Ashton Villa

Ashton Villa is a fully restored, historic home located on the corner of 24th and Broadway in Galveston, Texas, United States. Constructed in 1859, it was one of the first brick structures in Texas built by slaves.

History

On January 7, 1859, Colonel James Moreau Brown, a prominent hardware merchant and banker, purchased four lots at the corner of 24th and Broadway in Galveston, on which to build a home. Referencing architectural pattern books current at the time, he modified several plans to design his future home. Using slave labor and European craftsmen, Brown proceeded to build one of the first brick structures in Texas.

The three-story house was built in Victorian Italianate style, with deep eaves, long windows and ornate verandas that were topped by lintels made of cast iron. The brick walls were made thirteen inches thick, to help protect against humidity and add strength to the structure. The interior of the home was laid out and designed around a central hall floor plan. Brown's wife, Rebecca Ashton, named the home in honor of one of her ancestors, Lt. Isaac Ashton, a hero in the U.S. Revolutionary War.

Civil War

When the American Civil War began in 1861, the home became the headquarters for the Confederate Army and served in that capacity for the entire war, except for a brief period in the fall of 1862. In the fall of 1862, Galveston was surrendered to the Union Army, which made Ashton Villa their headquarters. The Union's occupation was short lived, however, as Galveston was re-taken by the Confederates during the Battle of Galveston in January 1863.

End of the War

Despite the Confederacy's official surrender on April 9, 1865, the news was slow to spread in the far reaches of Confederate states, such as Texas and over a month from Lee's official surrender, the Battle of Palmito Ranch was fought on May 12 and 13, 1865. The fighting occurred on the banks of the Rio Grande east of Brownsville, Texas on the Texas-Mexico border. It took approximately another two weeks for Confederate Lieutenant General Simon B. Buckner to surrender his command of the Trans-Mississippi Department (which included Texas) to Union Major General Peter J. Osterhaus on May 26, 1865.

On Monday, June 19, 1865, Union Major General Gordon Granger and 2,000 federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, to take possession of the department of Texas and enforce the emancipation of its slaves. It is reported that Granger's men marched through Galveston reading General Order No. 3 first at Union Army Headquarters at the Osterman Building (formerly at the location of Strand Street and 22nd Street, since demolished), the 1861 Custom House and courthouse before marching to the Negro Church on Broadway, since renamed Reedy Chapel-AME Church. The order informed all Texans that, in accordance with a Proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves were free.

Although many claims have been made to Ashton Villa's central role in the original 1865 pronouncement, no extant historical evidence supports such assertions. On June 21, 2014, the Galveston Historical Foundation and Texas Historical Commission erected a Juneteenth plaque where the Osterman Building once stood signifying the location of Major General Granger's Union Headquarters and subsequent issuance of General Order No. 3. On June 19, 2006, a statue of Al Edwards, named "Unknown Legislator" was dedicated on the grounds of Ashton Villa during the annual prayer breakfast and celebration begun by Edwards in 1979, and hosted annually on the grounds of Ashton Villa every Juneteenth. The 9-foot tall statue of the Democratic State Representative from Houston, originally intended for the state capitol grounds in Austin, Texas is depicted holding up the piece of 1979 legislation making Juneteenth a paid Texas State holiday. The proclamatory pose of the statue evokes the very proclamation the holiday is meant to honor. Edwards' annual prayer breakfast and celebration, first held in 1979, take place every Juneteenth at Ashton Villa and include a reading of the 1862 Emancipation Proclamation and 1865 General Order No. 3 (with a local historian portraying Major General Granger addressing the crowd from the home's balcony).,. Despite Edwards' death from natural causes on April 29, 2020, the prayer breakfast and memorial celebration at Ashton Villa continued with the late legislator's son, Jason Edwards, speaking in his place.

Juneteenth

June 19 has since become known as Juneteenth, a portmanteau

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