DUANE
Duane's take
Now, I'm tellin' this one straight from the official marker — so here's the story of William Henry and Lydia Ann English Guyler, just as the record has it. Kentucky born, both of them. William Henry Guyler came into this world in 1823, and Lydia Ann English in 1826.
They married in 1845, and for fourteen years they built a life in Kentucky. Then in 1859, they pointed themselves toward Texas — and Texas, as it tends to do, asked everything they had to give. They put down roots in Austin County, purchasing a homestead on the Milburn and Davis land grant.
William Guyler didn't waste any time. He erected a log cabin for the family, and then kept right on building — a trading post, a sawmill, a cotton gin. Taken together, those businesses served people across a twenty-mile radius.
Out here on the Texas frontier, twenty miles was a whole world, and the Guylers were at the center of it. Then came the Civil War, and the center had to hold without William. He went off to serve in the Confederate Army — General John Sayles' company, 23rd Brigade.
Back home, Lydia didn't sit idle. She aided the soldiers at home and donated supplies wherever they were most needed. You get the feeling Lydia Guyler was not a woman who sat idle under any circumstances.
And just to confirm that suspicion — in 1867, yellow fever swept through the area. Lydia Guyler went out and helped nurse those stricken with the disease. Yellow fever in 1867 was not a gentle thing.
It was not a thing most people ran toward. Lydia ran toward it. William came home, and the building continued.
In 1873 he became the first postmaster of the Bovine Bend community. First. Which means before him, there was no postmaster at all — the mail, such as it was, had to fend for itself.
Then in 1875 and 1876, something big came rumbling through Austin County — the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway, laying its line through the area. The Guylers made a decision that tells you exactly who they were. They sold one hundred acres of land for ten dollars.
Ten dollars for one hundred acres. Now, that is not a misprint. That was the price they accepted for the right-of-way, and for the establishment of the town of Wallis.
A town grew up where their land had been. William Henry Guyler died in 1897. Lydia Ann English Guyler lived on until 1920.
And the town they helped call into existence honored them the way towns do — the longest street in Wallis bears their name. The longest street. Not just any street.
The one that goes the farthest.
What the marker says
Kentucky natives William Henry Guyler (1823-1897) and Lydia Ann English (1826-1920) were married in 1845 and journeyed to Texas in 1859. They purchased a homestead on the Milburn and Davis land grant in Austin County. William Guyler erected a log cabin nearby in which they lived, and built a trading post, sawmill and cotton gin. The businesses served people in a 20-mile radius. During the Civil War William Guyler served in the Confederate Army with General John Sayles' company in the 23rd Brigade. Lydia Guyler aided the soldiers at home and donated supplies wherever most needed. During the yellow fever epidemic of 1867, Lydia Guyler helped nurse those stricken with the disease. In 1873 William Guyler became the first postmaster of the Bovine Bend community. In 1875-76, when the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway built its line through the area, the Guylers sold 100 acres of land for $10 for the right-of-way and for the establishment of the town of Wallis. The longest street in Wallis is named in honor of the Guylers to mark their contribution to the community in which they lived. (1997)