In 1870, Thomas G. McKell married Jean Dun, daughter of John Dun of Chillicothe, Ohio. The bride's father gave the newly wedded couple a wedding gift that consisted of a half-interest in a 12,300 acre tract of land that lay between the areas surrounding what would later become Thurmond, Glen Jean and Mt. Hope. John Dun had inherited this tract of land from the Graham estate, which was a part of the original Banks 50,000 acre survey. The Banks survey was a land grant signed, in 1785, by Edmund Randolph, Governor of Virginia. The Banks survey was the first survey made within Fayette County. It was also the first land grant and the largest ever made within the county.

Thomas G. McKell soon began to expand his land holdings. In 1883, he and his wife bought out the other half-interests in the 12,300 acre tract of land, buying 6,150 acres from George and William Dun. In the years that followed, McKell continued to purchased additional tracts of land, amassing a tract of land nearly 20,000 acres in size.