Winnie Davis Camp No. 108 UCV Records from Membership Register   G. H. Cunningham OLD G. H. CUNNINGHAM FARMSTEAD Taken from Texas National Research Laboratories Commission Historic American Buildings Survey - David Moore - Historian The old G. H. Cunningham farmstead includes several buildings on a 106 acre tract of land in the J. J. Mallard Survey. The complex contained a one-story house with a one-story all addition, a one-story tenant house, two barns, a collapsed cistern, storm cellar, and well house. I was one of his first land acquisitions in Ellis County which he obtained on July 3, 1855. The deed notes that James Jefferson Mallard, a resident of Collin County, Texas, conveyed the land to Cunningham of Limestone County, Texas, "for and in consideration of locating, surveying and having patented to me three hundred and twenty acres..." Ad valorem tax rolls of 1855 do not list Cunningham as a landowner in Ellis County, but in the following year he paid taxes on nine parce3ls in the county. These documents also note that he owned no horses, cattle, mules, or hogs. This information suggests that he was more interested in land acquisition than farming, a decision that had profound consequences later in his life. George and Tennessee Cunningham are listed in the 1860 census. The Agricultural Productions Schedule of that year notes that Cunningham claimed only 70 acres, of "improved" soil, despite owning 16 tracts of land. He owned livestock, but his totals were far less than those of his neighbors, such as J. M. Dunaway, Walter M. Turner, and Ezekiel M. Brack. The Agricultural Schedule also reports that he harvested no crops, which contrasts to other area farmers who typically grew wheat, corn, rye, and other crops. The exact location of his home has not been positively confirmed, but one of the houses, the one-story frame house near the road, reportedly was his original residence and dates to his tenure as owner. Its form, detailing, and physical features were indicative of mid=19th century domestic architecture. Furthermore, the strategic placement of the house on a prominent hill overlooking the surrounding countryside suggests that the person responsible for the construction of the house understood the topography and selected a highly desirable site. This property, therefore, was believed to include Cunningham's first residence in Ellis County. Because of his vast land holdings, George H. Cunningham benefitted from the rise of cotton and the tenant-farm system. By 1892, he had tenants working on his 1,300 acre farm. He reportedly built a large two-story house on a field near the J. M. Dunaway Farmstead and leased his old residence to tenant farmers. However, by 1910 he lived in the 500 block of W. Main Street in Waxahachie. The census listed his occupation as "own income" which implies that he lived o ff the profits he garnered from his investments. After Cunningham's death in 1915, a guardian for the estate of G. C. Cunningham, his son, oversaw the property, but in 1933, Cunningham's granddaughter, Leta Mae, assumed the control. She later married G. Howell Hight, and they continued to lease the property to tenant farmers, including Mallard and adjoining surveys. His estate remained owners of the property for 18 years, after the death of G. H. Cunningham. A series of tenants occupied the Old G. H. Cunningham Farmstead while Leta Mae Hight and her husband, G. Howell Hight, were owners. None stayed more than a few years. In 1967 the Hights, who lived in Bexar County, Texas, at the time, conveyed the property to their children, Roger and Roxanna Hight. The owners, Buena Vista Joint Venture, acquired the farmstead in 1986 and conveyed it to the TNRLC in 1991. Cunningham acquired the rights to the John Davenport Survey, which includes the Cunningham-Hight Farmstead, from the State of Texas on February 15, 1855. The property adjoins the 106.66 acre parcel he obtained that same year in the J. J. Mallard Survey. The complex included three houses, two barns, a shed, and a garage. The property is named for the landlords who owned the farm for almost 100 years and who oversaw most, if not all, improvements to the property. It adjoins what is believed to be the original Cunningham Homestead tract.   Copyright © 2002-2016, Ellis County TXGenWeb. All Rights Reserved. This page was last modified: Thursday, 01-Jul-2021 13:18:42 MDT