DUANE
Duane's take
The way the marker tells it, here's the story of the Albert Holley House in Houston County. In 1857, Albert Holley — born in 1828 — packed up and headed to Texas. He came with his mother and two brothers, all of them migrating from Alabama.
Now, the rest of the family made the journey by boat, but Albert took the overland route by wagon, hauling the family's supplies — and 137 slaves. That's a number the marker doesn't let you gloss over. By 1860, Albert and his wife Julia — Julia Russell Holley, born in 1840 — had begun homesteading the very land this marker stands on.
Then came the Civil War. Albert served, and somewhere along the way he ended up a prisoner of war. He came back.
He kept farming. And in 1867 — a man who'd survived a war and captivity and the long road from Alabama — he built a new home right here at this site for his family. Albert Holley died in 1907.
But this land? It stayed in Holley family hands all the way until 1976. Nearly a hundred and twenty years after that wagon rolled in from Alabama, the name on the deed was still Holley.
Some roots, once planted in Texas soil, take a long time to let go.
What the marker says
In 1857 Albert Holley (b. 1828), his mother and two brothers, migrated to Houston County from Alabama. While the others journeyed to Texas by boat, he brought the family's supplies overland by wagon with 137 slaves. By 1860 he and his wife Julia (Russell) (1840-97) had begun homesteading this land. After serving in the Civil War, where he was a prisoner of war, Albert continued to farm here. In 1867 he constructed a new home for his family at this site. He died in 1907, but his land remained in the ownership of Holley family members until 1976.