Treasures of The Texas Collection
Independence, Texas
Script for KWBU-FM and Texas NPR Stations
By Robert Darden
HOST (Executive Producer Mary Landon Darden)
You have to go to the village of Independence to go to the village of
Independence. It’s not on the road to anywhere. And perhaps therein lies its
charm. It is a sleepy, peaceful dot on most maps, hidden in a secluded dale,
eight miles outside of Brenham.
But that has not always been the case. In fact, as Baylor journalism
professor and frequent visitor Robert Darden can attest, Independence was
once the epicenter of Texas history, a powerhouse that helped birth a republic
and the oldest university Texas.
Welcome to the show!
Robert Darden
Thank you.
What did you find in your study of Independence?
WRITER – Robert Darden
History is never far away in Independence. The tiny village retains an
uncommon number of truly historic buildings. For historians, it played a pivotal
role in foundation of Texas. For Baylor University alumni, it is their birthplace.
And for people looking for a quiet weekend getaway, it is a place redolent of
antique roses, dotted with impressive ruins, and a nifty new museum. And if you’re
lucky enough to stay in a bed & breakfast, it’s a place where you’ll awaken to the
sound of miniature ponies and the smell of a lumberjack-sized breakfast.
Tell us about the birth of Independence.
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When Stephen F. Austin brought the first European colonists – the so-called
“Old 300” – to what would become Texas in 1824, John P. Coles was among them.
The area around what is now Independence was deemed uncommonly promising
and was claimed by John P. It eventually became known as Coles’ Settlement.
John P. was also a big believer in education. So much so that he hired
brilliant educator Frances Judith Soames Trask from “back East” to found an
academy for girls. When the school closed during Texas Revolution, her concerned
family sent her brother Olwyn Trask to fetch her back. However, once he arrived
in Galveston, he impulsively joined the Texas Army and fought for independence
from Mexico. Alas, Olwyn was one of the few Texians to die at the Battle of San
Jacinto … and so Frances stayed. Other schools soon popped up and Independence
was nick-named “The Athens of Texas.”
There is a legend – or perhaps it is actually true – about Independence and the
struggle for Texas independence. Can you shed light on that?
Among the early residences of the new town, one belonged to Dr. Asa C.
Hoxey Jr., a veteran of the siege of Bexar during the Texas revolution. Hoxey built
what was then the grandest home in Independence – under the direct supervision of
a French architect, it took dozens of slaves nearly two years to complete.
And in the darkest days of the Revolution, after the fall of the Alamo, Gen.
Sam Houston and his staff stayed with Hoxey en route to San Jacinto. During a
heated strategy session, Hoxey’s grand-daughter toddled into the parlor. Houston
stopped, picked the child up, placed her on his knee and declared, “If this children
smiles on me, it will be an omen of victory.”
The baby smiled and it was, indeed, a good omen.
Hoxey was later appointed the Republic’s first “medical censor” – charged
to keep the state free of the patent oil salesmen and medical quacks who plagued
the frontier. As for Houston, he decided that Independence would be a good place
to raise a family as well.
Washington County was the wealthiest, most populous county in the state in
the 1830s and ‘40s. When Texas declared its independence in nearby Washingtonon-the-Brazos, delegates and guests actually stayed in the newly re-named
Independence because of the number and quality of the accommodations there.
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Isn’t Independence also an important site for Baptists?
One of the first three Baptist churches in the state was founded in
Independence on September 1839 with 11 members, and it remains today as the
oldest Baptist church in continual operation in the state. Independence Baptist
Church will reappear in a moment.
In fact, only a couple of years after the Alamo and San Jacinto, there were
enough Baptists that a group of them began meeting in nearby Brenham to talk
about opening a religious college. The committee consisted of the Rev. James
Huckins, the first Baptist missionary to Texas, Judge R.E.B. Baylor, and Dr.
William M. Tryon, another Baptist missionary to Texas, who had the initial idea of
a religious college.
Their goal, as one early supporter wrote, was “… to found a Baptist
university in Texas upon a plan so broad that the requirements of existing
conditions would be fully met, and that would be susceptible of enlargement and
development to meet the demands of all ages to come.”
After much wrangling – these are Baptists, after all – and four years of
delays caused by constant Comanche raids and an invasion by Mexican forces –
that’s just what happened. The new college was chartered by the Republic of Texas
on February 1, 1845.
But the new college didn’t exactly have an easy go of it, did it?
Actually, the first order of business was to come up with a name. The
finalists were San Jacinto University, Tryon University, and Milam University,
before the group settled on Baylor, much to the dismay of the old judge.
Now they needed a place for Baylor. Capitalists all, the first trustees opened
bidding to all Texas cities – whoever offered the most would get the first Baptist
college in the state, and that included land, existing buildings, livestock, cotton,
hay. In short, everything would be considered in the bid:
The village of Travis came up with $3,500 worth of goods, services and very
scarce cash.
Shannon Prairie topped that with $4,725.
Huntsville saw Shannon Prairie’s offer and scrounged together $5,400.
Independence, Texas 4
But in the end, Independence won, cobbling together nearly $8,000, which
included a brace of oxen. Civic leaders pointed proudly to the profitability of its
existing educational institutions, its location on the Houston to Austin stage coach
line, and the large population.
Tyron, incidentally, was pastor of Independence church, the largest and most
influential Baptist church in the state. Sadly, he did not live long enough to see
Baylor flourish. He died in a yellow fever epidemic in the swampy village of
Houston … he remained when wealthy people fled, still tending to the sick.
And thus began the hard slog of building and staffing what would become
the first co-ed institution of higher education west of the Mississippi.
Can you talk about some the more interesting students who attended Baylor?
Among the very earliest attendees was a remarkable young lady by the name
of Sallie McNeill, who kept a detailed diary of her two years at Baylor in
Independence from 1858-1859. Sallie vowed at an early age never to marry and
her uncommonly frank diary with its minute details of day-to-day life still delights
historians today, especially its vivid depictions of the well-known administrators
and professors, including the beloved Horace Clark, Head of the Female
Department and the austere Puritan Rev. Rufus C. Burleson.
Sallie’s diary is a quirky mixture of girlish pranks and deep discussions of
Latin, philosophy and literature, all done in the elegant style of the day. Even her
criticisms are elegant:
“We had a fine serenade from the brass-band last night, as everybody
declares. But I could not think, there was any harmony in the discordant sounds so
near us, I like its strains heard at a distance.”
As for entertainment, the young ladies would have concerts, while boys
would have rousing, heated debates over such topics as whether or not Charles I of
England should have been executed or not … there existed a big rivalry between
the two branches of Baylor in those days and the girls’ college in particular
flourished under Clarke’s enlightened leadership.
Sam Houston is certainly the most famous resident of old Independence. Are
there any interesting stories from his days there? He was supposed to be quite
a character!
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One of the homes still standing in Independence from that era belonged to
Sam and Margaret Houston and his formidable mother-in-law Nancy Lea. Sam
Houston was a legendary reprobate, whose intemperate language scandalized
society even as he motivated his troops. Houston continued a life-long feud with
Rufus Burleson, the dogmatic, autocratic president of Baylor and pastor of the
Independence Baptist Church.
According to historian Robert Reid, “Houston and Burleson would quarrel in
public, then would go into the old Independence Baptist Church, confess their sins,
fall on the floor in repentance and prayer, reconcile, walk outside, and resume their
quarrel.” Baylor Trustees repeatedly reprimanded the abrasive, intolerant Burleson,
but to no avail.
Still, near the end of his life, Houston finally saw the light. He repented and
asked for Baptism in the creek that separated the men’s and women’s division of
Baylor and flowed by the church. Houston’s conversion was greeted as an event of
state-wide importance by joyous Baptists. However, some waggish Baylor boys
allegedly dammed the little stream, causing it to turn muddy overnight, forcing the
baptism more than a mile upstream. According to at least one source, when Sam
was told that his sins “had been washed away,” he retorted, “Well, I certainly feel
sorry for the fishes.”
Houston’s wallet was apparently baptized, as well, because he promptly
declared that he’d henceforth pay the pastor’s salary!
Can you talk a bit about the Baptist Church that now stands as a museum for
Independence and early Texas Baptists?
The original Independence Baptist Church is now a museum to Texas
Baptists. It retains many original fixtures, including a rough-hewn chandelier, early
stained glass and the wooden pews, including Houston’s, where he studiously
carved his initials with his ever-present pocket-knife. Sam took whittling seriously.
Also still standing is the bell tower, with the church bell created from melted
silver dollars and silverware donated by Houston’s mother-in-law Lea. She’s
buried next to the brand new Independence Baptist Church, which sits across FM
50 from the original, and – most importantly – still within the sound of that bell –
which was her final wish.
Independence, Texas 6
As for the lovely Margaret Moffette Lea Houston, she’s buried in the
Independence cemetery, the victim of yet another Yellow Fever epidemic … this
one in 1867, when entire families were lost and some coastal towns were
decimated. A hastily enforced quarantine meant that her body could not be
transported to Huntsville for internment next to her late husband.
The Independence cemetery is the resting place of a few of the town’s more
colorful residents through the years. Tell us about some of them.
This cemetery is indeed a fascinating and yet peaceful place. Established in
1823, it boasts the gravesites of many noted early Texians.
One of the most fascinating people buried in the cemetery is Gen. Jerome
Bonaparte Robertson. Robertson had just graduated from a Kentucky medical
school when he heard of the fight for Texas independence. He raised a company of
volunteers to help Old Sam Houston and arrived just after the battle of San Jacinto
in 1837. Robertson liked Independence so much that he decided to stay, despite the
frequent Comanche raids. He served in both houses of the young Texas legislature
and when Texas joined Confederacy, raised the Fifth Texas Regiment, which was
attached to Hood’s famed Brigade.
Few brigades saw more action than Hood’s. They fought in 40 significant
battles – Robertson was wounded five times, including once at Gettysburg. After
the particularly vicious battle of Antietam, he succeeded Hood as general. His son
Felix was eventually elevated to the rank of general as well, and they became one
of the only two father-son general combinations in the Civil War.
Robertson’s beautifully restored home still sits across from Windmill Hill,
the site of the original Baylor campus.
The Independence Cemetery has other intriguing markers and
gravesites, including one for Tacitus T. Clay, a scholar of Latin and Greek, who –
along with his four sons – served under Jerome Robertson. The sons all returned
home safely, but Clay lost a leg in battle.
This is no small feat, incidentally – of the men who original enlisted in
Hood’s Brigade, only 12 percent survived the horrendous battles of Second
Manassas, Antietam, the Wilderness and the infamous Devil’s Den of Gettysburg.
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As for Clay himself, his one-legged ghost is said to occasionally pop up at
the welcoming Tacitus T. Clay Bed and Breakfast in Independence ... perhaps in
search of one of Thelma’s wonderful breakfasts.
Oh my! So what happened to Baylor?
The college continued to flourish for a time in Independence, but eventually
declined. It struggled to recover after the Civil War and changing immigration
patterns. The railroad by-passed the town for Brenham, and the dirt roads from
both Brenham and Navasota were virtually impassable in the winter. With the
death of the popular Baylor President William Carey Crane, its fate seemed sealed
The Baylor’s men’s college left for Central Texas, where it joined Waco
University in 1886. Later that year, the popular women’s college left for Belton
and became, in time, the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor.
In 1885, Independence had five steam grist mills and cotton gins, three
churches, two colleges, good public schools and a population of about 500. After
the departure of Baylor, just five years later, only 300 people remained.
Membership at Independence Baptist, once reaching a high of 159 members in
1886, fell to just 48 members at the turn of the last century.
As for the buildings of old Baylor, archeologist Jay Belew has established
that the main buildings suffered six major fires between 1888 and 1901. A black
orphanage using one of the abandoned buildings on the grounds may have been the
target. The remaining buildings crumbled into disrepair and their handsome stones
incorporated into new buildings, including the Lueckemeyer-Bentke Store, a
combination grocery store, restaurant and pub that is the heartbeat of the
community today.
Still, being isolated and relegated to the backwaters of Texas history isn’t
necessarily all bad, at least for people who love history.
That’s right. Being off the beaten track meant that a host of historic
buildings survive even today. One such home is the Seward plantation, built in
1855 from hand-sawed cedar by John Hoblett Seward. Seward traveled from
Illinois to Texas in the 1820 with two horses, a saddle bag, a couple of knives and
a Kentucky long rifle. He was attacked by Indians in what was then Indian territory
and eventually arrived in what was still called Cole’s Settlement at the time.
Seward chose a high hillside with massive oaks and a perpetual spring, then
Independence, Texas 8
returned to Illinois to retrieve his family. The Kentucky long rifle, incidentally,
served Seward well when he fought beside Sam Houston at the Battle of Jacinto.
The main buildings were lovingly restored a century later by his
descendents. The Seward plantation is still a working farm, with most of the
original furniture and some unique architectural features, including board-andbatten slave quarters from a time when the Brazos Valley was a leading cottonproducing area, a blacksmith’s shop, and a double-pen haymow – all still intact
today. It’s available for tours by reservation only.
What other buildings survive?
One is an ancient structure made of adobe, thought to be a jail, complete with bars
on the windows, when the area was under Mexican control. Nearby is the Blanton
Block, a four-building complex that was once a hotel, boarding house, depot and
general store from the 1840s. It was reconstructed years later from the plans of the
originals.
Of course, many, many buildings are lost, including several magnificent
mansions from the early 1800s that only exist in faded photographs and drawings.
Even the Masonic Lodge, which once boasted a Who’s Who of early Texians as
members, is gone.
As for the buildings of old Baylor, what remains survives on two facing
hills, separated by the highway and the little creek dubbed “The River Jordan” by
Baylor students since it separated the male and female campuses. The boys of
Baylor, by the way, referred to the other side of the creek as “The Promised Land.”
The columns of the female college on Academy Hill are perhaps the most
impressive sight. The Independence Historical Society has moved several other
historic buildings nearby to create an unusually pleasant park, especially in the
spring, when the surrounding fields are awash in bluebonnet blue.
On Windmill Hill, the foundations of the men’s college are the centerpiece
of a self-guided walking tour, complete with fascinating color markers that recreate
what life was like at Baylor more than 100 years ago.
Fortunately for those who love history and pleasant things, Independence has
had a number of angels through the years.
Independence, Texas 9
One such angel is Houston businessman David Wolff, who has worked
tirelessly with the Independence Historic Foundation to protect the village from the
worst excesses of modern life, buying at-risk land, planting oaks, creating walking
paths and erecting a host of fascinating plaques and memorials.
Another is Baylor graduate Lanella Gray, who has become the village’s
unofficial “mayor” and hostess to the hordes of Baylor students who arrive each
fall for a crash course in Baylor history and tradition. Lanella is a tireless promoter
of Independence.
Consequently, because of their work and many others, Independence today
is a soothingly addictive retreat from modern life. Visitors can stroll the entire
village, walking up and down what historian Robert Reid calls “The Seven Hills of
Independence” – although, as he freely admits, “You really have to work to get
that seventh hill.”
Across one such hill spreads the famous Antique Rose Emporium, which does
an international catalogue business in rare roses and other plants.
The Antique Rose Emporium is a nationally known repository of the
scarcest of roses, a couple dozen acres of brilliant color with hidden nooks and
crannies, gardens, arbors, ponds – even a chapel – all ablaze in color. A favorite is
the delicate white Baylor antique rose, salvaged from the ruins on the grounds of
old Baylor, and a hardy survivor of more difficult times.
What should visitors to Independence take away from their visit to this
charming little community?
Well, I like these words from an address at an Independence homecoming in
1952 … Dr. L.R. Elliott wrote this about Baylor’s 40 years in Independence:
“In this 1,000-mile laboratory and during this 100-year experiment, Baptists
have staked their denominational fortune on these principles, have made a
demonstration of their value for the religious welfare of man, and have written a
working formula with a large measure of success.”
Of Independence itself, Baylor professor and historian Dr. Michael Parrish
once had this to say:
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“A broad cross-section of Texans lived, worked, preached, taught and
struggled for many years in Independence. It was considered the economic and
cultural center of Texas. Nearby Washington-on-the-Brazos was a seat of power.
Today, Independence still strongly reflects that glory. History here is palpable. It
hangs in the air like Spanish moss and kudzu.”
Finally, as for Reid, who has long been one of Baylor’s most beloved
professors, he returns to Independence as often as he is able. And his favorite spot
is on Windmill Hill, in front the foundations of the old buildings:
“When I’m here, I can visualize this era like nowhere else. I try to visualize
those kids going to classes and chapel at Tryon Hall. It is the spirit of ‘old Baylor.’
It is the students who came across the frontier filled with a passion for learning.
That’s what I see when I stand here.”
I guess the last question is, “What will you see in Independence? “
If you can’t make it to Independence, the Texas Collection on the
Baylor campus has the largest collection of Independence-related documents,
books, maps, letters, photographs, memoirs, diaries, magazine and newspaper
articles, minutes and official records.
~ END ~
Research conducted at The Texas Collection at Baylor University:
http://www.baylor.edu/lib/texas/
Production was made possible by The Texas Collection, KWBU-FM
and Bill and Kathy Wardlaw.
Property of The Texas Collection at Baylor University
Final Edit: January 9, 2010
_________________________________________________
Robert Darden, Writer
Independence, Texas 11
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Dr. Mary Landon Darden, Executive Producer
_________________________________________________
Pattie Orr, Vice President of Information Technology and Dean of
University Libraries
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John Wilson, Associate Director of The Texas Collection
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Dr. Thomas L. Charlton, Director of The Texas Collection