Dallas herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1849-1873, 1873-03-08
GRANTS PrRE
Burning Of tho Presidents MissCs
Farmhouse

, patcd eventually to retire to it, wo
enter into some detail regarding it.
Tho farm is ono OF 500 acres, ten
) miles from tho Gravois road, in tho
!. county, and is Il emo tract Of land,
4 through which Gravois creek pas
/ ses, watering il very well y por.
Q ton of it is heavily timbcred, and
? about one third is in Il high state
i of cultivation. There were twy
= residences upon it, and this one ST
Q upon tho summit Of The hill 4
. commanded m excellent vieyi
, Carondclot, the Illinois bIuYv
.. the country about the InsnEoTn
! um. 1t was in tho soutHgIT -
= part ot the tract, and abY~ t.
t milo from the other bYD" -
, was erected by Mr.. Id ont in
1913 or 1Si9, and was built of
, what is known rs "Stock" brick.
: The ground between it and tho
Gravois road was finely set with
shrubbery, cedars, birch and varj-
Gus kinds Ct shade trees.
The house had doublc piazzas or
porches, and was designed with an
H." There wcrc on tho ground
/, floor of the main building large
parlor, u wide halt, and a sitting
room. On tho same aoor in the III"
was The diuing-rOom, and the kitch'
en- was in the basement OF the same
part Of tho building There were
three chambers in the second story.
The place had been fancifuliy fin.
ished, and thcro was good ucal Of
elegance about it. Mrs. Grant oc-
cupied it during pnrt OF tho war,
and ut the time of the first election
of hor husband. Upon removal 90
tho White House, II Mr. Edwards .
was placed in tho building us ton
ant, 10 take caro- OF it, but during
the last two yoars Mir. Simms has
been in charge Of it, he, with his
family, occupying three rooms
The furniture in those belonging to
tho President was pact0d up and
placed in other parts OF the build
lng. The parIor was always kept
in order as Il reception room for The
visitors who called there in summer
to sec the hcG,e.
The building cost Mr., Dent $t,-
900; there WAS at least not less
than j, 900 worth Of iurniture belong
ing to the President, and Il 4u&nt!-
Ly belonging to MIR. Slmms in it.
4 few valuable articles had been re-
moved 10 Washington.
As stated before, the fire CONF
menccd at noon 1T is supposed
lhat it originated from the kitchen
fire, as it has not been customary
to heat the parlor 1t gained con-
siderable hcadway, there being 10
speGa! appliances 10 cNtingulsl 1t,
aud, ~ there was quite 81 breeze,
the lames We're too powerful Tor
the simple means at hand. There
is II cistoru near it, and energetic
efforts wore made with buckets to
subduo the fire, but without effect.
The roof tell in, and the fire kept
burning nntii t O'Clock, whom the
building WIS thoroughly gutted.
The length OF timO which ensuod
brfnro the residence was DESTROYED,
enabled the parties at the scene to
remove II laSre portion OF the furnl-
ture. The loss would probably De
about $1,000, and 1t is stated there
was no insurance.
There WAS no alarm eivon TO the
fire denoytmeut of the clty. If ono
had been sounded from the box at
the insane asylum 1t would have
been responded to, and two engines
sent out, though they might have
been Of no use, owing 10 tho dis
tance OF the iurm.
The other residence which was
not burned was considered moro
valuable than tho brick one. 1t is
frame one, much larger, and was
built by Mr. Wm. l.. Long, father
OF Hon john f. Long, in lolt, 1t
was greatly improved in 1918, by
| Nr. InomUS Hunt, and was then
considered Il magnificent country
residence. H. was still further i'm,
proved by Mr.. Frederick Dent, IL.
ther.in-law OF tho President, , in 1928,
and has ALWAYS beeu kept ia excel
lent condition. 1t is known as
! 'Whitebavcn, anu Is ABOUT ha'l "
milo from the site Of the other resi-
dcnco. The situation of it is about
800 wards west OF the Gravois road,
and on Il country road, known as
tho Grant road, running through
the farm. Mr. james Elrod, who
has bren manager Of the farm tor
Fam, ort;vo wears. occupies il. 1t is
h,iit nnon ibe styIe of n plantation
residences and It's value Is estimated
~ bo ohont $4,000. Near to this
brildinr are a barn and stables,