Davis-Ansley Log Cabin Home
Denison, Grayson County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Blacksmith Micajah C. Davis (1790-1860), one of the founders of Grayson County, erected this cabin about 1840 at Iron Ore Creek settlement near present Denison. The pioneer home was built of hand-hewn oak logs with a plank floor. Sold in 1870 to Josephus R. Ansley (1826-1873) and his wife Gilley (1826-1915), the cabin was later occupied by their son Will (1861-1952). Mr. and Mrs. John Summers purchased the structure in 1953 and donated it in 1972 to the Old Settlers Village. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1976
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Around 1840, blacksmith Micajah C. Davis (1790–1860), one of Grayson County's founders, raised this cabin of hand-hewn oak logs at the Iron Ore Creek settlement near present Denison. Passing to the Ansley family in 1870 and occupied by their descendants into the 1950s, the pioneer home was later donated to the Old Settlers Village to be preserved.
Why it matters
Hand-hewn log cabins like this one are the surviving fabric of Republic-era North Texas settlement, showing how the first families built shelter on a raw frontier.
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Related people
- · Micajah C. Davis
- · Josephus R. Ansley
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Jesse Elvis Hendricks Log Cabin
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Jesse Elvis Hendricks, a Missouri native, came to Grayson County as a boy in 1846 and built this log home during the Civil War years of 1863–64. What began as a single room with a loft grew as he and his wife Susan added rooms for their expanding family around 1870. Moved and restored in 1978, the cabin survives as a tangible piece of North Texas pioneer life.
Old Thompson Home
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Cold Springs Log Cabin School
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The Fitzgerald Home
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