Buren McNease was born near the town of Stockman in Shelby County, Texas on May 1, 1905. His mother was Rena McDonald and his father William Henry McNease. William Henry died the next year on June 23, 1906. Afterwards, Rena married Ollie Britton and they had three daughters - Gladys, Louise and Lucille.

Ollie was a short man with a fiery temper. When Buren was 15, he and Ollie had a falling out and Rena sent Buren to live with his father's mother Judy Hancock over near Waterman in Shelby County. Judy Hancock was the daughter of Hardy Henry Hancock and had married Andrew Hancock after William Henry's father disappeared in the 1880's. They were good to Buren and he stayed with them for a couple of years until he was able to support himself.

Buren met a girl named Beulah Hogan and they were married on June 13, 1925. They started a family and soon had a son Junnie (born 1926) and a daughter Ruth (born 1928). Their third child James Buren (Bill) McNease was born in 1936.

Buren was a hard worker, but loved to drink heavily on the weekends. In 1932, he and a couple of friends named Buster Whitley and Pat Henderson (half brothers) were intoxicated while they were waiting in line to have their cotton ginned in Garrison. There was a black man named White in line there and words were exchanged. The black man may have pulled a knife, but what ever the provocation Buren shot him. Although Buster and Pat were not charged, they are said to have possibly struck the wounded man with bricks to finish him off. Buren was charged with manslaughter and served a couple of years in the penitentiary in Huntsville, Texas. His lawyer was named Moss Adams, and Buren felt that he betrayed him and caused him to get prison time.

Returning from prison, Buren stopped drinking and settled down to raising his family. However, there was ongoing trouble with the relatives of the man he had killed. They poisoned a horse and a dog and threatened him on occasion. As a result, Buren developed a strong belief that blacks and whites should be segregated.

During the depression years of 1930s, Buren worked for the WPA building roads in Nacogdoches County. After World War II broke out, Buren moved his family to Houston and got a job working in the ship yards. His oldest son Junnie was drafted into the Army in 1944.

After the war, Buren returned to Garrison and bought a dairy over close to the Attoyac River in eastern Nacogdoches County. Ruth married Ramsey Adams in 1948 and moved to Houston. Junnie married Louella Powers and they also settled in Houston. Buren, Beulah and Bill settled into running the dairy well during the 1950s. It was hard work. They had to milk very early in the morning and late in the afternoon. They would take a nap in the afternoons.

Bill married Jerlleen Russell in 1956 and bought some land near the dairy to raise chickens. He lost his investment after many of his chickens died as the result of eating some experimental feed. As a result, he sold out and tried the store business in Nacogdoches and eventually moved to Houston to join his brother Junnie working at the railroad as a switchman.

Around 1960, Buren and Beulah sold the dairy and moved closer to Garrison on FM 138 about 3 miles east. They spoiled their grandchildren when they came and stayed during the summers. Beulah always fixed their favorite foods and Buren took them for rides in the country.

Buren was able to indulge in his favorite pastime of playing dominos. He would often play into the wee hours of the morning with neighbors and friends such as Del Mullins, Pete Dillion, and Leon Pollard. He also loved music and would play the harmonica and dance a little jig.

In addition, Buren enjoyed hunting and fishing with his children and grandchildren. He and Beulah would go down and stay with Ruth and Ramsey at their bay house down on Bastrop Bayou near Freeport, Texas and go salt water fishing. Buren also would go deer hunting with Bill and Junnie at a hunting lease near Huntsville, Texas. One year, he went with them up to Colorado to deer hunt.

Around 1979, Bill moved back up to Garrison and built a house near Buren and Beulah's home. Ruth and Ramsey also moved nearby around the same time. Bill had long since been divorced and Buren and Beulah moved in with him. Bill got back in the ministry and Buren and Beulah also got active in church as well as Ruth and Ramsey. Initially, they all went to Brileytown Baptist Church, but after the church split, Bill started Garrison Independent Baptist Church and they all attended there. On Wednesday evenings, they would have Bible study usually at Ruth or Bill's home followed by 42 games or gospel singing. Buren served as a deacon in the church.

Buren was always close to his mother Rena Britton and would visit her in the nursing home each week until she died in 1982. He loved to entertain and have family over. He was especially close to his sister Gladys. He also was good friends with Beulah's Hogan brothers and sisters, especially Dud Hogan. He and Beulah attended Hogan and McDonald family reunions in Lufkin.

Up into his eighties, Buren maintained a garden to grow peas, beans and tomatoes. He always feared that he might wind up in a nursing home, but he died of heart failure after being ill a few months in January, 1992. A few months before he died, his granddaughter Beverly Boudar made a video telling his life story. He was preceded in death by his son Junnie, who died of Lou Gehring's disease (ALS) in 1991.

While in the hospital in the month or so before his death, Buren asked his daughter Ruth to call the son of the man he had killed back in 1932. Buren told the man that he was sorry that he had to grow up without a father and that he, Buren, had asked God's forgiveness for what he had done. The black man responded that, if God could forgive him, so could he.