DUANE
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Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm passing it along to you straight. John Dewberry had already seen a thing or two before he ever set foot in Texas. He was a veteran of the War of 1812, and when he came to Texas in 1835, he wasn't exactly starting small.
By 1845 he was listed as a resident of Tyler, and the man had clearly made himself useful, because when Smith County was created in 1846, Dewberry was put on the commission to locate the county boundaries and, no small matter, a county seat. You don't get that kind of work unless people trust your judgment. He was a successful businessman and a cotton farmer, and he had plans.
Big plans. In 1852 he broke ground on a Greek Revival house, two stories tall, the kind of structure that says something is meant to last. He named it Myrtle-Vale.
That name has a gentleness to it that maybe the man himself earned after a life that started on a battlefield. Myrtle-Vale served as headquarters for his large cotton plantation, and it stood, and it endured. What makes this house remarkable, beyond its columns and its proportions, is simply that it's still here.
It is a rare surviving example in Smith County of a two-story antebellum residence. The family held onto it, generation to generation, all the way until 1908. That's a long time to keep something whole.
And here it still stands, Myrtle-Vale, proof that John Dewberry built for more than himself.
What the marker says
War of 1812 veteran John Dewberry came to Texas in 1835 and was listed as a resident of Tyler by 1845. A successful businessman and cotton farmer, he served on the commission to locate county boundaries and a county seat after the creation of Smith County in 1846. This Greek Revival house, which Dewberry named "Myrtle-Vale," was begun in 1852 and served as headquarters for his large cotton plantation. A rare surviving example in the county of a two-story antebellum residence, the Dewberry house remained in the family until 1908. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1962