The will was witnessed by early Austin notables Aaron Burleson and James H. The Smiths resided on the property until January 1845, when James Smith was mortally wounded in a confrontation with a "villainous overseer." In the 40 hours it took James Smith to die, he was attended by Robertson (who also delivered the last of the Smiths' children) and dictated a deathbed will leaving 400 acres of farmland to his eldest son, Alfred Smith.
At a city auction in 1839, they bought four lots (50 acres) three miles east of Downtown for a homestead. The wealthy couple settled in the thriving metropolis of Bastrop in 1838 and began buying properties in the new city of Austin the next year. Southerners James and Elizabeth Smith and James' two sons from a first marriage followed entrepreneur Stephen F. To fully understand the importance of this newest piece of the jigsaw puzzle, we have to look back at the two main families who owned the farm for the longest periods of time: the Smiths and the Siegmunds. A letter written by Houston to his wife bolsters the contention that the house already existed in late 1841, making it the oldest surviving house in Austin. While we still can't say for sure who built the Boggy Creek farmhouse, an amateur genealogist researching her own family's relationship to Robertson recently revealed a connection between what is now Boggy Creek Farm and Republic of Texas President Sam Houston. The house has the same floor plan as a similar Greek Revival home at the French Legation, and their research reveals that the original owners did business with master builder Abner Cook, as well as two of the French Legation's residents, French Ambassador Alphonse Dubois de Saligny and Dr. Butler and Sayle contend the house was built much earlier, and they have their own speculation about a possible builder.
Much of the history they've pieced together is posted on the farm's website at Butler and Sayle's extensive research reveals fascinating facets of early life on the farm and raises some questions with no definitive answers: When the house was built, and by whom? The city of Austin historic designation for the house lists the date as 1854, but that was a guess, at best. They discovered that the original 50 acres were purchased as a homestead in 1839 and that the land had belonged to two longtime Austin families before they bought it 19 years ago. In the early days of their residency, the couple spent Sunday afternoons and rainy days poring over the treasure trove of historical information at the Barker Texas History Center on the University of Texas campus as well as the Travis County archives and the Austin History Center, gathering bits of information like so many pieces of a historical jigsaw puzzle. Sayle has always said that one of the most compelling aspects of their stewardship of the farm has been researching its rich history. They've lived and farmed there ever since.
Urban farmers Larry Butler and Carol Ann Sayle, the current stewards of the farm that dates back to the Republic of Texas, bought the vacant house and five weedy acres in 1992, moving in the day after the sale closed.
Many of the people who shop at the biweekly Boggy Creek farm stand or attend the various events held on the shady grounds probably have no inkling of the bucolic acreage's historic significance. The historic farmhouse at Boggy Creek Farm (Photo by John Anderson)
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