Individual Details

Emily Jane McKinney was born on January 23, 1833, at Elam's Prairie, Red River County, Texas. She was the third child in a family of fourteen children of William C. (Uncle Billy) and Margaret (Aunt Peggy) McKinney. At the age of eleven she moved with her parents and grandparents to their new home in the Northern part of Collin county, where she lived until she was married in 1852. At the age of fourteen, she united with the Christian church, the first one of that faith to be organized in North Texas.
In 1852, she was married to Joseph Lauderdale Kelly. To this union were born three children, Laura, Nannie and Betty. Uncle Joe Kelly died on December 18, 2899. Laura died in her youth. Nannie became the wife of Captain J.L. Greer, of McKinney and Betty became Mrs. Newt Taylor. Both preceded their mother to the Great Beyond.
In 1854, Mr. and Mrs. Kelly moved to their home at Old Mantua where she lived until 12 years ago, when she moved to Anna, making her home with her granddaughter Mrs. W.C. Bryant. While living at Mantua, her home was always the home of the preachers and the teachers.
For the last 13 years, Mrs. Kelly has been blind.
She is survived by two brothers, Dr. J.N. McKinney of Collinsville, Texas, and John W. McKinney of Anna, Texas.
Mrs. Kelly was a granddaughter of Collin McKinney, a pioneer of North Texas and a signer of the Texas declaration of Independence. Of seven of Mr. McKinney's grandchildren, Mrs. Jennie J. Wagnon died on January 10, 1925, at Texarkana, and Mrs. Kelly on April 18, 1925. Five grandchildren of the pioneer are living: J.D.L. McKinney and S.L. McKinney of Van Alstyne, Mrs. Betty Donald of Fort Worth, Dr. J.N. McKinney of Collinsville and John W. McKinney of Anna.
Miss Julia Shultz, a great-great-granddaughter, was the constant companion of Mrs. Kelly during the last years of her life on earth. Completely without sight, the passing of time was made to fall easy upon Mrs. Kelly through the loving care and devoted ministration of Miss Shultz.
Mrs. Kelly was the oldest member of the Daughters of the Confederacy to which she belonged and was also a charter member of the Collin McKinney chapter of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas composed of descendants of Collin McKinney or of descendants of natives of Texas between the years 1823 and 1844.
Funeral services were held at the First Christian Church of Van Alstyne on last Sunday afternoon - the church which has sprung from the first organization of believers in the Christian faith formed in North Texas nearly eighty years ago by Mrs. Kelly's father, William C. McKinney. A large gathering of friends from Grayson and Collin counties and other sections attended the services and an abundance of floral offerings attested the esteem and love felt for Mrs. Kelly. Elder R.C. Horn of McKinney, Rev. Leo Johnston, the pastor of the church, and J.D.L. McKinney officiated.
There was nothing of the ostentatious about the rites which were observed as the parting was taken from this grand old woman. The services were touching in their beautiful simplicity, typical of the character of the life which they commemorated. The spoken words evidenced in their very nature the intensity of the love and the veneration which all who knew her felt for Mrs. Kelly and the regard which was shared for the superior order of womanhood, constancy, Christianity, faith and zeal which the sentiments of youth and age, manifest in their attitude toward a life long as we count the years, exemplified for all generations of those younger, and it marked the ending of earthly being for patriarch spared for years beyond the allotted time of human beings on earth to bless and to bind those left behind, kindred and friends in all of the elements which are the attributes of the right methods in living and in worship of the God who gave us being.
The interment, which was had at the Van Alstyne cemetery, was witnessed by a large company of relatives and friends gathered to do final obeisance as the mortal remains of Mrs. Kelly were returned to their native element.?
The pallbearers were as follows:
Honorary - Sam Rosemond, R.B. Lindsey, Captain G.W. Kidd, Tom Creager, Gus Wilson, John Askew, R.M. Stephenson, J.D. Judd, M.C. Powell, F.R. Slaughter, H. Loftice, Lyman Umphress, L.A. Scott, T.E. Shirley, R.M. Cannon, L.A. Cartwright, Will Leslie, W.C. Dysart, Andrew Shirley, W.M. Stinnett, B.L. Shirley, Dr. J.W. Larget, William Powell, W.H. Cliff, J.N. Sanstrom, S.S. Dumas, Dr. W.D. Patton, B.A. Crabtree, Will Lair, Jim Lewis, Hamp Lewis.
Active - Si McKinney, J.L. Kelly, E.K. Taylor, Manuel McKinney, Dr. A.T. Bryant, R.A. Cole, Frank Cox.

Father born in Kentucky; mother from Tessessee.

90. “www.findagrave.com.” Memorial # 40537419 Van Alstyne Cemetery Van Alstyne, Grayson, Texas, birth, death, married name (Kelly).
91. Details: Ancestry.com. Texas Birth Index, 1903-1997 [databaseon-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005. Originaldata: Texas Birth Index, 1903-1997. Texas: Texas Department of StateHealth Services. Microfiche Citation Text: birth death
92. Details: Ancestry.com. Texas Birth Index, 1903-1997 [databaseon-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005. Originaldata: Texas Birth Index, 1903-1997. Texas: Texas Department of StateHealth Services. Microfiche Citation Text: birth death
The 1920 census for Collin, Texas shows her living with her granddaughter Nannie Laura Greer Bryant and family.

Birth	23 Jan 1833	Elams Prairie, Lafayette County, Arkansas
Census (family)-shared	15 Nov 1850	(William Coleman McKinney and Margaret "Peggy" Dooley) Collin County, Texas
Marriage	1852	Josiah Lauderdale Kelly
Census (family)	21 Jul 1860	Mantua, Collin County, Texas - Josiah Lauderdale Kelly
Census (family)	4 Aug 1870	Highland, Collin County, Texas - Josiah Lauderdale Kelly
Census	1 Jun 1900	Collin County, Texas
Census (family)-shared	28 Jan 1920	(Dr. William Carson Bryant Sr. and Nannie Laura Greer) Anna, Collin County, Texas
Death	18 Apr 1925	Van Alstyne, Grayson County, Texas
Burial		Van Alstyne Cemetery, Grayson County, Texas

Spouse	Josiah Lauderdale Kelly (1825 - 1899)
Child	Laura Eveline Kelly (1852 - 1877)
Child	Nancy Scarilda Kelly (1855 - 1894)
Child	Margaret E. Kelly (1855 - 1863)

Father	William Coleman McKinney (1806 - 1885)
Mother	Margaret "Peggy" Dooley (1811 - 1886)
Sibling	George Dooley McKinney (1829 - 1829)
Sibling	Nancy Sarilda McKinney (1832 - 1854)
Sibling	Sarah Elizabeth McKinney (1837 - 1911)
Sibling	Colin Edward McKinney (1840 - 1902)
Sibling	Dr. Jarrett Nathaniel McKinney (1845 - 1932)
Sibling	John William McKinney (1849 - 1935)
Sibling	Ebeneezer Napolean "Ebb" McKinney (1852 - 1924)
Sibling	Hardin Richard Runnels McKinney (1858 - 1899)

Notes