DUANE
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Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and here's how I'm gonna tell it to you. Back at the turn of the twentieth century, a man named Dennis Mahoney made a journey that a lot of folks wouldn't have predicted; all the way from Connecticut down to Texas. Now, the marker doesn't say exactly what year he arrived, just that it was the late 1800s, but whatever year it was, Texas had a job waiting on him.
Dennis Mahoney was a contractor and builder, and they needed him to build Trinity University right there in Waxahachie. That cornerstone was laid on March 21st, 1902; set in stone, you might say, literally. Of course, Trinity University isn't in Waxahachie anymore.
It's in San Antonio now. But in 1902, Waxahachie was the place, and Dennis Mahoney was the man. Then, having put up a university, he apparently decided Waxahachie suited him just fine, because he stayed.
And in 1904, he turned those same skilled hands toward something a little more personal: he constructed this stately house right here. A man who builds universities for a living doesn't exactly throw up something modest for himself, and this place reflects that. In time, the house passed to the family of his son-in-law, W.B.
Thompson, which is how you get that hyphenated name, Mahoney-Thompson, two families woven into one address. The building has since been restored by the Ellis County Historical Museum and Art Gallery, Incorporated. A Connecticut builder, a Texas university, and one stately house still standin'; not a bad legacy for a man who came a long way from home.
What the marker says
Constructed in 1904 by Dennis Mahoney, contractor and builder. He came from Connecticut to Texas in late 1800s to build Trinity University in Waxahachie (now in San Antonio). Cornerstone was laid March 21, 1902. He later moved to Waxahachie and erected this stately house, which later belonged to family of his son-in-law, W.B. Thompson. The building is now restored by the Ellis County Historical Museum and Art Gallery, Inc.