This is the back of the cabin (East door) and the north side door. There is a door on each side to let fresh breezes through. It had only two windows, no glass when it was built, some where added later for Gilly probably. The first house to have glass windows is also in the village, that was built in 1854.
So the Davis -Ansley only had shutters over the windows and loft 'windows'. The house is very dark when the shutters are drawn and you need a lamp to see much. I have worked in there and used a lamp many times when it was so cold you couldn't have a door or window open. I have also been there when it was very cold and windy. Even with a roaring fire only your front gets warmed as you sit close to the fire. In the old days they just went to bed when it was windy and cold or you sat close with a quilt over your back.

You may not think that the area looked different but it surely did. North Texas did not have many trees, they were only along creeks and low spots but that is how you end up with place names like Pilot Point, Lone Oak, Pilot Grove. They were drawn on handmade maps as reference when there were no roads, just muddy wagon trails. Sunflowers, up to 8 ft tall made it so the only person who could see ahead was someone on a horse or sitting high in a wagon. To the west in Cooke Co there is the start of a wide band of trees from North to South, called the cross timbers. It made  maps easy to read, you couldn't go too far west by accident. Remember not many could read in those days and the drawn maps often were all they had.

The original roof was made of shingles that would be trade for, most of the time they were cypress. Lots of cypress were brought from south Texas on mule trains and with people coming in to trade. You made do with homemade ones here but they did not last long and the 'cedar' trees that we see today were not available in the very early days, they spread from the east slowly and now you can see the land overwhelmed with them. That roof was a 'Turkey Feather"roof. That kind of roof were shingles held down by long thin sticks and they rattled and clattered when the wind blew and snow and rain got through the cracks. The last row at the top of the house on the north side would not be cut down to fit at the top edge of the roof so they stood up in a ragged turkey feather like position. They did not have a way to make a ridge cover so it just over lapped.
Anyone sleeping in the big loft would have snow in their bed! For rain they went downstairs and brought their beds with them. Many folks lived a year or more with just a wagon canvas painted with varnish to roof them. Most of the settlers cabins are only about 12 feet square, many less than that. They only gave a place to sleep in and to safely store and cook food. Life was very temporary at that time. Lots of dreams ahead so they endured it.

The house was not reconstructed in the right direction in the village. The front door was on the South side and they rebuilt it to facing West. The one window is on the west today. They would have it opening on the south so the sunny days in the winter could gather as much light and warmth as possible. The rest of the year the southern breezes would be caught best from the south. I have been in it in all weather and closing and opening the doors controls most breezes to your advantage.

The house was chinked by red clay and straw mixed and daubed in and patched as needed. The chinking was the most important part of the cabin. When was hot they pushed the chinking out in places to get a bit of breeze and the whole re-chinked for the winter.  The chinking was kept loose in some spots to watch and also to shot through in an attack. There were lots of problems with the Indians who came across the river, they were not the normal citizens of the Indian Nations but usually horse thieves and teenagers looking for some fun or items to get and getting liquor  and tobacco and sugar, was always a goal.

Their were some murders and tense times for the settlers. Some burnouts and lots of stealing. From the location on the far west of Denison today the Davis family had to pass at night through the area to the far northeast corner of the county where a settlers fort built was for safety. The problems sometimes lasted for more than a month before they felt safe to go home. The men would ride out and tend their crops in the day time in groups but the women and children stayed in the fort.
The men would walk and put the women and children on a horses back and pass as quietly as they could to avoid meeting up with trouble. That is why Fort Washita and other forts were built  in Indian Territory to keep interlopers from the Nations and problem people from here coming up there. Liquor was illegal to sell in the nations, that and horse thieves some of the worst of it. The types of problems are not like many people think of after growing up watching movies. At no point are the army protecting the settlers and Indians raiding in large groups and having shootouts.

Most of the people and the few Indians who came here got along. In fact a large portion of our Grayson pioneers were hired to go with the Indians when they are removed from the East. They were hired to build and teach schools and man hospitals, open businesses and taught trade skills and worked in all kinds of agencies. Lots of wagoners bringing food and supplies from back east and from the coast.
Some were government agents and in many cases they had to have a 'passport' to pass back and forth across the river.
 
Missions were opened in some of the Nations and a large amount of commerce brought many people in the area. When they had time from their jobs they came and explored northern Texas and many went home to bring their families back. So if you find a very early settler, look for evidences of any time spent in what is now Oklahoma. Check books especially about the Choctaws and the Chickasaws as they occupied the southern portion of Oklahoma right across the river. The Choctaws were a rich nation and built many wonderful towns and schools.

So here we are. Gilley lived out her life there, she was not a pioneer but her living there kept the cabin around longer than most. Its' strong build, likely the best to be had till Glen Eden was built at Preston Bend.

I left this image large so you can see the details. This photo was taken in the 90's I think. It shows the lovely chimney. The fireplace sat on a large rock base and the fireplace was not on the floor level but higher. It originally had a good sized hearth. I'll include an indoor photo or two so you can see the fireplace. The window on the right side of the chimney is weak and rarely opened, at least not the last 42 years!I do not believe the door and window on this side of the cabin is correct. When you run short walls to fit around the fireplace it weakens the wall to much. Longer pieces hold the house together. Bur I do believe it would have had the loft shutters to open and close, since you only have two side to put an shutters up there in. It would have been really hot without it.

As you can see the front of the house has Historical Markers on the front by the front door.
When I started coming out here so many decades ago the cement front step  was level with the ground. It has eroded away. 
As you can see the front of the cabin below is adorned with the historical markers. The glass door was added when the Village stopped giving tours and doing re-enactments in the cabin. It is really sad no one can just walk through anymore. I've cooked many meals for my children in this home.
The metal star is an antique gadget used in buildings, usually brick ones to help keep the walls from spreading further apart. At an early point they added it to keep things in line before re-chinking the cabin. Cement was never used and is damaging to the structure because of the way it soaks up water. But still the home stands. You also can see above the door the cuts in the log to hold the joists that go side to side for the ceiling of the home. When it was being rebuilt the room's ceiling was raised. Most cabins have low ceilings as it helps to hold the heat in. That was rarely a problem as they stayed out of the cabin working in the yard and on the farm. Winters were the harshest to deal with.
The cabin most likely had some porch covers at some point but they did not survive in any way. We never saw any sign that survived of them.

Did you know this house would never have had a grassy yard. At that time the house would have been built up from the ground at least a foot or so. It is proper to let chickens be able to walk under the house and keep it bug and varmint free. You house would have had too much trouble without that. , sometimes they put boards up on the north side in winter but they did not pen the bottom in. You did not leave an area for snakes to hide either.
They swept the yard nearly daily and that is proper to keep your house safe and your children safe from things.
Usually about 20 ft around the house was kept clear. They did not have to worry about trees much as there were few at this time in history.
When able they would have planted a few trees when they were available to planted.
Plants like trees were popular in trading posts to pioneers. And some brought seed, like acorns to sprout.
That area of Grayson County (about 3 miles west from the original tiny Denison) it is now in Denison and the area is booming. Hwy 75 is now right next to it and it no longer has that lovely quiet that it used to have when Frontier Village was formed.



You can see how much the door and the shutter to the left of the fireplace weakened the wall. Though they might have had a couple of small windows at one time. It is that part of the cabin that was rotted away the most and they had to recreate it with 'transplants' of old cabins. The chimney is original, except that the stone part of the hearth that goes out into the room is shorter than it was to protect the floor from coals popping outward.


The photos were taken in the1980's.

The bed was always in the corner, all children slept upstairs. The table represented is too small for the bigger families who lived in this house.



This is the steep staircase to the loft and you can see a blanket chest to the left. A cover is over the chest by the stairs. I took this photo during the Christmas season when I would be cooking and 'living' in the cabin with my family when we were open to tourist. I have so many memories of this home especially.
When the original chinking in all that gray area was red. The area along the creeks where you could dig out clay to make the chinking  was colored by ironstone. Then straw mixed in and it packed by hand. If the weather was harsh and very wet they did some patching as needed throughout the year and eventually would do it all over when it got worn bad enough. Sweeping was a daily chore. Bits of sand and clay and straw slowly sift to the floor all the time and the wooden shingles also flaked a bit. Everything this family had fit into an 4 by 8 ft farm wagon. Though a rocking chair is not shown there always was one. It was used by mothers to rock babies in and especially used for the elderly. It was the answer to keeping an elderly person from getting weak legs and having blood clots form in their legs. Our ancestors knew a lot more sometimes than we do!!