Lamar Moves to Richmond

Lamar Moves to Richmond. . Lamar acquired two town lots in Richmond in 1838, but his public service and extensive travels kept him from settling permanently. Following his marriage to Henrietta Maffitt in 1851, the couple toured the South, and a daughter, Loretto Evalina 'Lola', was born in Georgia in 1852., By early 1853, Lamar and his family had arrived in Richmond to establish a home. A Richmond newspaper reported, "...to himself and family our hospitable citizens are ready to extend a cordial welcome." During the home search he wrote to his wife: "Since we parted I have been going night and day in search of a home, and shall still persevere until I gain one... Kiss the little one.", In May, 1853, Lamar entered a joint farming agreement with Jane Long, whom he had known since his first trip to Texas in 1835. Lamar purchased a one-half interest in Long's 1,000-acre plantation and the two families farmed the property together throughout 1853. When Lamar's portion of the plantation was surveyed in 1854, a home and gin were already built near the river., Although the physical appearance of the home remains unknown, Lamar described it as a "comfortable dwelling house" with the "usual out-houses of the plantation.", The household included Lamar, his wife Henrietta, daughter Loretto, sister-in-law Eliza Maffitt Budd, a talented musician and singer, and her daughter, Carrie Budd., While Lamar was an ambassador in Central America, Dr. E.S. Alexander became the plantation's overseer, and in 1859 he married Eliza Budd. There were many visitors at the plantation, including Jose Agustin Quintero, a Cuban-born revolutionary, lawyer, journalist, and poet who assisted with translating Spanish-language documents relating to Texas history collected by Lamar throughout his life in Texas. Quintero wrote to his friend, poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, in 1855: "I am here in the country with my good old friend, General Mirabeau B. Lamar, many a mile away from the world."