Freeman Plantation

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Freeman Plantation in Marion County. Now settle in, because this one goes back a good ways. Around 1850, Williamson M.

Freeman, born in 1807, and his wife Drucilla, born in 1812, set out to build something that would last. And last it has. They raised up a Greek revival plantation home, the kind of place that announces itself before you even reach the front door.

They built it for their children, which tells you something about the kind of people they were. Thinking ahead. Thinking big.

The timbers in that house were hand-hewn, and the brick was made right there on the site. That's not cutting corners. That's roots.

Freeman himself was a cotton and sugar cane planter, and if that wasn't enough to keep a man busy, he also ran a river freighting business on the side. The man had range. Drucilla passed in 1865, and Williamson followed in 1866, and by the 1870s the residence had been sold to a fellow by the name of R.

E. Rowell. Rowell was born in 1826, lived until 1900, and came to the place as a former Confederate doctor.

He wasn't done serving, though. He went on to serve as county treasurer. The house kept changing hands, kept accumulating stories.

Then in 1937, an oilman named L. S. Flannery purchased the property, and during his ownership a rear wing was added to the home.

Flannery passed in 1961. But that house, hand-hewn and brick-laid and added onto and lived in and carried forward, it's still standing. Some things just refuse to be finished.

What the marker says

This Greek revival plantation home was built about 1850 by Williamson M. (1807-66) and Drucilla (1812-65) Freeman for their children. A cotton and sugar cane planter, Freeman also operated a river freighting business. Materials use din construction of the house include hand-hewn timbers and brick made on the site. In the 1870s the residence was sold to R. E. Rowell (1826-1900), a former Confederate doctor, who later served as county treasurer. A rear wing was added to the home during the ownership of oilman L. S. Flannery (d. 1961), who purchased the property in 1937. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1965