History
Abraham Winfree
(1801-1865) A native of Louisiana, Abraham Winfree first came to present Orange County in 1830. He purchased land by 1831, and in 1833 brought his wife Millie and their five children to Texas. Their homestead on Cow Bayou was near the Opelousas Trail (La Bahia Road), an important early Texas travel route. Winfree made his living as a rancher, cattle drover, shingle maker, and logger.
History
Absalom Jett
Born in Louisiana in 1812. Arrived in Texas, 1824. Served in the Army of Texas 1836. Member of Captain Benjamin J. Harper's Company. Died 1878. His wife, Mary Arthur Jett. Erected by the State of Texas 1957
History
Atakapan Indians of Orange County
The Atakapan Indians, a tribe associated with southeastern U. S. bands, lived in this area for centuries. Studies have suggested their presence covered a large region of southeast Texas. Their name comes from the Choctaw Indians, and means "Man-Eaters". It is believed that Indians encountered by Spanish explorer Cabeza de Vaca in 1528 along the Gulf Coast may have been Atakapans.
History
B. H. Norsworthy
(Nov. 26, 1838-Feb. 21, 1901) Alabama native B. H. Norsworthy migrated to Texas in 1860. During the Civil War he organized a Confederate unit known as the Lone Star Rifles. Wounded at the Battle of Thompson's Station in Tennessee (1863) and the Battle of Jonesboro, Georgia (1864), he attained the rank of lieutenant colonel.
History
Black Education in Orange County
Schools for Orange County's black children were held in churches and private homes as early as the 1870s. In 1887 a black school was opened in the Duncan Woods community, and another was soon established in Orange. Known as Orange Colored School, it was renamed in 1930 in honor of educator Robert Russa Moton and again in 1946 for longtime principal Emma H. Wallace.
History
Black Education in Orange County
As early as the 1870s, Orange County's African American children attended school in private homes and churches. The Orange County commissioners established 17 school districts in 1887. Schools included the Duncan Woods No. 3, located in the Duncan Woods community of southwestern Orange County. The school had probably been in operation for several years at that time. Thomas F.
History
Captain George M. Levingston
(Feb 25, 1874-Oct. 27, 1971) A licensed river captain and the son of a pioneer area shipbuilder, George M. Levingston was a leader in the development of Orange's shipbuilding industry. In 1933, after years of experience in the local shipyards, he formed the Levingston Shipbuilding Company, which was to become a major Gulf Coast operation under his direction.
History
Charles Holmes Saxon
(About 1820-Jan. 26, 1919) A native of Mississippi, Charles Holmes Saxon migrated to Texas in 1842, settling in Jasper County. Following his service in the Mexican War, he moved to this area, where he was a farmer, a shingle maker and an active Mason. When Orange County was organized in 1852, he served on the first commissioners court and later became sheriff.
History
Claiborne West
(1800-1866) Born in Franklin County, Tennessee, Claiborne West moved as a young man to Louisiana. He married Anna Garner in 1824 and they had nine children. His family immigrated to this area in 1825 and received a land grant in the Cow Bayou settlement. Soon West joined in the struggle for independence from Mexico.
History
Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown
Well-known for his expertise on the guitar and his multi-genre music, Clarence 'Gatemouth' Brown had a recording career that spanned more than 50 years. Born in Vinton, Louisiana, he and his family moved to Orange when he was an infant. Here, Brown was shaped by a mix of Texan and Cajun cultures.
History
David Robert Wingate
(1819-1899) In 1852 wealthy Mississippi sawmill owner David Robert Wingate moved his family to a large cotton plantation in Newton County. During the Civil War (1861-65), he donated lumber from his Sabine Pass sawmill to build Fort Sabine and other posts. Federal troops burned his home and business. In 1874 he relocated in Orange, bought into a sawmill, and branched into rice farming.
History
Dr. Samuel M. Brown
(1836-1887) South Carolina native Samuel M. Brown served with distinction as a surgeon in the Confederate army during the Civil War. He and his family settled in East Texas in 1866 and in 1871 moved to Orange. He was a respected local physician, often treating county jail prisoners and paupers. A leading citizen of the town, he was tragically killed in a locomotive accident on March 29, 1887.
History
Dr. William Hewson and Dr. David Caldwell Hewson
Two in a long line of physicians in their family, William and David Caldwell Hewson were significant figures in orange County. William was born in Philadelphia in 1801. in 1821, he married Mary Ann Bankson and they moved their family several times before settling in orange in the early 1850s. Dr. Hewson worked as a physician and opened a drugstore in Orange.
History
Emma George Latchem
(July 15, 1854-March 27, 1929) Born in Quitman, Texas, Emma (George) Latchem came to Orange in 1871 after her husband died. Mrs. Latchem began teaching in 1873 in a private school. She joined the public school system when it opened in 1884. Devoted to teaching, she helped found the mothers and teachers club in 1908 which worked to improve classroom conditions.
History
First National Bank of Orange
Until the industrial revolution reached Orange in the late 1880s, most banking needs in the area were handled through Galveston.The growth of Orange as a lumber center and deep water port, however, necessitated the development of a local banking facility.The organizational meeting for the First National Bank of Orange was held in 1889 at the office of Dr. D. C. Hewson.
History
Henry Jacob Lutcher Stark
On December 8, 1887, Henry Jacob Lutcher Stark was born in Orange to William H. and Miriam H. (Lutcher) Stark. His maternal grandfather, Henry J. Lutcher, had amassed wealth as a co-founder of the Lutcher and Moore Lumber Company and as a landowner with gas and oil interests.
History
Homesite of Dr. Edgar William Brown
Following the example of his father Dr. Samuel M. Brown, Georgia native Edgar William Brown (1859-1917) became a practicing physician in Orange. In 1888 he married Carrie Launa Lutcher (1861-1941), daughter of the successful Orange lumberman Henry Jacob Lutcher.
History
Hugh Ochiltree
(July 10, 1820-March 28, 1891) A native of North Carolina, Hugh Ochiltree migrated to Texas in 1840. Settling first in Nacogdoches, he studied law in the office of his cousin William Beck Ochiltree, who became a prominent Justice and Texas statesman. In 1843 he moved to San Augustine, where he married Margaret Ann McKnight.
Architecture
Jackson-Hustmyre House
Henry B. Jackson, a prominent local banker and businessman, built this home soon after he purchased the property in 1902. In 1909 he sold it to Frank W. Hustmyre, Vice President of the Orange National Bank and manager and secretary-treasurer of the Orange Grocery Co.
History
Jerome Swinford
(Nov. 3, 1839 - July 13, 1906) Missouri native Jerome Swinford came to Sabine Pass in 1859 to enter the steamboat business. After serving in the Civil War, he moved to Orange where he worked in Alexander Gilmer's mill and later became a popular local merchant. An active Mason, Swinford served as mayor, school board member, and city alderman.
Architecture
Jimmy Ochiltree Sims Home
Born in Orange, J.O. Sims (1874-1961) rose from clerk to board chairman during his long career with the First National Bank. He married Mary Alberta Spooner (1879-1948) in 1899 and built this residence in 1902. Originally located one block from this site, the house was enlarged in 1919. Its simple style contrasts with the ornate mansions built by wealthy lumbermen.
History
Joe and Annie Lucas House
Prominent local jeweler Joe Lucas (1865-1944) and his wife Annie (1879-1978) built this home in 1907 as a modest 2-story vernacular structure. As a result of business success they improved their home by adding a Queen Anne style wraparound gallery and gazebo-like corner in 1918. Prominent features include paired Corinthian columns, arched windows, and a 2-bay porch on the second level.
History
John Cole Homestead
Pioneer settler John Cole (1805-75) migrated to Texas in 1828. An active resident of the Cow Bayou community, he served in the militia during the 1836 Texas War for Independence. Moving to this area, he built a log cabin on public land (5 mi. W). In 1848 he received a land grant for his homestead (.5 mi. N). Cole was a successful cattleman in northern Orange and southern Jasper counties.
History
John Harmon
Born in 1790 in St. Martin Parish, Louisiana, John Harmon lived at Poste de Attakapas, a Spanish fortification at the present site of St. Martinville. A veteran of the state's defensive actions during the War of 1812, he wed Elizabeth Compstock Clarks in 1813. Soon after the birth of their first child in 1816, the Harmons sold their St. Martin Parish land and moved west.
History
John Thomas Stark
Patriarch of the Orange County Stark family, John T. Stark was born in Pebble County, Ohio, in 1821 and moved to East Texas in 1840. He settled in Newton County in the 1850s where he read law and ran a mercantile store. In 1861 Stark joined the Confederate forces as a private in the Texas infantry and was later elected captain.
Elsewhere in Texas
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