MANOR AND THE 1869 FLOOD

The City of Manor very likely owes its beginning and existence to an extremely destructive and devastating flood that has been described by some as the worst flood in the history of the state of Texas.

In July, 1869 the Colorado River reached never-before-seen levels in several Texas counties. Rain began on July 3rd and continued steadily for more than 60 hours. Central and East Texas cities such as Austin, Webberville, Bastrop, Smithville, La Grange, Columbus, Wharton, and many more, all suffered major losses including people and property along the river. At Bastrop, the river is said to have crested at 60-65 feet – normal level was below 20 feet. In Austin there were reports of the river being two miles wide. In some places, the river, which was normally 80 feet wide, spread to 5 to 10 miles wide. 

Newspapers reported that people, houses, cabins, fence rails, horses, cattle, hogs, etc. were all carried away in the flood. As the waters began to recede people were rescued from trees where they had sought safety from the rising water 2-3 days earlier.

The Weekly Harrison Flag, July 22, 1869

 

The Bastrop Advertiser, June 6, 1981

The Standard (Clarksville, TX), August 7, 1869

What possible connection could the City of  Manor, established 2 ½ years later and eight miles north of the Colorado River, have with this 1869 flood?

Part of the answer to that question began 18 years earlier, when, in 1851, citizens of Austin began discussions to get a railroad built from Houston to Austin. In 1858 a survey was made marking out a route for a railroad from Houston to Austin by the most direct route possible. This would take the line thru the area of Webberville, TX. 

In 1860 the Texas Legislature authorized the establishment of the Air-Line Railroad Company which was to begin building the line.

Due to the start of the Civil War in 1861, very little was accomplished until after the war ended in 1865 when emphasis was once again placed on getting the railroad built. In 1868, at a state Constitutional Convention, the Houston and Texas Central Railway Company was given authority to construct their railroad from the city of Brenham to Austin. The railroad had already been built from Houston to Brenham. 

Brenham to Austin through Webberville 

In April, 1870 a committee of ten men was appointed to meet with the Railroad Company to work out details of getting the line built. One of those ten men was James Manor.

The Houston Telegraph, April 14, 1870

The rest of the answer to the question can be found in a letter written by Mr. John E. Elgin in 1924. In response to a letter he had received from Miss Jewel Meek, Secretary & Treasurer of the Retail Merchants Association of Elgin, TX, Mr. Elgin gave this explanation which was published in The Elgin Courier newspaper;

John E. Elgin (born June 11, 1851) was just eleven months old when his father died. John went to live with his uncle, Robert Morris Elgin, namesake of the city of Elgin, TX. After the Civil War was over, Robert Morriss Elgin moved to Houston, TX and was employed as land commissioner for the Houston and Texas Central Railroad. 

Robert Morriss Elgin

As a young boy, John would often accompany his uncle on railroad business trips.

John said in his letter that the original plan for the railroad was to build it as far as to where the town of McDade is today and then turn left going through the area of Webberville in the Colorado River Valley and on westward into Austin. John also said that he had heard of an old Indian tradition about water once having been all over the Webberville prairie. And, even though the Railroad engineers found water marks indicating this was true, they decided to continue building the line through Webberville. The year was 1868.

The very next year the major flood occurred and the Webberville area and any railroad line that had already been built was under water. As a result a new survey was made taking the line through McDade and on to what is today Elgin and Manor.

1869 Colorado River flood
Mable H. Brooks collection at the Texas State Library and Archives Commission
H. B. Hillyer, photographer

That was when James Manor, as a member of the committee working with the railroad, freely gave the Houston and Texas Central Railroad a 200 feet wide right-of-way through his land, a distance of about two miles. The Railroad Company established a train station and the town of Manor on that right-of-way.

Except for the biggest flood in the history of Texas that occurred in 1869, the railroad probably would not have gone through James Manor’s land and the town of Manor may have never happened when it did and where it is today.

The same can be said for Elgin, Texas.

Remarks delivered at the 2024 Black History Celebration

On September 23, 1802 a North Carolina couple named Mills Manor and Lucy Smith, were married. From 1803 to 1821 eleven children were born into this Manor family, 8 of them in North Carolina, but the last 3 in Tennessee. Between 1836 and 1850, four of those children and their families, with the last name of Manor, moved to central Texas. These were ALL white families.

We know that there were many slaves working on the southern farms and plantations who took the last name of the man who owned the farm or plantation.

A search of Manor  history reveals the names of many people with the last name of Manor, who were NOT white people.

James Manor, the founder of the town of Manor, along with his wife, Phebe, and two young daughters, moved from Tennessee to Texas in 1836. Along with them came James’ younger brother Joseph John Manor and his wife, Caroline. They all settled in the area known then as Webber’s Prairie, now named Webberville. A couple of years later, James Manor moved to this area that is now the City of Manor, but Joseph J. Manor continued to lived in Webberville until the time of his death.

James Manor’s sister, Rhoda Manor, and her husband, John Wilson moved from Tennessee to Travis County, TX about 1850. They bought farm land in the area that is now part of southeast Austin. John Wilson is believed to have died in 1852, leaving Rhoda as a widow.

Also about 1850, James Manor’s youngest brother, David Mills Manor, along with his wife Susan Manor, and their daughter Ursula Gertrude Manor moved to Travis County, TX. They purchased 555 acres of land about 2 to 2½ half miles south of here. David Manor died August 7th, 1854.

U. S. census records from 1850 and 1860, called “Slave Schedules” show 3 of the Manor families as slave owners.
James Manor is shown as having 9 slaves in both 1850 and 1860.
Joseph J. Manor is shown as having 5 slaves in 1850 and 6 slaves in 1860.
Rhoda Manor Wilson is shown as having 15 slaves in 1860.

In addition, two of James Manor’s daughters, Lavina Henrietta and Mary Emeline, are each shown to have 3 slaves in 1860. His daughter Catherine “Kitty” is shown to have 2 slaves in 1860.

David M. Manor is not listed in the 1850 “Slave Schedule” but Travis County Probate Minutes dated November, 1855 show David as having 3 slaves at the time of his death in 1854.

Phebe Manor, James Manor’s first of 3 wives, died March 12, 1859. Travis County Deed Records dated March 19, 1960 show James and Phebe as having 13 slaves at the time of her death.

When Phebe Manor died in 1859, James was left with 6 daughters to raise by himself. One of his slaves, Priscilla, was apparently of tremendous help to him in raising these girls before he remarried in 1866. On September 22, 1873 James gave Priscilla the deed to a lot on what would become known as Main Street in the newly established town of Manor. The deed read, in part; “...for and in consideration of the sum of One dollar, and the assistance she has rendered me in raising my family as my former servant, to me paid by Priscilla Manor, (freedwoman)...do sell, convey and deliver unto said Priscilla Manor Lot 1 in Block 28 of the town of Manor…".

During his lifetime, James Manor had a total of 10 children; 2 sons and 8 daughters. Both of his sons died before the age of 5 years, so their were no male descendants of James Manor to carry on the Manor surname.

However, a search of Travis County historical documents, and genealogical records, reveals the names of many individuals with the last name of Manor, all of whom are described as “colored”, “Negro” or “black”.

Shown here is a list of about 50 people, taken from Travis County Marriage Records between the years of 1867 and 1922, all with the last name of Manor.

All of these people with the name of Manor are shown in the records to be either “colored”, “Negro” or “black”.

There are many more people with the Manor surname in the marriage records, but their ethnicity is not indicated.

When the town of Manor was founded in 1872, the street running east to west, next to the railroad tracks, on the south side, was named Barnhart Street, most likely after the Joseph Barnhart family who purchased 200 acres of land from James Manor in 1844. Joseph Barnhart was active in the development of the area for many years thereafter.

Sometime in the more recent history of the city, Barnhart Street was renamed Carrie Manor Street in honor of Carrie Manor Pollard, the first African-American elected to the Manor City Council. An article published in the Austin American-Statesman newspaper on June 16, 1996 says this:

“That Carrie Manor Pollard and James Manor share the same name is no coincidence. The ancestors of Pollard’s late husband, Willie Manor, belonged to James B. Manor’s family. They were among slaves the Manor family brought in from Louisiana…While James B. Manor is honored as the founder of the town, the first of the black Manors, Henry Manor, is accorded little recognition for his part in building and settling Manor…Although the date and circumstances of Henry Manor’s arrival isn’t known, county records show he bought land in the area in 1873.”

The 1996 article continues:

“Pollard remembers moving to the town in 1952 and finding “not one thing” for black people. She started a young people’s center in one of her houses, organized some women to sell eggs to raise money, and kept it going, expanding services as the years went by. Pollard’s center was the precursor of the East Rural center.”

The article closes by saying that as of 1996

“Whites are still buried in the Manor Cemetery where James B. Manor lies. Blacks are still buried out in the county at Park Springs Cemetery.”

However, there is a strong possibility that there was an attempt to change that. In 1906 Martin McVay purchased nearly one half acre of land just 17 feet away from, and parallel to, the northwest corner of the Manor Cemetery. Mr. McVay is shown in Travis County records as being either “black” or “Negro” and as one of three trustees of the Gilleland Creek Baptist Church in Manor which is shown as being a “colored” church. Travis County Deed Records describe the land purchased by Mr. McVay as a “cemetery lot”. In other records Martin McVay is described as a “cemetery sexton”, or caretaker of a cemetery. While there are indications that some burials may have taken place there, it was apparently discontinued at some time. Martin McVay died in 1947 and was buried at the Parks Spring Cemetery.

JOSEPH ELWARD CLAYTON AND THE CLAYTON VOCATIONAL INSTITUTE

Joseph Elward Clayton was born February 8, 1879 in Fulshear, Fort Bend County, Texas. He graduated from high school in Houston, TX in 1895 and continued his education at Guadalupe College in Seguin, Texas, after which he pursued a career in education and administration.

He taught school at Bastrop, TX from 1900 to 1903 and in 1903 he was appointed as principal of the Manor Colored School, also known as the Negro Graded School.

The school occupied one building in block 1 of the town of Manor. It was run as a traditional public school until 1911 when a tour of Texas by Booker T. Washington inspired Clayton to improve and expand the facility to include dormitories and additional classrooms. A two-story building was built and furnished on the school lot. Dedication ceremonies for the new school building were held on February 3, 1912. Another building was added where students were taught canning, sewing, millinery, agriculture and they received manual training. A cannery was started where students learned to preserve produce from their own farms.

In 1915 Principal Clayton urged the State to recognize the school, now having more than 300 students, as a State Industrial Institution. As a result, the school was renamed the Clayton Industrial High School.

A June 13, 1916 article in the Austin Statesman and Tribune newspaper stated that J. E. Clayton had been offered the presidency of the Fort Worth Industrial and Mechanical College but that he turned down the offer because of plans that the had to build up at Manor an industrial school similar to the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. 

In November, 1916 the trustees of the Manor Independent School District purchased six acres of land from Alice B. and William Vickers. Manor ISD paid $100 in cash and the remainder of $1400 was to be paid in full by November 25, 1923. Mrs. Vickers was a teacher in the grammar school department of Manor ISD. The deed for the land specifically stated that it was “especially for the use and benefit of the Clayton Industrial High School (colored) of Manor, Texas.”

Travis County Deed Record 300, pages 637-638 (snippets)

In 1917 the U. S. Congress passed the Smith-Hughes act that promoted vocational education in "agriculture, trades and industry, and homemaking" and provided federal funds for this purpose. The Clayton Industrial High School was one of only 4 schools for “colored” students in the State of Texas to receive these funds that year.

November 16, 1917 George W. Brackenridge of San Antonio paid off the note due on the six acres and released the property to the Manor ISD for the use of the Clayton Industrial High School.

Travis County Deed Record 301, page 97

In 1918, George W. Brackenridge offered $7000 as one half of the purchase price of 75 acres adjoining the land occupied by the Clayton Industrial High School. The land was intended to be used as an experimental farm. William Luedecke, President of the Farmer’s National Bank of Manor gave the other $7000 to complete the purchase. George W. Brackenridge also canceled a note of $15,000 which he held against the school on an adjoining ten acre tract of land. 

Austin American newspaper February 10, 1918

A March 9, 1918 article in The Statesman newspaper printed details of ceremonies that were to be held for the dedication of the new Breckenridge Hall on the campus of the school. Staff members of the school were listed as:

J. E. Clayton, principal – mathematics and sciences
Texana Robinson, history and geography
Maud Kellough, intermediate department
Maud Ikard, primary departments
A. V. Smith, English
C. Morrison, general assistant
J. J. Hayden, agriculture and manual training
Brittie Clayton, domestic science and art

On March 15, 1918 dedication ceremonies were held at the school. The next day, a headline said: "CLAYTON INSTITUTE DEDICATED FRIDAY; VALUED AT $50,000".   The article in the Austin American newspaper went on to say:

    “Ceremonies incident to the dedication of the Clayton Industrial Institute, a negro institution at Manor, which, including the new building with 100 acres of land, is valued at $50,000, were in progress all day yesterday.”

The Austin American newspaper March 16, 1918

The August 20, 1918 edition of the Austin American newspaper ran a story with this headline: “NEGRO INSTITUTION AT MANOR TO HAVE AID OF NATIONAL FUNDS IN PROSECUTION OF ITS WORK." The article said that the Clayton Industrial School at Manor would be receiving $1000 per year from the Slater Board of Education in Charlottesville, Virginia and $500 annually from the general board of education in New York City. The Slater fund would also arrange for the employment and payment of another teacher in the Manor school.

September 9, 1918 the Manor ISD Board of Trustees applied to the Travis County Commissioner’s Court to be allowed to sell lots 1, 2, 4 and 6 in block 1 of the town of Manor to Ben and Texanna Meeks for the price of $400. The application stated that these 4 lots had previously been used by the Negro Graded School of the Manor ISD which had now moved to another location and the lots were no longer needed for school purposes. Permission to do so was granted by the Court. The lots were sold to the Meeks by deed that was dated September 14, 1921. 

Travis County Commissoners Court minutes N, page 316

Travis County Deed Record 306, page 553

On February 18, 1919 the thirty-sixth legislature of The State of Texas passed House Bill Number 28 which said, in part:

    “That the school located in said Manor Independent School District now known as Clayton Industrial High School is hereby established to be hereafter known and designated as Clayton Vocational Institute, for the education of colored boys and girls in the arts and sciences in which such boys and girls may acquire a good literary education of at least academic grade, together with a knowledge of agriculture, horticulture, floriculture, stock raising, domestic arts, and sciences, including the several branches and studies usually taught in established schools of like character, having in view the training of such boys and girls for the more important industrial activities of life, while at the same time acquiring a good practical literary education.”

A follow-up story in the April 19, 1919 edition of The Statesman newspaper under the headline “MANOR HAS GOOD TRAINING SCHOOL” said this:

    "The Clayton Vocational Institute of Manor, created by an act of the last legislature, is a school for colored boys and girls that offers courses in practical agriculture, horticulture, stock raising and domestic arts and sciences, including the several branches and studies usually taught in schools of like character. By this act the Clayton Industrial High School was reorganized and placed in a position to become a much larger and better school."  

The San Antonio Express newspaper published a story on May 7, 1919 which said, 

    “Governor Hobby today sent to the Senate the following nominations of trust fund commissioners for Clayton Vocational Institute in the Manor Independent School District of Travis County: William Luedecke, John F. Nagle and M. C. Abrams, all of Travis County. This school is endowed and efforts are to be made to make it the “Tuskegee College of the Southwest.”

In 1920, the school made plans to add a laundry, a broom and mattress factory and a dairy herd to the school. It was hoped that patriotic citizens of Manor would furnish a sufficient number of cows for the dairy. Students involved in the laundry, the broom and mattress factory and the dairy would all be paid for their work so that they could have a part in financing their own education.

The Statesman newspaper June 26, 1920

On December 1, 1920 Joseph Clayton purchased lots 7, 8, 9 and 10 in block 23 of the town of Manor from Judge Wilbur P. Allen, Austin philanthropist and capitalist. The purchase price was $2500. Clayton paid $2000 at the time of the purchase and signed a note for the $500 balance that was due to be paid on or before three years after that date. Only 17 days later, Clayton then donated these same 4 lots to the Trust Fund Commissioners that had been appointed to oversee the Clayton Vocational Institute for the Manor ISD. It was stipulated in the deed that the money received for the sale of the lots would first be used to pay off the $500 note held by Clayton and the remainder was to be used to build a new dormitory at the school. The Trust Fund Commissioners paid off the note of $500 and W. P. Allen released the lien on the property on September 10, 1921. The Commissioners sold all 4 lots to three different Manor residents on September 24, 1921 for a total of $675.

Travis County Deed Record 327, page 232

Principal Clayton apparently left the Clayton Vocational Institute in 1923. A September 9, 1923 article in the Austin Statesman newspaper said:

    "Review of the work and activities of the Clayton Vocational Institute of Manor during the 1922-23 term is outlined by J. E. Clayton, former principal, in a statement sent to Commissioner B. W. Giles in which Clayton asks for the financial and moral support for the school in order that education of the colored children of that community started by him may be furthered."

In the article Clayton stated that his salary for the school year was $1200 but that he gave $1015 of that so that other staff could be paid. He also gave $40 for groceries for the school, leaving him with a total salary of $145 for the school year. He said also that he had donated his entire salary for the last three years so that the colored children of Manor might be given a first class education without experiencing financial difficulties.

He also mentioned that the 4 lots in block 23 of Manor that he got from W. P. Allen, originally intended for his own use, had a two-story, ten room residence located there and that he had donated it all to the Trust Fund Commissioners so that the over 420 students of the school could be properly educated.

In 1984 the Texas Historical Commission erected a marker at one of the last remaining buildings of the school. 

Historical marker original location 1984

In 2017, the marker was moved to its present location in front of what was then the Manor Voluntary Library which was located in the only remaining building of the school. Rededication ceremonies were held on February 24th of that year. 

Historical marker relocated 2017

During his time at the school in Manor and for many years thereafter, Joseph Clayton was involved in programs and organizations that were designed to help "colored" farmers to better themselves and their work, all over the state of Texas and beyond. 

He is believed to have died in 1958 but many records of his life don't list a date or location of his death. 

JOHN FRANCIS NAGLE

John F. Nagle was born August 29, 1859 in Richmond, Virginia. He was just over five and one half years old when the city of Richmond was burned by the departing Confederate troops in April 1865.  His family evacuated the burning city and fled to Washington, D. C., where his father, having obtained some horses and a cart, was soon able to start up a cab service. At some point, John got a job as a delivery boy in a hat shop. 

While he was still a boy, his father was drowned in the Rapidan River in Virginia. John's mother then married her deceased husband's brother, Michael Nagle. Shortly thereafter, the family facing hard times, decided to move, ending up in Austin, Texas on October 19, 1874. 

Soon the family was able to find work - Mrs. Nagle as housekeeper for the recently widowed James Manor while Mr. Nagle and the boys went to work on James Manor's farm. 

At the age of 20, John Nagle went to work in Manor as a clerk in J. W. Bitting's store. In return for his services, he was allowed to live in a small room in the back of the store, given two meals a day, and paid $10 per month. After a few years, having become more skilled as a clerk and bookkeeper, John went to work for J. G. Wheeler, who was considered to be the richest man in Manor. 

Over the next few years, the hard-working and industrious Nagles were able to purchase their own home and farm land. On September 8, 1883 Michael and John together purchased 5 3/4 acres of land in the Lemuel Kimbro league from George Pflueger. The purchase price was $69. 

Travis County Deed Records book 57, pages 301-302

Less than two months later, on October 31st Michael and John, separately, each purchased 100 acres of land from George Pflueger adjoining the land previously purchased by them. Michael and John each paid $1 down and signed 3 promissory notes for the remainder of the purchase price of $1000. 

Travis County Deed Records book 57, page 516

Travis County Deed Records book 57, page 513

The promissory notes were paid off on the dates they were due and and on October 9, 1886 George Pflueger signed a release giving the Nagles full ownership of the land. This was recorded in Travis County Deed Records, book 70, pages 438-441.

One year later, on September 19, 1887, John purchased lots 2,4,6,8 and 10 in block 27 of Manor from James P. and Lavina H. Rogers. Lavina was James Manor's daughter who had inherited these 5 lots on December 23rd, 1882 from her father's estate. (Travis County Deed Records, book 54, pages 366-367). The purchase price was $75. 

Travis County Deed Records, book 76, pages 364-365

On December 25, 1890 John was married to Emma Bledsoe who would remain his wife for almost 50 years. Sadly, she died on December 4, 1940, just three weeks before their golden anniversary. 

John F. Nagle went on to become one of the most prominent and influential citizens of Manor. He was a successful farmer, having made several more land purchases near Manor. Over the years, he also bought and sold a number of properties in the town of Manor itself. 

In the early 1900's he purchaed the west half of lot 12, lot 13 and lot 14 of block 23 in downtown Manor where he opened a general merchandise store, and at one time, stocked another building with groceries for the exclusive use of those people who rented his farm land.  

His store, a wood frame building, along with several others, burned down in 1904. 

The Austin Statesman, February 8, 1904

He soon replaced it with more modern brick buildings on lots 12, 13 and 14 in block 23.  Those buildings are still standing as of the time of this writing. 

Built by John F. Nagle - lots 12, 13, 14, block 23

1987 photo showing J F Nagle's name on the top section of building

On January 24, 1903 John Nagle appeared before the Travis County Commissioners Court to request permission to erect a telephone line from the town of Manor to New Sweden. His request was approved. A classified ad in the May 17th edition of the Austin Statesman newspaper showed that he was wanting to buy 150 telephone poles. 

Travis County Commissioners' Court minutes, book J, page 358

The Austin Statesman, May 17, 1903

He served as vice-president of the Farmers National Bank of Manor from 1911 to 1915.

The Austin Statesman, January 11, 1911

At the Manor High School graduation ceremonies in May 1912, John presented a $10 gold piece to the scholar who showed the most improvement in hand writing during the previous school session. 

The Austin Statesman, May 13, 1912

In April of 1919, the Governor of Texas appointed John Nagle, along with William Luedecke and M.C. Abrams to a newly-created trust fund commission in charge of the Clayton Vocational Institute in Manor. These men were responsible for securing endowments and other gifts needed for the enlargement of the school which was managed by the Manor Independent School District. 

The Austin Statesman, April 16, 1919

He was elected to the position of Justice of the Peace for many years. Less than one year before his death in 1943, he was running for re-election to that position. 

The Elgin Courier, July 23, 1942

As Justice of the Peace, he was required to sign his own wife's death certificate when she passed away in 1940.

He was appointed as one of the election judges in charge of Travis County elections in Manor for a number of years. 

Travis County Commissioners' Court minutes I, page 415

The Austin Statesman, June 14, 1923

John Francis Nagle died on May 18, 1943 and was buried in the Manor Cemetery alongside his wife Emma Bledsoe Nagle. 

The Elgin Courier, May 20, 1943

THE BLOOR HOUSE HISTORICAL MARKER APPLICATION ERRORS

The Bloor house, located at 709 Lexington Street in Manor, was built in 1897-1898 by Alfred Sutton Bloor and Martha Wainwright Bloor. The house was recorded as a Texas Historic Landmark and received a Historical Marker in 1982.  

The application submitted for the historical marker traces the ownership of the land where the house sits to a beginning date of 1844 (should be 1841) when a land grant was said to have been issued to Ashbel (should be Asahel) Caldwell. More recent research indicates that ownership of the land can be verified to an earlier date of 1838. Even so, it appears that much of the information submitted in the original application is incorrect.

Text of the Historical Marker application,
page 1 of 15 from The Portal to Texas History

 

Texas General Land Office records show that “Survey 52”, recorded in Travis County Survey Records A, page 527, was made for one league and one labor of land on August 24, 1847 for Wm. H. Harris, based on duplicate certificate number 44 issued to Harris on December 17, 1841. Harris had appeared before the General Land Office in Austin, TX claiming to have lost certificate number 489 which granted one league and one labor of land to A. C. Caldwell. Harris further claimed that Caldwell had previously assigned the certificate to him. The GLO issued a duplicate certificate to William H. Harris as assignee of A. C. Caldwell.

In a statement dated October 7, 1848, A. C. Caldwell swore that he never assigned his land grant, made on March 31, 1838 and issued by the Board of Land Commissioners of Sabine County, TX, to William H. Harris, or to anyone else. Therefore, survey 52 legally belonged to A. C. Caldwell. For more information on this see Travis County Deed Record 67, pages 1-5. A trial held in 1857 found in favor of Caldwell and against Harris.

 

Duplicate certificate awarded to William H. Harris by the
Texas General Land Office, on December 17, 1841.
From Texas GLO website

Statement by A. C. Caldwell swearing he did not assign
ownership of his land grant to William H. Harris. 
From Texas GLO website

The historical marker application from 1982 says, “Mr. Caldwell sold this tract of land (one league and one labor) (4605 acres) to Charles Chavellier (should be Chevaillier) about four years later in March, 1849.” Travis County Deed record C, page 513 states this land is from “Survey 52” (the A. C. Caldwell league) and the deed is dated May 26, 1849.

The application says Charles Chavaellier (should be Chevaillier) sold 2750 acres from Survey 52 to Nathaniel Armory (should be Amory) on July 17, 1849. Travis County Deed Record book C, page 546 says the deed was signed June 28, 1849.

The application says, “Nathaniel Armory (should be Amory) sold the land to Judge Eggleston D. Townes of Tuscumbia, Franklin County, Alabama on January 20, 1854”. The deed record quoted for this sale is from book 40, page 164. It states that the 2750 acres sold was from the “A. C. Caldwell league.”

The application says, “Judge Townes died in 1871 (should be August 31, 1864)… Then his 2750 acre tract of land was divided to various heirs. The executor of Judge Eggleston’s (should be Townes) estate transferred the title of 152 acres to M. C. Townes (his widow) in September 1871.”

The source quoted for this transaction as shown in the application is Travis County Deed Record 5, page 514 (should be record V, page 514). The amount of land should be 152 7/10 acres. The deed is dated September 8, 1871.

The application says, “Nelson Rector received title to part of the estate in 1873”. Travis County Deed Records book 26, page 366 is quoted in support of this transaction, however, book 26, page 366 is a deed dated November 18, 1873 from R. H. Leigh, executor of the E. D. Townes estate, to J. T. Gregg (not Nelson Rector). The land referenced here is from the “A. C. Caldwell league.” This deed record says that it was written to correct mistakes in the original deed written October 5, 1870 and recorded in Travis County Deed Records, book U, page 21.

What the application fails to include is the record from Travis County Deed Records, book 26, page 367 showing that J. T. Gregg sold the same land, described as “556 acres, more or less” from the “A.C. Caldwell league” to Nelson Rector on November 12, 1873. Included in this sale were a 50 acre tract and a 44 acre tract of land previously purchased by J. T. Gregg.

The application says, “Nelson Rector...sold this part to James Manor in 1877” and references Travis County Deed Records, book 38, page 120 to support this statement. This document is very light, very dim and hard to read which may account for some of the errors in the application. This deed record is for the sale of three different tracts of land, sold by N. S. Rector to James Manor, August 23, 1877.

• 301 acres – part of the 562 7/10 acres from the “A. C. Caldwell league”
• 50 acres purchased from the heirs of Marcus Huling in 1875 or 1876. Travis County Deed Records, book 66, page 226 - part of the “A. C. Caldwell league”
• 44 acres minus 8 acres purchased from E. D. Townes estate by J.T. Gregg (part of the 562 acres)- book U, page 21 – part of the “A. C.Caldwell league”.

The application says, “this became a part of the James Manor headright survey.”

Headright land grants were given to men (heads of families and single) who had arrived in Texas on certain dates. James Manor received 1280 acres of land as his headright grant on May 3, 1838. It was surveyed (survey number 40) and deeded to him on November 12, 1838. Other tracts of land were later purchased by James Manor but they were not, and could not become a part of his headright land grant.

Certificate 3164 issued by The Republic of Texas
to James Manor on May 3, 1838 for 1280 acres of land 
From Texas GLO website

The application says, “In 1881 James Manor sold 38.75 acres to A. E. Lane.” Travis County Deed record 46, page 181 is referenced to support this sale made on November 29, 1879. While the deed record itself doesn’t state that this land was part of the James Manor headright grant, it does state that is was part of "the James Manor survey". This can be verified by maps showing the original town of Manor and the A. E. Lane purchase which was added to the town of Manor in 1912. It was part of the James Manor 1280 acre headright land grant, but not a part of the A. C. Caldwell league which was about 2-3 miles east of that location.

1861 Travis County map from Texas GLO website
RED - A. C. Caldwell's survey 52
BLUE - James Manor's 1280 acre headright grant, survey 40
YELLOW - location of town of Manor

When the town of Manor was established, it originally consisted of 80 block divided into lots, half belonging to James Manor and half to the Houston and Texas Central Railroad. 

Plat map of the town of Manor made by the Houston and Texas Central Railroad in 1872.
Originally included in Travis County Deed Records, book V, page 796.
Now in a collection of Manor items at the Austin History Center

1940 Travis County aerial  photograph
BLUE - James Manor's 1280 acre headright land grant
RED - Original 80 blocks of the town of Manor

Travis County Clerk Records: Plat Records 1-2, page 223

showing 38.75 acres (20 blocks) added to the town of Manor by A. E. Lane.

From the Portal to Texas History

1940 Travis County aerial photograph. 
BLUE - James Manor's 1280 acre headright land grant
RED - Original 80 blocks of town of Manor
GREEN - 38.75 acres (20 blocks) added by A. E. Lane

Plat map showing 38.75 acres (20 blocks) added to the

original 80 blocks of town of Manor by A. E. Lane

Martha Wainright Bloor purchased the entire block (lots 1-10, block 8, A. E. Lane addition) where the Bloor house was constructed, and still sits, from A. E. Lane in February, 1897. (Travis County Deed Record 147, page 273)

Page 14 of the application for a historical marker is a list of the “supposed owners” of the land prior to the Bloors. Every one listed before James Manor appears to be in error and actually has no connection to the Bloor house due to the fact that all of them refer to land from the A. C. Caldwell land grant.

Page 14 of the Travis County Historical Marker application
YELLOW - these are all from the A. C. Caldwell league
and have no connection to the Bloor house land
GREEN - the only owners of the Bloor house land from 1838 to 1897

The land where the Bloor house was built was, always and only, owned, first by The Republic of Texas, then by James Manor, then by A. E. Lane and finally by Martha Bloor – no one else.

All of this is not intended to say that the Bloor house does not deserve a historical marker. It definitely does. At the time of its construction, it was described in the July 19, 1897 Austin American Statesman newspaper as "a fine two story brick residence which will surpass any yet built in Manor."

It’s just that the path that was followed showing ownership of the property prior to the purchase of the land by A. E. Lane and Martha Bloor is incorrect and should not have been included in the application for a historical marker.