Major John Dean House
Tyler, Smith County, Texas
Marker Inscription
On land bought Jan. 22, 1863, by Frances Clarenda Rice Dean (1836-76) with Confederate pay sent home from Civil War post by husband, Major John Dean (1831-1902). Using Louisiana heart pine lumber that he himself milled and seasoned, Dean had house built in 1872. An ex-slave, Jesse Duckinfield, made and burned brick of farm clay. Finest in the community when finished, the house remains in builder's family a century later. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1972
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Major John Dean's family bought this East Texas land in 1863 with pay he sent home while serving the Confederacy, and after the war he built a home worthy of it. Using heart-pine lumber he milled and seasoned himself, and brick fired from farm clay by a formerly enslaved man named Jesse Duckinfield, Dean raised the finest house in the community in 1872. Generations of his family have kept it since.
Why it matters
The house ties together the aftermath of the Civil War and the labor of the newly freed, a quiet record of how Reconstruction-era Texas homes were built and by whom.
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Related people
- · Major John Dean
- · Frances Clarenda Rice Dean
- · Jesse Duckinfield
Themes & tags
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