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Treasures from the Wardrobe
The Treasure Hunt It takes no stretch of the imagination to believe me when I tell you that the house in the photo above was full of nasty trash, furniture, rat droppings and general yuckiness. How much imagination would it take to believe that we found some really cool stuff as we pawed through every stinking item wearing latex gloves and respirators? Before we threw one thing away, Jerry and I went through every box, drawer, and closet in the house item by item. Some folks had already come and stolen items from the house and went through things. Jerry and I were the only ones who could have told…
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Wedding Bells Ring!
Not Your Typical Wedding Planning Have you ever heard the joke about going to a fight and a hockey game breaking out? That is what Jillian and Mike’s wedding reminds me of. We were in the middle of saving the house and cutting back and burning limbs one minute, and the next, we are planning a wedding. Jillian and Mike came to help us with the house this weekend. We spent the day using the chainsaws. And then, Jillian and Mike shocked the socks off of us at dinner. They announced that they wanted to get married…in two weeks. And they wanted the wedding near our place. And they thought…
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Reusing the Original Stone in the New Fireplace
Things I Hate for $1000 If you have read anything on this blog, you can probably guess that my number one most hated thing when we started was having to alter the house. I wanted to keep it original. Period. The first thing we needed to do was shore up the foundation and get the house out of the dirt. That made sense. Of course, the first thing we had to do was (insert drum roll here) tear down the beautiful (to me) chimneys. Dang it. Looking at the photo above, and also now that I am in a more rational state of mind, I can see clearly that the…
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A Colossal Error in Concrete Staining
We decided that stained concrete was the way we wanted to go with flooring in the new addition. Stained concrete is inexpensive and it is durable.. Unfortunately, ours has big problems and I am not sure how to fix it. It Started Off So Well… Jerry and I went to Dallas to a concrete staining store. They had everything we would ever need to be successful. We looked at all the products, colors, and tools. We were ready to commit that day to purchasing what we needed. I had a clear idea of what I wanted the floor to look like. Neither of us wanted a solid color. We liked…
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The Stairs in the New Addition
When the framers started to work on the second story, it was obvious that we needed to install the stairs in order to make their lives easier. It did look strange to be building stairs to seemingly nowhere, but the decision was made that it was time for them to be installed and install them we did. The Design What would the stairs look like? I really wanted to get the old staircase out of my great grandparents’ house. It was the first banister I ever slid down (with the permission of my great aunt Margaret Jo and in spite of the disapproving look from my grandmother). That was an…
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Using The Church Handrails
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…
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Indenture Between James Wood and Samuel Candlish and Margaret Candlish 27 May 1866
Background First, this and the other documents surrounding the estate of Hugh Wood, brother of James Wood, reveal an absolute mess. Let me try and shed what little light I can on the subject. In a letter written by Hugh Wood to James Wood on 1 April 1852, Hugh indicates the following: James will need money to settle himself and his family. Hugh states that he will make funds available to James once James decides the best course of action. Hugh also tells James that if he has proof that he purchased land through Sir Edward Belcher (Colony of Kent), he can be reimbursed for the land price. All he…
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John Reid Letter to Isabella Wood 29 August 1874
Background James Wood sold his land in Scotland for $485 an acre and bought land in Texas for 25 cents an acre. Yes, he paid for the land associated with the Colony of Kent, and yes, he lost all of that money. After paying for transportation costs to Texas, was he out of money? I would like to think not, but in his letter to his brother, Hugh tells James that he will provide money to cover any needs James has. Notice he doesn’t say “I’ll transfer your money to you.” So my original theory that James left his cash with his brother is kinda shot. Hugh also states in…
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Dr. Hugh Wood’s Letter to His Brother, James Wood 1 April 1852
Background In this letter, Dr. Hugh Wood writes to his brother about finding a new place to live. Hugh promises money to pay for whatever James decides to do. He also indicates that James and his family are to be his heirs. Unfortunately, when Hugh died, he did not have a will or a will was not produced and James and his family were not the sole beneficiaries. This caused tremendous financial hardship (according to a letter from John Reid to Isabella Riddell Wood). Hugh mentions the starvation in the Highlands, the transportation of many to Australia, the discovery of gold in Australia, and other bits of news. There are…
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James Wood’s Citizenship Papers (U.S. and Scotland)
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