Site of Wilmeth-McKinney Homestead

The Handbook of Texas adds what the plaque leaves out. Joseph Brice Wilmeth, born in North Carolina in 1807, and Nancy Ferguson had thirteen children. His farm prospered in part because he bought enslaved people to bring in his wheat and barley, and during the Civil War it helped provision the Confederate army while he served as a colonel in the Third Texas State Troops, drilling and equipping Collin County regiments. Two of his sons did not return. The couple died a day apart in January 1892 and share a grave at McLarry Cemetery.

What the plaque says

Site of Wilmeth-McKinney Homestead Joseph Brice (J.B.) Wilmeth (b.1807) and Nancy Ferguson (b.1807) were married in Tennessee in 1826. They settled here on 320 acres of virgin prairie in 1846. They began to farm their land and soon built a grand two-story family home at this site. Elder J.B. Wilmeth, along with pioneer settler Collin McKinney, established Collin County's First Christian Church at Liberty in 1846. J.B. organized McKinney's First Christian Church in 1848, and early worship services were held in his home. Between 1848 and 1887 the Wilmeth home also was the site of a free school taught by J.B. and his children. J.B. served on the commission that selected the Collin County seat and later served as district clerk and county judge. In 1850 the Wilmeths' daughter, Martha, married Daniel L. McKinney, grandson of Collin McKinney. Following the deaths of J.B. and Nancy in 1892, Martha and Daniel lived in the Wilmeth home until Daniel's death in 1906. The homestead was next occupied by Martha and Daniel's son, John Brice, and his wife, Annie (Magers), until their deaths in 1968. Materials from the original Wilmeth home were used to build a new house here in 1941. The property continues to be recognized as an important site in early Collin County history. (1994)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Heard Natural Science Museum & Wildlife Sanctuary — 4.8 mi
  A 289-acre sanctuary in McKinney that Bessie Heard founded at the age of 80, with five habitats, a 50-acre wetland and 6.5 miles of trails.
• Rockwall County Historical Foundation & Museum — 23 mi
  A small museum in Harry Myers Park that keeps the evidence on Rockwall's rock wall, sandstone dikes that geologists call natural and folk tales call built.
• Sam Rayburn House State Historic Site — 33 mi
  The two-story farmhouse west of Bonham that the longtime Speaker of the House built in 1916 and kept as his home, left as he lived in it and open as a museum since 1975.

More markers nearby

• McKinney — steps away
• McLarry Cemetery — 1.2 mi
• Site of Muse Academy — 1.6 mi
• Ambush at McKinney — 1.7 mi