Independence, Texas

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Independence
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Independence
Location within the state of Texas
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Independence
Independence (the United States)
Coordinates: 30°19′10″N96°20′48″W / 30.31944°N 96.34667°W / 30.31944; -96.34667
CountryUnited States
State Texas
County Washington
Elevation
[1]
358 ft (109 m)
GNIS feature ID1338384 [1]

Independence is an unincorporated community in Washington County, Texas, United States. According to the Handbook of Texas, the community had a population of 140 in 2000. It is located about an hour northwest of the Greater Houston metropolitan area.

Contents

History

Its population was reported as 140 in 2010. [2]

Milam Lodge No. 11, of the Grand Lodge of Texas, was located in the community. [3] Seward Plantation is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

A tornado hit Independence in December 1983. On May 26, 2016, an EF0 tornado struck Independence, in which numerous trees were downed in a convergent pattern. [4]

Geography

Independence is located at the intersection of Farm to Market Roads 390 and 50, 12 mi (19 km) northeast of Brenham and 82 mi (132 km) west of Houston in northeastern Washington County. [2]

Education

Today, the community is served by the Brenham Independent School District.

Notable people

American western TV series Walker: Independence takes place in Independence. [18]

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Nancy Moffette Lea (1780–1864) was the mother of Margaret Lea Houston and mother-in-law of Sam Houston. She was an integral member of the Houston family, running the household when Margaret was ill or pregnant. She is believed to have helped her son-in-law convert and be baptized in 1854. In appreciation, she donated a bell to the Independence Baptist Church in honor of him. The wife of Temple Lea, she inherited an estate from her family that she managed. She purchased a cotton plantation which was operated by 50 enslaved people.

Sam Houston Jr. was the oldest of eight children born to Sam Houston and Margaret Lea Houston, and was the only Houston child born in the Republic of Texas, before its December 29, 1845 annexation to the United States. He was home-schooled by his mother, and later attended both Bastrop Military Institute and Baylor University. After Texas seceded from the Union in 1861, he enlisted in the Confederate States Army 2nd Texas Infantry Regiment, Company C Bayland Guards. Wounded at the April 1862 Battle of Shiloh, he served time as a prisoner of war at Camp Douglas in Illinois. Following his release, he received a medical discharge from the Confederate States Army. He attended the Philadelphia University of Medicine and Surgery. Upon graduation, he returned to a private life, and it is unknown if he ever practiced medicine. At some point, he became a writer. Houston married Lucy Anderson in 1875. Their daughter Margaret Bell Houston (1877–1966) was also a writer, as well as a suffragist who became the first president of the Dallas Equal Suffrage Association. Upon his death, Sam Jr. was buried on private property near his mother.

Antoinette "Nettie" Power Houston Bringhurst (1852–1932) was a Texas poet, the youngest daughter and fifth child of Sam Houston and his third wife Margaret Lea Houston. The elder Houston had no children with his two previous wives. Antoinette was born in the family's Woodland home near Huntsville, Texas. As a child, she lived in the Texas Governor's Mansion when her father served as Governor of Texas. Her youngest brother Temple Lea Houston was born in the mansion. She received an education at Baylor Female College in Independence, Texas, and at Austin Female College in Huntsville.

References

  1. 1 2 U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Independence, Texas
  2. 1 2 Gilmartin, John A. "Independence, Texas". Texas Escapes Online Magazine. Retrieved June 17, 2023.
  3. Directory of Constituent Lodges in Texas. (2005–2006) Waco, Tx: The Grand Lodge of Texas.
  4. "Texas Event Report: EF0 Tornado" (Report). National Centers for Environmental Information. National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office in Houston/Galveston, Texas. 2016. Retrieved December 11, 2016.PD-icon.svg This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
  5. Benner, Judith, "Ross, Lawrence Sullivan", The Handbook of Texas, Texas State Historical Association, retrieved March 3, 2015
  6. Ross Family Papers, Inclusive: 1846-1931, undated, Bulk: 1861-1864, 1870-1894, undated, Baylor University, December 22, 2014, retrieved January 30, 2022
  7. Texas Heritage Foundation, Texas Heritage, Volume 1, 1959, page 100
  8. "Varner, Martin". The Handbook of Texas Online, Texas State Historical Association (TSHA). Retrieved March 14, 2008.
  9. Summerlin, Travis L. (June 12, 2010). "Handbook of Texas Online". Texas State Historical Association.
  10. "Collection: Hosea Garrett, Jr. Civil war letters | Kenan Research Center Finding Aids".
  11. Hazelwood, Claudia. "Henry Arthur McArdle". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved March 9, 2014.
  12. Louise Kelly, "WILSON, HUGH," Handbook of Texas Online (http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fwi52), accessed June 15, 2014. Uploaded on June 15, 2010. Published by the Texas State Historical Association.
  13. "History". Baylor Law School . Retrieved November 22, 2015.
  14. Red, Ellen Robbins (1986). Early Days on the Bayou 1838–1890: The Life and Letters of Horace Dickinson Taylor. Waco, Texas: Texian Press. p. 59.
  15. Hesler, Samuel B. "Lea, Nancy Moffette". Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved July 15, 2021.
  16. "Bringhurst, Antoinette Power Houston". Handbook of Texs Online. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved July 30, 2021.
  17. Daniell 1887, p. 105.
  18. Walker: Independence | Legacy | Season Trailer | The CW, archived from the original on August 22, 2022, retrieved May 19, 2022

Further reading

See also