Daniel and Dorothy Adeline Ferris McKinney

Daniel McKinney was born 7 Oct 1799 in Lincoln County, Kentucky, to Margaret “Peggy” McClure (b. 1776), and Daniel Younger McKinney (b. 1769) in New Jersey. Daniel died 20 December 1858. Around 1840, Daniel (b.1799) married Dorothy Adeline “Dollie/Polly” Ferris McKinney who was born about 1821 in Alabama and died in Cass County, Texas, about 1899 or 1900.

Daniel McKinney (b.1799), his parents, his grandmother, Mercy Blatchley McKinney (b. 1745), Pompton, Morris County, New Jersey, and his uncle, Collin McKinney (b. 1766), along with other McKinney family members, came to Texas in 1824 when Texas was still a possession of Mexico. Firmly believing that they were in Mexico, they first settled in the Arkansas territory taking up land on the south side of the Red River in what was then Hempstead County but which in 1827 became Lafayette County. Both Mexico and the United States claimed this area.

In 1825 the family experienced a major tragedy. Mercy Blatchley McKinney died 25 July 1825. Just a month later her son, Daniel Younger McKinney (b. 1769) died 29 August 1825 and his wife, Peggy, died 2 September 1825. The causes of their deaths are not certain, but devastating illnesses such as malaria, dengue, typhoid, and yellow fever were common in low-lying areas with heavy rainfall and long seasons of hot weather which contributed to the breeding of mosquitoes and other disease-carrying insects.

By 1830 most of the McKinneys had decided to take up land in the Wavell Red River Colony of the Republic of Mexico. Daniel (b.1799) joined them and signed the oath of citizenship on December 24, 1830. He stated that he was thirty years old and that he had arrived from Kentucky December 10, 1824. As a single man he qualified for onethird league of land which he chose in present-day Red River County.

In 1836 Daniel’s uncle, Collin McKinney (b. 1766), was elected to represent the Red River Colony in the Convention that met March 1, 1836, at Washington-on-the-Brazos. Collin, being 70 years old at the time, rode horseback over 300 miles to attend this convention. He was on the committee that drafted the Texas Declaration of Independence from Mexico, and he was one of the signers of the declaration. Collin was elected and served in the First, Second and Fourth sessions of the Congress of the Republic of Texas. Collin McKinney died at the age of 95 in 1861 and is buried in Grayson County, Texas.

Daniel (b.1799) served the newly formed Republic of Texas in a military capacity. In an affidavit dated 23 August 1836, Jon. H. Dyer stated that Daniel McKinney (b.1799) mustered into service May 20 and served until June 14, then joined Capt. Bradley’s company of Cavalry until July 18, and then joined Capt. Robbins’ company.

In 1838 Daniel McKinney (b.1799) and the other heirs of Daniel and Peggy McClure McKinney filed an application to the Traveling Board of Land Commissioners for a league and labor of land to which their father would have been entitled had he lived. The Commissioners considered the claim invalid and rejected it. In 1842 the heirs submitted the claim to the Congress of the Republic of Texas, and it was rejected by the House of Representatives. However, in 1843 the heirs again petitioned the Congress and this time the claim was approved. The land was located in the current counties of Titus, Cass, Morris, Franklin, and Wichita.

It appears that by 1840 Daniel (b. 1799) had married. He was shown on the 1840 Census of the Republic of Texas as living in Red River County and owning 7,557 acres of land. This amount of land would seem to indicate that he had received a headlight grant as a married man. In the 1846 poll list for the Republic of Texas, Daniel McKinney was shown as living in Cass County, apparently on some of the land awarded the heirs of his father, Daniel (b 1769). In 1850, Daniel and his young family were in the Greylock Community located in Titus County, Texas, (current day Franklin County). Daniel died 20 December 1858 leaving Adeline to rear his children alone. According to Oscar McKinney, son of Lemuel McKinney, Daniel was buried in the Greylock Cemetery, Franklin County, Texas. In 1870, Adeline and her children were living in Cass County.

The children of Daniel (b.1799, d.1858) and Dorothy Adeline McKinney were: 1) Lucy Jane McKinney, born about 1842. She married first, Daniel McAllister and had one son. Second she married a Burleson, and they had one son. Third she married a Duke, and they had no children together.

2) Margaret McKinney, born about 1846. 3) Lemuel Meridy “Bud” McKinney, born 25 August 1848, died 2 January 1936, Cass County, Texas, and buried in Turkey Creek Cemetery, Cass County, Texas. On 24 June 1874 Lemuel married Mary Ann “Molly” Duck, daughter of John S. and Eliza Booker Duck. See separate sketch on Lemuel Meridy and Mary Ann Duck McKinney for their family. 4) Georgia Elizabeth McKinney, born about 1851, married 1 October 1874 J. L. Burleson, Cass County, Texas.

5) Sarah Caroline “Sally” McKinney, born 1852, died 13 April 1936, Cass County, Texas, buried in the Old Union Hill Cemetery, Cass County, Texas. She married William Burleson.

6) Daniel Thomas McKinney, born about 1855, died 22 September 1932, buried in the Old Union Hill Cemetery, Cass County, Texas. Married Mrs. Fannie Mitchell Humphrey.

7) James Carroll McKinney, born about 1857.

8) William Henry McKinney 9) Jasper M. McKinney, born 27 March 1859, died 7 September 1912, Cass County, Texas, buried in Old Union Hill Cemetery, Cass County, Texas. On 17 September 1886 he married Emma Eliza Burks, born 25 August 1872, died 26 January 1955, Linden, Cass County, Texas. Emma was a half-sister of Mary Ann Duck. (Their mother was Eliza J. Booker Duck Burks. Jasper and Emma had twelve children: 9.1) Jessie Whitfield McKinney, born 10 April 1888, Cass County, Texas, died 10 March 1925, buried Old Union Cemetery. Married 24 December 1916 to Mary Gartner.

9.2) William Charles McKinney, born 1 January 1890, Cass County, died 28 February 1961, buried in Union Hill Cemetery. Married 23 February 1913 Minnie Cook.

9.3) Ennis Taylor McKinney, born 24 November 1891, Cass County, died 20 July 1962, buried in the Linden Cemetery, Cass County, Texas. Never married. 9.4) Ethel Lee McKinney, born 18 November 1893, Cass County, died 4 November 1977, buried in the Linden Cemetery, Cass County, Texas. Married 2 November 1913 to James Jefferson Allison.

9.5) Delia Jane McKinney, born 12 January 1896, Cass County, died December 1911, buried in Old Union Hill Cemetery, Cass County.

9.6) Collin McKinney, born 6 August 1897, Cass County, died December 1911. Note: Delia Jane (above) and Collin died and were buried on the same day in Old Union Hill Cemetery in Cass County, Texas.

9.7) Carl McKinney, born 14 October 1900, Linden, died 12 May 1948, Linden. Married Bonnie R. Dudley.

9.8) Sallie Thelma McKinney, born 14 February 1903, Cass County. Married 28 August 1940 Homer Ellis Kirkland.

9.9) Raymond McKinney, born 20 February 1904, Cass County, died April 1904, buried Old Union Hill Cemetery, Cass County, Texas.

9.10) Harvey McKinney, born 15 July 1906, Cass County, died 1909, buried Old Union Hill Cemetery.

9.11) Bryan McKinney, born 17 December 1908, Cass County, died 1 October 1971, Linden. Married 15 February 1932 Thelma Baird.

9.12) Delbert McKinney, born 15 December 1911, Cass County, died 20 February 1949, Birmingham, Alabama. Married 11 June 1939 Louise Rivers in Birmingham.

By 1880, Adeline and the children still living at home were back in Franklin County, Texas. In 1884 Adeline “Polly’7 Ferris McKinney, as a widow of a Republic of Texas veteran, made application for a Veteran Donation Land Certificate by virtue of Daniel (b.1799, d.1858) McKinney’s service to the Republic of Texas. In her application she stated that she had lived in Franklin County for five years and that she had never remarried since the death of Daniel McKinney on 20 December 1858. Through her attorney-in-fact she received a certificate for 1280 acres of land in 1885 and sold it the same day for $700.00.

Prior to 1899/1900 Adeline returned to Cass County. Adeline’s grandson, James Taylor McKinney (b.1875) who was the oldest son of Lemuel Meridy McKinney, remembered her riding her mule or horse from the Union Hill community all the way to Dangerfield to pick up her pension check each month. Adeline died around 1900 and is buried in the Old Union Hill Cemetery in an unmarked grave.

By: Marilyn Laverne Morris Russell

Great great-granddaughter of Daniel and Adeline McKinney

6718 FM 307, Midland, Texas 79706-4911