Up in Smoke Honored piece of Palmer History was lost when fire destroyed what was once area's 1st clinic Dallas Morning News, Friday September 22, 2000; pg 31 A By Bill Lodge, Staff Writer Used with Permission   PALMER - Tuesday's destruction of the Everett House, a 19th-century landmark near downtown Palmer, cost a City Council member her home and tree pet dogs. But the fire that consumed the three stories of first-growth Louisiana cypress also claimed a rich history associated with the first medical clinic in Ellis County. The home was built in 1890 about 25 miles south of Dallas by Dr. James Lassiter Everett, Ellis County's first physician. "I had a lot of fun in that house," Sallie Jane Biehler of Waxahachie said Wednesday.  "This is like losing a relative, a loved one.  I am so hurt and shocked." Ms. Biehler, 76, is the granddaughter of Dr. Everett and lived in the 5,160-square-foot home for 13 years after she inherited it in 1867. "My favorite memory of that house is my wedding," Ms. Biehler said, "Mine was in 1949." The 14-room structure's kitchen was in a separate backyard building until 1929, when Dr. Everett's widow included an indoor kitchen during remodeling, Ms. Biehler said. She said she remains fascinated by the nails used to build the house. "Every one of them was square headed." Dr. Everett had the first telephone in Palmer as well as the first automobile, his granddaughter recalled.  "And he owned over 4,000 acres of land at the time of his death," said Frances Anne Blocker, president of the Palmer Preservation Society. The doctor's multi-gabled building was painted pale blue and sat behind a wrought-iron fence.  It featured a spacious front porch that included a turreted nook at its western edge. "Gosh, it was pretty," Ms. Blocker said. City Council member Jennifer Thomas and her husband, Travis, bought the house about a year ago and began restoring it themselves. City officials already had declared the gingerbread-trimmed building a historic landmark.  The Thomases were seeking to have the property declared a national historic site before the fire. They were not in the home when the blaze began Tuesday afternoon, less than 100 years from Palmer's volunteer fire department. Mr. Thomas works as an electrician in Irving, and Ms. Thomas works part-time as a paramedic in Dallas in addition to her efforts as a partner in a continuing-education business. Ms. Thomas said Dr. Everett operated a pharmacy as well as a medical practice in the old home. A walkup window swung into the home to permit customers to pay for their prescriptions from the yard. "The firefighters did everything that they could," Ms. Thomas said.  "There was just nothing that could be saved.  I watched them work until they couldn't stand." Mark Hanna, a spokesman for the state fire marshal's office in Duncanville, said Thursday that investigators have not determined how the blaze began or estimated the the financial loss. That loss occurred after the Thomases poured much of their money and sweat into improvements.  Ms. Thomas said she and her husband painted the exterior and interior, papered some of the walls, reworked all the floors and were planning to install central air and heating.  They also hoped to turn the large timbered attic into a third floor of rooms. She said their home and contents were insured for about $450,000. The couple have been staying with friends since the fire and have not decided whether to rebuild on the site. "No new house is going to replace what we had," Ms. Thomas said. Bobby J. Bonner, Palmer's 70-year-old retired postmaster, agreed. "Some of those old frame houses have more character than those new brick homes," Mr. Bonner said.  "And they'll never be replaced.  This is something you're really going to miss.   Copyright © 2004-2016, Ellis County TXGenWeb. All Rights Reserved. This page was last modified: Thursday, 01-Jul-2021 13:19:42 MDT