1973 Statesman Article

Flower Hill was built in 1877 by the Reverend Dr. Richard Kelley Smoot and Sarah Jane “Sallie” Graham Smoot. The couple and their two sons, Asher Graham and Lawrence Kelley moved into the home on November 10, 1877. The original home was designed by the Rev. Dr. Smoot and constructed by Maxwell and Loving using handmade bricks by the Butler Brick Factory. The Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary has roots in the library that was added to the home in 1884. Asher went on to co-found the Austin American, now the Austin American-Statesman and married Frances Sampson of the Sampson-Nalle House lineage. Lawrence graduated from the University of Texas Law School in 1899 and served as the Librarian and then the Court Reporter for the Texas Supreme Court for 66 years, a record he still holds today. Jane Smoot, daughter of Lawrence Kelley and Julia Emma Williams Smoot, was the last of the Smoot family to reside in the home until her passing in September 2013. Jane taught with Austin ISD for over 40 years. The Smoot home now consists of 14 rooms, 4 porches, 4 hallways, and 7 fireplaces, and sits on 1.38 acres of certified Texas wildscape. Author William Sydney Porter, also known as O. Henry, and Athol Estes were married by the Rev. Dr. Smoot in the parlor at Flower Hill in July of 1889.