Tivoli, Refugio County
Home of Thomas O'Connor (1818-1887), a signer of the Goliad Declaration of Independence on December 20, 1835, as a member of the command of Capt. Phillip Dimmitt. O'Connor was later known as the youngest Texian soldier in the Battle of San Jacinto, wherein on April 21, 1836, Texas won her independence. An orphan in his native county Wexford, Ireland, O'Connor came as a lad to Texas with his uncle, the empresario James Power (1788-1852). In 1838 in San Fernando Church, San Antonio, he married Mary Fagan (1817-1843), and soon brought her to his frontier land grant. The original log cabin built by O'Connor on this site in 1842 served as the family home and ranch headquarters until 1874, when the present structure was erected. This house has foundation and chimneys of bricks made on the ranch of earth from a clay bank on the margin of the San Antonio River, and baked in the ranch kiln. This site has been headquarters since Colonial and Republic of Texas periods for the vast T-C ranching operations, and since 1934 for extensive petroleum developments. It has been home to five generations of the O'Connor family. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1972