Autrey House Museum

Located in Lincoln Parish on highway 152 between Dubach and Hico, , the Absalom Autrey house is an example of the log dog trot, the most common traditional house type of the early north Louisiana hill country. Built in 1849 and belived to be the oldest surviving structure in Lincoln parish, the hand-hewn log house with square notches has an open central hall, with two rooms on each side and a sleepong loft above. The original ironstone chimney on the est still stands. the stairs to the loft have been replaced.

Behind the house is the family cemetery, where Absalom Autrey and his first wife Elizabeth Norris and second wife Kezia McCalla, along with other family members and slaves are buried.

Absalom Autrey, the builder of the house, was a typical pioneer of the area. Drawn by the abundance of cheap land for growing cotton, he moved by wagon to present day Lincoln Parish form Selma, Alabama, in 1848 with his wife Elizabeth Norris and their fourteen children. On the 200-acre plot of land he purchased on Bird Creek, they grew cotton and corn for cash and raised vegetables and livestock and hunted game for food. Autrey was quite successful for his day; the 1860 United States census records his worth as $6,400.00.

While in some regions of the south the two story columned mansion is the sterotype of the southern plantation, in north central Louisiana, the log dog trot, was the norm for planters. The Autrey house in its day was considered one of the finest in the region. Sturdily built to last generations, the house was occupied by his descendants through the first quarter of this century and later rented until the early 1970's

The J.C. Drewett Estate donated the Absalom Autrey House and 1.6 acres including cementery in 1985 to the Lincoln Parish Museum, with the stipulation that it be preserved as a monument to the pioneer heritage of north Louisiana.

Autrey House Museum
(A Log Dog Trot House, built 1849)
Highways 151 & 152 Intersection
Dubach, Louisiana
Open: Third Saturday and Sunday
March-October
1-4 p.m.
and by special appointment

This web page was transcriped from a pamphlet given to Autrey House museum visitors. Mr. T. R. Huffman: an Autrey descendent, was kind enough to mail me the pamphlet. The pamphlet appeared to be rather old so I did not list the contact people. My advise would be to contact the Lincoln Parish Museum for the Autrey House hours of operation. If you have any other information on The Autrey House, please e-mail me

If you are an Autrey descendent, you may also be interested in the "Autr* Genealogies and History." What makes this Home page especially interesting is that it is interested in all the various spellings of the surname (Autrey, Autry, Awtry etc) and there are potential relatives from all over the country linking to this site.

Also try "Jo's Front Porch & Genealogy.", a fine genealogy web site that deals with the Autrey genealogy.

 

 

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