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William Josiah Hatch Bright married Nora Mitchell
December 14, 1871. According to family members,
Nora's father, Eli Mitchell, owned property that included
the area between St. Vincent Street and the Guadalupe
River. He and his family lived in a log cabin south of
where this house is located.
After Eli died, Nora inherited some of the property
including the Mitchell cabin. She moved it to the lot
where this house now stands and they lived there until
they built their Victorian style house in 1885. It may have
been built around the original cabin because recently a
pest control company told the owners that they could
not spray part of the foundation as they had encountered
W.J. BRIGHT HOUSE
117 S. College Street
large timbers. Family friends also remember Nora
sitting in her rocker and mentioning that the house
was built around the Mitchell family log cabin.
Josiah and Nora were both graduates of the
Gonzales College. Josiah worked for the Miller
and Sayers banking firm until he established and
became president of the Gonzales State Bank and
Trust Company. This home, like so many others,
has original hardwood flooring and twelve foot high
ceilings, along with much of the original hardware
and many original windows. Carol Wallace calls this
home today.
Photograph by Gwen Skinner Gonzales Camera Club
