Capt. Wm. E. Moore Home

Duane's take

The way the official marker tells it, here's the story of the Capt. Wm. E.

Moore Home. Now, out here in Lamar County, there stands a house that's seen some history. An old Southern style homestead, built in 1871, rising up a story and a half like it had something to prove.

Capt. William E. Moore put that place up alongside his wife, Sarah Elizabeth Neal, and the marker remembers him as three things at once: soldier, statesman, citizen.

That's a heavy set of titles to carry, and the man seems to have earned every one of them. During the Civil War, Captain Moore commanded a unit called the Shreveport Grays. Whatever those years demanded of him, he came out the other side ready to trade the battlefield for the ballot box.

And here's where the story gets worth telling around a fire. In 1872, Moore ran for state senator. Now, campaigns can be nasty, bitter affairs, the kind where men stop speaking to each other across fence lines for a generation.

But somewhere along the way, Captain Moore and his rival ended up sharing a buggy on the campaign trail. The same buggy. Going who knows where, sitting side by side, probably talking or maybe just listening to the horses.

The marker doesn't spell out what passed between them on that ride, and maybe that's fine. What it does tell us is that Moore won the race. He took his seat and held office during the administration of Governor Richard Coke, and that administration carried real weight in Texas history.

The marker puts it plainly: it marked the end of Reconstruction in Texas. So that house, that 1871 homestead in Lamar County, wasn't just a home. It was where a man came back to after shaping something.

Built by a soldier who ran for office, won a campaign the civilized way, and served when Texas was finding its footing again. One and a half stories tall, and somehow that feels about right.

What the marker says

Old Southern style homestead, 1871. 1 1/2 stories. Built by soldier, statesman, citizen, Capt. Wm. E. Moore and his wife, Sarah Elizabeth Neal. During Civil War, Capt. Moore commanded "Shreveport Grays." In 1872, won race for state senator, after campaign when he shared buggy with rival. Held office in administration of Governor Richard Coke, which marked end of Reconstruction in Texas. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1965