So for those of you who do not know, we started calling the house "The Big House" so (at the time) 2 year old Merka could differentiate it from Grams' house, Granny's House, or Uncle David and Uncle Brads, etc... It isn't nearly as sophisticated as "The Autrey-Williams House", or "717 North", but even the most distinguished often have nicknames, Winston Churchill being called "Winnie the British Bulldog" in introduction at a state affair would have been rather interesting right?
We just returned from a week in Newton, which was a lot of fun - it was our first week working remotely from the home, and it actually went well, big red has a great 3G data network, even in Newton... we visited with a lot of people, went swimming in Cow Creek at Ms. Nancy's camp, Had Misty's Broccoli Cheese soup and my Mom's Chicken Fried Steak... it was a good week.
While we were able to finish repairing the baseboards in the dining room and get it painted, and get all the white paint off the woodwork in the master bedroom (which is a huge feat for such a small time period, thank you peel away 7), the most exciting work was in researching the house.
More developments with learning and documenting more about the history of the house... I visited with Mrs. Sartain, who shared a much clearer copy of the 1913 Newspaper picture of the house, and took it to the Newton County Historical Commission for a copy to be archived. In the clearer copy you can see detail of the columns (whose Capitals I can now confidently say are original) and of what appears to be a carriage house and possibly summer kitchen to the rear of the house, which are no longer there. It's always a pleasure to visit the NCHC, and to visit with Mrs. Fortenberry, Pam Wright, Kathy Knighton, Mr. Collins, and whoever may be in that day... it is one of the benefits of a small town where everyones lives are intertwined... While touring the museum I saw a painting donated by the Hilliards I hadn't noticed before, when the "Big House" was painted yellow during their ownership:
When I returned Mrs. Sartain's paper after making copies, she was having a snack in the kitchen, which faces the Autrey-Williams house, and asked about the plants she's seen us watering so much... it is always a pleasure to visit with her.
That night we explored the attic a bit further, which included fashioning a "grabber" out of a telescoping pole and some duct tape (of course) to extend down into the 25' hole in the attic beside the chimneys... we grabbed some awesome 1984 certificate of appreciation, and a sears catalogue circa 1990, then decided to explore other areas... In the peak attic, wedged behind the chimney I found a stack of 1930s women's underwear, I think maybe the first elasticized girlde ever made, and a coke bottle lid from maybe the 50s... Not the greatest luck, but the ancient underwear was kinda interesting.
The 4th of July, we of course had to visit an old friend at the fireworks stand... don't let anyone ever tell you that fireworks are like burning money, fireworks are much prettier and make more noise! During one fireworks finale, the box tipped over resulting in "flaming balls" shooting past the crowd and an amazing display behind everyone watching, the most "amazing display" was the running and screaming of about 20 people, Jan's hair smelled like burnt feathers even after a few washings... I think she had a close encounter with one of those "flaming balls"... Plus poor Bailey, who was already a bit skittish, may never again want to be within 20 feet of anything with a fuse.
Since returning to Austin I have made contact with McCree construction, which is a family owned construction/architecture firm in Orlando, started by WA McCree, who rebuilt the house in 1912/1913 after the first home burned shortly after completion in 1912... I have found zero documentation of the fire, or of the house being rebuilt, but oral history says it happened. The McCree family was able to confirm at least that oral history says that WA McCree did rebuild the home. WA McCree did live in Newton for two years (where he also built a home for his family), and was the construction superintendent for the Western Naval Stores. This is all documented in a book on family history written by WA McCree Jr:
I was also able to speak with a Grandson of LM Autrey, who told me the reason his Grandfather left Newton was the sale of the Turpentine Company. He moved to Orlando to retire, became mayor, and after the depression moved to GA. He also told me that his Grandfather owned the first Cadillac in Newton County, and will send me some pictures he has, which of course I will share when they are received.
Discovering and documenting history is a very slow process, sometimes frustrating, sometimes elating... but this week has produced some awesome prospects, and lead to great conversations, half the fun is in the journey...
We just returned from a week in Newton, which was a lot of fun - it was our first week working remotely from the home, and it actually went well, big red has a great 3G data network, even in Newton... we visited with a lot of people, went swimming in Cow Creek at Ms. Nancy's camp, Had Misty's Broccoli Cheese soup and my Mom's Chicken Fried Steak... it was a good week.
While we were able to finish repairing the baseboards in the dining room and get it painted, and get all the white paint off the woodwork in the master bedroom (which is a huge feat for such a small time period, thank you peel away 7), the most exciting work was in researching the house.
More developments with learning and documenting more about the history of the house... I visited with Mrs. Sartain, who shared a much clearer copy of the 1913 Newspaper picture of the house, and took it to the Newton County Historical Commission for a copy to be archived. In the clearer copy you can see detail of the columns (whose Capitals I can now confidently say are original) and of what appears to be a carriage house and possibly summer kitchen to the rear of the house, which are no longer there. It's always a pleasure to visit the NCHC, and to visit with Mrs. Fortenberry, Pam Wright, Kathy Knighton, Mr. Collins, and whoever may be in that day... it is one of the benefits of a small town where everyones lives are intertwined... While touring the museum I saw a painting donated by the Hilliards I hadn't noticed before, when the "Big House" was painted yellow during their ownership:
When I returned Mrs. Sartain's paper after making copies, she was having a snack in the kitchen, which faces the Autrey-Williams house, and asked about the plants she's seen us watering so much... it is always a pleasure to visit with her.
That night we explored the attic a bit further, which included fashioning a "grabber" out of a telescoping pole and some duct tape (of course) to extend down into the 25' hole in the attic beside the chimneys... we grabbed some awesome 1984 certificate of appreciation, and a sears catalogue circa 1990, then decided to explore other areas... In the peak attic, wedged behind the chimney I found a stack of 1930s women's underwear, I think maybe the first elasticized girlde ever made, and a coke bottle lid from maybe the 50s... Not the greatest luck, but the ancient underwear was kinda interesting.
The 4th of July, we of course had to visit an old friend at the fireworks stand... don't let anyone ever tell you that fireworks are like burning money, fireworks are much prettier and make more noise! During one fireworks finale, the box tipped over resulting in "flaming balls" shooting past the crowd and an amazing display behind everyone watching, the most "amazing display" was the running and screaming of about 20 people, Jan's hair smelled like burnt feathers even after a few washings... I think she had a close encounter with one of those "flaming balls"... Plus poor Bailey, who was already a bit skittish, may never again want to be within 20 feet of anything with a fuse.
Since returning to Austin I have made contact with McCree construction, which is a family owned construction/architecture firm in Orlando, started by WA McCree, who rebuilt the house in 1912/1913 after the first home burned shortly after completion in 1912... I have found zero documentation of the fire, or of the house being rebuilt, but oral history says it happened. The McCree family was able to confirm at least that oral history says that WA McCree did rebuild the home. WA McCree did live in Newton for two years (where he also built a home for his family), and was the construction superintendent for the Western Naval Stores. This is all documented in a book on family history written by WA McCree Jr:
I was also able to speak with a Grandson of LM Autrey, who told me the reason his Grandfather left Newton was the sale of the Turpentine Company. He moved to Orlando to retire, became mayor, and after the depression moved to GA. He also told me that his Grandfather owned the first Cadillac in Newton County, and will send me some pictures he has, which of course I will share when they are received.
Discovering and documenting history is a very slow process, sometimes frustrating, sometimes elating... but this week has produced some awesome prospects, and lead to great conversations, half the fun is in the journey...
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