Chabot House

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, George Stooks Chabot came a long way to put down roots in Texas. Originally from England, he made his living as a commission merchant, dealing in cotton, wool, and hides.

A man who knew how to move goods and build something lasting. And in 1876, that's exactly what he did. He and his wife Mary, born a Van Derlip, built themselves a two-story stone house right here.

Not some rough-hewn frontier shelter, mind you. This place had galleries, plural, with carved bracketing. Somebody cared about the details.

Somebody wanted it to last. George was born in 1821, Mary in 1842, and together they made this house a home the family would hold onto for decades. George passed in 1902.

Mary lived on until 1929. And the Chabot family kept right on living in that stone house all the way until 1940. But here's the thread that keeps pulling.

George and Mary's grandson, Frederick Charles Chabot, born 1891, grew up with whatever it is this house holds in its walls, and he became a noted historian. Wrote a number of books on local and state topics. A merchant's grandson, turning the stories of Texas into something people could read and remember.

Frederick passed in 1943. The house stood through all of it. Stone has a long memory, and the Chabots, it seems, knew that from the very beginning.

What the marker says

Originally from England, George Stooks Chabot (1821-1902) was a commission merchant dealing in cotton, wool, and hides. He and his wife Mary (Van Derlip) (1842-1929) built this two-story stone house in 1876. The design includes several galleries with carved bracketing. Chabot's Grandson's, Frederick Charles Chabot (1891-1943), was a noted Historian who wrote a number of books on local and state topics. The Chabot family lived here until 1940.