DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. There's a house in Bastrop — Greek Revival, built of native wood, the kind of place that looks like it's been holding secrets since before the Civil War. And it has.
It was built in 1853 for a man named Bartholomew Manlove, born in 1776, who within two years of moving in would be elected the first mayor of Bastrop. First one. That's not a small thing.
The town needed somebody to step up and be first, and Bartholomew Manlove was that man. Then, in 1857, the property was sold, and that's where this story really opens up. The new owner was Margaret Chambers.
And friend, Margaret Chambers had lived a life. She had been married before — to a man named Josiah Wilbarger, who died in 1844, and who was known across Texas as the well-known survivor of an Indian attack near Austin back in 1833. Whatever road that put Margaret on, she eventually wed Colonel T.
W. Chambers, a veteran of the Texas Revolution. So this woman who settled into that quiet Greek Revival home had already been bound up with two of the more remarkable men in early Texas history.
She lived on in that house, and in 1890, she deeded it to her daughter Fenora. Margaret Chambers herself passed in 1897. The house is still standing — native wood, Greek Revival lines, carrying every one of those years right along with it.
What the marker says
This Greek Revival residence was built in 1853 for Bartholomew Manlove (b. 1776), who was elected the first mayor of Bastrop two years later. In 1857, the property was sold to Margaret Chambers (d. 1897). Formerly married to Josiah Wilbarger (d. 1844), the well-known survivor of an 1833 Indian attack near Austin, she later wed Col. T. W. Chambers, a veteran of the Texas Revolution. Constructed of native wood, the home was deeded to her daugher Fenora in 1890. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1962