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.

About 85-90 feet west of the Buford Firemen's Tower on the south side of West Cesar Chavez Street in downtown Austin stands a small concrete monument indicating the level of two major floods of the Colorado River.

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 originally published in the September 24, 1924 edition of  The Elgin Courier newspaper and reprinted in the May 21, 1936 Jubilee Edition;

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
Familysearch.org

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.

According to the AustinTexas.gov website:

"More than 80 flood events have been recorded in the lower Colorado River basin since the 1800s. These events range from isolated floods that affected local areas to basin-wide floods spawned by unusually heavy rainfalls...  July 1869: In what is considered to be the worst flood on record, the Colorado crests at 51 feet at Austin and produces record crests of 60.3 feet at Bastrop, 56.7 feet at La Grange, 51.6 feet at Columbus, 51.9 feet at Wharton and 56.1 feet at Bay City. Bastrop and La Grange are inundated.  Reports describe rainfall as incessant for 64 hours, the river at Austin more than 10 miles wide, and floating buffalo carcasses in the river (indicating that some of the floodwaters originated in the High Plains). Damage is estimated at $3 million." (www.austintexas.gov) 

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 up to that time, occurring 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.

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.

20 year old Joseph E. Clayton married 19 year old Brittie White on December 27, 1899 in Travis County, TX.

Travis County Marriage Records, Book 10, page 539

Over the next few years, four children were born into the Clayton family. 

Dicy - 1900

Elizabeth - 1903

Joseph, Jr. - 1905

Essie - 1907

Clayton 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. 

The Austin Statesman and Tribune, June 13, 1916

Clayton Industrial High School, 1916
Photo was included in the application for a historical marker that was submitted in August, 1983.
 Historical marker was installed June, 1984 one block away from the first location of the school in
Block 1 of the town of Manor. 

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.”

The Act also eastablished a trust fund commission to be responsible for any donations, contributions, gifts, etc. that were made to the school. 

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 Statesman newspaper, April 19, 1919

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 near the original location of the school. According to the application; "The marker will be between the historic school sites (l block from lst; 5 blocks from 2nd )"

Historical marker original location 1984.
Current address of this house is 408 E. Carrie Manor Street

In 2017, the marker was moved to its present location in front of what was then the Manor Voluntary Library which was located in what is said to be 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.  

The 1950 U S Census shows Joseph and Brittie Clayton living in Chicago, Cook County, IL. 

Documents submitted with the application for the historical marker stated the following which was said to be taken from  "Clayton's letter to Texas Education, July 8, 1953."

"J.E. Clayton and his daughter Elizabeth Clayton Sterling 

Bills, who became a practicing attorney in Kansas City, Missouri,

returned to Manor in 1953 to find the school's grounds had been

broken up by the Manor school administration destroying the

educational building, the cannery/vocational building and the

dormitory /millinery building."

Cook County, IL  Death Records 1871-1998 show Joseph Clayton's date of death as December 28, 1958

The Silver Dollar, Lumberyard and Courthouse Blues: Austin's Urban Cowboy Epicenter.

The Lumberyard in 1978

 

 

Note: This article is based on one originally written for the Northwest Hills Civic Association.

In 1947, C.J. Stark opened the original Skyline Club, an old “honky-tonk”, at 11306 North Lamar Blvd. Out of the city limits at the time that stretch of Lamar was also known as the old Dallas Highway. It hosted big names like Patsy Cline, even Elvis. Hank Williams Sr. and Johnny Horton played their last public concerts there. Later, in 1964, the Broken Spoke opened: another honky-tonk on what was then the southwest edge of Austin. And a decade after that a new genre of clubs was emerging on the northwest edge of Austin: dance halls like Gilley's made famous by the movie Urban Cowboy. Austin's urban cowboy epicenter was three clubs near the intersection of 183 and Burnet road: the Silver Dollar, Lumberyard and Courthouse Blues.

The Silver Dollar (9102 Burnet) and Lumberyard (9200 Burnet) started ca. 1975-1976. The Lumberyard was the former site of a lumber yard, hence the name. Courthouse Blues (9063 Research) started ca. 1978.

Unlike the roadhouse feel of the Broken Spoke with low ceilings and jukebox music, the Lumberyard and even bigger Silver Dollar were cavernous by comparison with large dance floors and high tech amenities; e.g. the Silver Dollar employed a sound man, and the Lumberyard had a mechanical bull. The Silver Dollar in particular drew big name national shows.

The clientele of the three clubs varied, although bar hopping took place. The Silver Dollar attracted a younger crowd including U.T. students; the Lumberyard was more a blue collar crowd that included loyal regulars seated around a bar a la the TV show Cheers; and Courthouse Blues was .. well .. yeah, the name says it all.

Those categories of clientele were reflected in their advertisements: the Silver Dollar advertised free admission to college students with an I.D. (fake or otherwise) whereas the Lumberyard and Courthouse Blues advertised “stag ladies free” (to disambiguate from other interpretations, that meant no cover charge for solo ladies).

These were the days of cheap pitchers of beer and 25 cent Lone Star longnecks. Like the movie Urban Cowboy a night at any of the three might include drama: fights (almost a given at Courthouse Blues) or returning to the parking lot to find your pickup truck on cinder blocks sans the wheels (true story). And sometimes worse: the Lumberyard was the scene of a fatal shooting inside in 1979.

Also like Urban Cowboy, after a night of dancing it was great to have an all-night diner nearby, in this case Jim’s Restaurant (9091 Research). While so many of Austin's classic eating places have closed, we are fortunate Jim's has managed to survive and maintain that old diner feel. Jim’s 9091 Research location began life as Jim’s Coffee Shop ca. 1976. After “last call” club patrons could walk to Jim’s next door from any of the three nearby dance halls for a breakfast of steak and eggs where you’d likely see members of some band, bar staff, or someone you’d two-stepped with earlier that night.

Both the Lumberyard and Silver Dollar buildings are gone. The Courthouse Blues, southern most upstairs suite of 9063 Research, is now appropriately a lawyer’s office. Jim’s remains serving good food in a diner atmosphere, and is mostly known only to locals. Thank goodness for small miracles.

On a Facebook page reminiscing about the country scene of that time one person summed it up: "Lots of great times: Silver Dollar, Lumberyard, Courthouse Blues and Jim's after dancing… [Burnet at 183] rocked it 1978-80s!!!".

Ad from 1978

 

Grand opening of Silver Dollar. click to enlarge.

Silver Dollar stage Christmas ca.1978. The band Cactus Jack was a regular at all three clubs

Nichols School on the Austin to Burnet "Mountain Road"

1936 Defender (click to enlarge)

 

In 1936 Travis County celebrated the Texas Centennial by publishing The Defender 1936, a yearbook of Travis County rural public schools. One of those was Nichols School, one of the "Mountain Schools" like nearby Oak Grove (gone) and Pleasant Valley School (extant), sitting on east and west Bull Creek. The school was part of the "Nichols School District."¹ This short article documents some history and the location of that old school.

Defender pages for Nichols on the Portal: 

https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1283454/m1/316/ 

The history

From the 1936 Defender:

"In 1900 an acre of land was given for the Nichols School by Mr. Sam Nichols. The men of the community hauled cedar and traded it for lumber with which to construct a building. It was completed Christmas day. Prior to this time the children of this district attended the Oak Grove School. The first trustees of the new school were Mr. Dick Preece, and Mr. Sam Nichols. Miss Florence Harvey was the first teacher. In January 1929 this school building burned. Much of the furniture was saved and the building was re-built in September 1931. It was placed on Joe Gilman's land, as this was nearer the center of the community ... This building was destroyed by fire near the close of the 1932 term. None of the furnishings were saved. The district was without a school until the 1934-1935 term. The school was held on the "old Preece place" in a little log cabin. Old fashioned board benches and boxes were used for seats for the children as there were no funds available to buy desks. This building proved too small. This current term [1936] Mr. A.F. Maechel kindly consented to the use of his house on the old Mabry place. This building is fifty years old [1886] and unsuitable, but is the only one available. Several unsuccessful efforts have been made to re-build Nichols school on the original site, but so far funds are insufficient."

While the school had hard times, the building of Marshall Ford Dam (renamed Mansfield) 1937 - 1941 gave it a new lease on life. The Austin American-Statesman Aug 27, 1937 reported a population boom for the "Nichols school district" due to dam construction. Contractors for the dam provided funds to rebuild Nichols to serve children of the workmen at the dam. The "Old Nichols Schoolhouse" was standing for a good while, serving as a voting place as late as 1959 (Austin American, May 21, 1959).

Of note, Sam Nichols was a Confederate Soldier in the Civil War, buried in Oakwood Annex. Trustee Dick Preece was son of Texas Ranger Richard Lincoln Preece, early settler to what is now River Place & Steiner Ranch, who mounted guerrilla resistance in Travis County against the Confederacy during the Civil War. His papers are archived at UT's Briscoe Center for American History. The Preece Cemetery sits off 2222 south of the 3M campus. A later trustee was Tom B. Hughes, namesake of Tom Hughes Park on Lake Travis; his uncle was Texas Ranger John R. Hughes, said to be the inspiration for Zane Grey's novel The Lone Star Ranger. Buried in the Texas State Cemetery. 

Mother Selma Hughes, and brother Fritz Hughes, all have county parks named after them.

https://traviscountyhistory.org/online-exhibits/parkshistory/selma-hughes-park/ 

 

Where was the school?

As with many of the old 1936 Defender schools the location can be hard to pin down. Most are gone; some were moved so not in the original location (e.g. Cox Springs, Pleasant Valley); some are not on maps; and the Defender usually didn't give specifics on location. The Nichols School pretty much falls into all these categories! And with Nichols even the deed leaves some room for interpretation, the start of the survey being a bit uncertain.

As the Defender indicates, it started in 1900 (the deed says it was deeded 1901), but burned down many times, and moved from location to location. Given families like the Preece had many, many tracts of land and were early settlers to Travis County, references like the "old Preece place" really don't help. So let's focus on the original location as donated by Sam Nichols, but realizing that in the 1936 Defender this is apparently not where the school was located.

For this we need to turn to Nichols' deeding of an acre to Travis County for the school. That is documented here:

Travis County Deed Records: Deed Record 172 Page: 278

One might guess the school tract was part of the land he patented (Sam H. Nichols patent, Abstract 2471, grantee J.W. Preece) which was 160 acres. I have seen this cited as the location in some write-ups (Find a Grave). But the deed itself says it was from the adjacent William Bell survey (Abstract 112). This is further confirmed in the deed when Nichols says the school tract is not to include his homestead, the total acres being 240, the size of the Bell survey. Nichols patent was 160 acres.

Another interesting bit. The metes and bounds for the school tract starts where "the Austin and Burnet Mountain Road crosses the Wm Bell Survey". This is today's 2222. But given this is 1900-1901, the exact location where the old "Austin to Burnet mountain road" crossed the Wm. Bell survey is hard to say. Today's 2222 has been straightened and improved over the years as old 1937 aerials and older USGS surveys attest to. The road (segments of it) also shows up on old maps as Bull Creek Road. If you want to read more about this Old Burnet Road (parts of which are under Lake Travis now) look over these other articles:

https://traviscountyhistorical.blogspot.com/2019/09/old-burnet-road-mt-bonnell-to-comanche_18.html

https://traviscountyhistorical.blogspot.com/2020/07/comanche-peak-travis-county-texas.html

https://traviscountyhistorical.blogspot.com/2017/06/what-does-bull-creek-road-have-to-do_9.html 

The school tract metes and bounds were given in yards, each side being 70 yards, so about an acre. Given the caveat that we don't really know the precise starting location, and that even the survey boundary lines may wander, the GLO map below shows the general location in terms of today's 2222.

There is another spot I was told (second hand re-telling, lady couldn't remember the person's name, but said his father built the house that still sits on the property) was the school location. It's nearby but it's not on the Wm. Bell survey (per TCAD or GLO .. but darn close) and is on private property with restricted access so I won't repeat here. The location, besides being on the wrong survey, is a bit too far off 2222 even considering its modifications over the years. Still .. maybe ... surveying then isn't what it is today. I visited the location. The spot appears to be about an acre, close to being a square (it has been fenced but an older barbed wire and post oak fence sits outside the new fence; also boxed in by new construction), had a well, century oaks, sits on a slight hill with a good breeze. Ideal spot for a school? The 1937 and 1940 aerials show nothing there, i.e. wherever the Marshall Ford Dam school building was, that wasn't it either. But was it maybe the original school location? Notwithstanding the deed, I wouldn't bet against it. Back in the day they may well have put the school up in the wrong spot, just a tad over the GLO survey boundary recognized today.

To conclude, looking at aerial photos from 1937 (Tobin; dated November) and 1940, and reading articles about the new building being finished and furnished by August / September of 1937, it seems clear that the Nichols School built to support Marshall Ford Dam construction was not in the original location. Where that building was located is a mystery for another day.

 

Maps, Aerials

Estimated location of the original 1900-1901 Nichols School

Travis County Deed Records: Deed Record 172 Page: 278

GLO Wm. Bell survey info. 

General location according to the deed survey. The former 3M campus across the road

Footnotes 

1 1934 Map of Boundaries of Common, County Line and Independent School Districts. Topographic and Road Map of Travis County. Prepared 1932 by Travis County Engineering Department. Copy at Travis County Archives.

The Globe Hotel, Manor, Texas

Under the headline, “TRAVELING SALESMAN ACCIDENTALLY SHOT”, the Austin Statesman newspaper carried this story on July 3, 1906.

“W. W. Sesame, traveling salesman for Bassist of Elgin, was accidentally shot in the arm this morning at 11:30, the ball of a 38-calibre Colt’s entering the arm near the elbow, inflicting a painful wound. Bob Wolf, who was examining the gun, accidentally discharged it with the above effect. The shooting occurred at the Globe Hotel and had not the ball struck a domino on the table, perhaps, would have had disastrous results, but the domino changed the course of the bullet slightly, striking Sesame in the arm, inflicting a painful would. Mr. Sesame left this afternoon for Elgin on the eastbound Houston and Texas Central.” 

Photograph from the John Miller Morris Real Photographic Postcards and Photographs of Texas 
collection at the DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist University

For at least 25 years, the Globe Hotel was one of the popular places to stay when visiting or traveling through Manor. Records indicate that it was in business at least from 1893 to 1918. Newspaper advertisements such as this one from the October 28, 1893 edition of The Galveston Daily News gave reasons to stay at The Globe Hotel. 

Conveniently located next to the railroad tracks, on the north side of what was then Burditt Street, the Globe Hotel was easy to find for anyone departing from the train at the depot. This Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from 1916 shows the hotel, a two-story, shingle roof, wooden building, and it's proximity to the place where the train would stop.

 

A story in the July 8, 1894 edition of The Austin Daily Statesman told of a burglary that occurred at the hotel on the previous night. It read:

"Dr. D. Saffold, dentist, of Beeville, Tex., arrived here last night and put up at the Globe hotel. When he awoke this morning he found he had been robbed of $83 in cash and a gold watch and chain. Nothing of this kind has occurred in Manor for a long time and the affair caused considerable interest. A subscription of $60 was made up in a short while as a reward for the capture of the thief. The watch was a lady’s watch and has the inscription on inside of case, 'Presented to Mrs. A. M. Saffold by D. Saffold' , being a memento of his dead wife. Dr. Saffold prized it very highly and grieves greatly at the loss of it."

Another newspaper gave further detail saying that the Doctor's room was on the first floor and that the burglar entered through an open window sometime during the night. 

The hotel came very close to being consumed by fire in December of 1894. An article in the Austin Daily Statesman on December 4th was headlined "FIRE AT MANOR" with a sub headline reading: 

“An Early Morning Fire Destroys a Number of Business Houses”. 

"Fire broke out at 2 a.m. on Main street and burned to the ground all the block east of J. W. Bitting’s brick store…. 

The fire company and citizens generally worked faithfully, and notwithstanding the strong norther prevented the fire from crossing the alley and saved the Lancaster residence, Globe Hotel and Lewis building. If these had caught, the railroad depot and four or five seed houses would certainly have caught also.”

James Lafayette Lewis was the proprietor of the Globe Hotel in Manor, TX when his daughter, Eunice was born on September 4, 1910. From the information on the birth record, it appears she was born at the Hotel.
The 1910 U. S. Census, taken on April 16th, shows James, his wife, Lena, along with five men who were boarders at the hotel at that time. Those men were;
E. H. Marek – drug store pharmacist
J. B. Brown – minister
M. A. Smith – pool room manager
S. Smith – baker
G. L. Peper – advertising salesman
A sixth person, Sam Harris, is shown as a cook at the hotel.
James died in Austin on June 15, 1961. His wife, Lena, died in Austin on November 24, 1964. Both are buried in the City of Manor Cemetery. 

Advertisements such as these from 1913 and 1914 were frequently placed in Austin newspapers of that time.  

According to the December 18, 1917 advertisement in The Statesman, the hotel underwent a management change which apparently didn't last very long. 

Only three months later, The Statesman, on  March 16, 1918, ran what appears to be the final ad for the hotel. No more are seen after that date. A Sanborn Fire Insurance Map of Manor from 1925 shows a vacant lot in the area where The Globe Hotel had been. 

 

THE BLOOR HOUSE, Alfred Sutton Bloor and Martha Wainwright Bloor

 Who were Alfred and Martha Bloor and how could they build such an expensive home in Manor?

Bloor house - 709 Lexington Street, Manor, TX

Alfred Sutton Bloor

Alfred Sutton Bloor was born January 18, 1850, most likely in Clarion, Pennsylvania. The 1850 U.S. Census shows him as a 6 month old living in Clarion, PA. (about 60 miles NE of Pittsburgh) His father was James Holbrook Bloor and his mother was Harriet (Sutton) Bloor.

According to a family history, James H. Bloor is said to have disappeared sometime around 1863, however, there is no date or location given for his death or burial. Alfred's mother died June 20, 1864 and was buried in the Allegheny Cemetery in Pittsburgh, PA. 

Due to the fact that Alfred was only 14 1/2 years old at that time, his mother's brother; Richard Bishop Sutton was appointed by the court to be guardian of Alfred, his brother, James and their sister, Theodosia. Alfred, James and Theodosia went to live with their grandmother, Ann Sutton, in Pittsburgh, PA.

During the March, 1867 term of the Allegheny County, PA. Orphans Court, Ann Sutton and Richard B. Sutton filed a petition to be allowed to sell all of the property owned by Harriet Bloor, deceased, and James H. Bloor, whereabouts unknown. Court records state the following; 

"But your petitioner further represents that Harriet Bloor was married on the 23rd day of September, A. D. 1847 to James H. Bloor and that said James H. Bloor had for nine years previous to the death of his wife willfully deserted his wife and children and neglected to provide in any manner for their support and that for five years previous to the death of Harriet Bloor his wife, no intelligence had been received of him, nor has any been received since by your petitioner, nor by any member of the decedents family."

The same year that his mother died, 1864, Alfred enrolled as a student at Pittsburgh Central High School. In the late 1860's he was apparently studying to be a lawyer. A publication titled "The Twentieth Century Bench and Bar of Pennsylvania" published in 1903, states: "Alfred Sutton Bloor was registered April 10, 1867, admitted February 25, 1871..."The Pittsburgh Legal Journal of May 31, 1871 shows Alfred Bloor involved in a divorce case at his office at 85 Grant Street in Pittsburgh.

Martha Wainwright Bloor

Alfred married Martha Wainwright - probably in 1873 - probably in Pittsburgh, PA. Martha was born July 28, 1849 in Pittsburgh, PA. (both were 23-24 years old) 

Martha was the daughter of Zachariah Wainwright and Elvira (Phillips) Wainwright. The Wainwrights would have been considered a rather wealthy family in that day and time and this is where Martha got much of her money. According to Martha Bloor's probate records, when she married Alfred she was given "a gift of a considerable sum of money" by her mother, Elvira Wainwright.

Zachariah Wainwright died in April, 1871 leaving quite a large estate to his widow and children. In addition to other properties, he owned a nine-acre parcel of land in Pittsburgh, which included Wainwright's Island in the Allegheny River. (noted as being the place George Washington spent one night in 1753)

In 1882, the Pittsburgh Junction Railway Company purchased a part of the Wainwright property for a total of $140,000 so the railroad could build a bridge across the Allegheny River.

When Elvira Wainwright wrote her will in March, 1902, she left $10,000 to each of her 12 
grandchildren, and $10,000 to her daughter Martha BIoor. All the rest of her estate was to be 
divided equally between Martha Bloor and her sister, Annie Abbott. An inventory of Elvira's estate 
after her death in 1904 valued it at $140,000.

David B. Sutton was Alfred Bloor's mother's uncle. He was never married and at the time of his 
death he had no surviving family members. He also had not written a will. When he died March 3, 
1895, his estate was valued at $1,034,903. In February, 1897, Alfred Bloor and his sister, Theodosia Bingham were each given $25,000 from David B. Sutton's estate. According to Martha's probate records, written by her son, Bertram H. Bloor, who was a lawyer in Austin, Sutton also left Alfred Bloor $130,988.39. Alfred gave Martha $75,000 of that money to be her separate property.

Alfred Bloor's grandmother, Ann Sutton, died May 12, 1889. She wrote her Last Will and Testament on August 2, 1883. In provision 3 of her will, she left him $2,000. All this indicates that Alfred and Martha Bloor both came from families of considerable wealth.

Deed records show that Alfred and Martha Bloor, John R. and Ella W. Cooper, as well as Elvira Wainwright were in Austn, TX as early as March, 1878. Records filed in Travis County, TX as well as Allegheny County, PA show Elvira Wainwright selling property in Pittsburgh, PA to Ella Cooper and her sister, Annie Abbott on March 25, 1878. Alfred and Martha Bloor were witnesses to the signing of those documents. 

Deed records also show that Alfred and Martha Bloor, along with John R. and Ella Wainwright Cooper, purchased 906 acres of land in Travis County on June 19, 1878 from George Armistead for 
$4,094.90. This land was about 3 miles south of the town of Manor. Martha would end up buying 
this land again about 17 years later, for an even higher price. Here's how that happened; 

Ella Cooper was Martha Bloor's sister. John and Ella had a son, Paul Wainwright Cooper, who 
according to genealogical records, was born May 21, 1878. This would make him about 1 month 
old when the property in Travis County was first purchased in 1878. Ella died October 14, 1879 at the age of 21 or 22 years old, leaving John as administrator of her estate, and Paul, who was one and one half years old, as heir, along with his father, to one half of the 906 acres.

At some point, John Cooper went back to Pennsylvania. In January, 1895 Martha Bloor went to 
court in Travis County to get the 906 acres legally divided between the Bloors and the Coopers. 
The court appointed men called commissioners to examine the land and make a fair and even
division of the property. Unfortunately, those commissioners said that because the land was
irregular in shape and the surface was rough and unbroken, a division of the land was impractical.

The court ordered the Travis County Sheriff to seize the land and sell it to the highest bidder. William L. Abbott, guardian of Paul Cooper, was authorized by the Orphans Court to bit a maximum of $700 per acre, using monies from the estate of Paul Cooper.  The sale was held in February, 1895 with Martha Bloor being the highest bidder at $6,025.00. Paul W. Cooper who was still a minor at that time and living in Pennsylvania, would receive his share of the sale price which was controlled by his father who was administrator of Paul's estate. 

Back to 1878: Alfred and Martha, along with their two sons, David Sutton Bloor and Alfred 
Wainwright Bloor, moved into a log cabin on the banks of Gilleland Creek. They built another 
house a short distance away and lived there while four more sons were born, and then moved again 
when they built their new home on Lexington Street in Manor. 

Old Bloor Cabin - Bloor Ranch - 1878

It appears that Alfred had given up his law practice in favor of raising sheep and cattle on his 
newly acquired land in Texas. Travis County tax assessment records from 1891 show that he owned 700 sheep. News from Manor printed in the June 24,1892 edition of The Austin American newspaper said, "Mr. A. S. Bloor left yesterday for Chicago with two cars of sheep." 1893 Travis County tax assessment records show that he owned no sheep that year.

When the Bloor house was built in 1897, it was actually not in the town of Manor. A man named 
Addison Earldom Lane had purchased 38.75 acres of land from James Manor in 1879. In February, 1897 Martha Bloor bought a piece of this property 250 feet square from A. E. Lane. The purchase price of the land was $1,900. It was just outside of, but adjacent to the town of Manor, bordering on 
Rector Street. There were no streets north of Rector Street at that time. The deed record states that Mr. Lane agreed to lay out a street an the north side of the property that was 60 feet wide and also on the east and west sides of the property that were 80 feet wide.

When Mr. Lane officially added his 38.75 acres to the town of Manor in 1912, those east and west 
streets became extensions of the already existing Lexington and Caldwell Streets and the 
street on the north side of the property was named Lane Avenue. 

The Austin Daily Statesman newspaper printed this on July 19, 1897; 

The Austin Weekly Statesman newspaper followed with this update on August 12, 1897;

A contract was signed with Charles P. Ledbetter  and work was begun. While most of the homes in Manor were wood frame buildings, the Bloor house was covered in brick that was supplied by the Elgin Press Brick Company, just a few miles down the road in Elgin. The house had 4 chimneys and 7 fireplaces. (most other homes, including that of James Manor  had only 1 chimney and 1 or 2 fireplaces, depending on whether they were one or two stories)

Bloor house - under construction, 1897-1898

In addition to the main dwelling, three other buildings were constructed. One was a two-story frame house, 24x40 feet in area which was built as a gymnasium for the children in the family. This building is visible in the 1897 construction photo above. 

Bloor house - gymnasium at the corner of West Lane Avenue and North Caldwell Street

Another, 18x20 feet in area, was to be the carriage house. 

Bloor house - carriage house on the West Lane Avenue side of the property

The third was a 10x12 frame building used as a garden house. 

Bloor house - garden house at the rear of the main house

A total of 89,77O bricks were purchased for constructing the house - costing $748.10. How do we

know this? On February 24, 1898, Morgan F. Smith, who was Secretary & Treasurer of the Elgin Press Brick Company, filed a mechanics lien against Mr. A. Vogle. who was a sub contractor doing the brick work on the house. There was still an unpaid balance of $434.10 for the bricks used in building the house. (Travis County Deed Records - Mechanics Liens 123, pages 624-625) The mechanics lien erroneously shows the house to be located on "Livingston" street.

Apparently the past-due balance was paid at some time because the Bloor family moved into the
house in 1898. Unfortunately, Alfred Bloor enjoyed the new home only a short time, dying on November 24, 1899. He was buried in the Oakwood Cemetery in Austin.

A family genealogy website says that after Alfred died in 1899, the family returned to Pittsburgh
for a short period of time. The Galveston Daily News printed this on March 19, 1900; "Mrs. A. S.
Bloor and family left this week for Pittsburgh, PA. to spend the spring and summer..."The 1900 U.S.
Census, taken on June 5th, shows Martha and her four sons living at 219 Winebiddle Street, Pittsburgh, PA. This is the former home of Alfred's grandmother, Ann Sutton, where Alfred and his siblings went to live after the death of their parents in 1863-1864.

They had apparently returned to Manor by at least July 26, 1901 when their son, Grant, age 16, died and was buried in the Oakwood Cemetery Annex in Austin.

Bloor House, circa 1908

Martha continued to live in the home until her death on February 7, 1928. She was buried along 
side Alfred in the Oakwood Cemetery. According to her probate records, her estate was valued at 
$247,196.28. She owed debts of only $6,700.

Ownership of the house then passed to her son, Bertram H. Bloor; Sr. who was a lawyer in Austin.

The house was rented out to various local residents until 1951. At that time Lillian Shockley 
bought the house with a deed of trust made out to the Austin National Bank.

In late 1951, Lillian Shockley opened a rest home in the Bloor house. It was called,  "Shockley's 
Sheltering Arms". She operated the rest home until August, 1953, at which time she sold it to 
Chester Foster and it became known as Foster's Rest Home.

The Elgin Courier newspaper,
August 20, 1953

The Elgin Courier newspaper, 
August 28, 1952

The dates are not exactly clear, but at some point the Bloor house was placed in trust with the

Austin National Bank and when Bertram H. Bloor, Sr. died November 18, 1953, the house was
inherited by his son and daughter, Bertram H. Bloor, Jr. and Anne Shryver. In 1960 they sold the
house to Thomas and Anne Bowdy. That ended the Bloor family connection to the house.

The Bowdy's sold the house to Sidney and Evelyn Donnell in 1977. In 1982, the Donnell's 
submitted an application to the Texas Historical Commission for a historical marker for the house. 
The application was approved on January 7, 1983. The marker is fastened to the outside wall near 
the front door. It says;

"Local rancher and farmer Alfred Sutton Bloor (1850-1899) and his wife Martha (Wainwright) (1849-1928), natives of Pennsylvania, built this home in 1897-1898. Constructed by the Elgin Press Brick Co., the house features characteristics of the Queen Anne and Colonial Revival styles. Outstanding features include the turreted corners and the massive portico. A landmark in the Manor community, the house remained in the ownership of the Bloor family until 1960."

Information on the historical marker is correct, but there are a number of details on the application that are not correct.

The application says; "The owners of the land upon which Bloor House was built were a few of  the outstanding citizens and pioneers of Travis County. These citizens and their land eventually became a part af the municipality of Manor, Texas founded in 1912".

(1) There were only 2 owners of the land before Martha Bloor - James Manor and A. E. Lane.
(2) Manor was founded in 1872 - A. E. Lane added his land to Manor in 1912.

The application says; "a resume of the owners of this land begins in 1844".
Actually the list of previous owners begins in 1838 when James Manor received his land grant for 
1280 acres and had the land surveyed on November 12, 1838.

The application says; "Judge Townes died in 1871 before all of his land title recards were
completed.'" ----- Judge Townes actually died in 1864.

The application says; "The executor of Judge Eggleston's estate transferred the title....."

It should say Judge Towne's estate.

The application says; "Nelson Rector received title to part of the estate in 1873, and he sold 
this part to James Manor in 1877. This became part of the 'James Manor Headright Survey'." 
Nelson Rector never owned any part of this land. It had belonged to James Manor since 1838. 

The application says; M.C. (Martha Cousins) Townes purchased the property from the estate of
her deceased husband, Eggleston D. Townes in 1871 and the deed was recorded in "Volume 5, 
page 514" of the Travis County Deed Recerds. Actually it was recorded in Volume V, page 514. 
They must have misinterpreted the "V" as a Roman numeral and converted it to the number 5.

The application says; "In 1881 James Manor sold 38.75 acres to A.E. Lane." The deed for the 
sale is dated November 29, 1879.

The application says; Martha Bloor purchased the land where they built the house on "August 3,
1897". The deed was filed in the Travis County Clerk's office on August 3rd, but the deed itself does 
not give a month or day when it was signed, only the year of 1897. The Notary Public who verified 
the signing of the deed dated his record June 30, 1897. That's just over a month earlier than the 
application shows.

And there are several names that are misspelled. A. C. Caldwell's first name, Charles Chevaillier's 
last name, and Nathaniel Amory's last name are all misspelled.

These are some of the small errors in the application, but there is one huge error. The application
shows six owners of the land before James Manor. All of those transactions are from the A.C.
Caldwell land grant, not from the James Manor land. This means that the first six owners listed in the application had no connection whatsoever to the land where the Bloor House was built and should not have been included in the application. 

Bloor house - historical marker application, pages 14 & 15
Highlighted area should not have been part of the application.

Sources

Photographs of Alfred and Martha Bloor, and painting of the Old Bloor Cabin, graciously provided by Carol Schryver-Bloom, great granddaughter of Alfred and Martha Bloor

Bloor family genealogical information taken from "Our Genealogy" website -

https://www.laurellynn.com/genealogy/bloor/james_bloor____James_H.htm

Richard B. Sutton appointed guardian of minors - Allegheny County, PA. Orphans Court Docket, Book 19, page 185, March Term, 1864 - December Term, 1864 

Alfred S. Bloor enrolled in high school - My High School Days : Including a brief history of the Pittsburgh Central High School from 1855 to 1871 and addenda, / Geo. T. Fleming, 1904, page 130

James Holbrook Bloor's absence explained in Allegheny County, PA. Orphans Court Docket, Book 22, pages 161-163,  December Term, 1866 - September, 1867

Bloor family information from Pennsylvania taken from FamilySearch.org - Full Text experimental pages

Ann Sutton, Last Will and Testament, Allegheny County, PA., number 79 in Will Book 35, pages 156-161

handwritten will - https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L9SW-Q3S9?view=fullText

Ann Sutton - application for Letters Testamentary by Theodosia Bloor, May 18, 1889, Allegheny County, PA. Death Record, Book 7, page 20

John R. Cooper, Ella W. Cooper and Elvira Wainwright in Austin, TX – March 25, 1878, Allegheny County, PA. Deed Book 388, page 335

John R. Cooper and Ella W. Cooper living in Austin, TX. - April 5, 1878 – Allegheny County, PA. Powers of Attorney, Book 11, pages 172-173  

William L. Abbott appointed guardian of Paul Cooper – January 10, 1880, Allegheny County, PA. Orphans Court Docket 1879-1880, Volume 42, page 240

Travis County Deed Records found online on The Portal to Texas History

Travis County Probate Records found online on The Portal to Texas History

The Elgin Courier newspaper found online on The Portal to Texas History

Bloor house historical marker application found online on The Portal to Texas History