Barn landscape photo8/21/2023 ![]() ![]() Vandeveer made his living selling beef to the fort. Soon after selling the property, Vandeveer and his brother Zachery set off on a cattle drive to Louisiana, where he counted on selling enough beef cows to pay off a $6,000 debt he owed Fort Croghan’s last commander, 1st Lt. A second recorded copy has “Satisfied deed” written across it. Potts has a copy of the recorded, handwritten deed with Vandeveer’s signature. Records show that Vandeveer sold 212 acres, including the house, to Dorbandt and Theodore Winkle, another soldier at Fort Croghan, in February 1855. The Dorbandts moved into the house in 1853, the year it was built. “He built the chimneys, and she thinks it’s likely he built the house, too.” “At the time, there was a black stonemason named Primus Lewis,” Potts said. Holland was born in October 1853 Henrietta in December of that year.Īccording to Potts’ aunt Rethie Dorbandt, the house was built with slave labor. Their first child, Henrietta, was the first white female born in Burnet County, just two months after the first white male, George Holland. Three of Christian and Annie’s 14 children were born in the Bluebonnet House, including Potts' grandfather Christian Jr. “As I grew up, all my family has always said that Capt. ![]() A native of Denmark, he and his Irish wife, Annie Dunlavy, are believed to be the first family to call the house home. ![]() Army 2nd Regiment of Light Dragoons at Fort Croghan in Burnet. Many, including Potts, believe the house was built by Christian Dorbandt Sr., her great-grandfather, who was stationed with the U.S. He was the Burnet city marshal for two years, served as a Burnet County sheriff's deputy for 18 months, and was later elected Burnet County sheriff, a job he held for eight years. He was a cattle driver and rancher before going into law enforcement. was born in the Bluebonnet House in 1857. He was a captain in the Texas Rangers and recognized posthumously in a Texas Memorial Cross Service at South San Gabriel Cemetery. The enterprises went out of business when residents voted the precinct dry in 1878. He moved his family from the Bluebonnet House to Smithwick and then to San Gabriel near Bertram, where he built a gin and saloon. During the Civil War, he was a captain in the Confederate Army. He served as quartermaster sergeant at Fort Croghan in what was then known as Hamilton Valley (now Burnet). ![]() Polk for his role in the Battle of Cerro Gordo. Army and fought in the Mexican War, receiving a Certificate of Merit from President James K. immigrated from Denmark at the age of 16. He was wounded at the Battle of San Jacinto, where Texas won its independence from Mexico. More than 2,000 acres of land, including the property where the Bluebonnet House now stands, was given to Vandeveer as a soldier in the Texas Revolution. His wife died sometime around 1850, but no gravesite or record of her death has been found, according to the Texas State Historical Association. His family of four daughters lived in Burnet so they could more easily attend school. One school of thought is that Logan Vandeveer built the center section on land granted to him by the newly formed Republic of Texas to use as his ranch headquarters. Two additions were tacked on over the years. The Dorbandts were the second family to own the property by deed, which included 212 acres, but no one is quite sure who built the house or, at least, the original part in the center. Atkinson, who purchased the house in 1976, died on April 11, 2019. The Burnet Central Appraisal District records the owner as Gladys Atkinson Management Trust. The Bluebonnet House is on Preservation Texas’ most endangered places list and is eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. The acreage is surrounded by a barbed-wire fence where spectators line up to take photos at the turnoff to the Pedernales Electric Cooperative district office. In late March and early April, a vibrant field of bluebonnets separates the stone house and barn from the highway. I’ve even seen a shower curtain with this house on it.” “It’s such an icon,” said Burnet resident Tommye Potts, whose grandfather Christian Dorbandt Jr. 281 in north Marble Falls, they highlight one of Burnet County's historical gems: the "Bluebonnet House," built in 1853. ![]()
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