The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 60, July 1956 - April, 1957 Page: 232
616 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
their carriage.""51 Thus the extremes of violence in the midst of
simple, unartificial living-an anomaly which, in many ways,
still persists in Texas-were characteristic.
In such an atmosphere Mrs. Mann's "Mansion House" soon
became famous. It was located on the northeast corner of Con-
gress and Milam, across the city square and next to Henri Corri's
theater. The house was a "two storied, commodious, plastered
building" with porches. In the parlor there were a "sofa, a cherry
center table, an eight day clock and half a dozen chairs," the
whole being graced by a pair of the inevitable spittoons. In the
dining room there were two long tables with benches, while from
the ceiling there hung two fly brushes which at meal times were
swung back and forth by the pickaninnies, Phil and Maria. These
tables were laid with china dishes and German silver cutlery52-
a far cry from the forks and spoons made of cane in some of the
earliest settlers' cabins. There were, besides, large urns from which
coffee was served, britannia pots for tea, and decanters for hard
liquor and wine. In the rear, in a separate building, stood the
kitchen, with a generous assortment of pots and pans and a reg-
ular cook stove-also a striking contrast to the outdoor pits or
crude fireplaces used for cooking the wild game and cornbread
of the pre-Republic days. There were, besides, in the kitchen, half
a dozen large coffee pots, each holding twenty gallons which
supplied the tables, coffee being one of the principal staples of
the period, ranking equally with plug tobacco and whiskey. The
sleeping accommodations included three rooms with washstands,
mirrors, and double beds, covered with testers and surrounded
by dark curtains and white mosquito bars. "In addition there
were other rooms arranged as dormitories, containing double and
single beds, with good mattresses, feather pillows, . . and mar-
seilles spreads."65 The floors throughout were spread with hooked
calico rugs of varied colors-greens, blues, and pinks. In cold
weather, the house was heated by three black cast-iron and three
sheet-iron stoves.
In these comparatively luxurious surroundings one might
rllbid., 21.
.2Boatright (ed.), Mexican Border Ballads and Other Lore, 117.
I,"bid.232
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 60, July 1956 - April, 1957, periodical, 1957; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101163/m1/257/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.