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.