Pennybacker-Campbell-Wommack House
Palestine, Anderson County, Texas
Marker Inscription
"Silk Stocking Row" Victorian residence built in 1890. Noted as family home of Mrs. Percy V. Pennybacker (1861-1938), teacher, author of widely-used school history of Texas, first Texan President General Federation Women's Clubs. Purchased 1900 by Thomas M. Campbell (1856 - 1923), famous lawyer, banker, Governor of Texas in 1907-11. Enlarged by Gov. Campbell, house is now property of great-grandson, Drew Wommack, Jr. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1969
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Built in 1890 on Palestine's fashionable "Silk Stocking Row," this Victorian residence was home to Anna Pennybacker, a teacher and author whose school history of Texas shaped generations of students and who became the first Texan to lead the General Federation of Women's Clubs. In 1900 it passed to Thomas M. Campbell — lawyer, banker, and governor of Texas from 1907 to 1911 — who enlarged the house. It remained in his family for generations afterward.
Why it matters
Under one roof the house links a pioneering woman of letters and civic leadership with a Progressive-era governor, two threads of the Texas public life at the turn of the century.
The story behind this marker
AI contextThe era
Palestine, the seat of Anderson County in East Texas, grew into a railroad town in the late nineteenth century, and with the railroad came money, professional families, and fine houses. Streets where the well-to-do built their homes were often called "Silk Stocking Row," a teasing nickname for neighborhoods where people could afford silk instead of cotton.
This house was built in 1890 on just such a street, in the Victorian style that was then the height of fashion across America. It was a moment of rapid change: the frontier era was ending in Texas, towns were building schools and libraries, and a new generation of reformers, many of them women, was beginning to reshape public life.
By the early 1900s that reform energy had a name, Progressivism, and it reached all the way to the governor's office in Austin. Remarkably, both sides of that story, the women's civic movement and Progressive politics, passed through this single house.
People & events
The first notable resident was Anna Pennybacker, known in her day by the formal title Mrs. Percy V. Pennybacker. She was a teacher and the author of a school history of Texas that was used widely in classrooms, so for many young Texans her book was the story of their state. That alone would have made her name.
But she went further. Pennybacker became a leader in the women's club movement, which at the turn of the century was one of the main ways American women organized for education, libraries, public health, and civic reform. She rose to become president of the General Federation of Women's Clubs, the first Texan to hold that national office.
In 1900 the house was bought by Thomas M. Campbell, a lawyer and banker who went on to serve as governor of Texas from 1907 to 1911. Campbell enlarged the home, and it stayed in his family; at the time of the 1969 marker it belonged to his great-grandson, Drew Wommack, Jr. That is why the house carries three family names: Pennybacker, Campbell, and Wommack.
Its place in the American story
Around 1900, women's clubs across the United States built a national network that pushed for libraries, schools, better public health, and, increasingly, a stronger voice for women in public life. Anna Pennybacker's leadership placed a Texan at the head of that movement. Her story is a reminder that women were shaping American politics and education decades before they could vote nationally.
Thomas Campbell's governorship belongs to the Progressive Era, when reformers in many states tried to rein in powerful corporations and make government more responsive to ordinary people. Texas took part in that wave, and Campbell's years in office are generally associated with that reform-minded spirit.
Put the two together and this house becomes a small portrait of turn-of-the-century America: a teacher and author building a national women's movement, and a lawyer-turned-governor carrying reform politics into the statehouse, one after the other, under the same roof.
If you visit
Look for the classic signs of late Victorian design on the exterior: the shape of the roofline, porches, and decorative trim that fashionable families favored in the 1890s. Keep in mind that Governor Campbell enlarged the house, so part of what you see reflects his era as well as the original 1890 design.
This is a historic home with a long history of private family ownership, so plan to admire it from the street unless you know otherwise. Be respectful of the property and its occupants.
Palestine makes a good base for exploring East Texas history. Stroll the surrounding streets to get a feel for the old "Silk Stocking Row" neighborhood, and imagine the town in the railroad era, when a schoolbook author and a future governor could both call this block home.
Written by AI to add context, grounded in the marker’s inscription and the historical record. The inscription above is the original, unaltered text.
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Related people
- · Anna Pennybacker
- · Thomas M. Campbell
Themes & tags
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