History
Holman Home
William Lee Holman (1863-1932) moved to Corsicana in 1908 to become the manager of the Southland Cotton Oil Mill. He built this home in 1914,and it remained in his family for eighteen years. The classical revival style house also exhibits late Victorian and Prairie School elements.
History
Home of Whitney Montgomery, Poet
(1877-1966) Born in Navarro County in white-columned house across pasture south of this site. Began to write poetry when he was 15 years old. Author of more than 500 published poems which appeared in many major magazines; won numerous poetry prizes. Moved to Dallas, 1927. Was editor and publisher of "Kaleidograph" Magazine and Press.
History
Hopewell Cemetery
Burials at this site on the 1846 Wilson Reed survey date from the 1860s. Hopewell Baptist Church, founded in 1866, erected a church building on adjoining property two years later. The earliest marked grave is that of an infant, John W. Pritchard, who died in 1870. Another gravestone bearing the date 1870 is that of William C. Fouty (1866-1870), is also interred here.
History
J. A. Megarity Homestead
James A. Megarity (1838-1911) was born in Georgia and served in the Confederate army during the Civil War. He took part in several important battles including Gettysburg and Petersburg. He was also present at the surrender of Gen. Robert E. Lee. Megarity wed Narcissa C. Hardman in 1859, and they came to Texas in 1872.
History
James Clinton Neill
Born in 1790 in North Carolina, James Clinton Neill came to Texas in 1831 with Stephen F. Austin's third colony. He settled in Milam County, and represented his neighbors at the Convention of 1833. On September 28, 1835, Neill entered the Texas Army as Captain of artillery, and was promoted to Lt. Colonel in December.
History
James Emerson Whiteselle
Born in Tennessee on Dec. 31, 1851, James Emerson Whiteselle moved to Texas in 1870 to work in the lumber company of his uncle P. W. Ezell. In 1875 he began working in the local Carruthers Lumber Company which he later owned. Under his management the business was expanded to include the manufacturing and selling of brick.
Industry & Science
James L. Collins
Born in Weston, West Virginia, James Lawrence Collins (1883-1953) began his career in the petroleum industry at age fourteen. New oil discoveries in Texas brought him to the Corsicana area about 1923. He soon formed a partnership with two brothers, John and Robert Wheelock, and founded the Wheelock & Collins Oil Co.
History
Jose Antonio Navarro
Lover of liberty. Foe of despotism. Born in San Antonio, Texas, February 27, 1795. Died January 13, 1871 and buried there. Member of the Legislature of Coahuila and Texas, 1821; land commissioner of De Witt's colony 1831 and of Bexar District, 1834-1835; signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence, 1836; member of the Congress of the Republic of Texas, 1838-1839; a commissioner of the Santa…
Industry & Science
Joseph S. Cullinan, Pioneer in Texas Oil
( former homesite of) At age 14 Joseph S. Cullinan (1860-1937) began his career as a laborer in the Pennsylvania oilfields. After the Corsicana oil discovery in 1894, Cullinan played a major role in the early development of the field. A daring business leader, he moved his operation to new fields and organized companies, including Texaco, to meet the needs of the growing oil and gas industry.
History
Josiah Martin Daniel
(January 27, 1880 - February 20, 1968) Josiah "Joe" Martin Daniel was born in Wadeville to Theophilus Smith Daniel and Lelia Wisener Daniel. He was reared in Kerens and attended military school in North Carolina, graduating in 1900.
History
Judge E. J. Simkins House
Eldred James Simkins (1838-1902) then of South Carolina, served 4 years in the Confederate army. A brother, William S. Simkins was credited with firing the first shot of the Civil War at Fort Sumter, April 12, 1861. E. J. Simkins moved here in 1871, established a law practice, and built the first rooms of this home in 1873.
History
Judge John S. Callicutt
John Spencer Callicutt moved to Corsicana in 1886 and opened his law practice. As an active member of the community, Callicutt served on the founding board of the county hospital, as well as the boards of Central State Bank and other businesses. A member of the First Methodist Church, he was active in Masonic activities, including work with handicapped children.
History
Kerens (History)
The Texas & St. Louis Railway built its narrow gauge line through Navarro County in 1881 and surveyed a 270-acre townsite here. The settlement was named for Richard C. Kerens (1842-1918), an official of the railroad in St. Louis, Missouri, who evidently never saw the town.
History
Last Review of the Confederacy
Last Review of the Confederacy General Joseph Orville "Jo" Shelby (1830-1897) led a cavalry force of Missourians known as the Iron Brigade and later, the Iron Division. From 1861-64, his troops rode with generals Thomas C. Hindman, John S. Marmaduke and Sterling Price in Missouri and Arkansas. During this time, Shelby earned praise for his command. Shelby and his men wintered in Texas in 1864-65.
History
Lawrence Family Cemetery
Situated on the 1835 land grant of David McCandless (1791-1876), who came to Texas as a Robertson colonist, this cemetery site was later owned by his daughter and son-in-law, Macca Orange (1831-1925) and Joseph Thompson Lawrence (1825-1885). The cemetery was opened in 1868 with the burial of their 6-year-old daughter, Sarah Medora.
Architecture
Lemon-Edens House
Corsicana resident A. L. Lemon built this home in 1895 of Louisiana cypress. In 1902 it was sold to John Wesley Edens. The owner of 2400 acres of local farm and ranch land, Edens had served the area as deputy sheriff, tax collector, and city councilman. The late Victorian style house, which features some Eastlake and Queen Anne detailing, remained in the Edens family for more than forty years.
History
Long Prairie Cemetery
In 1870, Lawrence S. Taylor sold five acres of land for school and church purposes to Nelson Owen, J.T. Selman and W.B. Gage, trustees of the Long Prairie School District. The Long Prairie School and the Long Prairie Methodist Church shared the site, which the community also used as a cemetery. The school district consolidated into the Kerens Independent School District in 1949.
History
Love-Anderson Feud
An early Navarro County conflict, rooted in land disputes and complex family ties, still resonates in the region. During the Republic of Texas period, this area was subject to clashes with native peoples, as with the Battle Creek Fight or Surveyors' Fight (1838) and Battle of Pecan Creek (1841). In Jan.
History
Meritt Drane
(1837-1895) Born in Shelby County, Kentucky, to Stephen and Birthia (Ford) Drane, Meritt Drane exemplified leadership in early Navarro County. His father was a wealthy farmer and stock raiser. Meritt's education consisted of homeschooling and learning how to manage his father's agricultural pursuits. In 1858, he decided to set out for Texas. In his own words, "The fire of youth...
History
Navarro County
Formed from Robertson County. Created April 25, 1846; organized July 13, 1846. Named in honor of Jose Antonio Navarro, 1795-1871, soldier, patriot and statesman, signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence. Member of the Texas Congress 1838. Commissioner on the Santa Fe Expedition, delegate in 1845 to the Constitutional Convention. County seat, Corsicana.
History
Navarro County Courthouse
Navarro County was created in 1846 by an act of the first Texas Legislature. It was named for early statesman Jose Antonio Navarro (1795-1871), a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence. The first county seat was established at the home of William R. Howe, an early settler on the Chambers Creek in present-day Ellis County.
History
Navarro Mills Community
A flour mill built here in the 1860s drew pioneer commerce to this site. Flour was a luxury, used mostly for yeast bread, cakes, and biscuits served on Sundays or special occasions. People traveled for considerable distances with their wheat, and waited sometimes for days to have it ground. The original mill property was bought from R. A. Younger in 1867 by John Summers and sons.
Military
Navarro Rifles
During the Civil War, the Navarro Rifles were an infantry company comprised of approximately 87 men from Navarro and surrounding counties. The group formed in Corsicana in July 1861 to join the army of the Confederate States of America. Clinton M. Winkler, a founder of Navarro County, organized the men and served as the unit's initial captain.
History
Near Site of Trading Post of Dr. George Washington Hill
(1814-1860) Dedicated frontier physician and public servant to the Republic and State of Texas. Born in Tennessee, Hill received his medical degree from Transylvania University. He came to Texas in 1836, where he was a surgeon for Fort Houston at the opening of his lifelong practice. In 1837 Hill became the medical censor for Milam County.
History
Oak Valley School
Oak Valley was one of thirty school districts created in Navarro County in 1867 by County Judge John L. Miller and a committee composed of E. G. Melton, John M. Bright, L. H. Dunham, J. C. Wells, J. M. Quinlan, and G. W. Foster. Classes were not held, however, until the 1870s after a new constitutional provision allowed for the levying of taxes for public education.
Elsewhere in Texas
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