The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 87, July 1983 - April, 1984 Page: 396
468 p. : ill. (some col.), maps (some col.), ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
cational opportunities were better for the children. Summers were
spent at Cedar Point, a 4,ooo-acre retreat on Galveston Bay. Houston's
houses were plain and all seem to have been somewhat alike-one and
one-half story buildings with a few rooms and a central hall, the latter
usually without doors at either end and so open to the outside. The
houses were built of logs and sheathed on the outside with clapboards.7
In late February, 1859, when Houston called on Walter at his of-
fice in the Capitol, the Hero of San Jacinto had in mind building at
last a large, fine-looking house for his family. Since Houston was not a
rich man, and since his long-welcomed Senate salary would be drawing
to an end, he wanted from Walter a scheme for as much house as he
could build for as little money as possible. Such requests do not sur-
prise architects, although to Walter this flamboyant client seemed
perhaps more emphatic than most.
The architectural program might have included the following con-
siderations. A suitable house or mansion was needed to shelter and
please Sam Houston, soon to be sixty-six years of age, and his wife, the
former Margaret Lea, age forty. They had at that time seven children,
ranging in ages from nine months to fifteen years. The house would be
staffed-in a most informal way-by six or eight slaves. Accommoda-
tions would also be needed for the governess, usually a New England
woman, who lived with the family. The house would be filled with
company: callers, diners, and overnight guests. The small houses the
Houstons had occupied in the past were nearly worn down by people
and activity, so much so that it is difficult to imagine being com-
fortable in any of them. This one was to be big enough to fit their
lives.8
While the documents do not specify, Sam Houston's new house
was almost certainly to have been built on his property in Indepen-
dence, on the avenue leading to Baylor College. This location was
the only real possibility at the time. By 1859 he had sold the house
in Huntsville. Cedar Point, once envisioned as a place of residence,
was now remote from Houston's interests and associations. Margaret
Houston's mother and two sisters lived in Independence, where, as
devout Baptists, they enjoyed the society of the Baylor University
faculty. Houston's house in Independence stood in town, but the 2oo-
7Friend, Sam Houston, 35, 174-175, 179, 184, 203-204, 215, 218, 224, 232, 233, 237, 268,
323-324; Seale, Sam Houston's Wife, 97, 128-129, 132-134, 172-173, 262.
BFriend, Sam Houston, 5, 94, 110, 179, 18, 204, 219, 233, 261; Seale, Sam Houston's
Wife, 138, 144-146.396
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 87, July 1983 - April, 1984, periodical, 1983/1984; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117150/m1/464/: accessed April 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.