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William Forman I,
his wife, four sons and one daughter came from Bardstown,
Nelson County, Kentucky in 1846 and settled on a farm one
mile east of the town of Plano, Collin County, Texas. This
was the same year that Collin County was organized. William
Forman I was married to Ruth Chenoweth, a granddaughter of
Cecil Calvert, the second Lord Baltimore, founder of the Colony
of Maryland and the city of Baltimore. The four sons were
William II, Joseph, James and Clint. The only daughter, Letitia,
was later married to George W. Barnett, son of another pioneer
of South Collin County family.
Mr. Forman acquired a considerable body of land in South
Collin County. In addition to their farming activities,
the father and sons built a grist mill, a gin, a still and
a cooperage. The early settlers from a wide area patronized
these enterprises and they continued to flourish until the
coming of the Houston and Texas Central Railroad through
the country in 1872. After the coming of the railroad, the
mill and other activities were discontinued.The town of Plano was established, a mile west of
the Forman farm and it became the supply center for the
settlers. The mail facility at that time was an old mail
pouch carried on horseback once a week each way between
Austin and Clarksville. Mr. Forman lived fourteen miles
south of McKinney and sixteen miles north of Dallas. There
was no post office between the two places. Mr. Forman applied
in the spring of 1881 for a petition to get a post office
established in his home. The establishment of a post office
in his home was recommended by the postmaster in Dallas
and the postmaster in McKinney. These documents were sent
to Washington, and in about six weeks, an answer was returned stating "that
the office would be established" and requesting that
it be given a name unlike any other office in Texas and
that a suitable person be named postmaster. There was a
consultation over the matter. Mr. Filmore was then president
and it was concluded to name the office Filmore and recommend
Mr. Forman as postmaster.The neighbors in Rowlett and Spring Creek objected to the
post office being called Filmore. They said they would not
patronize it and they would have their mail sent to Dallas
or McKinney. They would not have a Whig from Kentucky come
into the neighborhood and name a post office Filmore. Mr.
Forman's little clipboard cabin was on the highest part
of the "back section." No other house was in sight
and Mr. Forman looked out on the vast prairie and decided
to put a little Spanish into the word "plain"
and call it "Plano." The name was changed from
Filmore to Plano by order of the post office department
and Mr. Forman was duly installed as the first postmaster.The Forman's retained and developed their land and improved
their place to be one of the best found in North Texas.
They were thrifty citizens and have continued to play an
important role in the life of the county throughout its
entire existence. In 1851, William Forman and his sons built
a seven room farm residence. The house stood as the family
home for many years and was later moved to another location
on the farm and used as a tenant house by William Forman
III. A beautiful ten room, two story house was erected on
the original site and it stood until 1951, when it was replaced
by a more modern home.There have been four William Formans and all have lived
inside the same yard fence, William III and William IV having
been born there.Located on the northwestern part of the Forman farm is
the Forman cemetery, in which the first interment was made
in 1852. The owners of the four sections of land that cornered
together within three or four hundred yards of the grist
mill decided to locate the graveyard where each of the four
could contribute an equal portion of land for the cemetery.
This is the location of the Plano Mutual Cemetery. Interesting
markers to be found in the cemetery are:
William Forman II - Born September 7, 1820 - Died August
27, 1886
Abby Howard Forman
- Born August 16, 1823 - Died January 20, 1897
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