by the town of Forney from 1873 until 1929. It was constructed for Georgia native Dick Parmenas Moore (1869-1943), a merchant who owned a large amount of cotton acreage in the area. His wife, Nancy (Pinkard), resided here until her death in 1958.
Transport
Dixie Overland Highway (U. S. Highway 80)
In the early 20th century, soon after the development of the automobile, travelers, city officials and others began planning for a network of paved overland routes. In the era before the advent of the interstate highway system, road associations provided the vision and the promotion, and states and municipalities provided necessary capital.
History
Dry Creek Cemetery
Named for a nearby ravine, this burial ground originally served the community of Turner's Point. Located on the stage road between Shreveport, Louisiana, and Dallas, the settlement was established by Elisha Turner in 1845. In the 1870s the town was moved to a new location (1.5 miles southeast) and renamed Poetry. The earliest marked grave at this site is that of Samuel Key (1840-1871).
Architecture
Duncan and Emma McKellar House
Duncan Graham McKellar and his wife Emma (McCullough) McKellar built this house in 1886. The McKellars were integral to the economic, social, and religious development of Forney and Kaufman County in the years between 1886 and 1903. The home's decorative elements are representative of the Queen Anne and Eastlake styles.
History
Forney
A Native American trail, sometimes referred to as the Kickapoo Trace, and early Anglo-American roads traversed this area prior to the settlement of the pioneer families of Isaac Briscoe and Jacob Sheltman in the mid-1840s.
Architecture
Forney High School Building
Forney's first schoolhouse was built here about 1868, and its first general store was built nearby by pioneer settler John C. McKellar in 1871. This building was erected by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1938-39.
History
Forney Independent School District
Public education began in Forney (then named Brooklyn) about 1868 when a 16' x 16' room was built, serving as both a schoolhouse and Union church. Forney School District No. 9, formed in 1876, was part of a county-wide school system. In 1889 the first structure was replaced by a 2-story wooden school building. In 1899 the Forney Independent School District was formed.
History
Frank Reaugh
(December 29, 1860 - May 6, 1945) Graphic historian of Longhorn cattle, western trails, and range. Born in Illinois. Son of George W. and Clarinda Morgan Reaugh. In 1876 moved to Kaufman County, where on trail beside the family cotton farm was born his love for wild range cattle. Earning his way, studied in St. Louis and in Europe.
Architecture
Greenslade Drug Store
Built 1891 by R. C. Dansby; of iron, masonry, wood. Sold to Smith E. Greenslade, 1919; still in Greenslade family. Exposed iron beams support the roof. Windows have upper and side panels that fold for ventilation. Modified Spanish architecture. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1968
History
Hillcrest Cemetery
The grave of M. Elizabeth Collins (1813-1867), the earliest marked in this burial ground, predates the settlement of Forney. In 1880 the site was platted and formally set aside as a public cemetery for the growing railroad town. It was later enlarged through additions of adjoining land.
History
Homesite of Gov. Oscar Branch Colquitt
(1861-1940) (This block is the former homesite of) Twenty-fourth Governor of Texas (1911-1915). Known as "The Napoleon of Texas Politics" and "Little Oscar" because of his short stature, Colquitt was a strong and independent chief executive. His stump speeches were among the most effective of his times. A descendant of American Revolution and Civil War fighters, Colquitt was born in Georgia.
Elsewhere in Texas
Hear it from the road
Whistlestop tells you this story automatically when you drive past. No searching, no tapping, nothing to ask.
