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P.O. Box 505         Coldspring, Texas 77331          Hours: 10-4 Thurs-Saturday           936-653-2009
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Council Hill
Council Hill, in the Rose Hill Community, was the site of the home of Vernal B. Lee, brother of Mrs. Sam Houston.  It was called "Council Hill" because Sam Houston met the Alabama Indians there.  An article from the Houston Chronicle in 1937, written by Mrs. Douglas Robinson, describles the Lee Plantation in the following manner: 

"A garden of old-fashioned flowers, covering more than 10 acres, grow around the plantation house and under the constant care of the older slaves, roses, crepe myrtle, verbenas, syringas and hollyhocks grow in brilliant perfusion.  The garden was apart from the dogwood, wild peach, oak and pine trees that shaded the house in order that the sun might reach it. 

Down the flag-bordered walk and out to the garden, Sam Houston went to meet the Indians waiting for him on benches scattered through the grounds.  His bodyguard was a Negro named Josh, who always accompanied his master to the Indian councils.  They came either on horseback or in a carriage drawn by four horses.  The slaves hated and feared the Indians, but helped prepare the food in advance of their visit and served it to them in the garden.

The graves of Vernal Lee and his oldest son, Temple, are on Council Hill in the old rose garden beyond the trees.  A monument still stands, overrun with Cherokee roses and its message reads, "Mark the perfect man and behold the upright, for the end of that man is peace."

Marie Lee, daughter of Vernal Lee, was married in her father's plantation home to Major Charles F. Hume, brilliant lawyer and friend of Jefferson Davis."


Raven Hill
The plantation home of General Sam Houston.  The house is no longer there was was described as being "the old type of farm house with two large rooms on either side of a central hall running the length of the house."  An early account of the life of Sam Houston states that after his term of office as U.S. Senator, he had planned to retire to his plantation home and raise sheep.  However, his retirement lasted for only a year or so.  He did not agree with the policies under which Texas was being governed and left the farm to enter the Gubernatorial race in 1857.

Home Site of Governor George T. Wood
Governor Wood lived at Point Blank.  He married Mrs. Martha Gindrett, a widow, and they had two children, Mary (who married W.B. Darby) and George Tyler Wood (never married) who died in early manhood.