DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I aim to do it justice. Solomon George Givens and his wife Lula — she was a Burleson before she took his name — both came into this world right here in Houston County, in 1871. Children of former slaves, the both of them, born into a world that had only just begun to figure out what freedom might look like in practice.
They found each other, and in 1891 they were married over in Crockett. Now, some folks get married and spend a good long while just trying to get their footing. Solomon and Lula didn't waste any time.
In 1892 — that's one year into the marriage — they bought 34 acres of land right here on this ground you're passing by. Thirty-four acres. Think on that for a moment.
The farm proved a success, and in 1893 they built a large eight-room house at this very site. Eight rooms. That's not a farmhouse, friends, that's a statement.
Word traveled, as it does in the country. And what traveled alongside the word about their land and their house was the word about their character. The Givenses were noted — noted, the marker says, not just remembered but noted — for their charity.
They were leaders in the development of a nearby school and a Baptist church, and when it came time for baptism services, those took place right there in a tank on their own land. Their home, that big eight-room house on 34 hard-won acres, became the center of an African-American farming community that folks came to call Givens Hill. Named for them.
Built by them. For many years, that community turned on the axis of this place, this family. Solomon and Lula Givens, born in Houston County with nothing but the future ahead of them, and they made it count.
What the marker says
Solomon George Givens and his wife Lula (Burleson), both born in Houston County in 1871, were the children of former slaves. They were married in Crockett in 1891, and in 1892 they bought 34 acres of land here. Their farm proved a success and in 1893 they built a large 8-room house at this site. The Givenses were noted for their charity and as leaders in the development of a nearby school and Baptist church; Baptism services took place in a tank on their land. For many years their home was the center of an African-American farming community known as "Givens Hill."