Lamar acquired two town lots in Richmond in 1838, but public service and extensive travels kept him from settling there permanently. After marrying Henrietta Maffitt in 1851, the couple toured the South, and their daughter, Loretto Evalina 'Lola,' was born in Georgia in 1852. By early 1853, Lamar and his family had arrived in Richmond to establish a home, where he searched urgently for a house while local citizens prepared to welcome them. In May 1853, Lamar entered a joint farming agreement with Jane Long, whom he had known since his first trip to Texas in 1835, purchasing a one-half interest in her 1,000-acre plantation, and the two families farmed the property together throughout 1853. When Lamar's portion was surveyed in 1854, a home and gin already stood near the river, and he described the residence as a comfortable dwelling house with the usual out-houses of the plantation. The household included Lamar, his wife Henrietta, daughter Loretto, sister-in-law Eliza Maffitt Budd, and her daughter Carrie Budd. While Lamar served as an ambassador in Central America, Dr. E.S. Alexander became the plantation's overseer and married Eliza Budd in 1859. The plantation also received many visitors, including Jose Agustin Quintero, a Cuban-born revolutionary, lawyer, journalist, and poet who helped translate Spanish-language documents on Texas history that Lamar collected throughout his life in Texas.