The Collins-Haines home - 1860
This marker reads: First brick structure in Wood County, erected by James A. and Harriet C. Collins in 1859, settlers from Mississippi. Bricks were molded and burned nearby. Furniture was crafter in plantation shop by Collins and slaves. They also planted a fine garden and landscape.
Past this home 1861-1865 marched Confederate units ti camp and war. Since 1870 owned by family of George W. Haines.
The marker is located a short distance south of Quitman on FM 778.
Flora Masonic Lodge #119 A.F. & A.M., Quitman
Founded before the Civil War. Petition for charter was made Jan. 5, 1852. First officers: James E. Brown, Worshipful Master; A. Gunter, Senior Warden; Francis C. McKnight, Junior Warden. Petitioners, other than officers, included George Birdwell, W.L. Brown, S.W. Flourney, J.D. Goes, E.H. McKee, J.H. McRee, W. M. Matthews and Joshua Smith.
Without any recorded explanation, the Lodge was given its present name on Christmas Day, 1852. Original furniture was made by illustrious Wood County pioneer Peter Gunstream at a cost of $10.95. In 1854, fire destroyed the Lodge, charter, jewel and furniture.
A combination Presbyterian Church and Lodge Hall was built on this site and occupied in 1855. The end of the Civil War found the Lodge penniless and hard-pressed to pay 30 cents a pound for candles which were sold in 50-pound lots.
In 1917 electric lighting closed a 65 year span of candles and kerosene lamps. The early Lodge worked diligently, often meeting Saturday mornings, dismissing to attend preaching services downstairs and resuming work afterwards. Flora Lodge built a new two-story structure on 1949 on this historic location.
First Baptist Church, Quitman
One of the earliest churches in Wood County, organized Nov. 16, 1850 by pioneer settlers in a meeting moderated by a Cumberland Presbyterian, Rev. Simon W> Weaver. Charter members included Ursula Benton, M.M. and Mary Bigham, James Silas, Robert, Mary, A.L. and Elizabeth Duncan, Joseph Alexander and Martha Greer, Peter Frances and Mary Rozell, James N. Stedman, and John and Augusta Williams.
Worship services were held in homes and the open air in early days. A two-story building was erected at College and Goode Streets in 1855 by the Presbyterians and the Masons. In 1855, the Masons bought that building and made it available to all faiths, until it was razed in 1900. On the same lot, Baptists and Masons erected another two-story frame edifice. Under capable pastors, the congregation grew. In 1929, the building at Lane and College was replaced by the present one in 1952. The bell, used from 1855 to 1929, was preserved as a relic.
The pulpit has been filled by notable guests including Rev. George W. Truett, a world-renowned minister from Dallas. This was also the home church of James Stephen Hogg (1855-1906), the first native born governor of Texas. This marker was dedicated in 1970.
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