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 Applewhite Homestead
N 29° 21.414 W 098° 07.478
14R E 584968 N 3247846
A broken wall of native stone that is likely the last remnant of Applewhite's homestead has a TX historical marker beside this stone facade. This tells the story of an early pioneer family that was significant to La Vernia and Wilson County history.
Waymark Code: WM18RNA
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 09/19/2023
Views: 4
The historical marker at the western corner of San Antonio Road at US Hwy 87 in La Vernia, TX is placed among a "broken wall" of native stones that is likely the same stones used to build his homestead at this location in 1854. The stone house may have also been used as a stagecoach stop for a short time. Apparently the house was essentially destroyed in the 1950s during highway construction.
Henry Applewhite and his second wife, Elizabeth, operated their homestead by use of slave labor. After the Civil War, some of the emancipated black slaves adopted the Applewhite name and when freed from slavery stayed in the area to raise families within this community.
Marker Number: 13773
Marker Text:
The family of Henry Applewhite (1630-1704), who sailed from England to Jamestown, Virginia, in 1656, remained in Virginia for several generations. Applewhite's descendant, Thomas Applewhite, was born in North Carolina in 1791 and served as a sergeant in the War of 1812.
In 1842 Thomas married his second wife, Elizabeth Oglesby (1820-1898). The Applewhites, accompanied by eight slaves, moved to this area of Texas in 1853. They purchased 214 acres of farmland here in 1854 and by 1860 the Applewhites owned nine slaves, some of whom had taken the Applewhite name.
According to local oral tradition, at one time the Applewhites' homestead may also have served as a brief stop for stagecoaches traversing the area along an alternate route of that part of the Chihuahua Road extending from Indianola to San Antonio.
Thomas (d. 1864) and Elizabeth Applewhite are buried in La Vernia in Concrete Cemetery. A number of Applewhite families, the descendants of African Americans who established homes here during the 1860s, remained in the area for many generations. Thomas and Elizabeth Applewhite's original stone house was mostly destroyed during highway construction in the 1950s.
Sesquicentennial of Texas Statehood 1845-1995
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