History
Col. Steward Alexander Miller
Col. Steward Alexander Miller (July 4, 1805 - March 27, 1893) Born in Virginia; came to Texas, 1839. Member of Snively expedition (1843), and 1st state legislature (1846). Wife: Rebecca Whitten. Recorded - 1973
History
Community of Tadmor
Permanent settlement in this area began in the 1830s on land that was part of the Joseph Vehlein Colony. Located in a dense East Texas pine forest, the name of the community comes from a biblical reference to "Tadmor in the Wilderness." A post office was established in 1885 and continued until 1914. A school was founded near this site in 1889.
History
Community of Weches
Located near site of 17th-century Spanish missionary activity, this farming community had its beginnings with the settlement of the McLeans, Conners, Patton, and Gregg families, who had all arrived in the area by 1840.
History
Concord Cemetery
In July 1889, Armistead Albert Aldrich donated three acres of land to the Concord Presbyterian Church for a church lot and graveyard. J.C. Dudley and David T. Adair were ordained church elders, and Dudley's burial in 1895 was the cemetery's first. Gravestones memorialize dozens of local surnames, as well as fraternal organization members and military veterans.
History
Congressman Nat Patton
(Feb. 26, 1881 -- July 27, 1957) Native of Houston County, Nat Patton was known for his custom of addressing both friends and strangers as "cousin". After teaching school for a number of years, he opened a law office in Crockett. He served as county judge, state representative, and state senator before winning election to the U.S. Congress from the 7th district.
History
Cornith Cemetery
Corinth Cemetery stands as a reminder of Houston County's pioneer heritage. It is the last remaining evidence of several Houston County settlements, including Corinth, a community that built up near a Methodist Episcopal church and school in the late 1850s. The cemetery has served as a final resting place for residents of Corinth, Old Randolph, Old Zion, Kennard and Center Hill.
History
Crockett
Founded 1837. Named for David Crockett, who had visited here on way to the Alamo, 1836. Old fortified log courthouse was often the refuge for settlers during Indian wars. During Civil War had camp of instruction. Telegraph and stagecoach station for South. Forestry, farming and livestock center.
History
Dalys/Dailey Community Cemetery
The pioneer Daily family and others founded the Dalys Community in the 1850s. When Ethalinda Meriwether, wife of Dr. Francis Lewis Meriwether, died in 1876, Charles B. Dailey and his sister and brother-in-law, Emma Catherine and James A. Hill, gave land for a community cemetery. In addition to the families of the Dalys/Dailey Community, the cemetery also served residents of nearby Reynard.
History
Daniel McLean_John Sheridan
Daniel McLean (1784 - May 10, 1837)_John Sheridan (April 5, 1796 - May 10, 1837) This area's earliest settlers; from North Carolina. McLean came to Texas in 1813 with Guttierez-Magee expedition, seeking to free Mexico from Spain.
History
Darius H. Edens
(May 20, 1815 -- September 14, 1883) A native of Illinois, Darius H. Edens moved to Texas in 1831. He served in a Texas army infantry unit commanded by Thomas J. Rusk in 1836. A surveyor by trade, he worked in present Houston and Anderson counties. He and partner James E. Box platted the town of Palestine, where he later owned a store and was elected Anderson County's first Chief Justice.
History
Davy Crockett Memorial Park
Davy Crockett Memorial Park dedicated June 12, 1937 City of Crockett, Texas named for Davis Crockett and incorporated by the Republic of Texas Dec. 29, 1837 ------- Houston County named for General Sam Houston created by act of the Republic of Texas June 12, 1837 ------- City officials Mayor J.B. Beasley; Councilmen R.L. Shivers, H.O. McCarty, C.L.. Edminsten, W.E. Keland, B.O. Perdue
History
Denson Cemetery
Joseph Denson (1823-89) came to Texas from Alabama with his family in the 1830s. They were among the Predestination Baptists who settled in Houston County with the Church's founder, Elder Daniel Parker. Joseph married Caroline L. (Houston) (1836-1918), niece of Sam Houston, about 1851, and they had eleven children. He set aside 1.
Architecture
Downes-Aldrich House
An outstanding example of Eastlake-Victorian architecture, started about 1891, completed in 1893, by J.E. Downes, prominent local businessman. Much of the material in the structure was imported from other states. Downes lived in the house until 1910, and sold it the next year to Armistead Albert Aldrich (1858-1945), distinguished civic leader and historian, who resided here until his death.
History
Druso
When the Four-C Company built a large sawmill in nearby Ratcliff in 1900, the Eastern Texas Rail Line was built through the area for shipping. Druso was the only stop on the rail line between the Four-C mill and Lufkin, and changed from a farming to a logging boom town. Druso included a post office, cotton gin, general store, blacksmith and saloon. Children attended nearby Mt. Pisgah School.
Architecture
Early Bank Building
A typical late 19th Century Texas commercial building, with cast iron front and pressed tin ornamentation. Erected for bank developed in mercantile store of W.E. Mayes (1837-1915). To aid his customers, Mayes in 1880s took care of cash and currency, issued loans and credit; in 1891 sold this business to First National Bank of Crockett, which he and H.F. Moore were organizing.
History
Eastham Prison Farm
The Eastham family purchased a 12, 790 acre plantation in 1891. Property was leased soon afterward to the Texas State Prison System for farming on a shared basis. The landowner supplied seed, machinery, tools and mules, while the state provided labor to plant, tend and harvest the crops. The state received 60 percent of the cotton and 50 percent of the sugar cane.
History
Evergreen Cemetery
A rural community of farming families once existed in this area. Known as Evergreen, it was named for the numerous evergreen trees in the vicinity. A small school and church building provided a gathering place for the community. Land given for the school in 1879 by early settlers R.T. and Susan Lively also became the site of a community graveyard.
History
First Baptist Church of Lovelady
The earliest recorded Baptist activity in Lovelady was a union Sunday school that was organized by 1876. Although an exact date for the formation of a Baptist congregation has not been established, the minutes of the 1879 meeting of the Neches River Baptist Association mention the Rev. J.L. McKee as a representative from the Lovelady Baptist Church.
History
First National Bank of Crockett
Founded about 1881 as sideline in mercantile store of W.E. Mayes (1837-1915), who aided customers by keeping cash and currency in his safe, issuing loans and credits. In 1892 H.F. Moore (1854-1926) came here from Galveston to charter First National Bank, with Mayes transferring his deposits. This bank absorbed (1904) Farmers and Merchants National Bank (founded 1901).
History
Five Courthouses of Houston County
On June 12, 1837, President Sam Houston authorized the formation of Houston County, the first newly created county in the Republic of Texas. Andrew W. Gossett (1812-1890) donated land, which included this square, for the townsite.
History
Fodice Community School
The Fodice Community School began in the 1880s and was housed in the local Methodist church until about 1900 when a schoolhouse was built west of the church. Enrollment increased through the years, and in 1938-40 improvements were made to the one-story building through the Works Progress Administration. In 1945 Fodice school was consolidated with the Pennington School District.
History
Former Rosenwald School
(Now "The Little Red Schoolhouse") A symbol of Black America's pride in education, plus crusade of Julius Rosenwald (1862-1932), a Chicagoan who in 1913 began to fund school buildings for negroes. By 1920, when this one-teacher structure was built at Ratcliff (4 miles east), Rosenwald's grants had to be matched -- in this case, by Houston County funds.
History
Four C Mill
R.M. Keith, agent for Central Coal & Coke Co., Kansas City, Mo., in Oct. 1899., began purchasing the virgin pine timberlands of this region. Lumber for construction of a new mill was cut by a small sawmill bought by Keith, Jan. 10, 1901, from local landowner, J.H. Ratcliff. Although known as"Four C" mill, it was operated by the Louisiana and Texas Lumber Co., organized by Keith in July 1901.
History
Frank Mulder Gossett
(Aug. 25, 1892 -- Sept. 22, 1974) Houston County native Frank M. Gossett was the grandson of Andrew E. Gossett, Sr., donor of the Crockett townsite. A prominent local historian, Frank Gossett was a founder in 1922 of the Sons of the Republic of Texas, a group that later honored him as a Knight of San Jacinto.
History
Franklin Columbus Woodard
(April 1, 1847 -- January 31, 1911) Alabama native Franklin Columbus Woodard settled in this area with his parents about 1850. After being educated as a teacher, Woodard graduated from medical school in 1887 and later moved his family to Grapeland to start his medical practice. In 1898 Woodard was ordained a Baptist minister.
Elsewhere in Texas
Hear it from the road
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