Lee Smoke House

The restoration of the Lee Smokehouse was made possible by a grant from The Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) and Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative (BEC). The plaque on the smokehouse, included in the grant reads:

W. O. Weber (1858-1926) and his wife Matilda (1865-1935) built this smokehouse (circa 1900) for their daughter, Frances, on property they had purchased in 1881, about eight miles from Rockne in the Watterson Community.

Richard “Ray” and Marion Petty Lee subsequently purchased the property in 1953 and continued to use the smokehouse for some years until they stopped butchering hogs. Mr. Lee stuffed toe sacks in between the logs to keep the smoke inside. He hung the sausages from the handle of a cotton hoe stretched across the beams and covered hams and shoulders with salt in a box in the corner of the smokehouse. The young boys in the family had the responsibility of keeping the fire smoking, not flaming.

The Lee children, Billie Lee Voigt, James Raymond Lee, Donald Eugene Lee and Doris Lee Kershaw donated this log smokehouse to the Rockne Historical Association (RHA) in memory of their parents. Herman Barton arranged for the donation and moved the smokehouse from its original location to Hilbig Park in 2005. Mark Lee, a grandson, did the research on the origins of the smokehouse.

The Lower Colorado River Authority and the Bluebonnet Electric Coop granted funds to RHA making possible the restoration of the historic log smokehouse. The renovation was completed in 2008.

On 27 August 2008, RHA celebrated the completion of the restoration in front of the smokehouse under a big oak tree. It was the perfect spot on a sunny morning to listen to a detailed description of “A Hog Killing Day” by Jim Lee.

Jim said, “It was always cold on hog killing day. It had to be or the meat would spoil. Activities actually started a day or two before the actual event. A hole was dug under a strong tree limb and a 55-gallon drum set in the hole at an angle. Knives were sharpened, pots and pans gathered, and the sausage grinder clamped to the kitchen table. By daylight on the day of the killing, there was a fire under the wash pot full of water. Neighbors would start to gather not too long after sunup. Daddy usually dispensed the hapless hog with a .22. He’d climb up on the fence and shoot down at the hog, looking up expecting slop. But hog’s brains are kinda small and this sometimes proved exciting. One time he shot a little low and we had to chase the hog down and tackle it so he could finish the job. Another time, right after WWII, Uncle Sammy wanted to do the honors with a Walther P38 he’d taken off a German soldier. Instead of climbing up on the fence, he knelt down and fired through the fence. The meat was ruined all the way to the hams. As soon as the hog was killed, its throat was cut to drain as much blood as possible. The hog was then fitted with a singletree hooked in its hind legs and hoisted with a block and tackle above the 55-gallon drum, which had been partly filled with hot water. After several dippings in the hot water, with more hot water added between dippings, two or three men scraped the hair off, pulling butcher knives sideways. The hog was then gutted, being careful not to cut into the guts. The hog was cut into pieces and the skin and layer of fat removed. The skin and fat was cut into small pieces that were cooked in a wash pot to melt the fat to be used as hog lard. What was left was cracklings that were used to make lye soap. Shoulders and hams were packed in a box of salt in one corner of the smokehouse. Just about everything else was run through the sausage grinder into the guts that the women had scrapped clean. The kids, who had spent most of the day playing and watching, got to turn the sausage grinder. The sausage was hung over a hoe handle in the smokehouse and a fire started under it that would be kept going just enough to make smoke for a couple of weeks. At the end of the day, everyone took a share of the meat home and the same thing would happen again at the neighbor’s the next cold spell. Some people kept the pig’s feet but we never did. Daddy usually took the hog’s head and a bushel or so of corn shucks to a Mexican lady in Bastrop who made tamales on the halves. They sure were good but we would joke about whether there was anything on that head she didn’t use.”

After the program, everyone wandered to the smokehouse to investigate the faint stream of smoke drifting in the air. Bernard Probst of Tucker Homes who restored the smokehouse also built a fire pit and made the smoking fire early that morning. Once again, sausages hung in the smoked filled log room and a pleasant aroma emanated evoking memories of times passed when meat was smoked and cured after hog butchering.

After taking many pictures and inspecting the meats hanging in the smokehouse, guests were invited to lunch at the Rockne Museum. Directors and docents prepared an array of delicious casseroles, salads and deserts. After lunch, there was time to tour the Rockne Museum and other historic log buildings in Hilbig Park.