OBITUARY

ELDER JOHN M. MYERS was born in Grayson county, Kentucky, in 1823. He moved with his parents to Indiana at about the age of five years. Two years later they moved from that State to Illinois and settle in what was then Greene county. When it was divided, the part they were in was called Jersey county. There he grew to manhood, and in January, 1842, married his first wife. He remained there until 1845, when, in company with his father's family, he came to Texas. They had but little means and all was to gain and nothing to lose. In February, 1846, they settled in Dallas county. He located land under the Peters Colony, established a headright, improved a farm, and lived on it until 1857, when he sold out. About 1851, however, he had sold half of his headright. After selling out in 1867 he moved to Tarrant county and bought land, but soon became dissatisfied and sold again. Returning to Dallas county he bought a farm adjoining his old home, and here he has since  remained. He has 225 acres, all under fence, and also owns land at other places. He has always been identified with farming interests and has devoted his life to farming and preaching. To him belongs the distinction of having helped to organize the first church in Dallas county, the Union Baptist Church, located near the present village of Carrollton. In 1849 Mr. Myers was ordained to preach by the same church, being the first Baptist minister ordained in Dallas County.

His marriage in Illinois has already been referred to. He was twenty years of age at that time and the lady he wedded was Miss Kizzie Wylie. Their union resulted in the birth of ten children and forty grandchildren. All of their children grew to maturity except one, and the nine are yet living, viz; Elizabeth, born March 1, 1845; Mary and Martha (twins), born August 15, 1847; John S., July 28, 1849; Delila, May 19, 1852, died at the age of one year; Latitia, April 1, 1854; George F., December 11, 1855; Lewis C., December 5, 1857; Stephen A. D., April 24, 1859; and Nancy, May 29, 1861. His first wife died November 26, 1884. He was subsequently married to Mrs. M. E. Ricon, daughter of John Taylor. Her father was a native of Virginia, was a mechanic by trade, and died in Maryland, in 1850, when she was about eight years old. After his death she moved with her mother to Tennessee, where she grew up and was married to Mr. Charles Ricon. In 1877 they emigrated to Texas and located at Denton, she coming to this State with her stepfather, Mr. James Daley. Mr. Ricon served in the Confederate army, was taken prisoner and carried to Chicago, and after being exchanged was sent to Port Hudson, Louisiana, and there died. In Denton Mr. Myers met and married Mrs. Ricon. By her first husband she had two children; one died in Tennessee, and the other, a son, Charles, is now living at Dennison, Texas. Mrs. Myers is a devoted Christian and a lady of much refinement. Mr. Myers' father, Elder David Myers, was born in Montgomery, county, Kentucky, October 15, 1797. At the age of twenty five he married Miss Lutitia Reddish, who bore him fourteen children, eleven of whom lived to be grown. Soon after his marriage he professed faith in Christ, joined the church and was immersed by Elder Hugh Cole. His loving and devoted wife soon followed him, and thus they laid the foundation of a life that was devoted to the Christian faith. About 1829 he moved to Indiana, and two years later to Illinois. At the latter place he was first licensed to preach. He afterwards changed his church membership, when, in 1841, he was regularly ordained to the sacred office of the ministry by Elders H. H. Witt and John Brown. In 1845 he emigrated to Texas and settled in Dallas county, where he remained till his death. He was the first Baptist preacher in Dallas. His first sermon here was a funeral discourse and was delivered in June, 1846. On the 10th of May, 1846, he organized Union Church, and soon afterward, Rowlett's Creek, Bethel, Liberty and perhaps others. His last sermon was preached at Bethel Church, Collin county, from Galatians 5:13. On the 9th of March, 1853, at the age of fifty-six, his redeemed spirit winged its flight to the blessed regions of eternal day. As a Texan pioneer preacher he suffered many privations and hardships. During his entire ministry it is believed he never received more than $500 for his services. His father and mother were Germans by birth and education. All their children, however, were educated in English. David Myers was the youngest of eight sons; was a little below the average height, and was a man of pleasing address.

The subject of our sketch, while working on his farm for the support of his family, preached in Dallas, Denton, Kaufman and Tarrant counties, and like his honored father, is an earnest worker in the cause of his Master. He has been instrumental in locating a member of church in Texas, and has been a pastor and missionary for more than thirty years. He, too, has endured many of the hardships incident to pioneer life. While improving his first farm he went to the timber and made his 100 rails per day, on corn bread and plantain greens boiled in Elm creek water, with no seasoning except a little salt. He had no taste for hunting, and does not remember to have fired a gun since living in the State. Politically, he is a Democrat. His politics like his religion has been handled down from his ancestors. A more sincere gentleman in both is not to be found in Texas. He is now 68 years old, hale and hearty, and preaches often; is the only member of Union Church living who went into the organization forty-six years ago, may 10, 1846.

Memorial and Biographical History of Dallas County, Texas, Chicago; The Lewis Publishing Company, 1892; Pg 478
Submitted by Edward Lynn Williams

ARTICLE

SCENES OF OTHER DAYS
A Sketch of the Oldest Preacher in Dallas County

SOME EARLY CHURCH HISTORY

A Spoon Manufactured in 1661 - A Silver Knee buckle of Ancient Date - An Old English Publication in Which Texas Is Described

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Carrollton, Dallas Co., Tex, March 26 - Rev. John M. Myers was born in Grayson county, Ky., in 1823. He moved to within half a mile of his present home near Carrollton, Dallas county, in December, 1845, and drew a headright under the Peters colony contract and improved a farm. His life has been devoted to farming and preaching. He was in the organization of the first church ever organized in Dallas county, namely, the Union Baptist church near the present village of Farmers' Branch. In 1849 Mr. Myers was ordained to preach by this same church, being among the first; if not the very first minister ever ordained in Dallas county. His father, Rev. David Myers, preached the first sermon ever preached on Elm Fork. and also the first one of the town of Dallas - then a very small village.
The subject of this sketch was married to Miss Kizzia Wiley when he was 20 years old, and from that marriage are now living a large family of children and forty Grand children. A biographical of Mr. Myers was published in the Texas Baptist Herald of Dec 11, 1890 from which the following excerpts are taken:
"While working on the farm for the support of his family, he preached in Dallas, Denton, Kaufman and Tarrant counties, in which he planted some of the strongest churches to be found in Texas. He was pastor and missionary for more than thirty years.

* * *

He is perhaps the best posted man in the history of Elm Fork Baptist association now living, and was moderator three years."
"Mr. Myers' first wife died in 1884, and he afterward married, in Denton county, Mrs. M. E. Ricon, an earnest Christian lady and a zealous Sunday school worker."
Mr. Myers underwent all the privations of the early pioneers, and has cut and split his hundred rails many a day on the slender died of plain corn bread and sour dock greens, boilded in Elm fork water, with a little salt as the only seasoning. He says water and sour dock were the only articles of died of which he had a plentiful supply in those early days.  The corn was reduced to meal after the Indian process mainly, that is, in a wooden mortar best with a wooden pestle. These old mortars were made by burning a hole in the end of a a block of hard wood. Later on he procured a steel hand mill which made coarse cornmeal very well. These hand mills were in common use in this country thirty ofr forty years ago.  Speaking of those early times.
Mr. Myers said:
"We had plenty of game then, especially deer and wild turkeys. I have counted as many as twenty-six deer on the prairies on one day, but as I never had time nor inclination for hunting I never killed any myself, though most of my neighbors killed a great many. I have never fired a gun in Texas.
"Yes, I belong to the Dallas county pioneers' association, and for the last four or five years have been its chaplain. My immediate neighbors in the pioneer days were Alexander W. Perry, Preston and Wade Witt, Wm. Morris, J. M. Kennedy, Robert Chowning, Wim. Larner, John and Dan Harris, and John Jackson. Of these Aleck Perry and Jim Kennedy still live in the neighborhood. A postoffice was established at Farmers' Branch, as well as I remember, pretty soon after Dallas was made a postoffice."
The accompanying cut of Mr. Myers was made from an old daguerreotype, which was taken soon after the war, and of course is much younger in appearance than he is now, and Mrs. Myers thinks it "does not give the old gentleman justice by any means." The long white beard he now wears gives him a much more patriarchal appearance then this portrait shows.

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Some Relics

Mr. W. H. Kennedy, near Carrollton, Dallas county, has several interesting old relics. One is an old hand-hammered, flint lock rifle, which has however, been shortened several inches from its original length and modernized into a percussion cap gun. It was made many years ago in Alabama, and brought to this state by some of Mr. Kennedy's ancestors. It is probably 80 years old, and has been restocked several times. He has also a fine double-barrel shotgun, about 40 years old, which he bought from an old hunter from Illinois.
Antendating these relics of the chase, however, Mr. Kennedy has a silver knee-buckle and an old silver spoon, both of which came "from across the sea," The kneebuckle (Fig 1) is of unique pattern, and quite handsome. It was worn by Mr. Kennedy's great-uncle, Mr. Wm. B. Rowe, an old English gentleman who lived at Forquey, England. The spoon (Fig. 2) however, is evidently older than the knee buckle. It is seven inches long and the handle terminates into a grotesque figure of a man with a broad hat on. The spoon is solid silver, while the figure on the end of the handle seems to be of some other metal and soldered to the handle. The bowl of the spoon is rounder and rather deeper than those of the present day, and on the back are engraved: "1661" and the letters "IV" and "CV."  What these letters man Mr. Kennedy does not know. He things the spoon is of German make, as it formerly belonged to his Grandmother Kennedy, who came from Germany.
Mr. John Bryan, a neighbor of Mr. Kennedy's (and who, by the way, was the first white child born in Dallas county,) [NOTE SEE KENNAN ARTICLE] has a very old volume, the title of which I do not now fully recall, but it is an old English publication - a sort of geographical gazetter. I turned to the word "Texas," and read this description: "A large province in the audience of Mexico, New Spain, bounded on the south by the gulf of Mexico and New Leon, west by Cohahuila and north and east by Louisiana. It is about 700 miles long and 200 broad and inhabited by numerous nations of Indians who have but few settlements. It is woody and well watered and abounds in wild horses.  St. Antionio is the capital."

VIEW ACTUAL ARTICLE (pdf format)

The Dallas Morning News - March 29, 1891
Submitted by Edward Lynn Williams
 

The 75th birthday of Elder J. M. Myers was celebrated at the old homestead near Carrollton on the 17th of the present month by a number of children and grand children.  Elder Myers has lived to see ten children and fifty-six grand-children and four great-grandchildren. Mrs. M. E. Myers, his wife, prepared a splendid dinner for her husband and the day was spent pleasantly with his brother, C. B. Myers, and wife, together with the children, grand children and old friends.  Deacon A. W. Perry, now 79 years old, was one of the number. Messrs Myers and Perry were old acquaintances in Illinois and have been close neighbors in Dallas county for fifty-two years. Relatives were present from Richardson, Farmers Branch, Dallas, and Garland.

The Dallas Morning News - November 19, 1898
Submitted by Edward Lynn Williams
 

OBITUARY

The Dallas Morning News - March 7, 1899
Submitted by Edward Lynn Williams
 

Rev. J. M. Myers
Born in Grayson Co., KY
Nov. 17, 1823
Died
Mar. 6, 1899

ORDAINED A MINSTER OF THE
MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH
OCT. 1849. 50 YEARS A MINISTER

Perry Cemetery, Carrollton, Dallas County, Texas

Common stone with his wife, Kiziah Wiley

KIZIAH WILEY
WIFE OF J. M. MYERS
 BORN IN IND.  JAN 21, 1824
DIED NOV. 26, 1884

Perry Cemetery, Carrollton, Dallas County, Texas