Fourth Activity: Sam and Margaret Houston's woodland home in Huntsville, TX

On Nov. 6, I decided to drive to Huntsville, TX to visit "Uncle Sam". During this trip, I visited his statue which is a famous national landmark, his homestead, and his burial site all in Huntsville, TX. I told a little bit of Sam Houston's story in my third activity blog. In this blog, I will give you a tour to Sam and Margaret Houston's beloved woodland home, The Steam Boat house where he died, and his entire property. The couple built this home in 1847. Sam wrote to one of his friends describing the woodland home as the "The bang up place". He also talked about the Huntsville weather in his letter as a "healthy" weather. Sam and Margaret lived here at the woodland home while Houston was a U.S. senator in 1846-1859. Four of their eight children were born in this home.


An important fact about Houston. Sam Houston was married three times. His first wife was named Eliza Allen. They were married January 22, 1829. Sam Houston's second wife was a Cherokee Indian woman whose name was Tiana Rodgers, also known as Diana Rodgers. They were married in the summer of 1830.
Margaret Moffette Lea was Sam Houston's third wife. They were married on May 9, 1840 when she was 21 yrs old and Houston, 47 yrs old (26 yrs age difference). The couple had 8 children which were raised in the woodland home in Huntsville, TX.


Let's begin the tour of the Houston property, shall we? Most of the photos here are taken through a glass door. You can see the displays through the glass doors and take photos, as you can see me doing. Just make sure to turn off your flash to get better pictures. The public is not allowed inside the rooms as to protect these delicate historic exhibits from being disturbed or destroyed.


                                            

This is the Woodland Home of Mr and Mrs Houston. It was completed on February of 1848. The house is a typical dogtrot house, consisting of two log rooms connected by a breezeway. Downstairs are the parlor and the master bedroom.  Upstairs is the children’s room separating the boys and girls room. The house was eventually sold in 1858 to help pay the debt of Houston’s
unsuccessful Governor race in 1857.



This is the parlor. The round marble table and the red setee is an original pieces of the couple's belongings.



This is master bedroom located downstairs. The bed is said to have belonged to Dwight Youkum, one of Sam's good friends.




This room is located downstairs. It is said to be the "grandmother's room". I guess it is reserve whenever grandma comes to visit the family?




This is the tea room that is connected to the master bedroom.



Follow me upstairs where the children's bedrooms are located. Watch out for this tight walkway. I guess it is designed for the kids.





This is the girls room. My question is... How did four girls fit in this tiny room?

 


This is the boys room. Again, how did the four boys fit in this room?




This is a picture of the Houston kids. All eight of them! :-)






This is the kitchen. It is separated from the main house which is typical of southern home. In the north, the heat is welcome inside the home during winter times so kitchens are built in the house but in the southern states, kitchen's are separated due to the hot and humid weather, especially during summer times.

 


This is the inside peak of the kitchen. Candle and soap making and laundry are also performed here. Kitchen is one of the most important and the busiest places on the farm.





This building is said to be Mr. Houston's Law office where he conducts his senatiorial businessess and to simply get away from his growing family. Kind of like his man cave? :-)





This is the inside peak of the law office. It says that only his trusted servant, by the name of Joshua, was allowed to touch things in this room.

 



This is a different house but on the same location. This house is called " The Steam Boat House". Below is the description and history of the house. This was the house where Houston died and the services of his funeral were held.




The connection of the Steam Boat house to Houston



This is a sample of Houston's funeral announcement




Close up of the announcement

 


This is the parlor located on the second floor of the steam boat house where Houston's body in the coffin was layed for public viewing




This is supposedly the room where Houston died. This room is located down below the parlor




This is the place where black smithing was done?  I made a 1 min video of the inside of this building but I did not download successfully.





That's me on this old wagon. Too bad I was not dress appropriately for this fancy ride :-)

 This experience overall was so much fun. It was great learning about one of the most famous figure in Texas history.