Behold! Oldest, Still Standing Victorian Home In Texas Owned By Nigerian-American

Posted on November 13, 2022

American Nigerian-born columnist, Dr Moshood Ademola Fayemiwo and his American wife, Dr Margie Neal-Fayemiwo, owners of the oldest private mansion in Texas, want the house listed in Historical Homes of America.

For long, historians, writers and authors have reported the oldest standing mansion in the state of Texas as pictured below. Right? Oops, Wrong! Known as the Seaquist House built by Rev. Thomas A. Broad as a Victorian house on Comanche Creek back in 1887, this house is still standing even though unoccupied. But it is historically untrue to describe this house as the oldest standing mansion in the Lone Star State. The historical truth is that the house at No 410 W. 4th Street, Cameron in Milam County, Texas (pictured above) known as John S. Henderson Sr House is the oldest standing mansion to date in Milam County and the state of Texas.

Built in 1875, the John S. Henderson Sr Home also known as the Henderson House is the oldest standing house/building in the Lone Star State. This beautiful historic home sits on 2.6+ acres in the center of Cameron, the county city of Milam County, Texas opposite the Cameron Police Department, and slightly adjacent Milam County Corrections Center. This snow-white color 147-year-old edifice referred to as “That Old Big White House” by neighbors and Cameron residents alike is the oldest building in the entire Milam County, older than the Milam County Courthouse located at 100 South Fannin Avenue, built in 1890-1892 and also older than the Milam County Jailhouse, now known as the Milam County Museum, located at 112 W. 1st Street, which was built in 1895. Also known as “The Henderson Home,” it is the oldest private residence/home in Milam County followed by the Magnolia House located at 502 N. Travis Avenue built ten years later in 1885. It is also the oldest still standing house in the Texas state.

Here is the chronological history of the oldest private houses and public buildings in Milam County. According to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places and Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, five public disclosed locations of National Register properties and districts were listed. There are one district and four individual properties listed on the National Register in the county. Three individually listed properties are Recorded Texas Historic Landmarks while an additional property is a State Antiquities Landmark that includes two Recorded Texas Historic Landmarks. They are as follows: –

No 1

The Dr. Nathan and Lula Cass House, also known as the Magnolia House, is a historic octagon house located at 502 N. Travis Avenue in Cameron, Texas. On February 8, 1991, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. Built in 1885, it is now the Magnolia Cass House.

No 2

The Milam County Courthouse and Jail are two separate historic county governmental buildings located diagonally opposite each other in Cameron, Milam County, Texas. The Milam County Courthouse, located at 100 South Fannin Avenue, was built in 1890–1892, while the Milam County Jail, now known as the Milam County Museum, was built in 1895.

The Milam Courthouse and Milam County Museum which were built in 1890 and 1895 respectively after the Anderson House was built nearly 20 years later had been recognised as historical monuments. On 20th December 1977, they were added to the National Register of Historic Places as a single entry.

No 3

The International & Great Northern Railroad Passenger Depot, located at 11 N. Main St. Rockdale was built in 1905 and it was listed in Texas Historic Landmark on September 13, 2006.

No 4

The R.F. and Minta Pool House located at 901 East 8th Street in Cameron was built in 1902 and listed in Texas Historic Landmark on July 11, 2014.

No 5

The San Xavier Mission Complex Archeological District located in a restricted address at Rockdale was listed on 27th July 1973. There is a swirl of scuttlebutts surrounding the San Xavier Mission Archeological area from those that had ventured to the wooded forest around San Gabriel of sporting ghosts and grotesque looking creatures alleged to be demons to the presence of a coven where those dare-devil human beings that want to be initiated into witchcrafts can meet with the Devil. These were tales told by early settlers in the Old Milam County which necessitated authorities to ban people from entering the wooded forests, including taking pictures. Nevertheless, the restricted forest has been designated as a historical place and the Lone Star has recognised it as Historical Landmark.

Ignorance, historical oversight, injustice or what?

“History is not history”, President Abraham Lincoln once said, “unless it is the truth”. And the historical truth must be the real truth that future generations can rely on devoid of flagrant inexactitudes. While hagiographies are prone to errors in most cases, monuments and actualities are supposed to be accurate, because they speak for themselves. A cursory look at the lists of historic houses, homes and monuments listed in Texas Historical Records for Milam County shows glaring errors in omitting a highly significant and pivotal landmark in history which cannot be forgiven. Of all the houses, homes and historic places and monuments listed above, the “mother of them all,” is missing. if the true and factual history of Cameron, Milam County, or Texas and indeed, the United States of America are to be chronicled. The James S. Henderson Home centrally located at the aorta of Cameron should be on Number One Spot without argument. It is the oldest building, both residential and commercial located at 401 W. 4th Street, Cameron Texas which we now want listed in Texas Historic Landmark.

Here is the true history of Texas Historical Landmark as it should be for today’s and future generations: –

No 1: The John B. Anderson Sr Home at 410 W. 4th Street, Cameron, TX Built 1875.

No 2: The Magnolia House at 502 N. Travis Avenue in Cameron, Texas Built in 1885.

No 3: The Milam County Courthouse, located at 100 South Fannin Avenue, Cameron TX Built in 1892.

No 4: The Milam County Museum located at 201 E. Main Street, Cameron TX Built in 1895.

No 5: The R.F. and Minta Pool House located at 901 East 8th Street, Cameron TX Built in 1902.

No 6: The International & Great Northern Railroad Passenger Depot: Located at 11 N. Main St. Rockdale, TX Built in 1905.

No 7: The San Xavier Mission Complex Archeological District located on FM 908 eight miles west of Rockdale, TX allegedly built in 1747 (?).

Historical background

On 21st April 1836, the Army of the Republic of Texas defeated the entire Mexican Army in 18 minutes at the Battle of San Jacinta. This led to the signing of the Treaty of Velasco on 14th May 1836, which effectively ended the Texas Revolution. Following the ratification of the Constitution of the Republic of Texas on 5th September 1836, 23 municipalities of the defunct Mexican nation represented at the 1836 Convention were designated as Counties. According to Seymour Connor, “The Constitution did not state specifically that existing municipalities were automatically to become counties, but it did say that the Republic was to be divided into convenient counties, and it provided that all laws then in force in Texas, and not inconsistent with the Constitution, would remain in force until declared void, repealed, altered, or expired”. One of the original 23 municipalities later known as counties was Milam County.

The original land areas known as Milam County encompassed nearly 20,000 square miles which stretched from Bexar to Nacogdoches in the south to about 200 miles in the northwest near the Brazos River Valley. In other words, 30 Counties of today could fit into the original Milam County of 1836 or as historian Malcolm McLean pointed out: “When the Constitution of the Republic of Texas was adopted on 17th March 1836, the area which had been known successively as the Nashville Colony, the Upper Colony, Robertson’s Colony, the Municipality of Viesca, and the Municipality of Milam came into the Republic as the County of Milam.” On 29th December 1845, the Republic of Texas ceased to exist, and the State of Texas was admitted into the Union as the 28th state of the United States of America. Today, however, Milam County is only 1,021 square miles. Following the creation of the Lone Star State as part of the Union during the administration, many adventurous men and women began to arrive in Milam County for opportunities. One of the young men that came to Milam County was John B. Anderson Sr who built the first house in 1875 which later became known as The John B. Anderson Sr Home at Number 410 W. 4th Street. That house is now owned by Dr Moshood Ademola Fayemiwo and his wife, Dr Margie Neal-Fayemiwo. They bought it in September 2015.

The oldest house in Texas State then and now (1875 — 2022)

The Cameron mansion which later became known as John B. Henderson Sr Home was built in 1875 by Mr. John Burns Anderson Sr (1819-1900). This 147-year-old house, now owned by Dr Moshood Ademola Fayemiwo and his wife Dr Margie Neal-Fayemiwo, both US citizens, still stands and thus is historically the oldest southern colonial home in Cameron and it is not one of the oldest houses, but the oldest house in the entire state of Texas, period! This 147-year-old beautiful historic home on 2.69 acres of 4,814 square feet near the center of town has coffered ceilings with tin inserts, wainscoting in the dining room and entry, beautiful stained-glass windows in nearly every room, and eight fireplaces. There are three living areas, formal dining, downstairs and upstairs master or guest bedroom. Great bed and breakfast potential. Very large trees. 20 parking spaces, private pool. Everyone has privacy in this home. Nice traffic flow with central hallways. Large airy rooms with large floor to ceiling windows. Outside space has room for many activities and/or large gardens. In the center of town with easy access to cities of Temple, Waco, and the capital Austin.

Mr Thomas Stalworth Henderson Sr built the first and still standing mansion in Texas State in 1875. Before he died in 1900 in Cameron, Texas, he wrote in his will that he should be taken back to his birthplace of Abbeville County, South Carolina.
Thomas Stalworth Henderson Jr’s father, John. Henderson Sr (his tomb pictured above) built the first and still standing house and building in Cameron Texas State today in 1875. He was buried at Oak Hill Cemetery, Cameron, Milam County, TX. His parents were: Thomas Stalworth Henderson Sr and Harriet Red Henderson. His children: Harriet Ada Henderson, Agnes Red Henderson, John Burns Henderson, Mary Lake Henderson, Thomas Stalworth Henderson, and Eleanor Henderson.