Holley-McWhorter-Greenhaw Family

Duane's take

The marker on this one tells the story, and I'm just gonna do it justice. Three generations, one family, one Texas town. Let's go.

Nathaniel A. Holley was born in Tennessee in 1861, and in 1884 he pointed himself toward Texas. He settled near Balch Springs, farming forty acres, raising sugar cane, vegetables, and orchard fruits.

But after a year, he turned around and went back to Tennessee to care for his widowed mother. Now, some men leave a place and never find their way back. Nathaniel wasn't that kind of man.

He came back to Mesquite, and he came back with a plan: a grocery store, right on the town square. He even bought the lot. But life had other ideas.

The deaths of his wife and his son put those commercial plans on hold. That is a weight this story doesn't flinch from, and neither should we. Nathaniel remarried.

His second wife was Adell Humphreys, and together they had four children. And in 1903, the store finally opened. The stock was hauled from Dallas, loaded into a wagon and a buggy, and brought to Mesquite the way things got done back then, by hand and by will.

Nathaniel served as city alderman and put in seven school years as a board member. The man wasn't just running a store. He was building something.

That spirit passed down. Nathaniel and Adell's two sons, Raymond and Anson, served in the military in World War I, went all the way to France, and when they came home they walked right into the family business. The youngest daughter, Eula, married a man named Ferd Arthur McWhorter, and in 1943 Ferd expanded the operation along Broad Street.

The place got a new name: McWhorter's, later McWhorter-Greenhaw. Hardware, farm supplies, furniture, appliances. A full-service kind of enterprise for a growing kind of town.

Ferd kept the family commitment to education alive, serving eleven years on the school board. And then came the third generation. Eula and Ferd's daughter Patricia married a musician and educator named Frank Greenhaw.

Frank joined the family enterprise, served as school board member and president, directed the school choral and band programs, and served as director of music for First Methodist Church of Mesquite. One man, bridging commerce and art and civic life all at once. Mesquite hasn't forgotten any of this.

A street, a school, and a city park carry these family names. The Holley, McWhorter, and Greenhaw families. Three generations that farmed, served, taught, played music, and built a town alongside their neighbors.

That is a long-running story, and Mesquite is still telling it.

What the marker says

Three generations of a Mesquite family made important contributions to the city's commerce, schools and fine arts. Tennessee native Nathaniel A. Holley (1861-1947) came to the area in 1884, farming 40 acres near Balch Springs and raising sugar cane, vegetables and orchard fruits. After a year, he returned to Tennessee to care for his widowed mother, then came back to Mesquite intending to open a grocery store. Holley purchased a lot on the town square, but his commercial plans were delayed by the deaths of his wife and son. Holley and his second wife, Adell Humphreys, had four children, and in 1903 he opened his store with stock hauled from Dallas and loaded in a wagon and a buggy. Holley also started a family tradition of civic involvement, serving a term as city alderman and seven school years as a board member. Nathaniel and Adell's two sons, Raymond and Anson, served in the military in World War I, and upon their return from France joined the family business. Youngest daughter Eula married Ferd Arthur McWhorter, who in 1943 expanded the family business along Broad Street. The retail operation named McWhorter's (later McWhorter-Greenhaw) included hardware, farm supplies, furniture and appliances. Ferd continued the family commitment to education, serving 11 years on the school board. Ferd and Eula's daughter Patricia married musician and educator Frank Greenhaw, who joined the family enterprise and was school board member and president, school choral and band director, and director of music for First Methodist Church of Mesquite. Through their long-running business and in the names of a street, a school and a city park, Mesquite remembers the Holley, McWhorter and Greenhaw families. (2008)