Tucker House

Duane's take

The official marker tells this story, and I'm just the one passing it along. So settle in. Moses Tucker came to Texas from Kentucky in 1853.

And he didn't come alone. He came with his twin brother, Aaron. Now think about that for a moment.

Two brothers, twins, leaving Kentucky together and heading into Texas. They built a log cabin on this land in Parker County, and that was the beginning of something that would last a whole lot longer than either of them probably imagined. Moses went off to serve in the Civil War, and when it was done, he came back.

Back to Parker County. Back to his wife, Martha Elizabeth, she was a Cockburn before she married him, born in 1839. Back to his family.

A man who leaves and returns to the same piece of ground, that tells you something about a place. Then, according to oral tradition, in 1889, a new building went up right here. Vertical boards with lap siding, what folks who study these things call a vernacular architectural style.

Two rooms, a central hall, and an attic. Simple, sturdy, the kind of house that doesn't make a fuss about itself. Later on, the back half was added.

A kitchen area, porches, a bath. The house growing the way families do, room by room, need by need. Moses Tucker was born in 1833 and died in 1890, just a year after that house went up.

Martha Elizabeth lived on until 1915, keeping that land and that family going. And the Tucker family kept right on farming that ground for more than a century after all of this began. More than a hundred years on the same land.

And when the time finally came to let it go, they didn't sell it off to strangers. They donated it. To the Silver Creek Heritage Society.

That's not just holding onto something. That's making sure the rest of us get to hold onto it too.

What the marker says

MOSES TUCKER (1833-1890) CAME TO TEXAS FROM KENTUCKY WITH HIS TWIN BROTHER, AARON, IN 1853. A LOG CABIN WAS BUILT ON THIS LAND. AFTER SERVING IN THE CIVIL WAR, TUCKER RETURNED TO PARKER COUNTY AND TO HIS WIFE, MARTHA ELIZABETH (COCKBURN) (1839-1915), AND FAMILY. ACCORDING TO ORAL TRADITION, THE CURRENT BUILDING WAS ERECTED IN 1889 AND CONSISTS OF VERTICAL BOARDS WITH LAP SIDING IN A VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURAL STYLE. THE HOME INCLUDED TWO ROOMS WITH A CENTRAL HALL AND AN ATTIC. THE BACK HALF OF THE HOUSE WAS LATER ADDED WITH A KITCHEN AREA, PORCHES, AND A BATH. THE TUCKER FAMILY FARMED THE LAND FOR MORE THAN A CENTURY BEFORE DONATING THE PROPERTY TO THE SILVER CREEK HERITAGE SOCIETY.