DUANE
Duane's take
Here's what the marker outside this old limestone house has to say, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, picture Comanche County, Texas, 1874. A young man rides in from Alabama by way of Mississippi, by way of the Confederate army, by way of a law school education — and he has got plans.
His name is Newton R. Lindsey, and he is not the kind of man who sits still for long. Born in 1847, he has already packed more living into his first twenty-seven years than most folks manage in a lifetime.
And he is just getting warmed up. Two years after arriving, in 1876, the people of Comanche County elect him their county attorney. Now, that job could mean a lot of things in a lot of places.
In Comanche County, Texas, in 1876, it means this: Newton R. Lindsey stands up in court and prosecutes one John Wesley Hardin — noted outlaw, which is a polite way of saying the kind of man whose name you said quietly and whose direction you did not point. Hardin was found guilty of Charles Webb's murder.
The young attorney from Alabama had just made his mark. Then, in 1878, Newton married Virginia Josephine Hart — born in 1852, a woman he had met while they were both attending school in Mississippi. Fate works on a long fuse sometimes.
The two of them would build a life together inside these very walls, this two-story limestone house that Newton started constructing in 1881 and finished in 1888. Seven years of building. Those walls came out eighteen inches thick, limestone quarried right there near Comanche, rough-cut stones on the face, dressed stone quoins at the corners, half timbering in the gables, a square tower rising up, a projecting bay, full arch hooded windows, and an entry door with keystones — the kind of house that says, quietly but firmly, I intend to stay.
And stay they did. Virginia's sister Ida Hart lived with them too, a musician and teacher, which means that inside those eighteen-inch walls there was likely more culture and noise than the neighbors expected. Meanwhile, N.R.
Lindsey kept piling up public service like a man who found the concept of retirement personally offensive. Delegate to the 1880 Democratic convention. Texas state representative.
School trustee. Multiple-term mayor of Comanche. Right-of-way agent for the Fort Worth and Rio Grande Railroad, working to pull that railroad line through Comanche — because a town with a railroad is a town with a future, and Newton Lindsey was always thinking about the future.
Then, from 1898 until 1903, judge for district 42. And then judge for district 53, right up until his death in 1908. He was sixty years old.
Virginia outlived him by thirty years, passing in 1938 at the age of eighty-six. Those limestone walls kept standing. In 1941, a man named Melvin E.
Gore — and everybody called him Shorty, so we will too — Shorty Gore bought the property. Born in 1901, he was an entrepreneur and a rancher, and he moved in with his wife Ava, born in 1905, and their sons Jimmy E. and Walter Jack, both of whom would go on to serve in the military. The Gore family held onto this place until 1998 — fifty-seven years of life lived inside those same thick walls.
Ava Gore herself lived until 1997, ninety-two years old, long enough to see almost the whole of the twentieth century come and go from the windows of a house that Newton Lindsey built with stone he pulled from the ground nearby. There is something about a limestone house. It does not announce itself.
It does not beg for your attention. It just stands there, solid and quiet, and it outlasts nearly everything — outlaw trials, railroad deals, political conventions, two families, and a century and a half of Texas weather. Newton Lindsey built it to last.
Turns out, he was right about that too.
What the marker says
Attorney and politician Newton R. Lindsey (1847 – 1908) constructed this home between 1881 and 1888. Born in Alabama, Lindsey served in the Confederate army during the Civil War and attended college and law school before settling in Comanche County in 1874. He was elected county attorney in 1876, and among others prosecuted noted outlaw John Wesley Hardin, who was found guilty of Charles Webb’s murder. In 1878, he married Virginia Josephine Hart (1852 – 1938), whom he had met while attending school in Mississippi. The couple resided in this home with additional family, including Virginia’s sister Ida hart, a musician and teacher. N.R. Lindsey was a lifelong public servant. After his stint as county attorney, N.R lindsey served as a delegate to the 1880 democratic convention, texas state representative, school trustee and multiple-term mayor of Comanche. As right-of-way agent for the Fort Worth and Rio Grande Railroad, he was active in efforts to bring the railroad through Comanche. From 1898 until 1903, Lindsey served as judge for district 42, and then for district 53 until his death. In 1941, this property was sold to Melvin E. “Shorty” Gore (1901 – 1959). Gore, an entrepreneur and rancher, lived here with his wife Ava (1905 – 1997) and sons Jimmy E. and Walter Jack, who both served in the military. The property stayed in the Gore family until 1998. This two-story house is of limestone construction, from stone quarried near Comanche. Walls are up to 18 inches thick and feature rough-cut stones, dressed stone quoins and half timbering. The cross gabled plan features a square tower, projecting bay and full arch hooded windows and entry door with keystones.