DUANE
Duane's take
The marker tells it this way, and I'm just the one passing it along — so settle in. Out on what folks called Silk Stocking Row, there stands a Victorian residence built in 1890. Now, Silk Stocking Row.
Just the sound of it tells you something about the kind of address this was meant to be. The house first earned its place in history as the family home of Mrs. Percy V.
Pennybacker — born 1861, died 1938. And here is a woman worth slowing down for. She was a teacher.
She was an author of a school history of Texas that got used so widely, whole generations of Texas schoolchildren learned the story of their own state through her words. And if that weren't enough, she became the first Texan ever elected President of the General Federation of Women's Clubs. First Texan.
You don't rack up a list like that by accident. Then in 1900, the house changed hands. Thomas M.
Campbell — born 1856, died 1923 — purchased it. Now Campbell was a famous lawyer and banker, and if that sounds like a man building toward something, well. He went on to serve as Governor of Texas from 1907 to 1911.
And Governor Campbell, apparently, looked at that Victorian home and decided it needed to be a little bigger. He enlarged it. The man had ambitions, and he let them show.
The house has stayed in the family ever since. By the time this marker was recorded, it had passed to Drew Wommack Jr. — Campbell's great-grandson. Three names on one house.
A teacher who shaped how Texas knew itself, a governor who shaped what Texas did, and a family line that kept the whole story standing. That Victorian residence on Silk Stocking Row has been holding its ground since 1890 — and it doesn't appear to be going anywhere.
What the marker says
"Silk Stocking Row" Victorian residence built in 1890. Noted as family home of Mrs. Percy V. Pennybacker (1861-1938), teacher, author of widely-used school history of Texas, first Texan President General Federation Women's Clubs. Purchased 1900 by Thomas M. Campbell (1856 - 1923), famous lawyer, banker, Governor of Texas in 1907-11. Enlarged by Gov. Campbell, house is now property of great-grandson, Drew Wommack, Jr. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1969