MANOR INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT

By a vote of 58 “for” and 37 “against”, the Manor School District became a corporation in an 

election held on December 12, 1903. For almost two and one half years, M. C. Abrams, W. H. Wentland, William Luedecke, F. C. Gregg, John E. Sellstrom, W. E. Ware and Charles 
Anderson filled their elected positions as trustees of the corporation.

Then a suit was filed in District Court on May 4, 1906 seeking to have the election establishing the corporation declared null and void. Reasons for the suit were several, some of which were;

1. The citizens of the Rose Hill community didn’t want to be a part of Manor schools.

2. The surveyor’s notes and plat map used to establish the district were “vague, indefinite, contradictory and inconsistent…and made it practically impossible for the voters to
determine what territory was embraced therein”.

3. The county judge failed to designate the place where the election was to be held, and notice of the election was not posted in any part of the district outside of the town of Manor, depriving many voters of knowledge of the election.

4. Because the election was claimed to be illegal, the trustees were unlawfully serving and therefore could not levy and collect taxes from the citizens, as they were “threatening” to do.

This article appeared in The Houston Post, The San Antonio Daily Express and The El Paso Daily Times newspapers.

The case was heard before Judge George Calhoun of the 53rd District Court on May 12, 1906. He ruled for the plaintiffs and declared the previous incorporation to be void. 

Two months later, on July 10, 1906 another election (in which the Rose Hill community was not included) was held in the town of Manor “to determine if said town should form an incorporation for free public school purposes”. After a vote of 130 “for” and 39 “against”, Travis County Judge John William Hornsby did “adjudge that said election did result in favor of such incorporation” and “declared the inhabitants of said territory …duly incorporated…, the name of the incorporation being ‘Manor Independent School District”. 

A survey made by Travis County Surveyor Dennis Corwin showed that the new school district would contain a total of 12,892 acres or 20 square miles. 

In a separate election held on that same day in which a total of 138 votes were cast, six of the previous trustees were reelected along with one new member. The results of the election were as follows;

Marion Courtland Abrams ----137 votes

William Luedecke ---------------137 votes
Charles A. Anderson -----------137 votes
W. E. Ware------------------------138 votes
John E. Sellstrom ---------------136 votes
Thompson Mason Rector------137 votes
D. H. Reeves ---------------------137 votes
J. H. Williams –---------------------1 vote
A. L. Bell –---------------------------1 vote

The survey property line, which turned corners 30 times, had several interesting directions listed. One stated that the survey followed an “angle in the road - an Elm tree marked X on the north side of the road in the corner of Mrs. Riggles fence”. Another simply said, “…in a lane…leaving the Colored Peoples graveyard to the north”. 

Both elections and the survey were certified official by County Court Clerk, Joe Corwin, brother of the County Surveyor. 

Shown here is the plat map prepared by Dennis Corwin designating the area that would become the Manor Independent School District.

In September 1964 another election was called to settle a very heated debate over whether or not the Manor ISD should be annexed to the Austin ISD or perhaps be abolished and placed in the hands of the Travis County School Board which was expected to divide the district between Austin, Elgin and Pflugerville. Some citizens of Manor, who felt that students would get a better education that way, along with others who were opposed to the newly increased Manor school tax, called for the vote. The issue was defeated and Manor ISD continues to exist and thrive to this day. 

Travis County Commissioners Court Minutes 7, page 589

Note: Rose Hill which was a little over two miles from the Manor city limits, no longer exists. According to the Texas State Historical Association, the first school was opened there in 1879 and by 1907 had two teachers and fifty-eight students. 

According to Manor ISD School Board minutes, at a meeting held on August 18, 1939, "Plans were being developed to send all Rose Hill students to Manor".  Minutes dated November 7, 1950 state "Rose Hill School sold to Lonnie Humphrey for $800."

All that remains today is the Rose Hill Cemetery, located directly behind the Good Luck Grill between Rose Hill Road and the Stonewater subdivision.