DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Way back in 1854, a man named Washington West packed up his wife Mary Willauer West and their family and made the long haul from Tennessee down to Lavaca County, Texas. Now, that right there is a committed move.
They put down roots, built a home — and before long, that home had become something more than a homestead. It had become a stagecoach stop, and around that stop grew a little community folks came to call Old Sweet Home. Not a bad legacy for a front porch.
But the West family was just getting warmed up. Washington and Mary's sons — George, Ike, and Sol — were the kind of men who looked at a longhorn steer and saw a paycheck waiting at the end of a very long road. From 1867 all the way through 1885, those three brothers were driving cattle to markets in Kansas, Nebraska, the Dakotas, Montana, and Wyoming.
That's not a trail drive — that's a career. Meanwhile, George was building something else too. In 1874 he married Catherine Searcy — Kittie, everybody called her — and in 1875 he built this very house right here on family land.
Greek revival style. Which is a fancy way of saying George West had taste to go along with his ambition. And ambition he had in abundance.
His ranching interests spread across several south Texas counties, and by 1880 he and Kittie had moved on to Live Oak County. In time, they established a town there — and they named it George West, on a portion of a ranch that stretched across two hundred thousand acres. Two.
Hundred. Thousand. Acres.
Let that settle for a moment. In 1883, George and Kittie sold the old Lavaca County homestead to Ike and Emma West — keeping it in the family, naturally. Then in 1891, Ike and Emma sold it to Frank and Anna Wagner.
Now here's the part of the story I love. Frank and Anna were natives of Czechoslovakia, and they hadn't arrived as strangers to this land — they'd already been living right here at the West homestead, doing ranch and farm work. They knew every fence post.
They knew the soil. And when the deed came into their hands, they made it their own. They raised six children in this house: Frank Jr., Jim, John, Anton, Joe, and Mary.
In 1918, Frank and Anna deeded the homestead to their youngest son, Anton. And Anton's brother Joe and sister Mary — they stayed on, living in the house right up into the 1950s. From a Tennessee family's fresh start in 1854, through cattle drives reaching to the northern plains, through a Greek revival house built by a man who'd go on to name a town after himself — this place has held.
The West-Wagner homestead remains in the Wagner family to this day. Some roots just go too deep to pull up.
What the marker says
Washington West and his wife Mary Willauer West moved their family from Tennessee in 1854 and settled in Lavaca County, Texas. Their home became a stagecoach stop which developed into the community of Old Sweet Home. The Wests' sons George, Ike and Sol drove longhorn cattle to markets in Kansas, Nebraska, the Dakotas, Montana and Wyoming from 1867-85. George married Catherine (Kittie) Searcy in 1874, and in 1875 built this Greek revival style home on family land. George West's ranching interests expanded to several south Texas counties. They moved to Live Oak County in 1880 and later established the town of George West on a portion of their 200,000 acre ranch. In 1883 George and Kittie West sold the Lavaca County homestead to Ike and Emma West, who sold it in 1891 to Frank and Anna Wagner. Natives of Czechoslovakia, the Wagners had lived at the West homestead doing ranch and farm work. Here they reared their six children, Frank Jr., Jim, John, Anton, Joe and Mary. In 1918 Frank and Anna Wagner deeded the homestead to their youngest son, Anton Wagner. His brother and sister, Joe and Mary, lived in the house until the 1950s. The West-Wagner homestead remains in the Wagner Family. (1997)