A.Y. Kirkpatrick took the time to write a book about the early settlers life in Texas. And we are so glad he did. This book is an absolute gem!  A.Y. Kirkpatrick came to what is now Hill County with his father and siblings in the late 1840s.  In the book, he mentions E.S.Wyman (builder of the homestead), James and Isabella Wood, James Ransom Davis, Charles Davis, several Fraziers and many events that happened in the early years. The digital book is searchable.  You are welcome! A.Y.Kirkpatrick THE EARLY SETTLERS LIFE IN TEXAS 

Connecting the Old House to the New Addition When we purchased the old house, we knew that we were going to need to put an addition on it.  It was a tiny house (1100 sq ft) even with the porches enclosed.  And enclosing the porches didn’t really help us much as they basically added hallways and not rooms to the house.  Once we started the renovation project, we realized that the house was in need of a rest.  We planned to use the old house as gently as possible and made plans to add rooms that would be used daily (kitchen, laundry, bathrooms, etc.) in the addition. How many times…

The Handrails My grandfather, Warren Ferguson, was an all around great guy.  He was funny and loving.  He was a hard worker.  As a welder and tinkerer in just about everything, he was an invaluable member of his small farming community of Mertens, Texas.  Many of the farmers in the area will testify that Warren (Dadaw) could fix anything.  Dadaw would hitch his welder behind his pickup and go where he was needed.  I loved him bunches. My grandparents were also life-long members of the only church in Mertens, the First Baptist Church.  My grandmother wrote the historical marker that resides in front of the church.  My grandfather built the…

Background James Wood arrived in Texas in 1851, but did not become a U.S. citizen until November of 1856 according to A.Y. Kirkpatrick in his book “The Early Settlers Life in Texas”.  Above is the link to the Kirkpatrick book (to the actual page) where this is documented.  I don’t have official paperwork, but will go to the courthouse in Hillsboro eventually to see what I can find. Meanwhile, I do have a copy of the document where Scotland acknowledges that James Wood is no long a citizen of Great Britain. That document is presented below. The Document  

The South Pen The south pen was always my “safe spot” to start.  It wasn’t as dark as the north side of the house and it seemed to be in better shape than the north pen as well.  It isn’t surprising, then that this room is the one that is most finished.  I don’t know that our 1846 Texas Homestead will ever be completely finish, but at this point, we are living here and that is all that matters…for now anyway.  Renovations are exhausting. But at one point, we were focused on things like sub-flooring, insulation, and selecting a hardwood flooring. But before we got there, we had a lot…

Working From the Inside Out We were to the point where we needed to focus on some important elements of the restoration.  Things like electrical wiring, insulation installation and the first layer of the exterior of the house on the kitchen/bedroom corner of the house.  The interior walls were all original shiplap and  I didn’t want to touch it anymore than we had to.  I was learning that once we touched something, we caused three times the work.  Old houses don’t like to be messed with.  Therefore, the shiplap in the former kitchen needed to remain in place, ready for spackling and a coat of paint (hopefully, all it needed).…