Denise, Here is some more information about the formation of Collin County, and this includes some tidbits about my 4th great grandfather, Jack McGarrah, who was one of those instrumental in setting up the initial county government. Some of this information comes from "A History of Collin County Texas" by Stambaugh and Stambaugh. After Texas was admitted to the Union on December 20, 1845, the first Legislature of Texas was convened in Austin on February 16, 1846. During the short period between March 17 and April 11, 1846, Collin County was created, as were the four adjacent counties of Grayson, Dallas, Hunt, and Denton. In the Act which created Collin County, approved on April 3, 1846, the text included wording which appointed Jack McGarrah, J. C. M. Hodge, Thomas Rattan, Ashley McKinney, and Pleasant Wilson as commissioners whose job was to find the geographical center of the newly-established Collin County, select two places within three miles of the center, and hold an election to determine the location of the county seat. Buckner was a trading post and small town about 3 miles northwest of the location of the present McKinney and had grown up around a few cabins starting in 1842. Jack McGarrah ran a blacksmith shop and small store out of his cabin and this was the only place within forty miles where any sort of merchandise could be bought. On July 4, 1846, about 75 persons attended a meeting at Buckner and decided that Buckner should be the county seat. Although no one had any idea as to the location of the county boundaries as land surveyors were not available, Buckner was the only town of any size in the new county and the residents assumed that in all likelihood it was within three miles of the center. On August 1, 1846, Jack McGarrah donated 50 acres of his own land as a town site. The town was laid off in lots of 80 feet square, with a public square in the center for a court house. On September 1 of that year lots were sold at auction, entirely on credit. A log courthouse was erected and on October 18, 1846, Judge John T. Mills of Bonham opened the first district court session in the new county. In November, the U. S. Postmaster established a post office at Buckner with Jack McGarrah as postmaster. Completely ignored was the Act's provision that a vote must be taken between two selected sites. Within a year, when this became known, the Texas Legislature passed another act "establishing more permanently the seat of Justice in Collin County." When the survey was actually made, the center of the county was found to be about three miles southeast of the square of the present day McKinney near the banks of the East Fork of the Trinity. Buckner was not within three miles of this geographical center of the county, and could not be considered. The two locations submitted to the voters were McKinney and Sloan's Grove, three miles south. On the day of the election, high water in the East Fork and in Wilson Creek prevented settlers from the south and east parts of the county from reaching Buckner to cast their votes. As a result, McKinney was selected by a margin of ten to one. Judd Stiff