Tyler-Bryan-Weems House
Brazoria County, Brazoria County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Tyler-Bryan-Weems House Ariadne O. Gautier (1834-1910) came from Florida to this part of Texas in 1841 with her parents. Her father, Dr. Peter Gautier, Jr., joined other Texans in turning back an invading Mexican army in 1842. In 1855, Ariadne married Clinton Lucretius Terry, with whom she had four children. Terry, serving with Terry's Texas Rangers, died in the Civil War at Shiloh in 1862. Six years later, Ariadne wed William Tyler. Again widowed, she purchased property at this site in 1871. Records indicate she built the original part of this house within the next two years. She married a third time, to Henry H. Swymmer, in 1875. Ariadne sold the property in 1897 to Frank Bowden Chilton (1845-1926), who had been a captain in Hood's Texas Brigade. In 1900, he gave the property to Mary Louise Chilton (1877-1973), his daughter by his third wife, Ann (Briscoe). The property formally transferred on the date of Mary's marriage to Austin Y. Bryan (1863-1930), grandson of Stephen F. Austin's sister, Emily Austin Bryan Perry. The Bryans sold the house in 1919 to West Columbia hardware and mercantile store owner Sands Smith Weems, Sr. (1873-1961) and his wife, Nan (Pickett) (1880-1964). The Weems family retained ownership of the house until 2000. The frame house was built in the Greek Revival style. Details include square posts with molded caps, as well as a balustrade on the second level. The house features an inset, two-tiered porch with five bays. The entries are accented by sidelights. The original structure was symmetrical and built on a rectangular plan. During their ownership, the Bryans built a two-story, ell-shaped addition to the back of the house, which serves as a model of 19th-century vernacular architecture. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2002
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
This Greek Revival frame house on the Brazoria County coast traces the long life of Ariadne Gautier, who came from Florida in 1841 and buried three husbands—one of them a Terry's Texas Ranger who died at Shiloh in 1862—before building the original house around 1872. It later passed to Frank Chilton, a captain in Hood's Texas Brigade, and then to Austin Bryan, grandnephew of Stephen F. Austin, whose family added a vernacular two-story wing. The Weems family held the home from 1919 until 2000.
Why it matters
The house layers the founding, Civil War, and settlement history of coastal Texas into a single Greek Revival home, its owners bound to Stephen F. Austin's colony and the Confederate armies alike.
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Related people
- · Ariadne O. Gautier
- · Clinton Lucretius Terry
- · Frank Bowden Chilton
- · Austin Y. Bryan
- · Sands Smith Weems, Sr.
Related events
- · Battle of Shiloh
Themes & tags
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