Home of James Edward Wheat

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about this place, so take it straight from the record. Now, some houses hold a family for a generation. This one held a family for over a century, and the story reaches back even further than the walls do.

You're looking at land that was part of a tract, all 2,952.2 acres of it, awarded in 1838 by the Republic of Texas itself to a man named Dr. Josiah Wheat, an early settler of Tyler County. That's Republic of Texas land, mind you, back when Texas was its own nation.

Dr. Josiah Wheat didn't just hold land, either. In 1847 he donated 200 acres for the county seat, a town that would soon be named Woodville.

So the Wheat name was woven into this county from the very beginning. The site for this particular residence, though, was acquired by William G. McDaniel, and it was McDaniel who built the earliest part of the house in 1848.

Two rooms downstairs, two rooms upstairs. Modest enough start. But here's the feature that gave the place its real character: the gallery over the front porch.

When sessions of the county court rolled around and housing was scarce, jurors used to sleep right up there on that gallery. Just picture it. Twelve men under the stars, stretched out on a porch gallery, somewhere between deliberation and snoring.

The house passed through several owners after 1881, and among them was a man named T. C. Mann, whose son would go on to become a twentieth-century United States diplomat named Thomas Mann.

History has a way of passing through ordinary front doors. Then, in 1918, the house was purchased by James Edward Wheat, born January 6, 1887, and who would live until October 10, 1968. James Edward was the son of Light Nowlin and Martha Bryant Wheat, and the great-grandson of none other than Dr.

Josiah Wheat himself. The land had come full circle, back to the family that the Republic had first entrusted it to. James Edward Wheat was an attorney, and he did not sit still.

He served as president of the Woodville School Board from 1920 to 1949. He became the first mayor of Woodville after the city was incorporated in 1929. He was a member of the Texas Centennial Commission in 1936.

He served on the Texas State Prison Board from 1942 to 1948. He was secretary of the Executive Committee of the State Democratic Party in 1950, then chairman from 1951 to 1952. And he was the first chairman of the Texas State Historical Survey Committee, serving from 1953 to 1959.

The man who would eventually chair the body that preserved Texas history was himself living inside a piece of it. And he knew it. James Edward Wheat enlarged and improved this house, on the same ancestral land his great-grandfather had received from the Republic nearly a century before.

Some folks move into a house. James Edward Wheat moved into a legacy.

What the marker says

Located on a 2,952.2-acre tract of Republic of Texas land awarded in 1838 to Dr. Josiah Wheat, an early settler of Tyler County, and donor in 1847 of 200 acres for county seat, soon named Woodville. Site for this residence was acquired by William G. McDaniel, who built earliest part of house (two rooms downstairs and two upstairs) in 1848. Most memorable feature was gallery over the front porch. On this gallery jurors used to sleep when housing was scarce during sessions of the county court. The several owners after 1881 included T. C. Mann, father of 20th century U. S. Diplomat Thomas Mann. In 1918 the house was purchased by James Edward Wheat (Jan. 6, 1887 - Oct. 10, 1968), son of Light Nowlin and Martha Bryant Wheat, and great-grandson of Dr. Josiah Wheat. James Edward Wheat, an attorney, was president of the Woodville School Board (1920-49), first mayor of the city after its incorporation in 1929, and member of Texas Centennial Commission, 1936. He served on Texas State Prison Board, 1942-48; was secretary (1950) and chairman (1951-52) of the Executive Committee, State Democratic Party; also first chairman of Texas State Historical Survey Committee (1953-59). He enlarged and improved this house on his ancestral land.