Allcorn-Kokemoor Farmstead

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Allcorn-Kokemoor Farmstead, out in Washington County. Pull up a chair, because this story starts before Texas was even Texas. Late 1821.

Elijah Allcorn packed up his wife Nancy, born a Hodge, and their six children, and he immigrated to Texas. They came as part of the Old 300, the first wave of settlers in Stephen F. Austin's Colony.

Now that is not a small thing. These were the people who showed up before the roads, before the towns, before just about anything. Then on January the first, 1822, a group that included Allcorn made camp along a tributary of the Brazos River.

New Year's Day, fresh ground, fresh water. They named that creek New Year Creek. You can't say these folks lacked a sense of occasion.

Elijah was eventually granted land in what are now Washington, Waller, and Fort Bend Counties, including a parcel right along that same New Year Creek. And he did not sit idle on it. The man was a farmer, a stockraiser, and a freight hauler, hauling goods to settlers from the ferry established at Washington-on-the-Brazos in 1835.

He also signed the petition requesting the establishment of the Washington Municipality. Elijah Allcorn was building something, in just about every sense of the word. Then 1844 arrives, and here is where the story turns quiet.

Elijah and Nancy died nine days apart. Nine days. After all those miles and all those years, they left together, nearly as one.

But the land kept going. Their son, Thomas Jefferson Allcorn, along with his wife Amey, born a Caple, and their children, lived on this property from the 1840s through the 1870s. And sometime around 1845, the oldest section of the main house went up.

Archeological investigation of its artifacts and timbers dates it right there, circa 1845. Two stories, I-plan layout, brace-frame construction. Solid, deliberate, built to last.

The house grew as hands changed. By 1877, a two-story wing had been added, put up by the Wilkins or Samuel families. Then in September of 1887, Oscar Samuel sold the house to a man named Henry Kokemoor, for six thousand one hundred dollars.

Now that is a real transaction, the kind with a handshake and consequences. Henry Kokemoor married Frieda Holle in 1887, the very same year, and he bought that property with financial help from his father-in-law. The Kokemoors settled in and started adding on.

A kitchen wing. A mother-in-law room. Both in the 1890s.

A final addition came in the 1950s. Layer by layer, decade by decade, the house became a compound. And the Kokemoor family?

They held onto that property for more than a century. Walk around the place today and you can read the whole story in the building itself. Outside, you've got projecting wings, an L-shaped porch, metal-clad gabled roofs, wood siding, and a variety of doors and windows that come from different eras and different hands.

Step inside, and the finishes stay simple and honest. Painted tongue and groove cedar, longleaf pine on the walls and ceilings. Nothing pretending to be more than it is.

Out in the yard, the outbuildings and structures built between 1890 and 1930 are still standing. A rock and brick cistern, a barn, a garage, two wells, and two sheds. The whole homestead, the marker says, represents the evolution from a formal floor plan typical of the mid-nineteenth century to a compound plan, with continuing agricultural use right on into the twentieth century.

That is the whole arc, right there. One family crossing into an unbuilt land in 1821, camping on a creek on New Year's Day in 1822, raising a house around 1845, and that house still standing, still speaking. Some things in Texas were built to hold.

What the marker says

ELIJAH ALLCORN IMMIGRATED TO TEXAS IN LATE 1821 WITH HIS WIFE, NANCY (HODGE), AND THEIR SIX CHILDREN AS "OLD 300" SETTLERS IN STEPHEN F. AUSTIN'S COLONY. ON JAN. 1, 1822, A GROUP INCLUDING ALLCORN CAMPED ALONG A BRAZOS RIVER TRIBUTARY WHICH THEY NAMED NEW YEAR CREEK. ALLCORN WAS GRANTED LAND IN CURRENT WASHINGTON, WALLER AND FORT BEND COUNTIES, INCLUDING A PARCEL ALONG NEW YEAR CREEK. HE WAS A FARMER, STOCKRAISER AND FREIGHT HAULER, BRINGING GOODS TO SETTLERS FROM THE FERRY ESTABLISHED AT WASHINGTON-ON-THE-BRAZOS IN 1835. HE ALSO SIGNED THE PETITION REQUESTING ESTABLISHMENT OF THE WASHINGTON MUNICIPALITY. ELIJAH AND NANCY DIED NINE DAYS APART IN 1844. THEIR SON THOMAS JEFFERSON ALLCORN, HIS WIFE AMEY (CAPLE) AND THEIR CHILDREN LIVED HERE FROM THE 1840s to 1870s. ARCHEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION OF ARTIFACTS AND TIMBERS DATES THE OLDEST SECTION OF THE MAIN HOUSE, A TWO-STORY I-PLAN OF BRACE-FRAME CONSTRUCTION, TO c. 1845. A TWO-STORY WING WAS ADDED IN 1877, BY THE WILKINS OR SAMUEL FAMILIES. IN SEP. 1887, OSCAR SAMUEL SOLD THE HOUSE TO HENRY KOKEMOOR FOR $6,100. HENRY MARRIED FRIEDA HOLLE IN 1887 AND BOUGHT THE PROPERTY WITH FINANCIAL HELP FROM HIS FATHER-IN-LAW. THE KOKEMOORS MADE SEVERAL ADDITIONS, INCLUDING A KITCHEN WING AND A MOTHER-IN-LAW ROOM IN THE 1890s. A FINAL ADDITION WAS MADE IN THE 1950s. THE PROPERTY REMAINED IN THE KOKEMOOR FAMILY FOR MORE THAN A CENTURY. EXTERIOR HOUSE FEATURES INCLUDE PROJECTING WINGS, AN L-SHAPED PORCH, METAL-CLAD GABLED ROOFS, WOOD SIDING, AND A VARIETY OF DOORS AND WINDOWS. SIMPLE FINISHES, SUCH AS PAINTED TONGUE AND GROOVE CEDAR AND LONGLEAF PINE WALL AND CEILING BOARDS, DISTINGUISH THE INTERIORS. HISTORIC OUTBUILDINGS AND STRUCTURES, BUILT BETWEEN 1890 AND 1930, INCLUDE A ROCK AND BRICK CISTERN, A BARN, GARAGE, TWO WELLS AND TWO SHEDS. THE HOMESTEAD REPRESENTS EVOLUTION FROM A FORMAL FLOOR PLAN TYPICAL OF THE MID-19TH CENTURY TO A COMPOUND PLAN AND CONTINUING AGRICULTURAL USE INTO THE 20TH CENTURY.