May Faris McKinney
May Faris McKinney | |
|---|---|
.png) McKinney circa 1920 | |
| President General of the United Daughters of the Confederacy | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | May Mourning Faris June 23, 1874 Hickman, Kentucky, U.S. |
| Died | December 22, 1959 Paducah, Kentucky, U.S. |
| Resting place | Mount Kenton Cemetery |
| Spouse | Roy Weaks McKinney |
| Children | 2 |
| Occupation | Non-profit executive |
May Faris McKinney (née Faris; after marriage, Mrs. Roy Weaks McKinney; nickname, "May-Roy";[1] 1874-1959) was an American clubwoman and non-profit executive who served as President General of the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC).[2]
Early life and education
[edit]May Mourning Faris was born at the home of her parents, Maple Hall, in Hickman, Kentucky, on June 23, 1874.[3] May's father, Dr. Alexander Allen Faris, lost an arm in the civil war, but nevertheless developed a very high degree of skill as a surgeon, and was one of the few men thus handicapped who achieved distinction in that branch of the profession in his era.[2] May's mother was Florence (Goalder) Faris.[2] May had four siblings: four siblings, Light, Irene, Evan, and Allen.[1]
May's grandfather, Richard Alexander Faris, was a native of North Carolina and spent his active life as a planter in Mississippi County, Missouri. His wife was Ethelinda Harris. Ethelinda's father, Samuel Harris, was a member of the Rowan County, North Carolina Committee of Safety during the Revolutionary war.[2]
She was educated by private tutors to the age of twelve, after which she attended Mrs. M. E. Clark's Select School for Young Ladies at Nashville, Tennessee,[1][3] graduating in 1892, and later taking two years of college work. She then entered society and church and other activities, and was prominent in Hickman social circles for several years.[2]
Career
[edit]She was a member and for two years was president of the Paducah Woman's Club. During World War I, she was chair of sales of the Woman's Division in McCracken County for all the loan campaigns, was chair of War Savings Stamp sales for the county districts of McCracken County, was recording secretary of the Woman's Division of McCracken County's Council of National Defense, a member of the Speaker's Bureau, of the Home Service Department of the McCracken County Red Cross, and chair of the UDC Red Cross Unit. Mrs. McKinney is a member of the River Raisin Chapter at Lexington of the National Society of United States Daughters of 1812. For two years, she served as regent[4] of the Fort Jefferson Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.[2]
In the UDC, her untiring efforts brought her increasing prominence for many years. For two years, she was president of Paducah Chapter; two years, president Kentucky chapter; three years, Recording Secretary-general;[3] two years, chair of the General History Committee; two years, chair of the General Finance Committee; ten years, treasurer of the Shiloh Monument Committee; and three years, chair of the committee to provide a monument to Jefferson Davis at his Kentucky birthplace. On the score of her work in these various offices, McKinney was placed in nomination and elected at Tampa, Florida, on November 19, 1919, president general of the UDC.[2][4]
Personal life
[edit]On November 26, 1901, in St. Paul's Episcopal Church at Hickman, she married Roy Weaks McKinney. They had two children, Elizabeth and Roy.[3]
Roy Weaks McKinney was born in Caldwell County, Kentucky, May 3, 1875, a son of James W. McKinney, who was president of the Cadiz Bank in Trigg County, Kentucky, where for many years he was a prominent democrat and at one time, represented the county in the Kentucky General Assembly. James W. McKinney married Elizabeth Weaks, who was born at Tobaccoport, Stewart County, Tennessee, in 1855, and died in Trigg County in 1877. The McKinneys came from Scotland to North Carolina in Colonial times, the first of the family in the U.S. being Barnabas McKinney. His branch of the McKinneys were descended from Clan Macdonald of Sleat, and through them from the MacDonalds of the Isles and also the Sumerleds, a clan with high connections with the reigning house of Scotland in the year 900. Roy McKinney's maternal grandfather, E. P. Weaks, was a prominent business man in Paducah, Kentucky where he died when about eighty years of age. He was president of the firm Weaks Bros. & Company, wholesale grocers. E. P. Weaks married Mary Jane Acree, a descendant of James Brigham, a Revolutionary soldier from Sullivan County, Tennessee. James Brigham gave some of his property for the court house and other buildings in Sullivan County. Roy McKinney was a prominent Paducah businessman, being president of the McKinney-Guedry Company, and a vestry man of Grace Episcopal Church.[2]
McKinney was confirmed by Bishop Thomas Underwood Dudley in St. Paul's Episcopal Church at Hickman, and for many years was identified with church activities. She became a member of Grace Episcopal Church at Paducah.[2][4] For recreation, she enjoyed motoring.[3]
May Faris McKinney moved to Paducah, Kentucky, after her marriage. She died at her home in this city on December 22, 1959. Interment was at Mount Kenton Cemetery.[4]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c McKinney-Smith, Lady Sarah Moss (1989). History and Families, McCracken County, Kentucky, 1824-1989. Turner Publishing Company. pp. 181–82. ISBN 978-0-938021-36-0. Retrieved 19 November 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Connelley, William Elsey; Coulter, Ellis Merton (1912). History of Kentucky. American Historical Society. p. 398. ISBN 978-0-598-57298-1. Retrieved 18 November 2024.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ a b c d e Woman's Who's who of America: A Biographical Dictionary of Contemporary Women of the United States and Canada, 1914-l9l5. American Commonwealth Company. 1914. p. 525. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ a b c d "Former DAR, UDC Leader Dies Here". The Paducah Sun. Paducah, Kentucky. 23 December 1959. p. 1. Retrieved 19 November 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- 1874 births
- 1959 deaths
- Clubwomen
- People from Fulton County, Kentucky
- Members of the United Daughters of the Confederacy
- Daughters of the American Revolution people
- Women presidents of organizations
- American women nonprofit executives
- Episcopalians from Kentucky
- 19th-century American Episcopalians
- 20th-century American Episcopalians