A photo taken by John Walker is of a very old brick lined water well or cistern. Cisterns were bottle shaped holes placed where they could catch rain water from the roof of a home. This one was at the home of
... Moses Shipman which was built sometime in the early 1820’s. The only remaining evidence of the Shipman home is the well, located south of Hyw 6, east of the Ft. Bend Toll, near Knight Road.
Moses, born in Kentucky, married his wife, Mary from South Carolina and had ten children. Seven were born in seven different states before the family arrived in Texas. Not known for sure if Moses died in 1836 or 1838.
In 1836, on his way to the Battle at San Jacinto, Santa Anna destroyed the Fitzgerald dwelling. Fitzgerald’s daughter, Sarah Fenn and her family lived at the Moses Shipman home until they could relocate.
The Shipman house was made with logs and boards made by hand and joined together with wooden pins as there were no iron bolts or nails available. They used water from creeks and ponds.
The Danny Williams family lived in the Shipman home for a year. Williams and his wife, Ann are buried at the Duke cemetery.
Their son, Johnny lived for years at the Shipman home with Judge Senior. Senior reconstructed the home into a two story dwelling.
After Senior’s death, vandals burned the vacant house, which was one of the few homes built by a member of the “Old Three Hundred”. To learn more of the history and see the picture go to John Walker’s website:
http://lifeonthebrazosriver.com/Moses Shipman.htm
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