Kamey Community

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Kamey Community, out in Calhoun County. Now settle in, because this one's got roots that run deep. John William McKamey was born in 1878 in Salem, Arkansas, to John Samuel Monroe and Sarah Rebecca McKamey.

His family, from the very beginning, believed in something fiercely: education. And they didn't just believe in it the way folks hang a motto on the wall. They moved.

Four times. Four separate moves, all so that John could finish his schooling. And finish he did, walking out of Baylor University on June 6, 1899, carrying not one diploma but two, one in Military Science and one in Elocution.

That's right. The man could organize a formation and command a room. After Baylor, John headed back to Gregory, Texas, to help his father manage the family's two-thousand-acre cotton farm.

That's where a lot of men might've stopped. But John McKamey was not a man inclined to stop. In 1901 he married Maude Todd, a woman he'd met at Baylor.

By 1905 and running through 1907, John and his brother Tunnell were purchasing lots in the Port Lavaca townsite along with the Bay Trading Company. John also bought property and established Lynnworth Cemetery, which is now known as Port Lavaca Cemetery. And during that same stretch of years, several members of the McKamey family, along with a man named J.B.

McCampbell, put together more than eight thousand acres. Eight thousand. That land became known as the Kamey Community.

In 1912, Maude and John left Port Lavaca and moved out to that very community, and there they raised five children. They raised cattle. They farmed cotton and grain sorghum.

And they weren't working in isolation, either. A depot along the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio railway sat right there, giving the McKameys a way to move their goods to market. By 1910 the community had its own post office, modest as it was, serving the family and the farm employees.

It lasted until 1915. That same year of 1910, a one-teacher school opened its doors, and it would keep them open all the way until 1948. There was a general store too, a hub for the whole community, and it later earned the name the Kamey Army Store.

That store ran from 1914 all the way to 2002. Think about that. Nearly a century of transactions, of neighbors coming and going, of community life measured out in goods across a worn counter.

John William McKamey was born in 1878 and lived until 1955. He didn't just farm a patch of Texas. He shaped one.

And generations of the McKamey family have kept right on working that land, still contributing to the agricultural life of the area. Some legacies you build with words. Some you build with eight thousand acres and a whole lot of determination.

What the marker says

John William McKamey (1878-1955) was born in Salem, Arkansas, to John Samuel Monroe and Sarah Rebecca McKamey. John's family valued education and moved four times in order for John to graduate from Baylor University with two diplomas in Military Science and Elocution on June 6, 1899. After graduation, john returned to Gregory, Texas, to assist his father in managing the family's 2,000-acre cotton farm. In 1901, John married Maude Todd whom he met at Baylor. Looking to expand, John and his brother, Tunnell, purchased lots in the Port Lavaca townsite along with the Bay Trading Co. between 1905 and 1907. John also purchased property and established Lynnworth Cemetery (now Port Lavaca Cemetery). During this time, several members of the McKamey family along with J.B. McCampbell purchased more than 8,000 acres that became known as the Kamey Community. In 1912, Maude and John moved from Port Lavaca to the Kamey Community and raised five children. John and the McKamey family raised cattle and farmed cotton and grain sorghum. In addition to the land, a depot along the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio railway provided an accessible transport for McKamey goods to market. In 1910, a post office was established for the family and farm employees but was discontinued in 1915. A one-teacher school was available from 1910 to 1948 as well as a general store for the community, later named the "Kamey Army Store" which operated from 1914 to 2002. Generations of the McKamey family continue to work the land and contribute to the agricultural development of the area. (2017)