DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, some stories arrive already carrying a little legend in their pocket — and this one's no different. We're talking about a woman named Dulcinea Ann Holland Thompson Avriett, and Henderson County, Texas, holds her memory close.
Born in 1834 in Athens, Georgia, Dulcinea Ann Holland made her way to Henderson County in 1847, coming along with her family to plant roots in new soil. She was thirteen years old in a brand new place, and if you think that didn't leave a mark on her — well, keep listenin'. In 1851, she married E.
J. Thompson, and together they built a life here in East Texas. Then came the 1860s, and with them, loss — her first husband died, and Dulcinea was left to carry on.
She did. In 1867, she married James Avriett, and the two of them raised two sons. Now here's the part local tradition holds onto like a good campfire story: Dulcinea, it's said, is the one who gave the town of Athens its name — named it after her Georgia birthplace, the place she'd left as a girl and carried with her ever since.
The marker doesn't dress that up as anything more than local tradition, and neither will I — but sometimes tradition knows something. What isn't tradition, what's plain fact, is this: Dulcinea Ann Holland Thompson Avriett was a founding member of the local Methodist church, and she served as a dedicated civic leader in her community. She lived from 1834 all the way to 1920, and when she finally set down her work, a town bearing the name of her Georgia home was still standing right there to say she'd been.
What the marker says
(1834-1920) A native of Athens, Georgia, Dulcinea Ann Holland came to Henderson County with her family in 1847. She married E. J. Thompson in 1851. According to local tradition, she named the town of Athens after her birthplace. Following the death of her first husband in the 1860s, Dulcinea married James Avriett in 1867. They were the parents of two sons. She was a founding member of the local Methodist church and a dedicated civic leader.