Smyth, Andrew, House

The Andrew Smyth House provides valuable insight into life on the frontier during the formative years of the state of Texas. Worth preserving as a fine example of "folk architecture," this "dog-trot" style log cabin serves as a reminder of a tradition perpetuated by frontiersmen. In the thick pine forests of East Texas, the log cabin was the ideal solution to housing needs. The functional design of the "dog-trot" reveals the harmony the people achieved with their physical environment.
In preserving this house, Captain Smyth's biography is recalled. Removing him from the role of an obscure, Texas river- man, it is possible to view his life as representative of a bygone era when riverboats served as a major means of transportation. Finally, this house warrants attention, because its history has been well documented. Some 1,500 pages of Smyth's papers survive, consisting of accounts, letters, and vouchers.

Born in 1817, Andrew Smyth was the son of a miller, who had finally settled in Moulton, Alabama after traveling from Penn- sylvania to North Carolina and then Tennessee. Schooled at
the academy until age eighteen, Andrew was prompted to go to Texas to visit his brother, George, who lived in East Texas at Bevil's Settlement. Andrew was further attracted by the political situation developing into the revolt against Mexico. George Smyth was an established citizen, having been appointed land commissioner at Nacogdoches in 1835. He was also named the first judge of the municipality of Bevil by the General Council of the provisional government. He was to represent the municipality at the Convention of 1836 and sign the Declaration of Independence. Later he would serve in other public offices; namely as Commissioner of the General Land Office and United States Congress- man from 1853-55. A marker now commemorates the George Smyth home built in 1836, ten miles southwest of Jasper.

Not long after Andrew reached his brother's house, news of the prisoners shot at Goliad, compelled him to join the Jasper Volunteer Company to participate in the revolution. He was elected First Lieutenant. The company was dispatched to Nacogdoches where they received word of the victory at San Jacinto.

Although brief, Andrew's military career provided him with an affinity for the new Republic of Texas. Rewarded for his service with 320 acres of land, Smyth searched for property in the municipality of Jasper which he now considered his home. Being a single male over seventeen who had been in Texas prior to the break with Mexico, made him eligible for an additional third of a league of public land. The proud owner of 1,796 acres would need to gather some resources to develop the land.

Smyth was intrigued with the idea of utilizing the Neches and Angelina rivers on the west and the Sabine River to the east as water routes to the Gulf of Mexico. He recognized the Jasper County farmers' need for reliable transport from field to buyers in Sabine Pass and Galveston. Andrew's river enterprise began with the construction of a flatboat from the timber on his Angelina river land. For one dollar a bale, he would transport cotton safely to Sabine Pass, and if the client wished, arrangements would be made for shipping it on to Galveston or New Orleans aboard a schooner.- An added profit was derived from the sale of the flatboat as lumber for construction in Sabine Pass. Andrew delivered the farmers' money upon his return to Jasper.

The business venture proved successful enough to permit Smyth a visit to Kentucky in 1844. He wished to propose to Emily Allen, a niece of his brother's wife with whom he had been corresponding. Married in midsummer, they then journeyed back to Texas. After constructing a temporary, one-room cabin, he resumed business, this time with an improved vessel, a keelboat named the Jasper. Transport was no longer limited to cotton. Observing the need for milled lumber, not only on the coast but in Jasper as well, Smyth began a new business. In 1847, a sawmill on Indian Creek was built to meet this need.

"The sawmill was situated a short distance up from the mouth of Indian Creek, in sight of the cabin. At the spot where Andrew built the mill, the creek rushed faster than usual, heading down an incline toward the Angelina. The origin of the saw's power was in this swift current.
Structurally the mill had a wooden frame and a shake roof, with a floor extending over the current of the creek. The focal point of the whole building was the wafer-like steel saw. In the current was a water wheel, which transmitted power from the creek to the saw through a series of invigorating axles and wheels; given life in this manner, the saw, could cut logs quickly and effectively into lumber."

Thus Andrew Smyth's new house was to be the first in the area constructed with milled lumber. The design he chose to build represented that of generations of builders before him. The dog-trot, log cabin style selected by Smyth, was an adaptable and utilitarian form that had been passed along to him growing up in North Carolina, Tennessee, and Alabama. It is not unusual that he perpetuated this style in constructing the protruding shed rooms on either end of the house as is common in North Carolina. The open passageway of the "dog-trot" funneled cooling breezes, alleviating the heat and humidity of subtropical summers. Another warm climate feature was the log kitchen built separately from the house. The Andrew Smyth house is representative of the East Texas log house complex, characterized by the following: a foundation composed of wooden pilings, pine logs, a cantilevered porch, shed room supports, and hooded chimneys.

Andrew Smyth became a steamboat captain in 1870 with the purchase of an old steamer named the Camargo. He continued with his business of transporting cargo. The only advantage over the keelboat was the steam engine which permitted him to return upriver. After a year of operation, Smyth and his investors secured a new steamer, the Laura.

"The Laura's first official voyage from Bevil- port commenced in January 1972. Cotton was shipped to Sabine Pass at two dollars per bale. As before, the captain was to arrange for its storage at the Pass and its delivery to Galveston or New Orleans. The Laura could carry six hundred bales at one time. Almost no limit was placed on the amount of merchandise that people could order from the coast for shipment aboard the Laura. She could carry 1,700 barrels and several hundred boxes and cases except when the cotton was unloaded. Comfortable cabin accommodations could be had for fifteen dollars and the trip to Sabine Pass took from eighteen to twenty- two days. Meals were prepared on board..."

Andrew Smyth died suddenly in 1879 while the Laura was docked in Beaumont. His widow, Emily was responsible for the salvation of his papers; mostly correspondence and account books. She continued to reside in the Andrew Smyth house until she died in 1907. A member of the family occupied the homeplace until the 1920s when tenants moved in. The furnishings were distributed among family members at this time.

William Seale, Jr., great-grandson to Andrew Smyth, has added to the documentation of the house with interviews of various family members who knew the farm before 1907. His biography of Captain Smyth, Texas Riverman, is further incentive to preserve an important remnant of Texas history.