Historic Leander farming home still standing after 134 years
Historic Leander farming home still standing after 134 years
Written by Karen R. Thompson Wednesday, 07 November 2007
In 1865, at the close of the Civil War, Robert B. (1819-1892) and Martha (1818-1892) Bryson traveled in wagons from North Carolina to Leander. The family included four children: Joseph (Joe), Mary (Polly), Rachel A. and John T. Bryson, a Confederate soldier. Family members John T. and Amelia Bryson arrived several years earlier and built a home and stagecoach stop in Liberty Hill.
Joseph Carson (Joe) Bryson was born June 5, 1848 in Henderson County, N.C., where the Brysons had lived since before the end of the American Revolution. The Brysons were farmers and moving westward for land, especially to Texas, was all the rage.
Nancy Martin Wells was born Nov. 18, 1853 in Bastrop to Martin Jones and Frances Peyton Wells. Nancy’s grandparents, Martin and Sally Wells, were pioneer settlers in Stephen F. Austin’s colony in Bastrop in the 1820s.
Joe Bryson and Nancy Wells married in Williamson County Dec. 2, 1869. Their first home was a log cabin, and their first child, Emma Cornelia Bryson, was born Nov. 18, 1870.
To provide for his growing family, in 1872 Joe hauled hewn cedar logs and shingles from Bastrop County to start construction on a new two-room home. Native stone was quarried from the nearby South San Gabriel River and Jenks Branch. Additions to the early Texas farm-style home were added through the years.
The Bryson’s land was indeed a true working farm. The current farm still has many 19th century barns, corn cribs, livestock pens, cisterns and wells.
The farm and historic home was sold about 1970 to a couple of Austin families that last month wrote to the Texas Historical Commission to gain permission to tear down the house, which has a Texas Historical Commission historical medallion.
Children of Joe and Nancy Bryson:
- Emma Cornelia Bryson 1870-1942 Married Will Pickle, no children.
- Robert Jones Bryson 1872-1974 Married Sallie McBride, had 3 sons
- Francis Nevada Bryson 1875-1876 Buried Bagdad Cemetery
- Ellie Rachel Bryson 1877-1979 Married Horace Starnes
- Henry Martin Bryson 1879-1965 Married Ella Craven
- Myrtle Inge Bryson 1882-1968 Married Davis 1st, Botts 2nd.
- Wm. Bill Bryson 1895-1969 Married Sallie McKamy, no children.
Of note: Pat Bryson was mayor of Leander from 1980 to 1990, and the municipal building is named in her honor.
Author's note: For information about the status of the request to tear down the house, call Texas Historical Commission director Larry Oaks at 463-6100.
Photos courtesy of Bobby Bryson
0 Comments 