The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 93, July 1989 - April, 1990 Page: 31
598 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Colonel Edward M. House: The Texas Years
Hayes-Tilden crisis highlighted the importance both of party leaders
and of the rank and file, and it was a time when many fine orators oc-
cupied the American political stage." If anything, House may have
been awed by the demands and intricacies of a political career and
drawn to the glamor of life in Washington. His intimate view of na-
tional politics probably fed his own desire for fame, though he did not
know how he would achieve great eminence or fulfill the expectations
of his father. It would take years to define his role of intimate political
adviser and to accept the limits of it.
In the fall of 1879 T. W. House became seriously ill and House left
Cornell to help look after him. His father's death in January, 1880, was
a tremendous blow; years later House recalled that "his death left
me adrift." He decided not to return to Cornell; nor did he have any
taste for a sustained involvement in the family's business and financial
empire. House needed time to absorb his father's death, test various
possibilities, and decide on the path he would pursue. He sought de-
lay through a long, leisurely camping expedition deep into northwest
Texas. After his return he assumed the task of inspecting the family's
lands scattered throughout Texas and deciding which to sell and which
to hold. But he remained reluctant to settle into the family business.'
Sometime in 1881, or possibly the year before, House met Loulie
Hunter, a woman of charm and beauty, conscious of her place in life
and expecting much from it. She was a fitting partner for the youngest
son of one of the leading families of Texas. They were married on Au-
gust 4, 1881, but no record remains of their courtship and honeymoon
in Europe, except for two photographs of their young, unformed faces,
and little is known about the nature of their relationship.: Loulie House
was a gracious hostess who presided over grand parties in the family's
Austin mansion. She combined a love of society with a warmth and
kindness toward others, but those who remembered her differed over
the extent to which she understood let alone influenced her husband's
political career. James Stephen Hogg's daughter, Ima, who spent a
great deal of time with the House family, did not recall ever hearing
Loulie discuss politics. In contrast, Randolph F. Tucker, who married
House's eldest daughter Mona in December, 1905, claimed that Loulie
was largely responsible for House's decision to leave Texas politics for a
larger political stage."' House never wrote enough about his relation-
" Morton Keller, Affairs of State Public Lie in Late Nmneteenth Century America (Cambridge,
Mass.' The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1977), 258-264
Iz"Memories," 22, 23 (quotation), 24-33
'Richardson, Colonel House, 30-31
"'Mrs Milton (;utsch to Charles Neu, June 22, 1970, interview, Ima IIogg to C. N., Oct. 13,
1967, interview; Mr. and Mrs. Randolph F. tuckerr to C N., Oct 15, 1966, Intervelw
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 93, July 1989 - April, 1990, periodical, 1990; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101213/m1/57/: accessed May 8, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.