History
Brookshire Family Cemetery
Brookshire Family Cemetery Established c. 1850 Historic Texas Cemetery - 2004
History
Camp Site Of the Texas Army
Five miles to the southeast to the camp site of the Texas Army March 31 to April 13, 1836 when it crossed the Brazos on the steamboat Yellow Stone and began its march toward Harrisburg.
History
Captain Nathen Brookshire
Captain Nathen Brookshire. Participated in the storming and capture of Bexar, December 5th to 10th,1835. A captain in the Texas Army, 1836. Born in Tennessee, 1793. Died Jan. 10, 1853
History
Clear Creek Confederate War Camps
Although no physical evidence has been found of the Confederate camp sites in this area, historical accounts have established that this part of Waller County was the location of several Civil War encampments. The close proximity of Clear Creek, the railroad, and the city of Hempstead made this area a logical site for training soldiers and for holding federal prisoners.
Architecture
Donigan House
A native of Turkey, Paul M. Donigan (1862-1930) came to the United States about 1890 to attend medical school. The presence of relatives in this area brought him to Brookshire upon graduation. In 1910, Dr. Donigan built this home for his wife, Rebecca (1863-1954). The main floor was on the second level, while the lower floor served as a cellar and Donigan's medical office.
History
Field's Store Community
Settlers began arriving in this vicinity prior to the Civil War. In the early 1870s Druey Holland Field (1809-72) and his wife Caroline (Perry) (1837-76) opened a general store in the area, and the small agricultural settlement that soon developed became known as Field's Store community.
History
Fields Store Cemetery
Established during Reconstruction period on land given by D. H. Fields, local merchant for whom community and cemetery were named, and by J. W. Day, Confederate veteran. Burial place of early settlers of area and their descendants, including veterans of 5 wars. Under management of Fields Store Cemetery Association.
History
Former Waller County Post Offices
Before the age of modern communication, the postal system was a vital link between isolated rural settlements. Early Waller County post offices were often located in a residence or general store near the local church, gristmill, cotton gin, or blacksmith shop. They provided a center of community activity where families could socialize and purchase supplies as well as pick up mail.
History
Frey Cemetery
John Frey, born Johannes Frei in 1857 in Switzerland, came to America in 1877. He settled in Austin County, Texas, where he married German immigrant Mary Baethe in 1879. They eventually were the parents of fifteen children. They moved to Waller County in 1889 and settled near this site. In 1902 the Freys' infant daughter, Annie, died and was buried on the family farm.
Architecture
Frey-Benignus House
Swiss immigrant John Frey (1857-1925) and his German-born wife Mary (1862-1933) moved to Waller County in late 1889. They built a small two-room house, a barn, and smokehouse, and began a family farm. The couple eventually had fifteen children and added rooms to their home as their family grew.
History
Gen. George and Libbie Custer Campsite
Soon after the Civil War General George Armstrong Custer and his cavalry unit arrived in Texas as part of a large U.S. force sent to establish order and counter the threat posed by French-controlled Mexico. From August to October, 1865, Custer, his wife Elizabeth (Libbie), and several U.S. Cavalry units camped here on the Liendo plantation of Leonard W.
History
Groce Family Plantations
Pioneers in this Texas area. Had early cotton gin and ferry. Founder of family was Jared E. Groce (1782-1836), who came to Texas in 1822. His large wagon train brought elaborate plantation equipment. Groce built "Bernardo" and "Groce's Retreat." Heirs built "Pleasant Hill," "Eagle Island" and "Liendo" (the only surviving Groce mansion, 2 mi. NW of here).
History
Heinrich Konrad Karl Leverkuhn
(July 22, 1842 -- November 11, 1915) German-born Heinrich Leverkuhn cane to Texas in 1857 and was a foragemaster for the Confederate army during the Civil War. He ran a store in Hockley after the war. In 1878 he became a farmer-rancher in "Foresouth Prairie", now Macedonia Community. He had a cotton gin, syrup mill, and blacksmith shop.
History
Hempstead High School
When the town of Hempstead was founded in 1856, a centrally located school site was platted; however, no school building was erected until after the Civil War (1861-65) and ensuing era of economic stress. There were several private schools conducted, and early public school sessions were held in rented quarters, the old Waller County Jail being used at $250 a year rental from 1881 to 1887.
History
Highland Home School
A small white frame schoolhouse, erected here in the 1890s, served families in this rural area until 1929. Initially called Boyd School for D. R. Boyd, on whose land it was built, it later became known as Highland Home School. Children in grades one through seven were taught by one teacher, and the schoolhouse also served as a community gathering place.
History
In This Vicinity_Plantation of Charles Donoho
In this vicinity on the plantation of Charles Donoho the Texas Army under General Sam Houston encamped April 14-15, 1836 before beginning its march to Harrisburg. Erected by the State of Texas 1936
History
Isaac Best
(1774-1837> One of the "Old 300" settlers of Stephen F. Austin's colony, Isaac Best spent his early life in Pennsylvania and Kentucky, where he built a mill and Best's Fort, a pioneer refuge during the War of 1812. He brought his wife Mary Margaret (Wilkins) (1776-1852) and some of their nine children to Texas about 1824.
History
Jacob E. Freeman
In response to the political, social and economic turmoil in Texas and the South after the Civil War, the federal government enacted the Reconstruction Act on March 2, 1867. Many local and state officials were removed from office and a constitutional convention convened in 1868 with ten African Americans elected to serve.
History
James Tarrant Pattison Homesite
Located at important junction of Atascosito Road and the San Felipe Trail, this homesite was established by James Tarrant and Sarah Smith Pattison on their Republic of Texas land grant, and became a stagecoach stop. Their plantation of 5,000 acres had its own grist mill, sawmill, and cotton gin. The first church and school in the community were founded through the efforts of Pattison.
History
Judge Edwin Waller
(March 16, 1800 -- January 3, 1881) Virginia native Edwin Waller migrated to Texas from Missouri in 1831 as part of Stephen F. Austin's third colony. An active participant in the earliest stages of Texas' struggle for independence, Waller participated in the 1832 Battle of Velasco, served as Alcalde of Brazoria, and represented the town of Columbia in the consultation of 1835 at San Felipe.
History
Kellner Townsite
(in NE part, Stephen F. Austin grant to Wm. Cooper) First town in area. Platted 1893 by John G. Kellner (1846-1933), donor, Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railroad right of way and station site. Kellner's rich Brazos River watershed farm and ranch lands produced rice, cattle, peanuts, pecans, and (later) natural gas. His old home is nearby. Town was renamed Brookshire.
History
Liendo
A plantation home built in 1853 by Leonard W. Groce. The scene for many years of lavish Southern hospitality. Purchased March 4, 1873, by Dr. Edmund Duncan Montgomery 1835-1911), world-famed philosopher, and his wife, Elisabet Ney (1833-1907), pioneer sculptress of Texas. Retained as their homestead throughout their lives. Both are buried in the grounds.
History
Liendo Plantation
1853 - named for Spanish grantee Justo Leindo, first to own this land. Mansion built by Leonard W. Groce, who surrounded it with model plantation industries. In Civil War, site of Camp Groce, a camp of instruction and then P.O.W. center. Occupied in 1865 by Gen. Geo. W. Custer, later to be a central figure in the Little Big Horn tragedy.
History
Madison "Matt" "Kilpatrick"
(1892 - Dec. 1, 1910) Came to Waller County as a runaway slave from Alabama before Civil War. Married Betty Bradford, of Woodard Plantation, Hempstead; had 8 children. A talented blacksmith, he specialized in improving farm implements; became a landowner, freedmen's leader; served as first treasurer, Waller County, 1873-76.
History
Monaville Independent School District
Monaville, Aurora, and Bracy Island schools opened in this area during the last quarter of the 19th century when many rural schools were established throughout Waller County. Bracy Island School, established nearby sometime prior to 1890, and Monaville School, located at this site, constituted School District No. 13 in 1893-94. Aurora School, located about 5 miles south of here, opened in 1898.
Elsewhere in Texas
Hear it from the road
Whistlestop tells you this story automatically when you drive past. No searching, no tapping, nothing to ask.
