Heritage, Volume 8, Number 4, Fall 1990 Page: 13
37 p. : ill. ; 28 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Above: The Cunningham ranch house in 1920. Photo courtesy of Lee Lawrence.
Right: The Cunningham ranch house today. Photo by Glenn Wolfe.Above: Left to right, Lohman Feist, ranch foreman
in charge of construction; Raiford Stripling, architect;
and Robert Habor at work on the restoration
of the Cunningham ranch house.
Photo courtesy of Lee Lawrence.
Left: Texas cherry desk, believed to date from about
the 1860s, graces the breezeway of the house. The
drawer contains pieces and shards of pottery and
china unearthed around the ranch house.
Photo by Glenn Wolfe.In 1900, the children of James and
Susie sold the ranch to James DeWitt who
owned it until 1933 when it was acquired
by J.B. Allcorn. Lee Lawrence-greatgreat
-grandson of James and Susie-and
his wife Ann bought the ranch from Mr.
Allcorn's son in 1985.
The Lawrences restored the house and
fences to their 1870's state. Their architect
for the project was Raiford Stripling of San
Augustine, Texas. The craftsmen who
performed the restoration are all from
Priddy, Comanche, and Hamilton.Ranch foreman Lohman Feist of Priddy
was in charge of the construction. In 1987
Mr. Feist was awarded the John Ben
Shepperd, Jr. Award by the Texas Historical
Foundation in recognition of his
preservation work on the Cunningham
house. He and his wife Vernell live on the
ranch and are loving caretakers of the
house, the ranch, and the ranch animals.
Big Tex, a magnificent longhorn, grazes
near the remnants of the Yorkshire fence
built 150 years ago. Captain, a black Labrador
retriever named for Captain James,eyes the elegant black cat curled on the
porch. A man watches the light go at the
end of another day. It blazes momentarily,
silhouetting Tater Hill Mountain. And it
continues, this ranch, this land, this
family-the legacy of James and Susannah
Cunningham.
Lee Lawrence is a past president of the Texas
Historical Association and a past president and
longtime board member of the Texas Historical
Foundation.
Patricia Haas is editor of HERITAGE.
HERITAGE * FALL 1990 13Above: Fireplace in the stone kitchen dating back to
the 1870s. Antiques carefully selected by the
Lawrences evoke days of the Cunninghams.
Photo by Glenn Wolfe.
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Texas Historical Foundation. Heritage, Volume 8, Number 4, Fall 1990, periodical, Autumn 1990; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth45429/m1/13/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas Historical Foundation.