Burrows - Millard House

Duane's take

The way the marker tells it, here's the story of the Burrows-Millard House. Now, before Elijah M. Burrows ever took a bride, he was already buildin'.

That rear portion of this pioneer farmhouse, he put it up himself, a Confederate veteran with a hammer and a plan, before he married Mary Josephine Millard in 1867. Folks called her Molly. Born in 1848, she came from the Millard line, and Elijah, born in 1844, had already laid the foundation of the life he intended to offer her.

But a man with a new wife and a growing family doesn't stop buildin'. Between 1869 and 1874, Elijah added the rooms across the front, and the porch. The house filled out, room by room, year by year, until it was the kind of place that holds a family together across generations.

And it did exactly that. Members of the Burrows family occupied that structure all the way until 1972. Think on that a moment.

The same house, the same family, for over a century. Then George Van Burrows did something remarkable. He gave the house away, not to a stranger, but to Lera Millard Thomas, Mrs.

Albert Thomas, a descendant of the original builder himself. The Millard name had come back around. Now Lera Thomas wasn't the type to let a good house go to ruin.

She moved it, half a mile north, right to this site, and she restored it. Elijah Burrows built the back of a house before he had a reason to. Then he built the front once he did.

And more than a hundred years later, the people who carried his story forward made sure the whole thing would stand. That's a house that earned its place.

What the marker says

Confederate veteran Elijah M. Burrows (1844-93) built the rear portion of this pioneer farmhouse before he married Mary Josephine (Molly) Millard (1848-1901) in 1867. Between 1869 and 1874, he added the rooms and porch across the front. Members of the Burrows family occupied the structure until 1972, when George Van Burrows gave it to Lera Millard (Mrs. Albert) Thomas, descendant of the builder. She moved it .5 mile north to this site and restored it. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1976