J.G. Woldert was a civil engineer and a practical surveyor who worked
with George W. Smyth, a Land Commissioner for the Republic of Texas, in
establishing the eastern boundary between the Republic and the United
States (Louisiana). He accumulated a considerable amount of land in
East Texas, 160 acres of which he donated to Van Zandt County where the
county seat, Canton, now stands. In 1850, he was the first person to bring to
Texas "a complete plant for Daguerreotype work", after visiting the World's
Fair in London. Some of his more famous daguerreotypes were portraits of
Thomas Jefferson Rusk, J. Pinckney Henderson, and Sam Houston. J.G. Woldert,
his wife Alma Edilina, and their 3 children moved from San Antonio to Tyler,
Texas in 1859, where they had 5 more children. While in Tyler, he became
the first person to make wine from native Texas grapes. 
Alma Mary Woldert McLeroy was remarried to
Robert Spence around 1912, at which time the house underwent a
major remodeling which bought in electricity and plumbing for the first time. However, the biggest change was the addition of the second floor to the
main house. They had 2 more children, Margaret Elizabeth Spence and
Robert W. Spence, Jr.. Alma Mary's father, William Albert Woldert,
continued to live in the house until he died of tuberculosis in 1937 at
age 81. Alma Mary, a renowned Texas poet, died in 1955 at 70 years old,
2 years after her second book of poetry was published. Her husband,
Robert Spence, who was Mayor of Tyler in 1958, died in 1965 at 78 years
of age. 
