HOMES IN NACOGDOCHES.—Sites of the following residences of early
settlers of Nacogdoches have been marked by the State of Texas:
James Dill, southeast corner of North and Hospital streets. Pioneer
Indian trader; recognized by King of Spain. First alcalde of
Nacogdoches, 1821. Home built in 1804.
William Clark, Jr., northwest corner Main and North streets, signer of
Texas Declaration of Independence, member Second Congress of the
Republic of Texas. Home originally built by John J. Simpson in 1835,
acquired by Clark in 1840.
Charles S. Taylor, southeast corner North street and Mims avenue. Born
in London, 1808; died in Nacogdoches, November 1, 1865, Signer Texas
Declaration of Independence. Land Commissioner 1833, Chief Justice
Nacogdoches county 1837, Rio Grande Land Commissioner 1854. Home built
before the Texas Revolution.
Don Juan Antonio Padilla, site now occupied by Westminster Presbyterian
church on North street. Born in Nacogdoches on Rancho Santo Domingo;
died in Houston 1839, while there on business. Served as an officer in
the Spanish army; Secretary of State of Coahuila and Texas; Land
Commissioner for Eastern Texas; delegate from Victoria county to the
convention which declared Texas independent; member of deputation that
demanded the surrender of Goliad, and volunteer to the Army of the
Republic before San Antonio. Home built in 1830 on land granted to his
grandfather.
Thomas J. Rusk, opposite campus of Stephen F. Austin State Teachers
college, west side of North street; born 1803, died 1857. Hero of San
Jacinto, Commander-in-Chief of the army 1836. Chief Justice of the
Supreme Court 1839. President of the Constitutional Convention 1845.
United States Senator 1846. Nacogdoches was his home from 1835 to 1857.
Home built about 1844.
Antonio Gil Ybarbo, Main street, site now occupied by Cason-Monk
Hardware store; born 1729, died 1809. Founder of modern Nacogdoches in
1770; builder of Old Stone Fort. This Spanish frontiersman matched wits
with Spanish governors in the interest of the early settlers of this
region.
Sam Houston, site now occupied by the Liberty Hotel. First home owned by
Sam Houston in Texas. Erected by John Forbes, Commissary General of the
Army of San Jacinto, in 1836. Purchased by Sam Houston in 1839.
John S. Roberts, on block facing south side of Plaza Principal; born
1796, died 1871. Came to Texas December, 1826. Participated in Fredonian
Rebellion, a leader in the Battle of Nacogdoches 1832; delegate to
Consultation, November 3, 1835; signer of Texas Declaration of
Independence. Home originally built and occupied as a residence by
Samuel Davenport during early years of the Nineteenth Century.
MOUNT STERLING.—Site of town of Mount Sterling; surveyed off for John
Durst in 1837. One of important river ports for Nacogdoches for many
years, at present known as Goodman crossing on the Angelina River. John
Durst residence overlooked the boat landing and used as a refuge for his
and his neighbors’ families during the Indian and Mexican troubles. Site
marked by the State of Texas.
NORTH STREET.—Oldest street north of Mexico. Originally a street in the
Nacogdoches Indian village leading to the road from Nacogdoches to the
Nassonite village near Cushing. On this street the Mission Guadalupe was
built in 1716. Travelled by Spanish missionaries, soldiers and settlers,
French traders and American filibusterers before Anglo-American
colonists came to make Texas their home. Marked by the State of Texas.
NACOGDOCHES COUNTY.—Marker placed by the State of Texas three miles
north of Nacogdoches on east side of Highway 35.
_El Camino Real—The King’s Highway_
The old King’s Highway, known to the Spaniards as “El Camino Real,”
which runs through Nacogdoches, San Augustine and Sabine counties, was
followed by La Salle and his men in 1685, at which time they spoke of
this road as being “as well beaten a road as that from Paris to
Orleans.” This road was followed by St. Dennis in 1714, as he was making
his way from Natchitoches on Red River to San Juan Bautista on the Rio
Grande. It was doubtless an Indian trail to the western borders of the
Tejas Indians, probably about the Trinity river, and from there to San
Antonio the best route was determined by use. After the Mexican
Revolution and the coming of the American settlers it was straightened
into a cart-road or Camino Carretera, and was known as the Old San
Antonio Road. State Highway 21 now follows approximately the track of
the old road.
Highway 21 leads east to San Augustine, the sister town to Nacogdoches
from the earliest days, where are the sites of the old Mission of
Dolores, the home of General James Pinckney Henderson, Governor O. M.
Roberts, and many of the prominent men of the Republic of Texas. The
home of Stephen W. Blount, signer of the Texas Declaration of
Independence, many of whose descendants live in Nacogdoches and San
Augustine, was built on the north side of the King’s Highway, and is in
an excellent state of preservation.
Seven miles west of San Augustine on this highway was the home of Thomas
S. McFarland, who laid out the town of San Augustine in 1834. The house
was built about 1830 and was provided with port-holes for shooting
Indians in case of attack.
Pendleton Ferry was the original ferry on the King’s Highway across the
Sabine river; now spanned by a splendid interstate bridge. Not far from
the road is McMahan’s Chapel, the first Methodist Church in Texas, and
the site of old Sabine-town.
_Masonic Lodge_
MASONIC LODGE.—Some time in the Spring of 1837, immediately following
the organization of a permanent government in Nacogdoches county, a
movement for the organization of a Masonic lodge began which culminated
in a dispensation from the Grand Lodge of Louisiana for the Milam Lodge
No. 40, which was dated July 29, 1837.
One of the leaders in the Masonic circles of Nacogdoches was Adolphus
Sterne, who was a past master of a lodge in New Orleans, and also a 32nd
degree Scottish Rite Mason, the first Scottish Rite Mason to come to
Texas. Haden Edwards was also a past master of another lodge. The other
charter members of Milam Lodge No. 40 were: Isaac W. Burton, John H.
Hyde, George A. Nixon, John S. Roberts, Charles H. Sims, Frost Thorn,
Simon Weiss, as Master Masons, and Kelsey H. Douglass and John W. Lowe
as Estered Apprentice and Fellow Craft respectively.
The first meeting of the Lodge under dispensation was held in the Old
Stone Fort on August 16, 1837, with the following present: Haden
Edwards, Master; John H. Hyde, Senior Warden; J. S. Roberts, Junior
Warden; Chas. H. Sims, Treasurer pro tem; Adolphus Sterne, Secretary pro
tem; with George A. Nixon, Simon Weiss and J. W. Lowe, members. The
Charter from the Grand Lodge of Louisiana was granted September 22,
1837, and was received in the Lodge on its meeting November 20, 1837.
Upon suggestions from Holland Lodge No. 36, Houston, Texas, a committee
consisting of Adolphus Sterne, I. W. Burton, Thomas J. Rusk, Charles S.
Taylor and Kelsey Douglass, was appointed to attend a meeting in Houston
to consider the formation of the Grand Lodge of Texas. Their mission was
accomplished in the city of Houston on February, 1838, with the
organization of the Grand Lodge of Texas, and this lodge became Milam
Lodge No. 2.
After the first meeting, the Lodge began using the upper floor of Simon
Weiss’ store for its meeting-place, and during its long history, it held
its meetings in several houses in Nacogdoches, but never succeeded in
building its own permanent home until the completion of its present
Temple in May, 1931, on North Fredonia street.
During the administration of Haden Edwards as Worshipful Master of Milam
Lodge No. 40, one dozen chairs were made for the use of the Lodge, which
were of hickory, turned on an old-fashioned lathe, with seats of
rawhide. These chairs served the Lodge long and faithfully, and have
witnessed the degrees conferred on every Mason made in Milam Lodge for
110 years. In 1914 a resolution was passed, instructing the worshipful
master to present to the old past masters then living and to the sons of
those old pioneers that had passed away, one of these chairs, that they
might be kept as relics and mementos of the long ago. One of them was
retained by the Lodge and now occupies a prominent place in the East,
there to remain for all time to come, never to be used again except it
be by the President of the United States, the governor of Texas, or the
Grand Master of the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Texas.
Many of the men prominent in the affairs of Texas have been members of
Milam Lodge No. 2, and the minutes show Sam Houston a visitor on more
than one occasion.
_Texas’ Monument to a Great Empresario_
[Illustration: STEPHEN F. AUSTIN STATE TEACHERS COLLEGE
Nacogdoches, Texas]
A glimpse of Stephen F. Austin State Teachers College, the Thomas J.
Rusk building on the right. General Rusk made his home in Nacogdoches
from his arrival in Texas in 1834 until his death in 1857. He is buried
in Oak Grove cemetery. The college buildings are located on the Thomas
J. Rusk homestead.
_Old Nacogdoches University Building_
[Illustration: BY VIRGIE SANDERS]
The project of rebuilding the exterior of the historic Nacogdoches
University, as recently proposed by the Nacogdoches school board, is now
partially completed.
The sum allocated by the board has been used discreetly and the
replacement of brick on outside walls, new window frames and panes with
new lumber added supporting the antiquated structure, guarantees safety
to the public school children who play on the hallowed ground of the Old
Nacogdoches University built by subscription with some state aid during
the days of the Texas Republic.
We feel that now is the time to emulate the spirit of the pioneers. Let
us be awakened to this opportunity to complete the noble edifice, making
it available to be used by the citizens as a club center and a museum.
Printed in the
office of
THE HERALD PUBLISHING CO.
Nacogdoches, Texas
PRICE TEN CENTS
PER COPY
[Illustration: INDIAN MOUND
Located on Mound Street Opposite High School Building]
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Transcriber’s note:
—Silently corrected obvious typographical errors.