History of the Grierson House

The Grierson House was built in 1908 by Benjamin Henry “Harry” Grierson, Jr. and contains similar architecture to the commanding officer's quarters at Fort Davis National Historic Site.

Grierson’s father, Colonel Benjamin Henry Grierson, was the commander of the Tenth United States Cavalry, the famous African-American regiment known as the Buffalo Soldiers. Colonel Grierson commanded Fort Davis from 1882-1885 and he settled in the area with his family after he retired from military service.

The home was largely destroyed by a fire in 1912. The house was rebuilt by Franklin Lee Sproul. Sproul served as Jeff Davis County Sheriff from 1914 until his death in 1933 of a gunshot wound received while pursuing suspects of a robbery. Sproul’s wife, Louise, stepped in to fill the Sheriff’s office for the remainder of his term, and won election for an additional term, serving until 1936.

The Sproul family have a long history of ranching and land ownership in the area and at times have had custodianship and later ownership of portions of the historic Fort grounds before their consolidation as a National Historic Site.

Sources
http://www.texasescapes.com/Byron-Browne/Majestic-History.htm
http://npshistory.com/publications/foda/adhi.pdf
https://www.odmp.org/officer/15990-sheriff-franklin-lee-sproul
http://npshistory.com/publications/foda/history/chap9.htm
https://www.nps.gov/foda/colonel-benjamin-grierson.htm