Pivoto-Robinson House
Nome, Jefferson County, Texas
Marker Inscription
A pioneer area cattleman of the 1830s, Joseph Pivoto (1811-76) wed Seraphine Anna (Dubois) (1797-1901) of Louisiana and brought her here in 1848. Their family residence was constructed soon after using native cypress and materials manufactured on the site. Because of the Pivotos' hospitality, the house was a popular place for travelers and for social functions. Later the home of granddaughter Lula Eursule (Pivoto) Robinson, it is still owned by Pivoto descendants. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1981
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Joseph Pivoto, a pioneer cattleman active in the 1830s, married Louisiana-born Seraphine Anna Dubois and brought her to this part of Jefferson County in 1848. The couple built their residence soon after from native cypress and materials made on the site, and their hospitality made it a favored stop for travelers and a hub for social gatherings. Later home to their granddaughter Lula Eursule Pivoto Robinson, the house remains in the family's hands.
Why it matters
Surviving Republic-of-Texas-era homes like the Pivoto-Robinson House are rare tangible links to the earliest Anglo and Creole settlers who ranched and built along the Gulf coast frontier.
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Related people
- · Joseph Pivoto
- · Seraphine Anna Dubois
- · Lula Eursule Pivoto Robinson
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Pivoto-Robinson Cemetery
Nome, TX
Joseph Pivoto came to Texas in the 1830s and worked as a rancher, moving his family to this part of Jefferson County in 1848 and building a home nearby. This small family burial ground began with his death in 1876 and holds Pivoto and Robinson family members and friends, along with some believed unmarked graves. Descendants of Joseph Pivoto still own and maintain the cemetery and have restored the family home.
Spell Cemetery
Beaumont, TX
Set aside by the Marble family in the early 1870s, this small graveyard holds burials reaching back to the Civil War years, beginning with Martha Marble. The land passed to a daughter and son-in-law whose family name it still carries, and later generations formally recorded it as a cemetery in county deeds. Descendants organized an association to tend the historic ground.
James Taylor White
Anahuac, TX
A veteran of the War of 1812, James Taylor White drove cattle from Louisiana into the Texas coastal prairies in 1828 and built one of southeast Texas's greatest Longhorn herds. On his ranch in 1832 colonists drafted the Turtle Bayou Resolutions, an early protest against Mexican rule, and during the Revolution he sheltered fleeing settlers and supplied beef to the Texas army. His postwar cattle drives to New Orleans, over the Opelousas Trail, foreshadowed the great trail-driving era to come.
Prater Cemetery
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Prater Cemetery grew from a family burial ground that Edwin Prater formalized in 1894, buying a half-acre from his daughter and son-in-law to serve his descendants 'forever'—though travelers who died passing through had already been laid to rest there, and his infant granddaughter Seawillow Ballard was buried in 1888. Used chiefly by the Prater, Collier, Ballard, and Odom families, it holds Confederate veterans among its graves, including a ferry operator on the Neches River. Overgrown and nearly forgotten, it was rediscovered in 1968 and cleaned up by a Beaumont Boy Scout troop in 1976.