McKain Family Home

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm gonna do it justice. Picture this: Wills Point, Texas, 1874. Somebody's got to be first, and Thomas J.

McKain and Mattie Cornelia Bagby McKain were exactly that. The first couple married in Wills Point. Now that's a distinction that'll outlast just about anything.

And to mark the occasion, they built themselves a home. This home, right here. Built in 1874, and it did not come easy.

The lumber for that house didn't just appear. It came by ox-wagon, all the way from Longview. Think about that ride.

Slow, heavy, across East Texas terrain, every plank of that house earning its place in the walls. Thomas had come to Texas in 1870, arriving from Florida. Mattie, his bride, was born in Virginia and had been educated at Old Trinity University over in Tehuacana.

These were not people who stumbled into a community. They built one. Thomas McKain, born in 1849 and living until 1922, was a merchant and a Texas immigration promoter, a man who spent considerable energy convincing others that Texas was worth the trip.

He would know. He'd made the trip himself. And the people of Wills Point took notice, because they made him their first mayor.

Then, as if once wasn't enough, they made him mayor again later. In between and around all of that, he served as alderman and school trustee. The house those ox-wagons built is still standing, and it carries the whole story inside its walls.

What the marker says

Built 1874 for Thomas J. and Mattie Cornelia Bagby McKain-- first couple married in Wills Point. McKain had come to Texas in 1870 from Florida; his bride, born in Virginia, was educated at Old Trinity University, Tehuacana. McKain (1849-1922), a merchant and Texas immigration promoter, served as the first (and also later) mayor of Wills Point, and was alderman and school trustee. Lumber for the house came by ox-wagon from Longview. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, 1968