Old Home Sites
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
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
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
INDIAN MOUND
Located on Mound Street Opposite High School Building