Captain Speers was in the
Confederate Army; his farm was known as “Speers Grove”. The rock portion of his home was built before
the war by slave labor. One room was on
the ground, another was above. There was
a large fire place upstairs and down.
The approximate size of his home was about 20 x 30 with a 14 foot
ceiling. A dining room and a bedroom
above were built after the war. The
lumber was freighted from Henderson
by ox team. More was added of log
construction (colonial type house). The
slaves stayed after the war. Captain
Speers gave each slave 40 acres out of each corner of the farm. This land was later acquired by purchase to
T.B. White.
Thomas Bain White bought this land
in the late 19th century, probably 1895 or 1896. He tore away the log part of the house and
added a frame wing in the style of a Missouri
farm house. It extended south, forming an
“L” shape, with double verandas on the east and south and contained a bay
window, two large rooms and a hall on both floors. This house burned in ----.
Thomas Bain White was born October
29, 1853. He had come from Lewis County,
Missouri as a young man. His wife was
Annie L. Jones, a native of Tarrant
County, Texas, born
January 18, 1871 near Bransford. They
had two sons:
1)
John Ray White was born December 19, 1894 in Young County, Texas
and died July 4, 1986.
2)
Hugh Halsey White was born December 26, 1896 and died
September 24, 1992. He was married to
Lyda Smith.
Hugh was born at the home of John
B. White about 2 miles west and brought back home at the age of 7 days.
In their late years, Thomas B. and Annie
L. White lived in Keller, where Mr. White was interested in the First State
Bank. He died in 1930 and she in 1956. They are both buried in Bourland Cemetery.
A son and daughter-in-law, Mr. and
Mrs. J. Ray White live on the original Speers Grove, south of Keller.
John Ray, Hugh Halsey and Lyda
Smith White are also buried in Bourland
Cemetery.
