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Thursday, September 3, 2020

Those Places Thursday: Dr. David Sayers' Home in Bastrop, Texas


Above:  [R. L. Perkins Home Photograph #1], photograph, December 25, 1962; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth480175/m1/1/: accessed August 30, 2020), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas Historical Commission.


This house - or a part of it - was the home of Dr. David Sayers shortly after he came to Bastrop, Texas, in December 1951.  The Hall-Sayers-Perkins house at 1307 Church was originally a single story "dogtrot" - two rooms separated by an open breezeway hallway in the middle.  In 1961, evidence of wide fireplaces at the ends of each room were uncovered in the foundation, according to the historical marker application and a 1976 newspaper article.  This part of the house may date back to 1830, according to another newspaper article in 1992, and might be associated with early settlers John Jackson Tumlinson Jr. (an early Texas Ranger and Texas Revolution soldier), and Elisha Marshall Pease (an official in the Texas Republic, later a legislator and the 5th and 13th Governor of Texas), who apparently arrived in Bastrop in 1835

Tax records showed that Pease owned the property at least 1847-49, followed by John D. Hogan in 1850-58.  Constant K. Hall (buried in the fenced-in area at Fairview Cemetery with David Sayers) was also paying taxes on the property beginning in 1852 and continuing through 1866.

In 1851, two rooms were added with an L-shaped gallery, and it evolved into the Greek Revival style, with a front door with a transom and sidelights.  The work was done by N. B. (Napoleon Bonaparte) Tanner for Hall, who paid him $1400 in full on January 3, 1852.  This was about the time Dr. David Sayers moved into it, apparently renting the home at first and then purchasing it at a sheriff's sale around 1870.  The flooring is apparently hand-pegged and grooved heart of pine with homemade nails.

Below is a segment of an 1887 "bird's-eye view" of Bastrop.  The house is on the right-hand side of the intersection of Diagonal (now Church) Street and an unnamed street (now Buttonwood).  Diagonally across the intersection was the Bastrop Academy (established January 1852, and marked with a 2 below it on the map), which in 1856 became the Bastrop Military Institute, where Dr. Sayers sent his oldest sons (from his first marriage), Joseph (its first graduate) and William.  The Institute closed during the Civil War, but reopened in 1867 as the Texas Military Institute.  In 1869-70, Dr. Sayers served as its surgeon, but the school was moved to Austin in June 1870 and operated there until 1879.


Above: Augustus Koch (1840–?). Bird’s Eye View of Bastrop Bastrop County Texas 1887, 1887. Lithograph, 16.6 x 22.9 in. Lithographer unknown. Bastrop County Historical Society.  From  http://www.birdseyeviews.org/zoom.php?city=Bastrop&year=1887&extra_info= and https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Old_map-Bastrop-1887.jpg


Just two-tenths of a mile south, near the corner of Church and Spring streets, is the Calvary Episcopal Church, where David Sayers was a vestryman, and he and wife Inda provided one of the stained glass windows.  One block east and one block south from there, another two-tenths of a mile, at 1003 Main, was Dr. Sayers' medical office.

Tax records show Dr. Sayers lived here until his death in 1886, and his widow Inda in 1887, the year of her death.  The same tax records show their youngest child, Sam Scott Sayers was assessed for the property taxes 1894-6 and 1901 (records for 1888-1893, 1897-1900, and 1902-on are not available online).

Dr. Nathaniel Green Fowler, a dentist, bought the house in 1906.  In 1910, a second story was added and the house was given a Victorian look.  Major Robert L. Perkins Jr. and his wife Catrine bought the house in 1959, and applied for a historical marker in 1964.  It was added to the list of Recorded Texas Historic Landmarks in 1965.  The house is also on the National Register as of December 1978 as part of the Bastrop Historic and Architectural Multiple Resource Area.  Today the house can be rented for guest stays (click that link for interior views).

All of the black-and-white photographs in this post were taken December 1, 1969, and are part of the Texas Historical Commission's Historic Resources Survey Collection.  Check the captions for the dates on the color photographs.



Above:  Texas Historical Commission. [Sayers-Perkins House, (Front elevation)], photograph, December 1, 1969; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth675102/m1/1/: accessed August 30, 2020), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas Historical Commission.

Below:  Texas Historical Commission. [Sayers-Perkins House, (Front elevation)], photograph, December 1, 1969; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth676476/m1/1/: accessed August 30, 2020), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas Historical Commission.






Below:  Texas Historical Commission. [Sayers-Perkins House, (Front elevation)], photograph, December 1, 1969; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth674636/m1/1/: accessed August 30, 2020), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas Historical Commission.



The view above is from the corner of Church and Buttonwood streets, looking southeast, and shows parts of the house added in 1851 (lower level) and 1910 (upper level, entire house).

The view below is looking northeast at the property from the front of the house next door, just south of it.  Note the bay window on the first floor - this was eventually removed (definitely by May 2014, when the color photo further above was taken) and the fireplace originally in this location was restored.


Above:  Texas Historical Commission. [Sayers-Perkins House, (Front oblique)], photograph, December 1, 1969; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth673237/m1/1/: accessed August 30, 2020), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas Historical Commission.

Below:  Texas Historical Commission. [Sayers-Perkins House, (Side elevation)], photograph, December 1, 1969; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth675287/m1/1/: accessed August 30, 2020), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas Historical Commission.




© Amanda Pape - 2020 - e-mail me!

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