Charlie C. McKamy?

"He Loved the Land."

Charlie C. McKamy was a stock rancher and owner of a farm that once encompassed 2,500 acres in Collin, Denton and Dallas Counties. Charlie C. McKamy Elementary School was constructed on 15 acres of that farm. 

The McKamy family was instrumental in the settling and founding of the communities in our area and established Texas as their home in the 1850’s. The McKamy family of William C. (Charlie’s Grandfather) left Tennessee and settled in Sedalia, Missouri for a short time, and in 1851 moved to Texas. William C. McKamy (W.C.), his wife Rachel L. Wester, two children (William Albert and John L.), and Margaret (Rachel’s Mother) moved to Dallas County in 1852. Three more children were born to the W.C. McKamy’s after they arrived in Texas. Other family members followed the W.C. McKamy’s to Texas from 1853 to 1855.

W.C. McKamy and Lionel Simpson raised Texas Longhorns and drove the cattle to Baxter, Kansas. The families were involved not only in business ventures, but they became in-laws when John L. McKamy married Anna Simpson.

Born on January 14, 1889, Charlie Christopher McKamy was the third child of John L. and Anna Simpson McKamy. He was born on the farm purchased by his grandfather William C. McKamy. The farm was near the Frankford Church and Cemetery almost on the Dallas-Collin County line. The Frankford Church and Cemetery played an important role in the lives of the McKamy family as well as the other settlers for miles around.

Charlie’s father, John L., owned numerous tracts of land in our area, which extended to the north and west of the farmhouse as well as 600 acres of land along the Elm Fork River.

Charlie grew up as an ambitious child who realized early on that about all you can do with your own two hands is earn a living for yourself. "You gotta have more going for you than two hands. You gotta make people like you," Charlie said in a 1980 interview with Kent Biffle of the Dallas Morning News.

In 1912, Charlie purchased a tract of land on Marsh Lane, which was homesteaded by his maternal grandfather Lionel L. Simpson in 1848. When Charlie bought the 330-acre farm, the land cost $100/acre. On the property was a two-story, red-roofed house built in 1885 by Col. W. P. Bishop, the husband of Emma Simpson, the sister of Charlie’s mother.

A recipient of a degree from what is now the University of North Texas, Charlie joined the Army in World War I. He spent the war in San Antonio, Texas horse trading for the Calvary. When the war was over, Charlie returned to his farm. On December 28, 1921, he married Pharis Whittenburg, daughter of William and Kate Dever Whittenburg of Georgetown, Texas.

Through the years, the McKamy family raised stock and grew various crops. Charlie was featured in the Dallas Morning News on June 5, 1939, in an article entitled "Carrollton is Becoming a Grain Center." The article stated that the McKamy farm was divided into "separate areas for cotton, wheat, barley, oats, corn and pasture on which is a game preserve...He has given over sixty acres of his land to this use for experiments in wheat, barley and oats."

In later years, Charlie sold much of the land that he loved, but he kept the farm where he and his wife Pharis Whittenburg reared two children, Charles Simpson (Chuck) and John William. Pharis died in March 20, 1959.

Charlie lived in the house for decades, watching the cities grow up around his farm. Visible for miles, the red-roofed house served as a landmark for area residents and attracted the attention of passers-by. In August 1991, a fire destroyed the 106 year old farmhouse.

On October 15, 1986 Charlie died at the age of 97 and was buried in the Frankford Cemetery, which is located in the quiet peaceful knoll in the Bent Tree Development. On his tombstone is the inscription "He Loved the Land".

Surrounding Charlie and Pharis Whittenburg McKamy’s monument are other tombstones with the names of our area’s pioneer families who built the first homes, churches, schools, stores and towns. At the Frankford Cemetery, you will find the McKamys, Simpsons, Coits, Starks, Noells, Huffmans, Wells, Jacksons, Bishops, Cudds, Nances, Cooks, Colliers, Dickersons, Fletchers, Fosters, Rowes, Armstrongs, Taylors and Risedens.

Next to the cemetery is the Frankford church, which was built in 1885. One of Charlie’s fond early memories was attending the Frankford Methodist Church services with his parents. At an early age, he sat on his mother’s lap during the services. Today, the Episcopal Church of the Holy Communion uses the original church.

The original church and the cemetery took the name of the little post office town of Frankford, which was located on the Preston Trail that later became the north-south route for settlers. The old Preston Trail is known today as Preston Road. An important cross road center for many years, the town of Frankford has long since faded away. Although the town has disappeared, the impact that these families made on our community has not. Instead, they have left us with a rich legacy.

It is a tribute to Charlie McKamy and his family who settled the land in Collin, Denton and Dallas Counties that a Carrollton-Farmers Branch school is named in the memory of Charlie Christopher McKamy.