Texas Confederate Woman's Home

Duane's take

Now here's my telling of what the official marker has to say, and this one deserves a slow sip of coffee before we start. Somewhere in Travis County stands a story about women who outlasted a war, outlasted their husbands, and then had to outlast just about everything else besides. This is the story of the Texas Confederate Woman's Home.

Let's go back to 1884. The Confederate Men's Home had already opened in Austin, and the Albert Sidney Johnston Chapter Number 105 of the Texas Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, the UDC, was making regular visits out there. Bringing gifts.

Food. Clothing. Keeping company with the old veterans.

And somewhere in all those visits, somebody started asking a harder question: what about the women? The wives. The widows.

Women who had lived through that war, some of them as active participants in the Confederate war effort, and now found themselves sixty years old or older, without a means of support. Nobody had built them a home. Not yet.

Enter Katie Daffan. Under her leadership as President of the Texas UDC, the organization turned itself into something between a fundraising machine and a force of nature. Dinners, events, concerts, individual donations.

They pulled it together piece by piece until they had enough to purchase property and construct a building. And they didn't build something modest. They put up a Richardson Romanesque revival style structure.

Bedrooms, bathrooms, a parlor, a dining area, and a hospital. UDC chapters from all over the state donated the furnishings. When it opened in 1908, the Texas Confederate Woman's Home was ready for business.

Now, the criteria to get in were specific. You had to be the wife or widow of an honorably discharged Confederate soldier. Or you could prove active participation in the Confederate war effort yourself.

And you had to be sixty years of age or older, without a means of support. Over three thousand women would eventually come through that door. But here's the thing about buildings, and this is where the story gets complicated.

They cost money. Not just to build, but to keep going. And the UDC, for all their talent at raising funds, eventually hit the wall that all volunteer organizations hit.

On December 23rd, 1911, they transferred the home to the state of Texas. The state didn't let it wither. An annex was built that doubled the size and increased the capacity.

A hospital was erected in 1916. In 1920, the state legislature established the board of control to operate the home. Then in 1949, responsibility transferred again, this time to the board for Texas State Hospitals and Special Schools.

The home kept running. Kept taking in women. The total count would reach more than thirty-four hundred indigent wives and widows of Confederate veterans cared for within those walls.

And then, in 1963, the last residents were transferred to private nursing homes, and the home closed. More than half a century of operation. Started by women holding dinners and passing the hat at concerts.

Finished by the state of Texas, quietly closing a final chapter on a generation that had lived through more history than most people can imagine. That's not a footnote. That's a whole life.

What the marker says

The Texas Confederate Woman’s home opened in 1908 and provided a home for over three thousand wives and widows of Confederate Veterans. Potential residents were wives or widows of honorably discharged Confederate soldiers, women who could prove active participation in the Confederate War effort, and women 60 years or older without a means of support. The Confederate Men’s Home began in Austin in 1884 and the Albert Sidney Johnston Chapter #105 of the Texas Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) made visits, brought gifts, food and clothing to the veterans. Under the leadership of President Katie Daffan, the Texas UDC began coordination and fundraising to secure a home for needy confederate wives and widows. Through dinners, events, concerts and individual donations, the Texas UDC purchased property and constructed a Richardson Romanesque revival style structure. In addition to several bedrooms and bathrooms, the home featured a parlor, dining area and a hospital. UDC chapters from all over the state donated furnishings for the home. Due to the cost to maintain the home, the UDC transferred the home to the state of Texas on Dec. 23, 1911. An annex was built that doubled the size and increased the capacity, and a hospital was erected in 1916. The state legislature established the board of control to operate the home in 1920, and then in 1949, responsibility transferred to the board for Texas State Hospitals and special schools. This home provided for more than 3,400 indigent wives and widows of Confederate veterans and operated until 1963, when the last residents were transferred to private nursing homes.