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Texas - Henry W. Houston
Henry W. HOUSTON left for Texas in
1856, with his wife the former Mary A. JORDAN (pictured at right) and
Mary Laura their 2 year
old daughter. The trip must have taken some time as their second daughter,
Salina was born in the summer of 1857 in Arkansas. The then settled for a while
in Rusk County in east Texas, where he farmed until 1860. He enlisted in the
Civil War and afterward had a try at freighting, then in 1871 he moved to Dallas
County where he took up farming.
Dallas's first settler, John Neely Bryan,
built a log cabin near the Trinity River in 1841. Five years later a village was
laid out and a county organized by the Texas Legislature from portions of
Robertson and Nacogdoches counties and was named for George Mifflin Dallas, then
vice-president of the United States. The town was incorporated in 1856 and a
city charter granted in 1871. In 1870 there were 13,314 people living in the
county, and in 1880 had increased to 33,000. The population doubled between 1880
and 1890 and Dallas was then called the wealthiest and most populated county in
Texas. Many people were attracted to the agricultural opportunities found there.
Located in the black land prairie region, Dallas County supported crops of
cotton, wheat, corn, oats, barley, rye, grain, fruits, and vegetables.
As mentioned earlier, with them was their
two daughters, three more of the children that were born in Rusk County. The
remaining six of the eleven children were all born in Dallas County.
His biography was incorporated into a
history book compiled about early Dallas County residents. From the Memorial
& Biographical History of Dallas County, 1892, page 693:
H. W. Houston. -- This gentleman, a
farmer and stock-raiser, residing in Precinct No. 5, Dallas county, Texas,
post office Ka, was born in Madison county, Tennessee, July 6, 1831, a son of
Martin P. and Eliza Drucilla (Garnett) Houston. The Houston family were among
the early settlers of North Carolina, and were of Irish ancestry, while the
Garnett's were also of North Carolina, and were of Welsh descent. His parents
were reared in North Carolina and there married. At an early day they removed
to Tennessee where they passed the rest of their lives.
Mr. Houston grew up on the farm. He
was the third-born in a family of nine children, and when he was twelve years
old his father died. The father's death was followed soon afterward by that of
the oldest son and daughter, thus leaving the care of the mother and younger
children on him. February 8, 1853, he was united in marriage with Miss Mary A.
Jordan, a native of Tennessee, and a daughter of A. J. and Martha (Useny(sic))
Jordan, her people also having gone to Tennessee from North Carolina.
In 1856 Mr. Houston and his wife came
to Texas and located in Rusk County, where he followed farming until 1860.
Then he removed to Wise County, this State, and until the war broke out was
there engaged in the livestock business. Moving his family back to Rusk County
in the fall of 1861, he left them and entered the army. He enlisted in Company
C, Colonel Norris's regiment, and served on the frontier of Texas, from the
Red River to the Colorado. In 1863 they were reorganized into Colonel J. S.
McCoy's regiment, and served on the frontier until the close of the war.
After the war Mr. Houston engaged in
freighting from Rusk County to Shreveport, Louisiana, until 1871, when he came
to Dallas County. He took up his abode here in June of that year, and for
three years rented land, after which he purchased his present farm. His home
place comprises 220 acres, and besides this he owns a farm of 100 acres, all
improved land and in a high state of cultivation.
Mr. and Mrs. Houston are the parents
of eleven children, all living, namely Mary Laura, Salenia (sic) Jane, Amanda,
Martha, James, Samuel, Henry W., Alice, Lyda (sic), Bettie (sic) and Emma D.
Mr. Houston is a member of the A. F. & A. M., Lancaster Lodge, No. 160,
and also of the Chapter. His wife is a member of the Methodist Episcopal
Church.
The farm that Henry bought was on a small
tributary of Five Mile Creek in the southern part of Dallas County, due south of
the city of Dallas, in what would become the city of Lancaster. Later he gave
some land to build a school near the property and the road he lived on
eventually became known as the Houston School Road. The school still stands
today and is a private residence. In about 1895 he built (or had built) a large
two story frame house pictured below. After Henry and Mary had passed on, it was
sold in 1908 to a local family, the Easteps, and in 1967 they had it moved a
couple of hundred yards north to its present location (1997). Mr. Larry Rhodes,
who currently owns the home, is only its third owner. As of 2002 the house
is for sale.
 
Henry died on November 18, 1899, and was
buried in Wheatland Cemetery. Mary Jordan lived until September 12, 1905, and is
buried beside him. Somehow her name is misspelled as Mary M. Houston. The
tombstone is in an obelisk shape with their names on opposite sides. His epitaph
reads “A precious one from us has gone, A voice we loved is Stilled; A
place is vacant in our home which never can be filled.”
The above map of south Dallas, postal address Ka, Texas, drawn
in 1900 shows the location of Henry Houston’s farm and his son, James Wilson
Houston’s adjoining farm on the Houston School Road. U.S. Interstate 20
now passes just to the south of the property.
Henry and Mary Houston Children Houston
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