McFarland, Mae Wynne (1884–1962)

Mae Wynne McFarland, preservationist, was born on September 23, 1884, in Huntsville, Texas, the daughter of Gustavus Adair and Samuella (Gibbs) Wynne. She attended the University of Texas. On April 14, 1914, she married Ike Barton McFarland. As lobbyist for such women's patriotic societies as the Daughters of the American Revolution and the United Daughters of the Confederacy, she was active in urging the Texas legislature to prohibit the destruction of wild flowers along public highways. She also worked to have historical markers placed along the state's highways. She was an editor of Gulf Coast Gardener. As a student of early Texas history she specialized in the history of Huntsville and Walker County and compiled a study of veterans of the War of 1812 who came to Texas. Her research notes are housed at Sam Houston State University. Mae Wynne McFarland died in Houston on January 7, 1962, and was buried in Oak Wood Cemetery, Huntsville.