DUANE
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Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, friends; and I'm just the one passin' it along. Now, if you want a life that stretches across an age, consider William Ebenezer Henderson. The man was born in 1847 and didn't leave this world until 1944.
You do that arithmetic and you'll get ninety-seven years; nearly a century of living, watching, and building. His story in Texas starts in 1862, when a young William made the move from Louisiana. And how does a family travel in 1862?
In an ox-drawn barouche. Not a wagon, mind you; a barouche. That's a carriage with a fold-down top and enough dignity to make the oxen feel a little underdressed for the occasion.
He went to work at nineteen for a cattleman, and somewhere between that first job and the years that followed, William Henderson became a prosperous commission dealer. He was shippin' cattle all the way to St. Louis.
And when a man makes that kind of trip to St. Louis, well, he comes home with more than a handshake. He came home with fine mantels and tile.
The good stuff. Bought right there in St. Louis and brought back to Kaufman County.
In 1898, he built the house. The walls went up with select heart pine; timber pulled from the big timber country of the Beaumont area. Not just any wood.
Heart pine. The kind that doesn't give up easily. And when he said he wanted rooms, he meant rooms; large and lofty, with twelve-foot ceilings.
The kind of ceilings that make a man stand a little straighter just by walkin' in. An ox-drawn barouche in 1862. Twelve-foot ceilings in 1898.
Ninety-seven years on this earth. William Ebenezer Henderson wasn't in a hurry; he just made everything he did count.
What the marker says
Built 1898 by William Ebenezer Henderson (1847-1944), who moved from Louisiana to Texas (1862) in an ox-drawn barouche. Going to work at 19 for a cattleman, he became in time a prosperous commission dealer-- shipping cattle to St. Louis, where he bought the fine mantels and tile for this house. Structure is of select heart pine from the big timber of the Beaumont area. Rooms are large and lofty, with 12-foot ceilings. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1970