Completed in 1906 on land purchased from his father-in-law, this family residence was built for newspaperman Henry Reese Jr. and his wife Otelia Elizabeth (Scheske) Reese. Born February 2, 1863, in Hallettsville to German immigrant parents, Henry joined the Gonzales press young: in 1883 he bought a half-interest in The Gonzales Inquirer from Carey J. Pilgrim, became sole owner in 1886, and in 1898 led the paper’s transition from a weekly to a daily. He partnered with D. L. Beach for nineteen years; after Beach’s death in 1906, Emmet Smith entered as co-owner. That same year Henry married Otelia Scheske (b. June 3, 1883), whose father Amiel Edward Scheske emigrated from Posen in 1855. Shortly after the wedding, Henry acquired the homesite from Amiel and finished the house in 1906 for their growing family.
In 1910 Henry re-purchased Smith’s share, regaining full ownership of the Inquirer. He remained at the helm until his death on November 2, 1923, capping four decades in local journalism that helped define Gonzales’s civic life at the turn of the century. Afterward, Otelia managed the paper until 1926, when their son Henry Reese III joined the business. Henry and Otelia had three children. Otelia died September 13, 1965; both are buried in the Gonzales Masonic Cemetery.