DUANE
Duane's take
The way the marker tells it, here's the story of the Amos Barber homesite and cemetery outside Mont Belvieu in Chambers County. Now, before a place gets a name everybody knows, it usually starts with just one stubborn soul willing to put down roots where nobody else has. In this case, that soul was Amos Barber, born in Louisiana in 1814.
He came to Texas as a youth — and Texas, as Texas will do, kept him. In 1848, Amos married Susan Ann Hodges Fitzgerald, born in 1827. And then, barely a year later, in 1849, he did something that tells you everything you need to know about the man.
He hauled logs — on a sled, drawn by oxen — to a particular rise in the land. A big hill. And on that hill, he erected a two-story dog trot cabin.
That's not a man testing the waters. That's a man building a life. And what a life it grew into.
Nearby stood an orchard of peach and fig trees. The surrounding plantation land was stocked with horses, cattle, sheep, hogs, and an assortment of poultry. The Barber place wasn't just a homestead — it sat right on the main road from Huntsville to Lynchburg, which meant travelers came through regular.
Friends came through. Sam Houston came through. Ashbel Smith came through.
The cabin that started as a log shell on a sled became a place people sought out. Amos was a real estate broker and a cattleman, and as the years rolled on he enlarged that dwelling — had to, really, with a family of ten children to house. The spot known first as Big Hill, then as Barbers Hill, grew into what folks would come to call Mont Belvieu.
Amos Barber died in 1885. His wife Susan Ann lived until 1910. They're both buried south of that original homestead, in the family cemetery — a cemetery still used and maintained by their descendants to this day.
That's a particular kind of staying power. As for the cabin itself — well, about 1923 it was dismantled. All that great two-story dog trot, all those years of travelers and conversations and ten children underfoot — gone.
The only thing left standing was a well. Just a well, quiet in the ground, as evidence that any of it had ever existed. A rooming house was built on the site, and that was later bought by the Woodmen of the World for a lodge hall.
Then, in 1974, the Mont Belvieu Church of Christ acquired the property. That church sat on adjacent land that had been given to it by Barber's eldest daughter, Amanda Melissa — born in 1850, died in 1933 — and her husband Marion Williams, born in 1851, died in 1934. So the land Amos hauled those logs to on an ox-drawn sled in 1849 is still there.
Changed hands, changed shape, changed purpose. But still there. And somewhere just south, in a cemetery kept by his own blood, so is he.
What the marker says
Originally known as "Big Hill" and Later "Barbers Hill," Mont Belvieu was first settled by Amos Barber (1814-1885). Born in Louisiana, he came to Texas as a youth and in 1848 married Susan Ann Hodges Fitzgerald (1827-1910). In 1849 he hauled logs on a sled drawn by oxen to this site, where he erected a two-story dog trot cabin. Nearby stood an orchard of peach and fig trees, and surrounding plantation land was stocked with horses, cattle, sheep, hogs, and an assortment of poultry. On the main road from Huntsville to Lynchburg, the Barber cabin was frequented by travelers and friends, including Sam Houston and Ashbel Smith. Barber, a real estate broker and cattleman, enlarged the dwelling over the years to accommodate his family of ten children. He and his wife are buried south of their original homestead in the family cemetery, which is still used and maintained by their descendants. About 1923 the home was dismantled, leaving only a well as evidence of its existence. A rooming house built on the site was later bought by the Woodmen of the World for a lodge hall. Mont Belvieu Church of Christ, given adjacent land by Barber's eldest daughter Amanda Melissa (1850-1933) and her husband Marion Williams (1851-1934), acquired this property in 1974.