Gaines-Oliphint House
Sabine County, Texas
The Gaines-Oliphant House may be
the oldest Pre-Republic, Anglo-American structure that exist in Texas
today. It was built about 1818 by James D. Taylor Gaines who was a double
first cousin to General Edward Pendleton Gaines of the United States Army.
A few historians and descendants say that he was a brother to General
Gaines.
The house was built for his third wife’s parents, the Edmund Norris’, so
that they could live in the vicinity of the settlement that had become
established around the ferry on the Sabine River. In the 1835 Sabine
District Census, James is listed as head of the household at age 53 along
with his wife Susannah Norris Gaines at age 36 and children John age 17,
James age 8, Sarah Ann age 4 and William age 5 months.
Although listed in the 1835 census
as being 53 years old, James was born in Culpepper County, Virginia on 14
Nov 1776, the son of Thomas and Susannah Strother Gaines. The Gaines
family was considered as one of the oldest and best known in Virginia. He
was christened Robert Thomas Gaines, but around 1810 changed his name to
James. He first married Isabella Christian of Tennessee and they had one
daughter. A second marriage to Katherine Vincent of Indiana produced two
sons. The third marriage to Susannah Norris of the Nacogdoches
Municipality produced six children, four of whom are listed in the 1835
census.
James was described as being tall, red-haired and red-faced.
In late 1803 and most of 1804 James
accompanied then Lieutenant Edward Pendleton Gaines on an assignment
ordered by President Thomas Jefferson to survey the waterways along the
Natchez Trace, from Nashville, Tennessee down the Cumberland River to the
Ohio, and on to New Orleans.
When the United States troops were established at Natchitoches, Louisiana
in 1805, James accompanied them and started a mercantile business in
Natchitoches. By 1812 he was operating a ferry on the Sabine River,
although some historians say he was at the crossing as early as 1809. The
1812 date was given by James Gaines in open court testimony while
testifying in a land grant trial involving two of his former neighbors.
His testimony in the 1843 trial of the RUSSELL HEIRS Vs. JAMES MASON
clearly establishes the 1812 date. During the Gutierrez-Magee Expedition,
he raised and commanded troops in an effort to wrest Texas from Spanish
Mexico. After their defeat in San Antonio, he went to Virginia and fought
against the British during the War of 1812. James also participated in
the Fredonia Rebellion, was with Dr. Long’s Expedition,
delegate to the Washington-on-the Brazos Convention-1 Mar 1836, signer of
the Texas Declaration of Independence, helped draft the Republic of Texas
constitution, served as senator in the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Congress
representing Harrison, Sabine and Shelby Counties, served as sheriff and
alcalde (judge) for the Sabine District of the Municipality of
Nacogdoches, served as postmaster, operated an inn and mercantile store,
forwarded mail across the boundary into the United States and founded the
settlement of Pendleton.
In July of 1819 while serving with Dr. Long, James delivered a letter to
Jeanne Lafitte in Galveston and discussed with Lafitte the plans to take
Texas from Spanish Mexico.
In about 1819, James bought the long
established ferry on the El Camino Real that had been used as a crossing
as early as 1541-1542 by Hernando De Soto, who had advanced to Nacogdoches
and earlier by Native Americans. From the late 1600’s through the 1840’s,
this crossing on the Sabine River was being used by Indians, early
explorers, traders, kantucks, adventurers, missionaries, desperados, post
riders, smugglers, empresarios, filibusters, settlers, slaves, circuit
riders and preachers, soldiers and statesmen. During the twenty years
that James owned the ferry; historians say that at least four-fifths of
the settlers coming into Texas crossed on this ferry. The number is
estimated to be fifty thousand or more. Most of the patriots, involved in
the struggle with Mexico for independence, crossed at this site and passed
within two hundred feet of the Gaines-Oliphint House. In 1843 James sold
his ferry and moved to Nacogdoches and became involved in the movement to
have Texas annexed into the United States.
In the mid-1840s James moved to Bastrop in
Central Texas, where he bought and operated a hotel. When news spread in
1849 about the gold rush in California, two of James’s sons, Edmund and
John B. along other East Texans, headed west. On 23 Aug 1850 James
arrived in San Francisco on the steamer Ecuador. He and his sons
discovered the Gaines Ledge of gold and established the Gaines Mine that
still exists today. He served in local Mariposa County, California
government for several years. By 1854-1855 Susannah had died, and his two
sons had returned to Texas. On 12 Nov 1856, two days before his eightieth
birthday, James died in Oakland, California.
In about 1815 on a high knoll that was above
flood stage and about three hundred yards from the ferry, James built his
family a new home. The house was of log construction with an open hallway
through the middle, often called by early settlers a double pen log house
with a dog trot. There were two large rooms on the bottom floor with a
large hand shaped native iron ore rock fireplace in the end of each room.
In the hallway a stair case led to the second story which also had two
large rooms. In 1967 this house was still standing. In 1959 the states
of Louisiana and Texas formed the Sabine River Authority for the purpose
of building a large reservoir along the boundary of the two states for
flood control and power generation. By 1969 the Sabine River Authority
had completed the Toledo Bend Reservoir Project that resulted in parts of
both states being covered by the lake.
In late 1967, the old James Gaines House was
dismantled, parts numbered and moved from its original location because
the area was to be inundated by the reservoir. The intent at the time was
for the house to be reassembled and become a historical attraction. On a
location 2.2 miles southwest of the original location the disassembled
house was stored and covered with old sheet metal and tarps. Over a
period of years, because of lost interest in the restoration project, the
disassembled structure totally decayed and was lost.
The house built by James Gaines for his third
wife’s parents, the Edmund Norris’, referred to as the Gaines-Oliphint
House was an exact copy of the old Gaines house. It was built between
1815-1818 about 0.6 miles west of the ferry location and sits at 263 feet
elevation overlooking the Sabine River bottom. At this location the river
bottom was only 0.2 of a mile wide on the Texas side and 2.0 miles wide on
the Louisiana Side. The original road crossed at the ferry location and
continued west and passed about two hundred feet in front of the Gaines-Oliphint
House, then continues southwest, crossing Carrice Creek and on toward
Milam. The house has hand shaped native iron ore rock fireplaces in both
end of the house. The original fireplace in the east end of the house is
still standing in good condition. The west end fireplace was taken down
many years ago because it began leaning away from the house and was
unsafe. After a twenty year effort to save the house, the front porch and
its roof and the back porch were taken off because of decay and the threat
of loosing the main structure. The unattached kitchen was moved back away
from the main structure. A new sheet metal roof was placed on the main
structure and over the porch locations which has kept the house in good
condition. The beginning configuration of the kitchen is unknown but was
probably entered through the door opening in the northeast corner and to
the left of the fireplace.
Another very interesting and historical object
on the property is an ancient white oak tree (Quercus alba) that is
located about forty eight feet south of the southwest corner of the
house. The original road passed about one hundred fifty feet south of the
tree or two hundred feet from the house. The tree was at one time about
fifty five inches in diameter. The ravages of time have rotted away most
of the main trunk and only a partial shell remains. Several years ago the
tree was blown down by a storm and now lies on the ground, but several
very healthy limbs turned skyward and continue to grow today. Legend has
it that while James was serving as sheriff and judge (alcalde) in the
Pendelton settlement several hangings took place under this tree. During
the early years of the settlement the shade of this tree is said to have
provided a meeting place to discuss local issues involving the
pre-republic, the Republic of Texas and statehood. The tree is estimated
to be at least three hundred twenty five years old. Two other features on
the grounds are a small double pen log barn that is in bad repair and of
unknown age, and a cistern for the collection and storage of rain water.
In 1840 the house and sixty one acres of land
were sold to Wilford R. Oliphint, but apparently the bargain seems to have
fallen through. On 17 Feb 1843 James did sell the property to Martha A.
Oliphint. Several of the owners cannot be traced because of a court house
fire in 1875 that destroyed most Sabine County records. In 1975-1976 the
house was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. After an
effort made over several years, finally in June of 1984 the house and two
acres of land were donated by Mrs. Tom Foster of Center, Texas for the
purpose of historical restoration. Several groups have tried to raise
funds for restoration, and in 1999 this project was taken over by the
James Frederick Gomer Chapter of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas.
Several fund raisers have been held since 1999.
Researched and Written by:
Weldon McDaniel
P. O. Box 174
Hemphill, TX 75948
E-mail
mcdaniel@sabinenet.com
The James Frederick Gomer Chapter of the DRT
is requesting contributions for the restoration of this historic house.
For more information contact:
James Frederick Gomer Chapter of the DRT
Nina Gooch-President
RT. 4, Box 122
Hemphill, TX 75948
Bibliography
Gaines-Oliphint House
Sabine County, Texas
A Compilation of
Gaines Family Data by Calvin E.
Sutherd Copyright 1969 rev. 1972 Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Cemeteries of Sabine
County, Texas-With Expanded Burial Index (1840-2004)
by Weldon McDaniel Copyright 2004 Charcoal Hill Publishing Hemphill,
Texas
Citizen Soldiers of
Sabine County, Texas (1812-1991)
by Robert Cecil McDaniel Copyright 1992 Texian Press Waco, Texas
The First Settlers of
Sabine County, Texas by
Gifford White Copyright 1983 Ericson Books Nacogdoches, Texas
The Handbook of Texas
Online Copyright 2002 The
Texas Historical Association
Historic Nacogdoches,
Texas by R. B. Blake Copyright
1939 The Redland Herald Nacogdoches, Texas
History and Tax
Records of The Sabine District and Sabine County, Texas by The James Frederick Gomer Chapter of The Daughters of the Republic
of Texas
Inventory of the
County Archives of Texas by The Historical Records Survey-Division of Professional and Service
Projects-Works Progress Administration June 1939 San Antonio, Texas
Lone Star-A History
of Texas and the Texans by T.
R. Fehrenbach Copyright 1968, 2002 Da Capo Press
Long Star Nation
by H. W. Brands Copyright 2004 Doubleday New York, New York
The Men Who Made
Texas Free By Sam Houston Dixon
Copyright 1924 Texas Historical Publishing Company Houston, Texas
“Mt. Gaines: 135 Years
of Mother Lode Mining” January-February 1985 by Carl Briggs, The
Californian
National
Archives-Waterway Survey Records Washington, D. C.
Old Timers of Sabine
County, Texas by Virgie
Speights Copyright 1983 Ericson Books Nacogdoches, Texas
Romance and Tragedy
of Texas History by Sam Houston
Dixon Copyright 1924 Texas Historical Publishing Company Houston, Texas
Sabine County
Historical Sketches and Genealogical Records by Edna M. White and Blanche F. Toole Copyright 1972 LaBelle Printing
Company Beaumont, Texas
Sabine County,
Texas-The First One Hundred and Fifty Years (1836-1986)
by Robert Cecil McDaniel Copyright 1987 Texian Press Waco, Texas
1835 Sabine District
Census by Helen Gomer Schluter
Copyright 1983 Ericson Books Nacogdoches, Texas
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