DUANE
Duane's take
Well, here's my telling of what the Texas Historical Commission saw fit to put in stone — so let's do right by it. Now, Henry McKinney came into this world in 1863, born in Kemp, Kaufman County, and if you think that name sounds like a man with some grit built into him already, just wait. Because at the age of twenty, young Henry walked himself right into Company C of the Frontier Battalion of the Texas Rangers.
The Texas Rangers. You don't sign up for that outfit if you're looking for a quiet life. He served his year, got discharged, and headed back to Kemp — which, depending on your perspective, is either a man coming to his senses or a man biding his time.
Then Viola Dorsey entered the picture. Born in 1866, she married Henry, and together they made a decision that a whole lot of Texans have made when they're ready to put down roots and mean it — they headed for Ellis County, near Waxahachie, sitting right on that deep dark Blackland Prairie soil that'll grow just about anything you're willing to work for. In 1903, Henry and Viola purchased a 71.5 acre tract of farmland, two miles west of Waxahachie.
Seventy-one and a half acres. Not a round number — a real number, the kind you get when you're actually out there measuring ground you intend to keep. Viola passed in 1910, and Henry carried on.
Then in 1913 — a full decade after buying that land — Henry McKinney hired a Waxahachie builder by the name of Jack Harris to construct something worthy of everything he'd built toward. Two thousand square feet of Prairie-Style architecture, and brother, they did not cut corners. A varied hip roof with cedar shake shingles.
Two dormer windows looking out over that farmland like a pair of steady eyes. A wrap-around front porch held up by wooden pillars, the kind of porch that practically requires you to sit down and stay a while. Step inside and there's a parlor, a master bedroom, a second bedroom, a living room, a bathroom, a kitchen, a butler's pantry — and both the parlor and master bedroom had coal-burning fireplaces, which on a January night in Ellis County is not a luxury, it is a theology.
Out back, screened and four-season porches, because a man who spent a year with the Texas Rangers knows better than to fight the weather when you can just go around it. Now here's the detail that stops me every time. Somewhere on that roof, a board was found — just a board — and on it was written that construction was completed on August 31, 1913.
August. The thirty-first. Somebody up on that roof in the August heat of a Texas summer, finishing the last of it, took the time to write that down.
Like they knew it mattered. Like they knew someone would be looking for it a hundred years later. The barn is still there.
The corrals. The chicken house. The McKinney family held onto that homestead until 1944.
Then in 1963, Marvin W. and Mattie F. Aday purchased the property, and their name joined Henry's on the deed to history. Today, the Texas Historical Commission calls this one of the few remaining examples in rural Ellis County of an early twentieth-century Prairie-Style farmhouse — an intact living history, they say, for future generations to understand what life looked like on a small family farm in the fertile Blackland Prairie of Texas.
A former Ranger, 71.5 acres, one Waxahachie builder, and a board nailed to a roof on August 31, 1913. That's not just a house. That's a man's whole answer to the question of what comes next.
What the marker says
Henry McKinney (1863-1936) was born in Kemp, Kaufman County and, at the age of 20, enlisted in Company C of the Frontier Battalion of the Texas Rangers. After one year, McKinney was discharged and returned to Kemp. He married Viola Dorsey (1866-1910) and then moved to Ellis County, near Waxahachie. Henry and Viola purchased a 71.5 acre tract of farm land two miles west of Waxahachie in 1903. In 1913, Henry hired Waxahachie builder Jack Harris to construct a 2,000 square-foot Prairie-Style home on his property. According to a board found on the roof of the house, construction was completed on August 31, 1913. The Prairie-Style exterior boasted a varied hop roof with cedar shake shingles, two dormer windows and a wrap-around front porch with wooden pillars. The floor plan included a parlor and master bedroom with coal-burning fire places, second bedroom, living room, bathroom, kitchen, butler's pantry and screened and four-season porches at the rear of the house. Original outbuildings including a barn, corrals and a chicken house remain on the property. The basic design of the house mirrors other Prairie-Style homes in the area. The McKinney family owned the homestead until 1944. Marvin W. and Mattie F. Aday purchased this property in 1963. This historic ome is one of the few remaining examples in rural Ellis County of an early 20th century Prairie Style farm house. The McKinney-Aday homestead represents an intact living history for future generations to gain understanding of life on a small family farm in the fertile Blackland Prairie of Texas. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2013