entertainment. The hotel closed in the fall of 1910, and W.H. and his brother T.R. Florey, Sr. opened Florey Brothers General Merchandise and were also cotton buyers in Mount Pleasant. The general merchandise business failed after a few years due to selling merchandise on credit which they were unable to collect. W.H. also operated a dairy and was in the fruit business in Titus County. W.H. was very active in civic affairs, and served several terms on the Mount Pleasant City Council, serving from 1923-1929.
In 1911, W.H. hired D.T. (Buster) Austin to build a home for him so he could move his children to Mount Pleasant. Located at 703 South Lide, it sat on the southwest corner of what is now South Lide and Fricke Streets atop the hill overlooking Dellwood Park. The two-story home was a double galleried colonial revival residence with nine massive columns with Doric shafts across the front and part of the south side. A nine foot deep open porch ran across most of the front and down part of the south side. A balcony that was seven feet deep was suspended from the roof overhang above it by tension rods. Downstairs rooms featured 13 foot high ceilings, and the upstairs ceilings were 10 feet high. The house had twenty one doors that were ten feet high with transoms above to allow air flow to aid ventilation. Only the best materials were used. Lumber was brought from Overton, Texas. Each board was hand-picked, and any board with a knot larger than a thumb nail was discarded. All floors were oak. The columns, mantles, and staircase were purchased in St. Louis. Wood corner moldings were used on all corners in the house. Considered very much a luxury when the home was built, it was equipped with electricity and indoor plumbing. Jud Strother painted the house, J.A. Davis did the plumbing, and Mr. Parrot built the cabinets. Five servants' quarters were built on the back of the property to house people who worked for Mr. Florey.
When the impressive home was completed in 1914 it was one of Mount Pleasant's finest homes. William Florey married Abbie Batte Schwab ("Miss Abbie") of Mt. Pleasant and moved his new wife and family into their new home in February, 1914. W.H. lived in the home until he passed away in 1956 at the age of 98, and his eyesight remained so keen that he read without glasses at 98.
After losing her husband to the 1918 flu epidemic, Vivian (Florey) Fowler, W. H.'s daughter, moved into the family home with her son and began teaching school at West Ward School in Mt. Pleasant. She was made school principal of East Ward School during World War II, but returned to the classroom after the war. She continued to live in the home after William Florey died, until old age and health required her to move to a nursing home. Mount Pleasant's West Ward Elementary School was later renamed in her honor.
Tom and Betty Meriwether purchased the home from the Florey estate on April 2, 1981 and wanted to preserve the historical home in its original state, excepting only necessary repairs and updating subsystems like the wiring for safety. Betty told us that she and Tom decided when they bought the home that when health or age eventually prevented them from maintaining the home as it deserved to be that they would sell it to someone who could. The Meriwethers made needed repairs to the home before moving into it, including updating the electric service and wiring, replacing the water plumbing, repairing the bathrooms, updating the kitchen, and painting the home's exterior. The Meriwethers moved into the home on June 4, 1981. They furnished it with period furnishings and added a period wrought iron fence around the yard. They researched the home's history and registered it as a Texas Historical Landmark on September 13, 1982. The Meriwethers provided traveling tour groups and others with guided tours of the home so they could enjoy it, too. The Meriwethers lived in the home until November 1, 1996, when Tom's failing health and eyesight made upkeep of the large home and seven acre grounds difficult.
The Meriwethers sold the home in 1996, but the new owners never lived in it. They planned to convert the home into a bed and breakfast, but it remained unoccupied for ten years. Vandals broke out some of the windows, and the new owners boarded them up to prevent further vandalism.
Tragedy struck the home early in the morning of September 17, 2006. A fire broke out and the home was completely engulfed in flames by the time the fire was discovered and reported to the fire department. The fire was reported at 4:20 a.m., and firemen who were on duty that morning said they could see flames above the trees as they left the fire station. It was impossible to save the home, even though it was only a few blocks from Mount Pleasant's Central Fire Station. The flames were so large and hot that close neighbor's homes and vehicles were damaged by the heat. The Mt. Pleasant Fire Department called all Titus County departments for extra manpower and equipment to fight the fire, but the beautiful home burned to the ground. The fire departments remained on the scene until 11:20 a.m. putting out "hot spots." The official origin of the fire is listed as undetermined, but it is suspected that natural gas may have escaped from a corroded pipe inside the wall and was ignited by a pilot light.
In an ironic twist of fate, the Florey home was used to test Mount Pleasant's second fire truck and first pumper. W.H. Florey was a City Councilman in 1926 when the City of Mount Pleasant purchased its first fire truck equipped with a water pump. In a 3 to 2 vote of Council members, W.H. was one of the three members who voted to purchase the truck on July 13, 1926. When the shiny new 1926 Seagrave pumper arrived, the fire department tested the truck in Dellwood Park. They laid 1,600 feet of fire hose down the hill from the Florey residence to a man-made lake that was once located where Dellwood Park's Little League baseball fields are now. They parked the truck on the lake's dam and pumped water to test the truck. It pumped a sufficient volume of water under enough pressure to shoot a stream high over the top of the Councilman's two-story house using three different sizes of straight-bore nozzles. The City and its fire department were well pleased with their new purchase.
The loss of this stately home was not only a loss to its owners and the Florey family, but was felt by many others in town who hated to lose this historic home that dated to the City's beginnings.
