In 1857 Albert Holley (b. 1828), his mother and two brothers, migrated to Houston County from Alabama. While the others journeyed to Texas by boat, he brought the family's supplies overland by wagon with 137 slaves. By 1860 he and his wife Julia (Russell) (1840-97) had begun homesteading this land. After serving in the Civil War, where he was a prisoner of war, Albert continued to farm here. In 1867 he constructed a new home for his family at this site. He died in 1907, but his land remained in the ownership of Holley family members until 1976.