January 16, 2003
Heritage Foundation to restore L.Q.C. Lamar house
Purchase opportunity a long-time goal for preservationists
by Lucy Schultze
The Oxford EAGLE
The Oxford-Lafayette County Heritage Foundation is positioned
to preserve one of Oxford's most historic homes after securing a
one-year option agreement Wednesday to buy the L.Q.C. Lamar house on
North 14th Street.
"This means realizing something we have wanted for a long,
long time," said OLCHF President Maralyn Bullion. "This house is so
important to the history of our state, and our country as well."
The foundation plans to begin work immediately on the first
phase of the restoration project, which involves raising $500,000 to
finalize the sale, stabilize the house and draft engineering plans.
The following phases will undertake a restoration of the home and its
operation and maintenance for the benefit of the public.
Restoring the Lamar house was one of the first goals laid out
by the Heritage Foundation shortly after it was formed in 1996 for
the preservation, restoration and stewardship of local historical
assets. Wednesday's option agreement, signed with homeowners Harold
and Adeline Houston, was facilitated by foundation board member Bill
Russell.
According to land records at the Lafayette County Chancery
Building, the Houstons have owned the house since 1965. It was the
home of noted attorney and statesman L.Q.C. Lamar between 1868 and
1888, and was designated as a national historic landmark in 1975.
A Georgia native, Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar
(1825-1893) settled in Oxford in the 1850s and opened a law practice
here. He later became a faculty member and directed the law
department at the University of Mississippi, where his father-in-law,
A.B. Longstreet, was chancellor.
During the Civil War, he organized the 19th Mississippi
regiment of volunteers as part of the Confederate army. After the
war, he was elected Mississippi's first Democratic congressman since
Reconstruction. He gained national fame with an eloquent 1874 speech
upon the death of abolitionist Senator Charles Sumner in which he
called the southern states to reconciliation.
Lamar later served as U.S. senator and secretary of the
interior before becoming the only Mississippian ever to serve on the
U.S. Supreme Court in 1888.
Originally, his one-story colonial-style cottage in Oxford
was laid out on a large plot of land extending all the way to North
Lamar Boulevard, according to local history reports. It now sits on
two acres which extend behind the house.
The Heritage Foundation's long-term vision for the house
includes restoring it to preservation standards as well as adding
public access and parking, a maintenance facility and possibly a gift
shop. Funding for the project will be sought from both public and
private sources, including individuals, corporations, endowments and
grants.
Bullion said the foundation is hopeful that other local
organizations, a national trust or possibly the University of
Mississippi will step in to see the restoration through and operate
the home for public tours.
The Heritage Foundation is also getting ready to begin a
fund-raising campaign to restore the Burns "Belfry" Church, which it
acquired in September from author John Grisham. The Oxford
Development Association is partnering with OLCHF for the restoration
and will use the historic building as a meeting place and museum of
local African-American history.
To participate in or contribute to either effort, write to
the Oxford-Lafayette County Heritage Foundation at P.O. Box 622,
Oxford, MS 38655, or contact Bullion at 234-3299 or
mbullion@watervalley.net.