House of Barr and Davenport

A trading firm, later known as the House of Barr and Davenport, was organized in 1798 in Nachitoches, Louisiana, by William Barr and Peter Samuel Davenport, in partnership with Luther Smith and Edward Murphy. This firm freighted merchandise across the Neutral Ground from Louisiana to Texas and transported peltries, furs, and livestock back to Louisiana. After 1800 Barr had exclusive rights to supply the Indians of Texas. In 1798 the firm acquired from Edward Murphy 144 sections of land called La Nana, a tract of land east of the Sabine. In 1805 it acquired Las Ormigas, near La Nana, a tract of 207,360 acres. Luther Smith died in 1807, and Edward Murphy died in 1808. When Barr died in 1810, the firm was dissolved. In 1809 the firm's holdings in Nacogdoches alone were valued at $30,000.