Grayson County; an illustrated history of Grayson County, Texas. Page: 28
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J. M. BINKLEY TOM RANDOLPH
Binkley's political power grew rather than abated
as former Confederate soldiers were readmitted to the
polls, for by the rules governing the assignment of delegates
to the national Republican conventions, Republican
leaders in Southern states were given influence disproportionate
to the just merits of the Republican vote
they were able to deliver. C. C. Binkley was for many
years National Committeeman to the Republican Party.
He was chairman of the Texas delegation at the Chicago
convention of 1880 and worked for the nomination of
U. S. Grant through thirty-six ballots.
In spite of his politics, C. C. Binkley was personally
admired by his fellow citizens. He had married Sallie
Goode, daughter of Benjamin Goode of Kentucky. Mrs.
Binkley was widely loved for her kindness and gentle
spirit. At C. C. Binkley's death in 1886 he was acknowledged
to be Sherman's leading citizen.
The leadership of the Binkley family was by no
means confined to business and law. Jacob Monroe
Binkley, brother of the financier, was perhaps of even
greater importance in the history of the county. Born
26 February 1833, he too came to Grayson in 1853
and finished his education in the academy taught in
Sherman by Barton W. Taylor in the early fifties. He
early joined the Sons of Temperance and was licensed
to preach in the Methodist Episcopal Church South in
1855. Two years later he was admitted to the East Texas
Conference of that body. He was assigned to the pastorate
of the Sherman church in 1859.
Unlike his brother, he entered the Confederate Army,
serving in the Twenty-Sixth Volunteers. Returning to
his calling at the close of the war with a wife he had
married in 1863, he was assigned to the Sherman church
from 1865 to 1869. In 1880 J. M. Binkley became the
Presiding Elder of the Sherman District and continued
periodically in this capacity for the rest of his life.
Upon the death of J. M. Binkley's first wife, Mr.
and Mrs. C. C. Binkley adopted one of J. M. Binkley's
daughters, Fay Binkley. In 1889 Fay Binkley married
Tom Randolph, who for many years had been her foster
father's protege.
The Randolph family of Virginia is too prominent
to need any explanation here. It is enough to state that
Grief and Mourning Randolph were twins born the
last year of the American Revolution near Wytheville,
Virginia. The peculiar names given to the twins were
chosen by the mother because of the circumstance that
their father was then held prisoner by the British.
Grief Randolph married Nancy Anderson of Rutherford
County, Tennessee; one of their sons, Thomas W.28
Randolph, came to Grayson County in 1853 and rapidly
won himself an outstanding place as a young attorney.
Grief and Nancy Randolph themselves and another son,
J. L. Randolph, came to Grayson County in 1859. J. L.
brought with him his wife and small son, Tom, aged
four. J. L. Randolph became a merchant, and young
Tom soon became a favorite with the community and
caught the eye of C. C. Binkley, who considered him
very apt for a business career. He was taken into the
bank, and on the death of Binkley, Tom Randolph, in
spite of his youth became president and continued as a
leader of the community until his death.
A. M. Bryant was a native of Washington County,
Kentucky. His first wife, Clarissa Young, was the mother
of David E. Bryant, who was born in Larue County,
Kentucky in 1849. The family moved to Grayson
County in 1852 or 1853 and settled on a farm near
what was to be Whitewright.
A. M. Bryant was unionist in sympathy and represented
Grayson County at the Reconstruction Convention
in 1868. David E. Bryant as well as his father became
prominent in Grayson County Republican affairs
and rose steadily in legal experience and reputation. He
was appointed U. S. District Judge in 1890 and enjoyed
a most distinguished career on the bench. Upon his
death he was followed as judge of the same court by his
son, Randolph Bryant. Never before had it happened
in the entire nation that a Federal judge was followed
on the bench by his own son.
There is some anomaly involved in the emergence
of the Binkley and Bryant dynasties following the war.
It is beyond question that the political situation in the
South did much to forward the success of either family.
Yet it is beyond question that both families enjoyed
the complete public esteem in a period when there was
strong opinion against Republicans. It is pleasant, moreover,
to observe the ties between the Binkleys, Randolphs,
and Bryants and families that had earlier occupied
prominent positions. Thomas W. Randolph, the
uncle of the Tom Randolph who married Fay Binkley,
was married first to Sallie Young, the daughter of Col.
William C. Young of Indian and Civil War reputation.
His second wife was Miss Betty Thompson, daughter of
Judge James G. Thompson. And Judge David Bryant
was married to another daughter of Judge Thompson,
Miss Arizona Thompson. Susan Binkley, moreover, the
sister of C. C. and J. M. Binkley, became the second
wife of A. M. Bryant.
Two events from the 1870's shaped the course of
Sherman history for years to come. One of these was
the failure to get a railroad and the other was a disastrous
fire.
Eager as the people of Grayson County were to gain
rail transportation, they apparently had little concept
of the kind of rail transportation that would most benefit
them. Thus, in the early seventies the Sherman city
fathers saw themselves very fortunate in receiving the
services of the Houston but there was
a bitter chagrin that the county seat had lost its op-
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An illustrated history of Grayson County, Texas with numerous photographs and a pioneer name index (p. 120).
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Landrum, Graham. Grayson County; an illustrated history of Grayson County, Texas., book, 1960; Fort Worth, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth24647/m1/32/: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.