John and Virginia Linney House

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm gonna give it to you straight with a little Refugio County flavor. John Filmore Linney was born in 1853, Virginia Lum came into the world in 1854, and both of them descended from pioneer Texas families. Now, when two people like that find each other, you can bet somebody takes notice.

And somebody did. John's father, Colonel John Linney, made a decision. He had a house built for the couple in 1876, just two years after their marriage.

A house, already waiting for them, already standing in the southeast part of town. That is a father saying, in the language of lumber and nails, you are not starting from nothing. You are starting from here.

John F. and Virginia moved in, and they did not leave lightly. They reared eight children inside those walls. Eight.

The house knew the sound of every kind of weather a family can make, laughter and grief and the daily ordinary business of living, and John and Virginia stayed right through all of it, until their deaths. John in 1924. Virginia in 1946.

Now, a lesser house might have come down after that. But this one had more road left in it. In 1948 it was relocated from that original spot in the southeast part of town out to a lot on Oak Street.

Then, in 1986, it moved again, to this very site. Two moves in less than forty years, and the old girl kept her character. Today it is part of the county museum, standing as a reminder of early south Texas vernacular architecture.

The Linneys built a life in it. Texas kept it.

What the marker says

John Filmore Linney (1853-1924) and his wife Virginia (Lum) Linney (1854-1946), were both members of pioneer Texas families. His father, Col. John Linney had this house built for the couple in 1876, just two years after their marriage. John F. and Virginia Linney, who reared eight children in this house, continued to reside in it until their deaths. Relocated in 1948 from its original location in the southeast part of town to a lot on Oak Street, it was moved to this site in 1986. Now a part of the county museum, it serves as a reminder of early south Texas vernacular architecture. (1993)