A grand home with familial connections to some of the most prominent early families in Galveston stands on the corner of 17th Street and Broadway, its halls filled with memories of those who have lived there through the years.

The house was designed by Irish architect Nicolas Clayton (1840-1916) for real estate investor, and capitalist John Charles League (1850-1916) and his wife Cornelia “Nellie” Ball (1854-1940). Both were the second generation of prominent Galveston families.

League was the son of Thomas Massey League (1808-1865) and Esther “Hettie” Yarral Wilson (1812-1884). His wife was the daughter of Sarah Catherine Perry (1825-1904) and George Ball, Sr. (1817-1884), namesake of Ball High School and Ball Avenue

The grand home and extensive gardens took months to build. During that time, in addition to work, the couple enjoyed excursions to resorts in Chicago, Niagara Falls, New York, and Philadelphia. Their daughter, Sarah “Daisy” Ball League (1876-1922), was attending Ogontz School for Young Ladies in Pennsylvania.

The Leagues moved into their new home in 1894 shortly before their twentieth wedding anniversary, and their daughter joined them after finishing her studies.

In December of that year, the couple issued invitations for an “at home,” or party, at their residence for the evening after Christmas. Though Mr. League was not known for being highly social outside of his own home, this event was one of many in the coming years.

Daisy became engaged to Waters Smith Davis II (1868-1940), a broker for the Seaboard Rice Milling Company and heir to the Davis fortune, in 1898. The community was abuzz with excitement about the wedding which was anticipated as one of the most important events of the season, but were disappointed when the couple chose to marry in a quiet ceremony that October in New York where her parents maintained a second residence.

After their honeymoon, they moved in with the bride’s parents at their Broadway mansion.

In the 1890s, League purchased land in the northwestern part of Galveston County along the Galveston, Houston, and Henderson Railroad track where he oversaw the development of residential lots, infrastructure, and a commercial district. The new community was named League City in his honor.

In 1907, he organized the shipment of two railcars full of live oaks to be shipped into this new community, and today many of these hundred-year-old-plus trees still grow along Main Street and in the historic district there.

In addition to his own enterprises, League was the president of the Ball Charity Association, and he was a member of various boards including the Galveston Board of Education, Galveston Orphan’s Home, Letitia Rosenberg Women’s Home, and Galveston Deep Water Committee.

Daisy and her husband relocated to their own large home in January 1900, three months after their son Waters Davis III was born.

According to the June 1900 census, the Leagues had three live-in servants to help maintain their large home: 56-year-old widow Annie Pringle; and Albert and Cynthia McKinney, a couple in their 30s. The McKinneys appeared again in the 1910 census, along with 33-year-old Clara Calhoun.

League had an emergency appendectomy in January 1916 but failed to rally from the operation and died at his home a few days later. Adding to the tragedy was the fact that his nephew had passed away just 17 hours earlier. League’s funeral service was held in the front parlor of his home before his interment at Trinity Episcopal Cemetery.

Nellie continued to live in their home, and she dedicated herself to philanthropies, especially those that concerned the welfare of young women. She was instrumental in the development of Galveston’s Y.W.C.A. (Young Women’s Christian Association) and would later use the land where the home of her in-laws once stood to erect a beautiful building for the organization.

The members of the Y.W.C.A. enjoyed an evening watermelon feast hosted by Nellie in her gardens in August 1917. Members of the Girls’ Protective League of the association met on the grounds of Ball High School and marched to the League home in unison performing drill maneuvers and songs for onlookers. Once they arrived, musicians performed music as watermelon was served to guests.

That same year, a special performance of “The Taming of the Shrew” was performed on the lawn of the League residence through the courtesy of Mrs. Waters Davis. A portion of the proceeds from tickets sales was donated to the Red Cross. The play was performed by Elsie Hernden and George Carlton, along with Edmund Keans and George Somnes, former stars of the Ben Greet Players who were renowned through England for their open-air productions of classic stage repertory.

Daisy and her husband moved to Boston in 1919, though they maintained a home in Galveston, to be closer to their two children. She passed away three years later.

Nellie League moved to the exclusive Briarcliff Manor Village in New York at the same time to be closer to family, and sold her Broadway home to Eliza “Lyda” Seinsheimer Kempner (1852-1947), widow of Hershell “Harris” Kempner (1837-1894), an immigrant entrepreneur.

The Kempners were one of Galveston’s most influential families. After her husband’s passing Eliza managed the family fortune. The couple had eleven children together, eight of whom lived to adulthood. The surviving offspring were: Isaac Herbert (1873-1967), Daniel Webster (1877-1956), Hattie (1880-1958), Robert Lee (1883-1966), Stanley Eugene “Pat” (1885-1954), Frances “Fannie” (1888-1987), Sara Elizabeth (1890-1983), and Gladys (1893-1968).

Nellie League visited Galveston for the last time in 1938, her first visit in more than seven years, and undoubtedly drove past her former home. She died in New York in 1940.

Eliza was a board member of the lady managers of the Letitia Rosenberg Home for women and the president of the Hebrew Benevolent Society. She was also one of the founding members of Galveston Orphan’s Home, incorporated in 1880 and on whose board she served for more than 50 years.

She entertained members and committees of the groups for which she volunteered with teas and receptions in her home, including the Ladies’ Hebrew Benevolent Society.

Of her children, Gladys, Robert, and Stanley never married and lived in the home the rest of their lives.

Fannie married Louis Albert Adoue (1886-1918), son of successful Galveston businessman Bertrand Adoue, in February 1918. Tragically, her husband died the following October during the Spanish Flu epidemic, when Fannie was just one month pregnant with their daughter Frances. After his death, she moved back into her mother’s home, where she raised their daughter.

The 1920 census lists Eliza at home with the above four children and one grandchild, along with two live-in maids (Mollie Woller and Nettie Jewel) and a nursemaid named Hanna Whelton. Not much had changed by the census taken ten years later, other than an increase in servants to four that included two maids, a governess, and a gardener.

By the 1940 census, however, Eliza lived there with the same five relatives, but no live-in servants, probably due to the changes in the economic landscape, although both Robert and Stanley were highly successful businessmen.

 

Eliza Kempner died at the age of 96 in September 1947 after living in Galveston for more than 75 years. Her funeral, like those of so many other family members, was held at home. She left her home to her youngest child Gladys, who carried on her mother’s legacy of volunteerism and gardening.

Gladys’ brother Stanley passed away in December 1954; his was the next funeral held in the home.

The Kempner Gardens continued to garner admiration, being planted with a variety of trees and shrubbery that provided year-round blooming and two meticulously maintained greenhouses.

Trinity Episcopal Church hosted the Pilgrimage Homes Tour in December 1963, showcasing three private homes and Eaton Hall each decorated with a unique theme. The Kempner home took part by donning decorations celebrating a Victorian Christmas, much to the delight of visitors. Robert passed away in 1966, and Gladys followed in 1968, being the last two celebrations of life in the home’s parlor.

Gladys left a percentage of the interest in the property to the Harris and Eliza Kempner Fund, and, after her death, the home was briefly leased to a family outside of the Kempner lines.

Fannie, the last survivor of the Kempner children, dedicated her life to volunteering for the school board, Galveston Playground Association, and American Red Cross. A tree sculpted in her honor stands on the playground of the park named for her beside Rosenberg Elementary School.

The Kempner family maintained the home until 1972 when it was purchased by John Samuels III.

In the 1970s and 1980s, the home and gardens served as a meeting place for members of the International Oleander Society, who were enchanted by the 17 varieties of oleanders planted there, as well as propagations in the greenhouse. The organization’s connection with the property continued at the May 1992 Oleander Festival, during which the dedication of oleander varieties named for Frances Moody Newman and John Samuels were officially celebrated in the garden.

The gardens were one of six featured sites on the Backyard Garden Tour in May 1994, and touted as being “hidden behind the mansion…one of the largest privately owned gardens on the island, reminiscent of a formal English tea garden.”

Janie Mitcham, owner of the Lucas Terrace Apartments, purchased the property in 2021 from Samuel’s estate, and is currently working on its restoration. Nellie and Eliza would be pleased to see a female take charge of their home again.