William G. Hunt House
Lot 6, Block 3, Columbus
904 Travis Street

Original Owner: William G. Hunt  Date Lot Acquired: August 23, 1859 Date House Built: 1874 Contractor or Builder: unknown Construction and Layout: wooden, balloon-frame, two stories, simple appurtenances, small front porch, two large rooms downstairs with a central hall and curving stairway, two rooms upstairs, a one-story rear wing with a dining room and kitchen and long porch

Approximate Dimensions:  Front section 41 x 16; rear extension 27 x 17; 1800 square feet

Subsequent Owners: Nancy Ann Ijams (by inheritance and purchase in 1899); August and Maggie Ilse (by purchase in 1907), James N. and Phynetta Mahon (by purchase in 1925); Maggie Ilse (by gift in 1927); Harry P. and Edna A. Jones (by purchase in 1946); Lee G. and Emma Cassell (by purchase in 1948); Laura Ann Rau (by purchase in 1995); David R. and Mary Lynn Skinner (by purchase in 1997) 

Major Renovations: Interior bathrooms were installed, one upstairs and one downstairs, probably by the Ilses. The Ilses also likely installed electricity. The Cassells added a room to the south side of the home. Laura Ann Rau purchased the home, which was in poor condition, to save it from demolition. She never resided in the house. She hired Rudy Krupala, a carpenter from Engle, to remove the room that had been added by Cassell and to otherwise restore the home. She had both bathrooms removed and had new ones installed in different locations, one upstairs and one downstairs. She also added a half-bathroom downstairs.

William G. Hunt House, photographed in 1880s or 1890s. Hunt is the man standing on the steps.

Note: William G. Hunt was born in Virginia, September 3, 1813, and came to Texas in 1831. He joined the Texas revolutionary army, and participated in the capture of Bexar in early December 1835. In later years, he was regarded locally as a veteran of San Jacinto, but there is no independent evidence that he was. He married Mary F. Carter (c. 1822-1888) in Colorado County on March 4, 1842. He owned a large plantation and raised a fair amount of cotton, though he had only one or two slaves. At the outbreak of the Civil War, when he was in his late forties, he enlisted in a Confederate infantry company. Starting as a sergeant, he made lieutenant in 1862 and captain in 1863. He resigned his commission in late 1864. Though he had apparently planned to build a home in Columbus before the war, he seemingly did not do so until 1874. He died on November 6, 1898. Both he and his wife are buried at the Pleasant Grove Cemetery in western Colorado County.  

Note: Nancy Ann Ijams was the niece of William G. Hunt. He left the house to her, ignoring the heirs of his wife, who had died a decade earlier. When Mary Hunt’s heirs came forward, Ijams purchased whatever interest they had. 

Note: James N. and Phynetta Mahon were the parents of Maggie Ilse. She and her husband probably continued to reside in the house even after they sold it to her parents. James N. Mahon died in 1926; August Ilse in 1927. Two weeks after August Ilse died, Phynetta Mahon gave the house back to her daughter. She then began taking in boarders. 

Celebration of James N. and Phynetta Mahon's golden wedding anniversary, in the backyard of the William G. Hunt House, February 11, 1916.

Note: The Texas Historical Commission erected a marker at the house in 1973. The title of the marker is “Hunt-Cassell House.” The text reads “On land owned by Capt. William G. Hunt (1813-98), a Virginian who came here about 1831, fought in Texas War for Independence (1836), was a trader, fought in Civil War (1861-65), and was on the vestry of St. John’s Episcopal Church, to whom he gave the location for the first church building erected in 1872. Local newspapers records indicate Capt. Hunt built his home about 1872 and lived there until his death.” An addendum reads: “House purchased and completely restored by Laura Ann Rau 1995-96.” 

William G. Hunt House in 1995, on the eve of its restoration by Laura Ann Rau.

Major References: Colorado County Deed Records, Book K, p. 292, for purchase of lot by Hunt; Colorado Citizen, August 12, 1874 for construction date of house (“Capt. W. G. Hunt is putting up a new and substantial two-story building upon his block north of the railroad.”); Colorado County Abstract Company, “Abstract of Title to Original Lot No. 6 in Block No. 3, situated in the town of Columbus, Colorado County, Texas, for Mrs. Maggie Ilse” (Columbus, 1948); Colorado County Deed Records, Book 136, p. 77; Colorado County Official Records, Book 163, p. 164, Book 225, p. 644; Hunt Family File, Nesbitt Memorial Library, Columbus.