Andrew Lee Brock

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, as best as Duane can render it. Andrew Lee Brock came into this world in Tennessee in 1830, and somewhere along the way the pull of Texas got hold of him. By 1848 he had planted himself in Caldwell County, and it wasn't long before he married a woman named Rebecca Montgomery Wayland.

Now, two years after that wedding, Rebecca's father did something that fathers occasionally get right: he handed the young couple a parcel of land out on Boggy Creek as a wedding gift. Brock didn't let any grass grow under his boots. He built a log cabin on that site and got to work.

Cotton, grains, vegetables, and on top of all that he ran a cotton gin right there on the property. The man was not inclined toward sitting still. As the family grew, they relocated to a house on two hundred and one acres, and Brock enlarged that house until it could hold nine children.

Nine. That is a house that earns its square footage. He raised mules and horses, sold them too, and then he turned his eye toward Lockhart's business district.

Andrew Lee Brock financed twelve commercial buildings in that town, and here is the part that ought to give you pause on your drive today: many of those twelve buildings are still in use. Andrew Lee Brock died in 1904, but brick by brick, he left Lockhart a skyline that outlasted him by more than a century. That is how a man from Tennessee writes his name on Texas.

What the marker says

Tennessee native Andrew Lee Brock (1830-1904) moved to Caldwell County in 1848, and he married Rebecca Montgomery Wayland. Two years later, Rebecca's father gave the couple a parcel of land on Boggy Creek as a wedding gift, and Brock built a log cabin on the site. Brock cultivated cotton, grains and vegetables and also operated a cotton gin on his property. The growing family later relocated to a house on 201 acres, and Brock enlarged the house to accommodate nine children. Brock raised and sold mules and horses, and was also a prolific developer in Lockhart's business district. Many of the twelve commercial buildings financed by Andrew Lee Brock remain in use today. 175 Years of Texas Independence * 1836 - 2011