A.C. Purvis House
San Benito, Cameron County, Texas
Marker Inscription
San Benito was a "paper" town with no Anglo-American residents when Albanus Clemens Purvis (1850-1919) came here from Ohio to seek health. He became first Justice of the Peace, sold real estate, and farmed. His daughter Kate (later Mrs. J. Scott Brown) taught first school in 1907; daughter Emma (later Mrs. Asa Agar) was an early Postmaster, in 1911. A former mill owner and a skilled craftsman, Purvis in 1911 built this house for himself, his wife Margaret Ann (householder), and the two youngest of their nine children. The property still remains in the ownership of a descendant. (1974)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
When Albanus Clemens Purvis came from Ohio to the Rio Grande Valley seeking better health, San Benito was little more than a town on paper with no Anglo-American residents. He became its first justice of the peace, sold real estate, and farmed, while his daughters taught the town's first school in 1907 and served as an early postmaster. In 1911 the former mill owner built this house, which has remained in his family's hands ever since.
Why it matters
The Purvis family's arrival shows how newcomers turned a surveyed 'paper town' into a functioning community, bringing the first school, mail service, and civic offices to the lower Rio Grande Valley.
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Related people
- · Albanus Clemens Purvis
Themes & tags
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