Williamson County Historical Commission
contact Wayne Ware (512)
863-2202
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C.C. and Hughes Cody House Historical Marker Georgetown Texas circa 1895
GPS Coordinates
This home was built
for Dr Cody (some times call the "Grand Old Man") and Mrs.
Martha Cody. Dr Cody was a long time professor at Southwestern
for 37 years - he stared out as a mathematics professor and
later became Southwestern Collage's first dean.
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THE C. C. CODY HOUSE - 1897 narrative by Byron & Sharon Reese, Owners On February 27, 1895. Thomas P.
Hughes [1] deeded to his married daughter. Mattie Hughes Cody
“the W half of Block A Hughes Addition" in Georgetown. Texas.
[2] He had earlier deeded the east half of the same block to his
other married daughter Lonetta Hughes Booty. [3] Almost immediately, the Cody's began
building their dream house. [4] And by 1897, the house was
complete. We don't know if Cody's instructions to the architects
to keep the price of the house to $28,005 were followed, but
they tried, the architect even taking a reduced fee to help meet
the budget. But Cody really wanted the 12-foot ceilings') and
the back staircase, and those things cost money. But we are
getting ahead of ourselves... Who Was C. C. Cody? The Handbook of Texas Online,
a Texas history resource of the University of Texas at Austin,
has this biography of Cody: "CODY, CLAUDE CARR (1854-1923).
Claude Carr Cody, teacher, mathematician and university
administrator son of Madison Derrell and Fanny (Carr) Cody. was
born in Covington. Georgia on November 5, 1854. In 1875 he
received an A.B. degree from Emory College with highest honors
and in 1878 Emory awarded him the A.M. degree... On January 20,
1879. Cody became professor of mathematics at Southwestern
University in Georgetown, Texas. With great distinction he
taught and served Southwestern for thirty-seven years. He also
served as Southwestern's first dean and occasionally taught
large numbers of students. In addition, at various times during
his long tenure he was manager of the dormitories, secretary and
chairman of the faculty. a member and secretary of the executive
committee, treasurer of the university, and librarian. Known in
his later years as the "Grand Old Man of Southwestern." he was
"a leading candidate for the honor of being the most beloved
teacher in the history of the institution" and was twice its
acting president. One of Cody's greatest contributions to
Southwestern and one of the toughest battles he had to fight was
his role in the controversy that arose in 1910-11 over the
proposal to move the university to Dallas. Cody's leadership
against the proposal was important in keeping Southwestern in
Georgetown, and Texas Wesleyan University (later Southern
Methodist University) was founded in Dallas instead. Cody published a biography of
Southwester's first president. The Life> and Labors of Francis
Ashur (Wood, D.D. (1886) and in collaboration with W. H. Bruce
several mathematics textbooks. He was an editor of the Texas
Methodist Historical Quarterly and helped found the Texas
Methodist Historical Association. He was a Democrat and
participated in local and statewide religious and civic affairs
and county politics. On December 29. 1883. Cody married
Martha R. Hughes. daughter of Judge Thomas Proctor Hughes. He
died on June 26. 1923. and was buried in the 1.0.0.F. Cemetery
in Georgetown. The fund for a library at Southwestern was begun
immediately after his death, and in 1939 the Cody Memorial
Library was completed and dedicated to his memory. [8] This title "The Grand Old Man of
Southwestern mentioned in the above biography. is still recalled
at Southwestern University and the large collection of his
papers. the "Cody Collection-housed at the Library at
Southwestern ensures he will be remembered for some time more. The Neighborhood The Cody House is at 304 E University
Ave in Georgetown. Texas. It occupies half a city block (See
Attachment B) and the other half is occupied by its "sister
house,- that is, the house built by Cody's wife's sister and her
husband August Booty at about the same time. The house is one of
seven structures that make up the 50-acre University Avenue -
Elm Street Historic District. [9] .
. -- The other six structures immediately
around the Cody House which make up the University Avenue - Elm Street Historic District
include two churches, First United Methodist Church (1891) and
St. John's Methodist Church (1906). The five homes that finish out the
University Avenue - Elm Street Historic District are all equally
stately large Victorian homes built between 1895 and 1905. The
original application from 1979 for the creation of the
University Avenue - Lin) Street Historic District includes this
paragraph about the Cody and Booty homes: "Two elegant. well-maintained
Victorian residences, built by sisters and their husbands, sit
side by side on University Avenue near the two churches. Both were on property which had been on
their father's farm and the houses were built in the block just
east of his own limestone home. Dr. Robert Stewart Flyer who was the
architect for the First Methodist Church, drew plans for the
Cody House 304 East University. It is a two-storey frame
structure built in the Queen Anne style -- asymmetrical and with
delicate ornamentation. [10] The C. C. Cody House The following physical description of
the Cody House appears in a Texas Historical Sites Inventory
Form prepared the Georgetown Heritage Society in the 1980s as
part of a Holiday "Two-story wood frame dwelling
with modified L-plan: exterior walls and weatherboard siding;
hip roof with composition shingles: exposed rafter ends; front
elevation faces north, two interior brick chimneys with
corbelled caps; wood sash double-hung windows with 1/1 lights;
single door entrance with transom, five bay porch with flat roof
which wraps around north and east elevations; Doric columns
support porch; denticulated porch frieze: porch with slat wood
balustrade on second level follows contours of main porch: wide
overhanging eaves; triple and oval windows: large gabled dormer
with Palladian surrounds; jig-sawn detailing at screen doors.
[11] Additionally. the house has its
original Cypress siding, forty double-hung windows. and is built
with the "balloon construction. The original plans for the house were
designed by architect Robert Stewart Hyer [12] who was
associated with Southwestern and Methodism and like Cody had
attended Emory University. He also designed the impressive First
Methodist Church built about the same time as the Cody House. Although Hyer is said to have drawn
up the original plans these plans were then forwarded to the
building firm of Layton & Raymond of Temple Texas where they
were substantially changed. An amazing series of letters from
Layton & Raymond in the second half of 1896 are part of Cody's
papers which are housed at the library at Southwestern
University. These letters, are the answers to letters sent by
Cody discussing the house plans. We only hear one side of the
conversation, but since they answer his questions directly, it
is easy to surmise the various issues. In one letter, they offer
to take a reduced commission of 1,1/2 of the building cost to
help make the $2800 budget. In another letter, they make the
case for nine foot ceilings upstairs and down, instead of the
twelve foot downstairs / ten foot upstairs the present plan
calls for arguing. "all the better class of residences with 9ft
ceilings in both stories [sic] and the above is the height we
should use in a dwelling of our own as we find the 9ft ceiling
gives better ventilation is easily warmed giving a more uniform
temperature and makes a more pleasant room. They must have lost
out however, as the ceilings in the Cody House are the original
12/10 called for in the plan. They also suggested saving money
by getting rid of the back staircase adding "we do not want to
dictate to you in these matters in the least but simply want to
give you the very best service in our power. The back staircase
remained.
The lot the
house sits on is large half a city block. Its dimensions are
roughly that of a football field in length and width. Originally
it had a garage on the back (South side) of the lot. This garage
is long gone. Also, there had been a tool shed built in 1916 by
the Belford Lumber Company approximately twenty paces due South
of the back door of the house. There is no evidence of this
today. A new garage was added in the 1960s that is literally
falling apart due to a poor foundation and termites. It stands
in stark contrast to the
house a few yards away built 70 years earlier and as sturdy and
termite free as the day it was built. There is a lesson in there
somewhere. Changes over Time From 1897 to 2004, the house only
really had two families own it. Although C. C. Cody died in
1923, his widow continued to occupy the house until her death in
1954 at age 90. The house was then purchased by a family member
a nephew, John Dimmitt Hughes and his wife Lera Hughes. After
John Dimmitt Hughes passed away his wife continued to occupy the
house until her death in 1982. At that point, the house passed
to their daughter, Mrs. Ellen Hughes Rost. From 1982 to 2004 the
house either sat empty or was rented to a series of short-term
tenants. Although the house was not extensively maintained
during this period it was never allowed 'go to seed'
and deteriorate so when the present owners, Byron and Sharon
Reese purchased and restored the house, it was in a remarkable
state of preservation. As Sharon Reese said "It was like walking
back in time. The couple in their mid-thirties wanted a
large old house in which to raise a large family. Byron and Sharon Reese restored the
house with a commitment to historical accuracy. The house went
through an extensive (but non-intrusive) $150.000 renovation
which included: Repairing, decaying, wood using original square
nails where possible, Repainting the house’s exterior using an
historical accurate seven-color. Victorian color scheme.
Restoring the original light fixtures. Complete rewiring of the
home, including incorporating period 1920's push button light
switches. Complete rebuilding of the three fireplaces and two
chimneys. Repainting the interior using a historically-accurate
palette of twenty-seven different colors. Refinishing the
floors. in places using historically-accurate hand-applied oil
for the finish. And so on. As Sharon Reese said, "We don't want
to change anything. We want to enjoy the house pretty much as it
was when it was built. However time has not completely
overlooked the house. While no old photos of the home are known,
the following, changes are surmised by the present owners.
First, electric lighting was likely added around 1905 when it
came to residences in Georgetown. Cuts in the upstairs floor can
be seen where wiring, for the downstairs was added after the
fact. Next, there was probably a good deal more Victorian
ornamentation on the exterior, which when it fell out of fashion
in the 1910's and 20's would have been easy to remove.
Supporting this theory are old nail holes on the exterior where
ornamentation would likely have been. Third, the round columns
on the front porch might not be original either, since the back
porch has the turned square columns more in keeping with the
time the house was built and the overall character of the house.
It is conceivable that these columns were a later
"modernization- or upgrade. The kitchen / butler pantry floor
plan was reworked in 1956 when the Hughes purchased the house
additionally; the bathrooms were updated at this time as well. A
couple of the closets appear to be modern additions as well.
Finally, a downstairs fireplace was walled over by the 1950s
owners and can someday be reclaimed. In spite of this the C.C. Cody house
remains a beautiful highly original 4000 square foot 1897 home
which retails its original elegance and will hopefully do so for
another hundred or so years. It is hard to convey in a written
document just how original the house is. This is probably due to
only having two sets of owners - no one who wanted to
dramatically alter the house. When the present owners moved in
2004 the floors had never been redone. Some rooms had their
original wallpaper tacked up. The brass light figures installed
in the early 1900s when Georgetown got residential electricity
were black with age and required compete disassembly to clean
up. The mirror in the master bathroom was backed with Wall
Street Journal’s mailed to the house in 1955. And so on. This
narrative prepared by Byron & Sharon Reese. (byron@reese.org) in
2005. Notes [1] Thomas P. Hughes, who was the
original owner of the land on which the Cody house is built as
well as Cody's father-in-law, is an historical figure as well.
An early settler to Georgetown he shared a law practice and
office with Sam Houston's son, was a friend of Sam Houston's and
was one of only a very few Texas legislators to vote against
secession in the state house. The Handbook of Texas Online gives
this biography of Hughes: HUGHES, THOMAS PROCTOR (1826-1899).
Thomas Proctor Hughes, lawyer, public official, soldier, and
judge, was born in Washington County, Kentucky, on December 18,
1826, the son of John and Martha (Nantz) Hughes. He graduated
from Centre College in 1848 and, after studying law for two
years, was admitted to the bar. In February 1851 he established
his practice in Georgetown. Texas. He was elected by a large
majority to represent Williamson County at the Secession
Convention. On February 1, 1861 he was the first to vote against
the ordinance of secession. He was joined by only seven others
among the approximately 175 delegates. In the popular referendum
that followed he helped persuade Williamson County voters to
reject secession. In spite of his Unionist beliefs he joined the
Confederate Army and served through the war in Arkansas and
Missouri as a private in Company A of Lt. Col. Charles L.
Morgan's cavalry battalion. He was elected district attorney for
Williamson, Burnet, Llano, San Saba. Brown, and Lampasas
counties in 1872. A wealthy man in his later years Hughes had
extensive real estate holdings in the Georgetown area and
contributed heavily to Southwestern University. He was also a
strong advocate of prohibition. He had three children by his
first wife, the former Susan Doxey, and two by his second, the
former Jennie Lowrie Duncan. Hughes died on December 3 I. 1899,
at his home in Georgetown. [2] Abstract. Williamson County
Abstract Company. [3] Ditto [4] The best documentation for the
date of the house comes from a series of letters from the latter
half of 1896 from architects Lawton & Raymond of Temple to C. C.
Cody discussing the plans for the house. These letters are part
of the permanent Cody collection housed at the Cody Library of
Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas. These letters are
available as of this writing for private inspection with an
appointment. [5] Ditto. letter dated July 17.
1896. [6] Ditto. letter dated July 28,
1896. [7] Ditto. letter dated July 28.
1896. [8]
http://www.tsha.utexas.edultandbook.lonlinejarticles:viewfC/fco98.html.
The following references are cited taxi-141e Handbook of Texas
Online for this biography: Claude Carr Cody Papers. Cody
Memorial Library. Southwestern University:. Ralph W. Jones,
Southwestern University, 1840-1961 (Austin: Jenkins, 1973).
Who's Who in America. 1920-21. [9] University Avenue-Elm Street
Historic District. (added 1979 - Williamson County - 79003025)
E. University and Elm Sts., Georgetown, Olt) acres. 7 buildings) [10] National Register of Historical
Places Inventory - Nomination Form. Prepared by Clara
Scarborough, 1979. [11] Texas Historic Sites Inventor).
Form - Texas Historical Commission - On file with Georgetown
Heritage Society. Prepared by Hardy-Heck-More July 1984. [12]
The Handbook of Texas Online has an entry on Hyer at:
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/smu/00072/smu-00072.html"
HYER, ROBERT STEWART (1860-1929). Robert Stewart Hyer, scientist
and university president, son of William L. and Laura (Stewart)
Hyer, was horn in Oxford, Georgia, on October 18, 1860. After
receiving his elementary education in Atlanta he earned from
Emory College an A.B. degree with first honors in 1881 and an
M.A. degree in 1882. He received honorary LL.D. degrees from
Central College of Missouri in 1901 and Baylor University in
1910. Hyer followed Emory graduates Morgan Callaway, Jr. and
Claude C. Cody to Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas.
He was professor of physics (1882-191'; ) and, after first
declining the position, served as regent of the university
(1897-1911). During his administration two large limestone
buildings, Mood Hall and the Administration Building, were
constructed: the endowment was raised to nearly 5300.000; the
student body increased from 400 to 1200; and a medical college
at Dallas and the School of Fine Arts in Georgetown were
established. With the apparent blessings of the 1910 General
Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, flyer
attempted to move the university to Dallas. This effort caused a
major split in the trustees and faculty and brought about Hyer's
resignation in June 19I 1. Later that year he moved to Dallas to
become one of the founders Of Southern Methodist University
where he served as president from 1911 to 1920. He was also
professor of physics at SML until his death. After attending a
Harvard lecture series on electrical, and electromagnetic waves
in 1891, Hyer returned to Georgetown and in 1894 transmitted a
wireless message from his lab to the city a distance of about a
mile. This experiment was independent of and nearly with those
of M. G. Marconi. Hyer's X-ray experiments in 1896 and 1897,
only two years after Roentgen's discovery, were demonstrated to
scientific and medical groups throughout Texas. His scientific
writings were widely recognized. Just before his death Hyer made
patent applications to protect his invention of the resistograph,
an instrument he used to locate oilfields in Ward County and in
West Texas near Wink. In the fall of 1928 the Phi Beta Kappa
chapter at Emory University elected him to membership for his
outstanding scientific achievements. Hyer was a lay member of
the general conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church South
in 1898. 1902. 1906 and 1911 and a member of the ecumenical
conferences in London (1902) and Toronto (1910). He was a member
of the general hoard of education of the Methodist Church
(1898-1910) and after 1902 a member of the education commission.
His first wife Madge Jordan of Georgia, whom Hyer married in
1883 died in childbirth at her mother's home in 1884. To his
second marriage to Margaret Lee Hudgins in 1887 were born three
children. Hyer died on May, 29 1929.
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Recorded Texas Historic Landmark
a special thanks
to
The Williamson County Sun
and Andrew McLemore for
this slice of history article
"A Grand Old House"
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view more
Historical Markers in Georgetown |