Garrett, Isaiah, Law Office - Monroe, Louisiana
Posted by: 
BruceS
N 32° 29.806 W 092° 06.955
15S E 583054 N 3595845
Historic small law office also known as the Little Red Brick House in Monroe, Louisiana.
Waymark Code: WM38DY
Location: Louisiana, United States
Date Posted: 02/25/2008
Views: 7
The Little Red Brick House was built in 1840 by Samuel Kirby. The one-story
building originally consisted of a 36' x 18' rectangle containing two rooms and
a 21' x 18' ell on the left rear which served as a kitchen...
The Little Red Brick House gains its political significance and its historic
name through its use by the lawyer Isaiah Garrett.
On October 12, 1839 Samuel Kirby bought the property and on September 15,
1840 he gave a mortgage on the property which was described as "a house made of
brick and the lot on which it stands in the Town of Monroe being the same lot of
ground that the said Kirby purchased of Dr. C. H. Dobbs lately put upon said lot
and not entirely completed to stand mortgage as aforesaid...'' (Mortgage Book B,
page 146). Although Samuel Kirby built the house, he transferred the property to
Isaiah Garrett on March 5, 1842, when it was described as "the new brick
dwelling house, kitchen and out houses and all improvements."
Isaiah Garrett was a young lawyer and West Point graduate who had recently
moved to Monroe from Missouri. He later became one of the most eminent lawyers
in Louisiana. Garrett was a member of the Constitutional Convention for the
State in 1845 and was elected to the Secession Convention in 1860. He was one of
the seven members of the Convention who refused to sign the ordinance of
secession as it would have violated his oath of allegiance to the United States.
Garrett used the little brick house as a law office and practiced there for many
years.
After Isaiah Garrett's death the house was used for many purposes until the
Monroe Committee of the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in the
State of Louisiana was granted the right to use it as a museum to house material
and objects relating to the history of Louisiana and the United States. ~
Nomination Form for National Register