DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, the first known person to set foot on this land — the land where the Hill House now stands — was a man they called Judge Robert M. Williamson.
But you probably know him by his other name: Three Legged Willie. That nickname alone ought to tell you something about the character of this place right from the start. Williamson owned this ground when the Texas Revolution was still being decided, and during that ownership, the community of San Felipe de Austin was burned to the ground.
Not by the enemy, mind you — burned by order of Moseley Baker, a garrison leader serving under General Sam Houston's own army. Whatever the reasons, the smoke rose, and San Felipe went with it. But Texans being Texans, by May of 1836, families were already coming back.
Picking through the ash, staking their ground again, rebuilding. And it's believed that right around that time, either Williamson himself or the next landowner — a man named E.W. Johnson — put up the original structure that would become the Hill House.
Before 1842, the property passed to Colonel David Young Portis, who married a woman named Rebecca Cumings on December 28th of that same year. After that, the home changed hands several times over the next fifty years. Fifty years of Texas — which is to say, a lot of living happened inside those walls.
Sometime between 1880 and 1893, the house got itself a second floor. Henry and Anne Josey Pitts enlarged it, and here's the detail that sticks with you: the materials they used — including the staircase — came from Anne's father's home, which was demolished that same year. So something was torn down so this place could grow.
That staircase has been climbing ever since. Then in 1899, Henry Pitts's uncle, a man named Jacob Hill, bought the home. And he didn't buy it for himself.
He bought it as a wedding gift — presented it to his son, Jacob Walter Hill, and Jacob Walter's new bride, Carrie May Elder. That is some kind of gift to give a young couple starting out. And here's where the story settles into something quiet and sturdy.
For more than a hundred years, descendants of Jacob and Carrie Hill have kept this house in the family. More than a hundred years. The house itself is two stories, wood-clad, built with cypress lumber.
It's got three brick chimneys and simple Queen Anne-style gingerbread porch supports — the kind of detail that tells you somebody once cared about beauty, not just shelter. The whole place was fully restored in 2009. Three Legged Willie's land.
A burned town that came back. A staircase salvaged from a house that didn't survive. And a family that kept showing up, generation after generation, to hold onto what Jacob Hill once wrapped up as a wedding present.
Some gifts, it turns out, just keep on giving.
What the marker says
The first known person to occupy the land where the Hill House is located was Judge Robert M. "Three Legged Willie" Williamson. During his ownership, the community of San Felipe de Austin was burned to the ground by order of Moseley Baker, a garrison leader under the command of Gen. Sam Houston's army during the Texas Revolution. By May 1836, families returned to San Felipe and began rebuilding the community. It is believed that at this time Williamson or the subsequent landowner, E.W. Johnson, constructed the original structure of the Hill House. Prior to 1842 the property was sold to Col. David Young Portis, who married Rebecca Cumings on Dec. 28, 1842. The home changed hands several times during the next fifty years. Sometime between 1880 and 1893, the home underwent changes that included the addition of a second floor. Henry and Anne Josey Pitts enlarged the house using material, including the staircase, from Anne's father's home, which was demolished that same year. Henry Pitt's uncle, Jacob Hill, bought the home in 1899 and presented it as a wedding gift to his son Jacob Walter Hill and his new bride, Carrie May Elder. For more than a hundred years, descendants of Jacob and Carrie Hill have maintained ownership of the house. The two-story, wood-clad home was built using cypress lumber and its unique construction, a result of the two-story addition, is representative of 19th-century vernacular architectural styles in Texas. It features three brick chimneys and simple Queen Anne-style gingerbread porch supports. The home was completely restored in 2009. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1962