My name is Boley Thomas. I am the great, great grandson of James Henry Francis Thomas and Jane Lucretia Oats of Angelina County. The log cabin that James and Jane and their children constructed in 1886 represents some of the early architecture of Huntington and Angelina County, Texas. Now, that cabin is in danger of being destroyed.

The cabin currently sits on privately owned property. The owners are very understanding and want to see the cabin relocated and preserved as do I and my family. They do not seek any compensation. I have reached out to several historical organizations including the Huntington Historical Society, Preservation Texas, Millard's Crossing, East Texas Historical Association, The Dept. of History at Stephen F. Austin University, Angelina Historical Commission, and The History Center, Diboll, TX. There is great interest among all of these entities to see the cabin relocated and preserved in an appropriate location, but we lack the funds to make this happen. Depending on where we can move the cabin, it could cost $50,000 to complete the project. Your contributions to this fund will help ensure the preservation of an emblematic structure of early East Texas architecture and culture. Thank you!

The estimated work to be done will include at least these items and projected costs:

1. Detach the extension that was added to the rear of the cabin. $5,000

2. Raise the cabin and insert skids underneath. $3,000

3. Stabilize the cabin for movement. $1,500

3. Disassemble the smokehouse and load for transport. $1,200

4. Detach the wellhead and load for transport. $300

5. Obtain necessary permits to move the cabin on public roads. $500

5. Move the cabin off of the property and onto the roadway. $2,000

6. Transport the cabin, smokehouse, and wellhead to their new home (possibly as far away as Nacogdoches). $800

7. Settle the cabin on the new foundation. $3,000

8. Reassemble the smokehouse and situate the wellhead. $2000

9. Remove non-period features such as wall coverings, floor coverings, ceiling materials, other modern embellishments. $3,000

10. Clean, preserve and stabilize the cabin and smokehouse to avoid future deterioration. $15,000

11. Reconstruct the chimney using period materials and methods. $5,000

12. Reconstruct the front porch. $5,000

Total cost estimate: $47,300

Here are ten reasons why the Thomas log cabin deserves to be preserved:

1. It has historical relevance to the history of Angelina County formed in 1846.

2. Constructed only ten years after the end of the Civil War.

3. The anchor of the area known as Thomas Crossings. It represents the early settling and organizing of Angelina County as part of the new State of Texas.

4. The Thomas log cabin is located in a sparsely populated area of Angelina County. In 1886 it was even more remote. It was situated on Marion’s Ferry Rd. and was one of the only home sites along the Angelina and Neches River Railroad shortline running between the sawmills in Keltys (Lufkin), through Alco, and eventually Chireno. The railroad was formed in 1900 to carry logs to Angelina County Lumber Company’s mills.

5. The cabin was a well-known rest-stop for businessmen and workers on the A&NR Railroad. J.H.F. Thomas died in 1901, but his wife, Jane, continued to live in the cabin for the remainder of her life. She supported herself in part by opening her home to travelers. Workers would stop at the Thomas cabin as a source of cool, clean water and a place to rest in the shade of the large, covered porch, or perhaps get a home-cooked meal.

6. James Henry Francis Thomas, the father and builder of the cabin was a Civil War veteran. He served in the Texas 22nd Infantry, Company D, under Colonel Richard Hubbard.

7. Three future mayors of Huntington descended from the original Thomas family that built and occupied the cabin. Boley Bronson Thomas, Vela Curtis Francis Driver, and Mitchell LeMoine.

8. Henry Samuel Thomas Sr, son of J.H.F. Thomas, helped to build the cabin. He went on to built many of the early homes in Huntington. He also fashioned ceremonial furniture including the Masonic twin pillars of Jachin and Boaz and other pieces for the Homer Masonic Lodge. His sons would grow up to become master builders of papermills around the globe, the Galveston Causeway, and many public buildings and civil engineering structures throughout Angelina County and the state of Texas including the state’s first research nuclear reactor at Texas A&M University.

9. All three of Henry Samuel Thomas Sr’s sons and grandsons of J.H.F. Thomas were Worshipful Masters of the Homer Masonic Lodge.

10. The Cabin was featured in a multi-page article in the Huntington Zavalla News (pages 1, 3, and 6) on Thurs, March 6, 1986.