Monthly Archives: June 2012

Pompeiian Villa

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I recently took a tour of the Pompeiian Villa in Port Arthur, Texas. I must say, it is a most interesting place to visit. The tour guide was informative and a joy to listen to. But the experience got me thinking about the history of the place and the players who made the elegant structure what it is.

 

The Pompeiian Villa is an authentic replica of a 79 A.D. Pompeiian home, built by Isaac Ellwood (the “Barbed Wire King”) in 1900. It was one of three structures planned to be built on the eight-acre stretch of lakefront property in Port Arthur. The second home was John Warner “Bet-a-Million” Gates’ 20-room Georgian Revival mansion, a pre-civil war “Gone with the Wind”-style home with a carriage house at the back. A third home was planned by an investor, Mr. James Hopkins (president of the Diamond Match Company, St. Louis, Missouri), but sadly Mr. Hopkins could not come up with an idea for a suitable structure so the land between the two aforementioned homes was never built upon.

After the Villa was completed, Mr. Ellwood lived there for a year but then sold it to Mr. Hopkins in 1901. Mr. Hopkins loved the house dearly. So much so that he sent for his wife in St. Louis to accompany him to this great abode to live during the winter months. Mrs. Hopkins took the train down from St. Louis, expecting to see paradise. After the train ride, she boarded a carriage and was taken to her new winter home. When she arrived, she saw the great Villa in all its glory—built in muddy marshlands next to a lake. She was not impressed. Without hesitation, she returned to the train station and travelled back to St. Louis without setting foot inside the Villa.

Mr. Hopkins never lived in the Villa but continued to own it for a further two years. During this time, he rented it out to a Mr. James Guffey, who was one of the financiers behind the successful second drilling attempt in the area, which we all know as Spindletop, or the Lucas Gusher. Mr. Guffey also constructed the first oil refinery in Port Arthur.

 

In 1903, Mr. Hopkins traded the Villa to Mr. George Craig in exchange for $10,000 worth of Texas Company stock, which represented 10 percent of the newly formed company. The Craig family lived in the Villa until 1946. During that time, the Craigs kept the Villa true to its original design and, aside from doing routine maintenance and painting, did not change a thing. The Craigs then sold it to Captain Arne Pederson , who occupied it for 19 years.

 

In 1965, the Villa’s future looked bleak. It had been on the market for twelve years, for five of which it had lain vacant, and there were no buyers. It had deteriorated much since its glory days and was even in danger of being torn down. Luckily, the demolition never happened thanks to the Port Arthur Historical Society’s purchase of the Villa for $25,000. Years of renovation followed, and the Villa was opened to the public in the early 70s.

As you tour the Villa, you notice that each room has a different theme. This adds to the rich history that Isaac Ellwood created so long ago in the marshlands of early Port Arthur. There are many pieces of art, relics, and furniture, which have been donated to the museum over the years. The Pompeiian Villa is the sole surviving beacon of Arthur Stilwell’s “Dream City,” and a definite treasure to our area.

For touring information see below:

1953 Lakeshore drive Port Arthur, Texas

Telephone # 409-983-5977

Hours: As of August 18, 2014, Pompeiian Villa hours will be Monday thru Friday 1pm – 5pm.

Please visit the Museum of the Gulf Coast’s website for special Saturday hours at the Villa

Group tours by reservation.

Admission: $2.00

 

There were Stalags in SETX?

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By 1943, the war and its effects had been felt by people throughout the world.  Here in Southeast Texas, our brave men and women were no exception. Without hesitation, they answered the call to duty on three levels, doing their part in both the Pacific and European theatres as well as on the manufacturing front. Sacrifice and conservation were given freely in support of the cause. Because of the need for wartime laborers, other sectors, such as the timber and agriculture industries, suffered.

At this same time, the number of  German and Italian prisoners of war was increasing, especially in North Africa.  The surrender of 150,000 prisoners from General Rommel’s AfrikaKorps resulted in their shipment to the United States where they remained incarcerated until the end of the war.

The Geneva Convention of 1929 required that prisoners of war be located in a similar climate to that in which they were captured. This made Texas the ideal place for the AfrikaKorps prisoners who had been captured in North Africa. In fact at the time, Texas had twice as many POW camps than any other state. In August 1943 there were 12 main camps, but by June 1944 there were 33. The need to house, feed, and care for these POW’s was massive, but Texas embraced the challenge.

In Southeast and East Texas, the arrival of (mostly German) POW’s couldn’t have come at a better time. Smaller camps were erected throughout the region to aid the timber and rice farmers. Three sites, the China Branch camp, the Tyrrell Park (Beaumont Camp), and in Orange County (off Womack Road) housed prisoners who worked on the rice farms under the Texas Extension Service, Texas Agriculture and Mechanical University.

Throughout the camps’ existence, there were escape attempts, especially those near the Mexican border, but for the most part the prisoners lived out their incarceration without incident in Southeast Texas.

I would like to thank the Jefferson County Historical Commission for educating me of this history. I had no idea there were stalag’s in Southeast Texas.

If you would like to find out more about, or become a member of the Jefferson County Historical Commission, click here:

   http://www.co.jefferson.tx.us/historical_commission/HISTCOMM.htm

Kate Magill Dorman

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Many interesting people have graced our Southeast Texas history, but few could ever match the fearlessness and sheer determination of a four-foot ten-inch Irishwoman named Kate Magill Dorman.

Kate arrived in Southeast Texas in the year 1851. Although most historians believe her to have lived in Sabine as early as 1847, census records in her home state of Georgia show both Kate and her husband, Arthur Magill, were still living there as late as 1850.

In 1852, Kate and her husband built the Catfish hotel. It was a two-story dwelling located about three hundred yards from Fort Griffin. The hotel housed around two dozen permanent residents, along with the standard passing trade comprising merchants and seamen.

The hotel had a wharf where steamers would dock regularly to indulge in the fare at the Catfish hotel’s well-known and popular eatery. During the civil war, one patron, a certain William Berry Duncan (Confederate Officer, Liberty County Sheriff, and cattleman) wrote that he made frequent visits to the hotel, sometimes leaving his post at Grigsby’s Bluff, to dine and enjoy what he called “some tolerable good music.”

On November 2, 1859 tragedy struck. Arthur Magill, by then the chief engineer on the T.J. Smith, a Neches River mail packet, was killed when its boiler exploded. This left Kate alone to care for their two young daughters. Kate would later sue the Captain H.C. Smith, the owner of the T.J.Smith, for her deceased husband’s wages. This would be one of many legal confrontations between the two.

H.C. Smith wasn’t the only thorn in Kate’s side. One day a woman nicknamed “Dutch Margaret” entered the Catfish Hotel while Kate was serving meals. Dutch Margaret proceeded to vilify and yell obscenities at Kate in front of all the diners. Kate immediately retaliated with her own set of obscenities before resuming her duties. Unbeknownst to Kate, three of her friends met Dutch Margaret on the street, and caned her with a parasol(Umbrella).

Dutch Margaret filed a lawsuit on the grounds she had suffered a miscarriage from the caning. The plantiff’s attorney H.C. Pedigo, questioned the legality of a juror named Will J. Collins, and the claim that he had actually lived in Jefferson County. This resulted in the first survey of West Jefferson County line. The case was postponed until Mr. Collins’ legitimacy as a county resident was verified, but it was eventually thrown out. Dutch Margaret gave birth to a son three months later.

In 1860 Kate married a widowed friend of her deceased husband. His name was Captain John Dorman, and he was the master of the Neches River cotton steamer Doctor Massie.

In July of 1862, the yellow fever epidemic hit Sabine thanks to a vessel which ran the blockade put in place by the Federals. At least one thousand people deserted the area afraid of what was known as the “Yellow Jack”. The fever killed a hundred people in Sabine and Beaumont combined forty of which were Confederate soldiers.

With the tenants of the Catfish Hotel fleeing and nearly everyone else in Sabine escaping the dreaded disease, Kate stood strong. With no regard for her own health, Kate, along with her two friends, Sarah Vosburg and Sarah Ann King, made the hotel into a makeshift hospital to care for the sick and dying.

In October of the same year, 50 Federal troops came ashore in Sabine with a howitzer. They were on their way to burn the Confederate cavalry barracks. While marching through Sabine, they confiscated Capt. Dorman’s horse and cart in order to mount the howitzer on it.

While witnessing this, Kate’s Irish temper boiled. Again, without regard for the consequences, she began shaking her fist in the air and scolding the Federal invaders, telling them she hoped the Confederate boys would kill every last one of them before they got back and, if she had 25 men, she could take out Federals and their cannon herself.

After the Federals had burned down the Confederate barracks and stable, they marched through Sabine again, this time however, returning Capt. Dorman’s horse and cart with a word of warning, that if he did not keep his “damn wife’s mouth shut,” they would hang him. Futhermore, if she did not apologize to them, they would burn the hotel. Kate declared she would see them in Hell first, and they could set fire to it if they so chose.

A week later, the Federals sent another patrol ashore. This time, they burned a quarter of the town, including a sawmill, and some residences, but left the Catfish Hotel untouched.

On September 8th, 1863, the Federals attempted another invasion of Sabine. The town and 47 Irish defenders station at Fort Griffin came under heavy shelling from the 18-gun armada. However, Kate and friend Sarah Vosburg, who had been preparing hot meals of meat, doughnuts, and coffee, braved the gunnery shells and loaded the same horse and cart that only a year before had been confiscated by the Federals and used against the Confederate troops. Kate and Sarah rode to the fort then unloaded their food, together with a gallon of whiskey to the Irish defenders.

Eventually, under the direction of  26 year-old Lt. Dick Dowling, the invasion was squashed courtesy of the cannoneers’ deadly accuracy. Three hundred prisoners were taken along with two gunboats. The casualties at Fort Griffin? Zero.

Not much is known about the feisty lady after her participation in the Battle of Sabine Pass. However, we do know that Kate and John Dorman lived out their lives in Sabine. The Captain died in 1886, three months before a major hurricane hit on October 12 and destroyed the whole town. Unsurprisingly, Kate survived the hurricane and lived until December 24, 1897. Both she and her captain are buried side by side in the Sabine Pass cemetery. A plaque was erected in her honor, at the head of her grave, acknowledging her part in our rich Southeast Texas history.