Chris's Genealogy Journey: May 30th Jefferson, Texas

One of the many beautiful homes in Jefferson, Texas

Jefferson, founded in 1841, is one of those towns that was once a regional economic center that was bypassed when the railroad came and did not continue to thrive. Some such towns fade away but Jefferson hung on and today is a well-preserved historic town with both its homes and commercial district intact. The downtown is easily walkable and most of the historic buildings have adapted new uses. For example the impressive brick building that original served as the Marion County Courthouse and post office now houses the History Museum. It was constructed in 1906 and continued to serve as the courthouse until 1964. The building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1969.

Courthouse & Post Office now houses the museum

Their Andrew Carnegie Library is still a library and has been beautifully rehabilitated and modernized. When I was in the museum, the docent pointed out one of their displays – a dress that Lady Bird Johnson had worn for a White House event. They had the dress and photos of the event. When I mentioned that Lady Bird’s grandmother had been a Pattillo, she told me about the Pattillo Home in Marshall, where I’d spent the night before. It too is on the historic register. The library was open so I ventured inside and asked the librarian if they might have a book with a photo of the Pattillo house. She thought for a moment, then went to the Steven E. Austin State University website and found several photos and a write up about the home. Handing me a note with the web address I headed out happily.

For anyone who does not already know this story, Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919) made his money in the railroad and steel industries. When he retired in 1890 his shares were worth $250 million. In that same year, “he published a booklet called The Gospel of Wealth, in which he expounded his theory that it was sinful for rich people to not distribute their monetary abundance for humanitarian causes during their lifetime. And so with this philosophy he began making money available for public libraries.” The City of Oakland was the recipient of several Carnegie grants, and Texas received 34 Carnegie libraries.
One of the interesting landmarks in the town is the original custom train car built in 1881 that had been owned by Jay Gould, financier and owner of numerous railroad companies including the Union Pacific and the Texas Pacific. In the 1930’s the “Atalanta”, as the car was known, was brought to Texas from St. Louis and was used as a family home by Gould descendants. It was purchased by the local garden club and brought to Jefferson in 1954.