Markers (click on a topic to jump to that section.)
Custer, Gen. George and Libbie, Campsite | Hempstead, C.S.A. | Liendo | Morgan, Stacye Ann Marlin | Waller County | Waller County Historical Museum
Uncommemorated Sites (click on a topic to jump to that section.)
Camp Groce
Custer, Gen. George and Libbie, Campsite
Marker Title: Gen. George and Libbie Custer Campsite
Address: 2 mi. E of Hempstead on FM 1488, then .25 mi. S on Wyatt
Chapel Rd.
City: Hempstead vicinity
County: Waller
Year Marker Erected: 1995
Marker Location: 2 mi. E of Hempstead on FM 1488, then .25 mi.
S on Wyatt Chapel Rd., Hempstead vicinity.
Marker Text: Soon after the Civil War General George Armstrong
Custer and his cavalry unit arrived in Texas as part of a large U.S.
force sent to establish order and counter the threat posed by French-controlled
Mexico. From August to October, 1865, Custer, his wife Elizabeth (Libbie),
and several U.S. Cavalry units camped here on the Liendo plantation
of Leonard W. Groce, heir of "Old 300" settler and cotton
baron Jared Groce. The Custers enjoyed warm relations with the Groces
and area Texans in part because of his insistence that federal troops
treat Texans and their property with respect. Sesquicentennial of Texas
Statehood 1845-1995
Hempstead, C.S.A.
Marker Title: Hempstead, C.S.A.
Address: Waller County Courthouse grounds, SH 6 and 12th St.
City: Hempstead
County: Waller
Year Marker Erected: 1963
Marker Location: Waller County Courthouse grounds, SH 6 and 12th
St., Hempstead.
Marker Text: Major Civil War center in Texas with railroad, troop
training, manufacturing, and supply activity. Training camps Groce and
Hebert kept troops in readiness to move by rail to Houston and thence
to the coast of Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas to prevent invasion of state.
Camp Groce became second largest prisoner of War camp in state receiving
first Union prisoners in 1863. Textile mill, foundry, grist mill products
supplied to Confederate Army. Field transportation bureau shop made
and repaired wagons, saddles, harness. A memorial to Texans who served
the Confederacy. Erected by the State of Texas 1963 (back of Hempstead,
C.S.S.) Breakup at War's End In the spring of 1865 Texas troops returning
from Louisiana and coastal defenses gathered at Camp Groce. Rumor reached
them of General Robert E. Lee's surrender at Appomattox. Some doubted,
but soon the news was confirmed. Confederate generals Kirby Smith, John
B. Magruder, and John H. Forney were there and bade their troops farewell.
Comrades-in-arms of the recent conflict left to walk their weary way
home in one of the last sad scenes of the southern Confederacy.
Liendo
Marker Title: Liendo
Address: 5 mi. N on FM 1488 to Wycliff Chapel Rd.
City: Hempstead
County: Waller
Year Marker Erected: 1964
Marker Location: 5 mi. N of Hempstead on FM 1488 to Wycliff Chapel
Rd.
Marker Text: 1853 - named for Spanish grantee Justo Leindo, first
to own this land. Mansion built by Leonard W. Groce, who surrounded
it with model plantation industries. In Civil War, site of Camp Groce,
a camp of instruction and then P.O.W. center. Occupied in 1865 by Gen.
Geo. W. Custer, later to be a central figure in the Little Big Horn
tragedy. Owned, 1873-1911, by family of sculptress Elisabet Ney, commemorated
with a marker on grounds. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1964.
Morgan, Stacye Ann Marlin
Marker Title: Stacye Ann Marlin Morgan
County: Waller
Year Marker Erected: 1968
Marker Location: Pattison Cemetery; 1 mile north of Pattison
on FM 359.
Marker Text: (Feb. 14, 1819 -- March 23, 1894) Survivor of the
famous Morgan Massacre; daughter of settler James Marlin, In Falls County,
Jan., 1, 1839, Indians killed and scalped several members of the Morgan
and Marlin families. Isaac Marlin, 10, ran 7 miles for help. His sister,
Stacye Ann, was severely wounded and left by the Indians for dead. However,
she recovered, married William J. Morgan, and brought up a large family.
Died in Waller County.
Waller County
Marker Title: Waller County
City: Hempsted
County: Waller
Year Marker Erected: 1936
Marker Location: 1 mile north of Hempsted on Hwy 6 between SH 290 overpasses.
Marker Text: Created from Austin and Grimes Counties, April 28, and
organized Aug. 16, 1873. Named for Edwin Waller (1800-1861), a signer
of the Texas Declaration of Independence, 1836; Postmaster General,
Texas Republic; First mayor of Austin. Site of rich 1831-1874 Groce
plantations, later home of sculptress Elisabet Ney. Hempsted, founded
1857 during building of Houston & Texas Railroad, an important transportation
center, is the county seat. Since 1876, county has been site of Prairie
View Agricultural and Mechanical College. Economy is based on industry,
diversified agriculture and oil production.
Waller County Historical Museum
Museum Name: Waller County Historical Museum
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 1548
City: Brookshire
Zip Code: 77423
Street Address: 906 Cooper
Area Code: 281
Phone: 934-2826
County: Waller
Camp Groce
Colonel Leonard W. Groce's Liendo plantation stood on Clear Creek two miles east of present-day Hempstead in Waller County. Camp Groce, or Camp Liendo as it was frequently referred to, was probably established in 1862 to house Union soldiers captured by Confederate forces at the Battle of Galveston. Camp Groce served as a recruiting station for the Confederate Army and a refugee center for women and children fleeing southern states. In December of 1864, all of the prisoners at Camp Groce were paroled and the camp was permanently abandoned as a military prison as nearly 500 prisoners were taken to the port of Galveston where they were turned over to Union forces.