East Texas Quarterly Magazine Summer 2013 | Page 23

resolution calling for American Independence in 1776, James
Gaines participated in the creation of the new Texas Republic
as a delegate from Sabine County to the Convention of 1836.
He was placed on the committee to draft the Constitution
of the Republic of Texas and went on to serve as Senator
in the 4th, 5th, and 6th Texas Congress. Further, he was a
signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence.
Several architectural features of the house indicate the
carpenter to have been from the tidewater areas of the
Carolinas and Virginia; the logs having square notched
gravity corners and the house is built on high piers, both
being features of early southern building in the U.S. Built
of longleaf pine logs which were shaped into planks with

an adze and broadax, the house was completely stacked
before the windows and doors were cut into the walls.
Archeological findings indicate the bricks for the chimney
were manufactured on the site from native red clay.
The Gaines-Oliphint house provided lodging for Sam
Houston, Davy Crockett, and Stephen F. Austin, among
others. According to legend, it is the site where pirate Jean
LaFitte held his auctions to sell slaves and goods he had
taken from captive ships.
*For more information visit www.toledo-bend.com
**In the next issue: The Downes-Aldrich Haunted House

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