Whetstone-Lancaster House

Whetstone-Lancaster House. . The Republic of Texas granted Peter Whetstone land that included this homesite for his participation in the siege of Bexar in December 1835, during the Texas Revolution. Whetstone gave a portion of the property for a town square, courthouse, school and church for the county seat of Marshall. Whetstone was killed in an 1843 shooting during the Regulator-Moderator land disputes of Harrison and Shelby counties. After his death, his wife sold their home and sixteen acres to G.B. Adkins., In 1860 W.T. Smith, Secretary of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company, purchased the property and built a two-story house around an existing cabin built during Whetstone's ownership of the property. Dr. John Branch Lancaster, physician to Union and Confederate soldiers in Marshall during the Civil war, bought the home in 1872. Lancaster and his wife Lucy were the parents of sixteen children, some of whom did not survive to adulthood. Their son Cornelius became an architect who designed several surviving buildings in Marshall and was supervising architect of the 1901 Harrison County Courthouse. Dr. Lancaster died in 1886; Lucy remained in the, home until her death in 1920. The house was later divided into apartments for each of the single daughters who remained at home. The home remained with descendants of the Lancaster family until 1992., The Greek Revival style Whetstone-Lancaster house is a side-gabled frame residence built of cypress and brick. Four square pillars support a two-story portico that also shields double entry doors framed by transom and sidelights and a small balcony supported by decorative iron braces. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2009.