Waller County

Understanding Slavery from Top down and Bottom Up

Waller County’s early history along with the activities of its Anglo slave owning inhabitants provide an opportunity to examine these intricate features of slavery and the ways the system shaped economics and politics in the Lone Star State.

Texas map with counties outlined in black. waller-county is highlighted in red.

"History is what the present chooses to remember about the past."

~ Carl Becker

rectangular document with handwritten information recording slave manifest information

Methodology: Genealogy and Archives

Most historical explorations of the past take a top down approach often focusing on the

A sketch drawing of the Bernardo plantation home with Sam Houston's Army.

History of Waller County, 1822

Sketch of first main house at Bernardo Plantation, courtesy of PVAMU Special Collections and Archive.

Photograph of Kirby's two-story, columned, white antebellum home on Alta Vista plantation.

Jared Kirby and Slavery’s Political Economy on the Brazos, 1848-1865

Students from Prairie View A & M University created an interactive Timeline of Jared Kirby’s

black and white portrait photograph of Elizabeth Burney, an elder African-American woman. she is seated in front of a bush wearing a white kerchief, a striped button-down shirt, and a shite printed skirt.

Alta Vista: Slavery and Brutality as Remembered through Experiences of the Enslaved, 1858

Newspaper clip announcing a reward for the recapture of Dan, John, and Bill. Source: John

Newspaper excerpt from

The Civil War, Emancipation and Freedom’s Horizons and Limitations in Waller County, 1862-1876 

The Texas Almanac — “Extra.” (Austin, Tex.), Vol. 1, No. 30, Ed. 1, Thursday, December

group of four women standing outside of a building at Prairie View A&M University

Engaging our Problematic Past, 2022

Slavery’s impact and grasp on the lives of those connected to it extends across centuries.

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