Photograph of the north and east sides of the "Bowers Mansion" located at 301 S. Magnolia in Palestine, Texas. It is a two-story house that has Victorian Italiante-style architectural elements (including a small cupola with bracketed eaves and narrow, paired windows), and a two-tiered porch with Queen Anne-style turned- and jigsawn- wood trim. This photo was taken from the corner of south Magnolia and west Bowers streets.
Illinois-native George Mansfield Dilley, the prominent railroad-building contractor who played an instrumental role in the expansion of railroads throughout Texas and the South, established this foundry in 1873, one year after the railroad arrived in Palestine. The George M. Dilley & Son Foundry, located adjacent to the I&GN tracks, at one time contained more than ten buildings. The enterprise manufactured some farm equipment and machinery, but its primary output was gray iron and brass castings for Texas railroads. The elder Dilley moved to Dallas in the 1880s, but the foundry continued to be run by his son, George Edward Dilley – one of Palestine’s most prominent citizens of the late 19th century. G.E. Dilley continued operations at the foundry until his death in 1932; his son Clarence V. Dilley then took over until his own death five years later. In the mid-1930s, the plant had an average payroll of about twenty thousand dollars, for a workforce of twenty to twenty-five men. The foundry ceased operations in the late 1930s. All that remains today are the frame office building, the nearby brick brass furnace building, and a lengthy iron fence which borders the property and faces May Street (which local historians believe was named after G.M. Dilley’s infant daughter, Edna May Dilley, who died in 1872).
Illinois-native George Mansfield Dilley, the prominent railroad-building contractor who played an instrumental role in the expansion of railroads throughout Texas and the South, established this foundry in 1873, one year after the railroad arrived in Palestine. The George M. Dilley & Son Foundry, located adjacent to the I&GN tracks, at one time contained more than ten buildings. The enterprise manufactured some farm equipment and machinery, but its primary output was gray iron and brass castings for Texas railroads. The elder Dilley moved to Dallas in the 1880s, but the foundry continued to be run by his son, George Edward Dilley – one of Palestine’s most prominent citizens of the late 19th century. G.E. Dilley continued operations at the foundry until his death in 1932; his son Clarence V. Dilley then took over until his own death five years later. In the mid-1930s, the plant had an average payroll of about twenty thousand dollars, for a workforce of twenty to twenty-five men. The foundry ceased operations in the late 1930s. All that remains today are the frame office building, the nearby brick brass furnace building, and a lengthy iron fence which borders the property and faces May Street (which local historians believe was named after G.M. Dilley’s infant daughter, Edna May Dilley, who died in 1872).
A bond dated July 1872, guaranteeing "the sum of Fifty Dollars with Interest to be paid the the bearer of this bond, at the seat of government or such place of deposit as may be appointed by the Secretary of the Treasury". It has John H. Reagan, Postmaster General of the Confederacy's photograph on it.
Gideon Johnson Gooch was born on April 3, 1844 and served as Mayor of Palestine from 1872 until 1873. He died on January 31, 1906 and is buried in the East Hill Section of the Palestine City Cemetery.
This is a photograph of the first building constructed on the courthouse square. It was located where number 601 East Lacy is now located, but it extended over approximately halfway into the lot of the current number 603. This was Alexander Joost's store, known after the Civil War as the "Cheap Cash Store". Joost was an immigrant from France who had an earlier store at Fort Houston. As soon as the site was located for the county seat of the new Anderson County, he bought land there and prepared to moved. He rebuilt after the 1874 fire and again after the 1879 fire. Most of the conflagrations that were destroying entire blocks of the city of Palestine in the 1870s and 1880s were set by an incendiary who was eluding the police. Even though numerous merchants in New Town and Old Town suffered from these fires, Joost took them personally, especially when rumors were spread around town that he was having difficulty maintaining a good stock of merchandise. To combat this, he took out an ad in the Trinity Advocate to let his customers know he was still offering the best merchandise at the best prices. However, when his store was burned to the ground in a third disaster on December 5, 1882, he decided to retire from business and return to France for a visit. He did not rebuild, and the site remained vacant for over thiry years, except for a brief period in the 1890s, when a temporary tentlike structure was put up for the Sam Jones Tabernacle.
Photo of what is commonly called a "Railroad Mansion". One of the large homes built by the magnates of the I&GN Railroad. It is not known where this house was located, but it was most likely south of the railroad tracks along S. Sycamore or S. Magnolia streets in Palestine.
William Young Lacy, son of Martin and Dorothy (Dolly) Young Lacy, wa born on March 20, 1814 in Caldwell County, Ky. (His headstone reads that he was born in 1912) He attended college in Kentucky, but when his parents and other family members prepared to move to Texas, he was called home to accompany them. William lived in San Augustine, then moved with his family to Bean’s Saline in what is now southwest Smith County. He served in the Army of the Republic in East Texas and then became a surveyor, serving as deputy surveyor of East Texas by appointment from President Houston. After the war for Texas Independence was over, he was in the frontier service, engaged in warding off Indian attacks in the area. He took part in the one noted Indian battle of the area, the Kickapoo fight which occurred in northeast Anderson County. William’s father was a friend of Peter Elias Bean of Nacogdoches. William met and married Louisa, the daughter of Peter Bean in 1841. She died shortly after the marriage and in 1845 William married Ann Eliza Lindsay. Ann Eliza was a native of Guilford County, N.C.. She had been brought to Texas by her maternal grandmother, Priscilla Saunders Beeson, after the death of her parents. The Beeson’s were a prominent Quaker family from Guilford and Randolph Counties, N.C. The Lacy families remained at Fort Lacy until about 1860 when they moved to Palestine, where William Young was involved with farming and merchandising. He served as Mayor of Palestine from 1878 until 1880 and again from 1883 until 1885. Some say that he actually served three terms in office, but I was unable to verify this. William and Ann Eliza were the parents of nine sons, but only three lived to adulthood. One of …
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