By Staff
A couple of weeks ago I made the Spring Home Tour of four beautiful homes here in Brewton. I truly enjoyed all the homes, but there was one that distributed a history of the family that built the house. Put that together with a photo that I received from Alex Luttrell and it becomes even more interesting.
Oscar Forney Luttrell was born in Oxford on June 14, 1859. He was named after a Civil War general who commanded the unit his father was in during the war. He was educated and certified to teach in Calhoun County. In January 1889, he moved to Brewton to help organize the Bank of Brewton with Charles L. Sowell Sr. He was a cashier in the new bank and later named vice-president and bank director.
He married Mollie McGill Odon (June 12, 1864) who was a well-educated young lady (for the time) who taught music and foreign languages.
The couple moved in the social circles of Brewton and were very active in church and civic life. They lived several places after their move to Brewton and in the early part of the 1900s (the date has not been definitely decided); they hired Frank Lockwood, the noted Montgomery architect to design a two-story home on Belleville Avenue. Lockwood also designed two other homes in Brewton, the Oscar Gordon home on Sowell Road and the William Yancey Lovelace on Belleville Avenue (which burned down). Coffered ceilings ands walls three brick thick were common features in homes designed by Lockwood.
Frank Luttrell, grandson of Oscar and Mollie Luttrell, remembers sliding down the banister at the home when he was a little boy.
The house has changed owners over the years. Bert and Dean Wiggers lived there when the house was completely renovated. Gerome and Donna Brackin are the present owners and, although it has changed looks over the years, it is still the grand home built by Oscar and Mollie around a century ago.