Treaty Oak, Beyond the Legends

Note: This article is based on work I did for Wikipedia hence the similarity to the article, i.e. this was not just a simple copy and paste from Wikipedia. I've kept hyperlinks to Wikipedia articles and references, but also duplicated references below in the References section as they will likely get re-numbered over time in the Wikipedia article; if you click on a reference link you may or may not get the intended citation so be sure to cross-check the number w/ the list below. Also I've reorganized material so the reference numbers are not in strict ascending order.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_Oak_(Austin,_Texas)

 

 

Some History (Not legend)

The tree is located in Treaty Oak Park, on Baylor Street between 5th and 6th Streets, in Austin's West Line Historic District. The tree was formerly known as "Raymond's Oak" after the original land patentee, James H. Raymond, the last treasurer for the Republic of Texas and first treasurer after statehood.^[2][3] 

Raymond arrived in Texas in 1839, and among other civil service was the last treasurer for the Republic of Texas and first treasurer after statehood. Raymond participated in the battles against the Ráfael Vásquez and Adrián Woll expeditions.^[18] In 1848 the State of Texas approved patents to Raymond for a number of outlots (lots outside the original city limits) that included Division Z, Outlot 11 where today's Treaty Oak is located. This was the location where James and wife Margaret (Johnston) Raymond built their homestead; today's street address of 1008 W. Sixth Street. Located just south of their homestead was today's Treaty Oak, originally known as "Raymond's Oak". As described in the NRHP application for the West Line Historic District, one of the earliest subdivisions of the outlots west of Austin was Raymond Plateau.^[10] It was platted by James and Margaret around 1871 and included the location of today's Treaty Oak. James H. Raymond died in 1897 while still living at their homestead. Margaret died in 1917. James and Margaret had no children.^{[19][2][3][20]}

In 1882 Walter H. Caldwell and wife Lou (Jones) Caldwell made their home on what is today's West Sixth on lots on which Treaty Oak is located.^[1] Walter died in 1910 with his obituary listing his address as 1009 West Sixth, that being part of the Raymond Plateau subdivision.^[21] By 1923 news articles reported his widow having difficulty paying the property taxes on their property. In 1926, Mrs. Caldwell offered the land for sale for $7,000. While local historical groups urged the Texas Legislature to buy the land, it appropriated no funds. In 1937, the City of Austin purchased the land for $1,000 and installed a plaque honoring the tree's role in the history of Texas.^[22]

Treaty Oak is discussed in Texas A&M Forest Service's Famous Trees of Texas.^[6]

The Legends (Not History) and How They Started

The legends that surround Treaty Oak appear to have their origin in the 1920s before it was made an Austin park and was in danger of being lost. Then owner, Mrs. W.H. Caldwell, was unable to afford property taxes associated with the lots upon which the tree was located; the tree hindered her development of the lots for financial gain with which to pay taxes. As reported in the news "[Mrs. Caldwell] has paid taxes on [the lots] ... without gaining any return from her property, for the tree, with its breadth, practically covers the frontage of two lots and prevents selling them for building purposes."^[4] Treaty Oak may have been "part of an American tradition of declaring some trees special to protect them from the woodsman’s ax."^[5] That the tree was special to begin with in Texas history may have been due to confusion on history concerning Stephen F. Austin, the "father of Texas" and the City of Austin's namesake. Texas A&M Forest Service's Famous Trees of Texas categorizes Treaty Oak as "Folklore & Legends" and "Saved From the Axe", with no association with Stephen F. Austin.^[6]

More on this confusion shortly. 

According to legend, Treaty Oak is the last of the Council Oaks. As described on its historical marker, Native American "battles and important conferences have been planned, pacts signed, and feasts and religious ceremonies celebrated in its shade".^[7] Other lore says that Native American women would drink a potion made from the leaves and acorns of the Treaty Oak.^[1] The details and purpose of the potion varies from one telling to the next: it was done during the full moon; it ensured their men's success and safety in battle; it ensured fidelity; it was as a love potion.^[6] The telling of the story also varies as to the tribes associated with the tree.

The "Council Oaks" themselves are part of the legend of Treaty Oak with evidence of their existence lacking. The Austin American Statesman's database of historical newspapers going back to 1871 shows the term "Council Oaks" first appearing in the late 1920s.^[8] The number of oaks varies; some accounts simply describe a group of oaks; others cite fourteen; a news article from 1928 says five.^[9] A common explanation for the absence of the Council Oaks is they were cut down as Austin grew. But the first commercial development involving Treaty Oak was the Raymond Plateau Subdivision; the property was until then owned by the Raymonds. In 1871 a plat for Raymond Plateau was filed (the actual plat survey preceding the filing) and shows an oak at Treaty Oak's location (but no name), but not as part of a grove of oaks. In addition to the lack of evidence for the Council Oaks, the plat seems to run counter to lore that Treaty Oak was the remaining oak of a large grove at that location.^[2][10]

Likely the best known story associated with the tree concerns Stephen F. Austin who is reputed to have signed the first boundary line agreement between Indians and Anglo Texans under the tree.^[7] But historical proof has not been found; Stephen F. Austin died in 1836 before either Waterloo or Austin was founded.^[1][11]

In 1936 the Texas Centennial Historical Commission concluded the story was "unfounded romance ... without historical foundation". The Commission also concluded the "tradition probably grew out of a treaty made by Carita, Tonkawa Indian chief, and Stephen F. Austin in 1824, by which the Indians agreed to keep out of the colony." The colony referenced is San Felipe de Austin in today's Austin County, Texas, which likely over time was conflated with the current City of Austin, Travis County.^[12] That verbal agreement, and never called a "treaty" per se, was documented in a letter from Stephen F. Austin to Jose Antonio Saucedo in 1826.^[13]

Treaty Oak's Stephen F. Austin story had been called into question by historians a decade before the Texas Centennial. In 1925 then owner Mrs. W.H. Caldwell expressed skepticism about the story: "I have never made any claims that the tree was that under which Stephen F. Austin or anyone else signed treaties with the Indians ... I understand the Daughters of the Texas Republic (sic) have investigated the records and have been unable to substantiate the stories ... The first time I ever heard that my tree was the treaty oak (sic) was when a story appeared in the morning paper about two years ago ... I do not know where the information came from." The article goes on to say that the Daughters of the Republic of Texas point out an obvious problem, "Stephen F. Austin had been dead three years when the city of Austin was laid out, and that he never held any conferences with Indians as far west as Austin."^[14]

The Texas Centennial Historical Commission's conjecture the story probably grew out of meetings between Stephen F. Austin and Tonkawa Chief Carita is born out in a news article from March 16, 1923 where the author conflates events at "the colony" at San Felipe de Austin, Austin County, with the current City of Austin, Travis County. The article's anonymous author then embellishes the story beyond what is actually contained in the correspondence of Stephen F. Austin on the matter. This article didn't use the term "Treaty Oak" to refer to the tree.^[15][13] The Austin American Statesman's database of historical newspapers going back to 1871 shows the term "Treaty Oak" does not appear to have been used prior to 1923.^[8]

Another story holds that Sam Houston rested beneath the Treaty Oak after being deposed as Governor of Texas by the secessionist state legislature at the start of Texas's involvement in the American Civil War.^[16] Other accounts of the Treaty Oak peace treaty story like that published in The Austin American in 1935 claimed it was Sam Houston, not Stephen F. Austin, who "parleyed with the Indians for peace nearly a century ago", i.e. ca. 1825 before Houston had even arrived in Texas.^[17]

References

1. Association, Texas State Historical. "The Historic Treaty Oak of Austin: A 500-Year-Old Treasure". Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 2025-06-11.

2. United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service. National Register of Historic Places Form for "West Line Historic District", October, 1990.

3. Texas GLO. Raymond patented the tract where Treaty Oak is located. A Topographical Map of the Government Tract Adjoining the City of Austin. GLO map 2178. Original map drawn in 1840 by Sandusky. Copied in 1863 by Reich[el] (sic) and copied again in 1931 by Boggs. https://historictexasmaps.com/collection/search-results/2178-a-topographical-map-of-the-government-tract-adjoining-the-city-of-austin-general-map-collection 

4. Red River County Review. Treaty Oak, Famous Texas Tree, May Die. Clarksville, TX, May 12, 1925.

5. "What's the story of Austin's Treaty Oak?". KUT Radio, Austin's NPR Station. https://www.kut.org/austin/2022-04-28/whats-the-story-of-austins-treaty-oak

6. Texas A&M Forest Service. Famous Trees of Texas. https://tfsdev.tamu.edu/websites/FamoustreesofTexas/Treelayout.aspx?pageid=16153 

7. "The Caldwell Treaty Oak Park Historical Marker". www.hmdb.org. Retrieved 2025-06-12.

8. ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Austin American Statesman.https://www.proquest.com/hnpaustinamericanstatesman

9. The Austin American. Austin Woman Scolded For Tryst at Treaty Oak in 1849. Sep 16, 1928, p.SM1

10. Travis County Deed Records, Volume V, p.401, ca. 1871. Re-filed Jan. 26 1885 in Travis County Plat Records, Volume 1, p.30. The refiling was done by Travis County to put subdivision plats in a central set of books, i.e. from the Deed Records to the Plat Records. The actual survey of Raymond Plateau Subdivision may have been before 1871; survey dates (hence what is shown on the plat) sometimes precede plat publishing by years and before the first filing of a deed in that subdivision. The legal description of Treaty Oak's location today is as it was in 1871: Division Z, Outlot (OLT) 11, Block 2, Raymond(s) Plateau. This allows reasonable certainty when reviewing the 1871 plat of the location of Treaty Oak on that old plat.

11. Association, Texas State Historical. "The History of Waterloo: The Birthplace of Austin, Texas". Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 2025-06-15. 

12. The Austin American. Treaty Oak Story Just Tradition. March 1, 1936, p.9 

13. Stephen F. Austin to Jose Antonio Saucedo, 05-19-1826. Correspondence of Stephen F. Austin, Digital Austin Papers, crediting Department of History, University of North Texas' Portal to Texas History, and partners. https://digitalaustinpapers.org/document?id=APB1160.xml 

14.  The Austin Statesman, "Treaty Oak" Loses Precious Legend, May 8, 1925, p.10

15. The Austin Statesman, Austin's Oldest Live Oak, With Spread of 110 Feet, May Become State's Newest, Smallest Park. March 16, 1923, p.4

16. Crouch, Barry A.; Prather, Patricia Smith; Monday, Jane Clements (1994). "From Slave to Statesman: The Legacy of Joshua Houston, Servant to Sam Houston". The Western Historical Quarterly. 25 (4): 544. 

17. The Austin American. Sam Houston's Former Slave Honored by Allred. May 5, 1935, p1.

18. Association, Texas State Historical. "The Vásquez Raid and the Woll Invasion: Tensions Between Texas and Mexico". Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 2025-06-23.

19. "Raymond, James Hervey". www.tshaonline.org. Retrieved 2025-08-18.

20. Austin Daily Statesman. Distinguished Citizen Dead (James H. Raymond obituary). October 31, 1897, p.2

21. The Austin Statesman. Many Attend Funeral of Walter H. Caldwell. Monday, March 7, 1910 p.5

22. "The Caldwell Treaty Oak Park". www.hmdb.org. Retrieved 2025-02-10. 

23. Phoebe Judge (February 5, 2016). "Perfect Specimen". thisiscriminal (Podcast). PRX. Retrieved October 28, 2018.

 

UFOs over Austin 1897

 

Illustration of 1896 sighting from The San Francisco Call Bulletin Thu, Nov19, 1896

 

Lots in the news recently about UFOs. In 2025, the government intensified UAP (Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena) oversight through congressional hearings focused on declassification, transparency, and whistleblower protection; that's X-Files "the truth is out there" kind of stuff.

Stories of UFOs in Texas go back to at least the 19th century. Between 1896 and 1897 reports of mysterious "airships" spiked nationwide. A Wikipedia article describes the "Airship wave of 1896–1897" as having started in California, then spread east across the country. In all, reported sightings based on news articles is estimated in the tens of thousands.

Reports in Texas peaked in 1897. From the Texas Almanac (When Airships Invaded Texas): "Descriptions of the airships varied somewhat, but there was a general consensus that they had cigar-shaped bodies or cabins 50 to 60 feet long with propellers at each end, large bat-like wings, and huge floodlights fore and aft." the most famous incident occurring in Aurora, Texas, where a craft reportedly collided with a windmill. The Dallas Morning News reported "The pilot of the ship is supposed to have been the only one on board, and while his remains are badly disfigured, enough of the original has been picked up to show that he was not an inhabitant of this world." The pilot was said to have been buried in the Aurora town cemetery which today has a historical marker referencing the event.

The alien was later nicknamed “Ned” by the Aurora City Council. 

Here in Travis County news accounts from 1897 report numerous sightings in and around Austin, plus Manor and Webberville. This report centers on Mount Bonnell and Bull Creek (Huddle's Point is the promontory on the west bank of Bull Creek overlooking its confluence with the Colorado):

"The airship made its appearance again early yesterday morning. At least, three young men who were camping up on Bull Creek, near Huddle’s point, say they saw it... About 3 o’clock yester­day morning it began to rain, and the young men were compelled to get up and fasten their tent. It was at this time they saw the mysterious air craft. They claim it was in sight fully fifteen min­utes and are positive they could not have been mistaken. At intervals of every few seconds it would throw its searchlights, and the boys say the light looked as big as four ordinary arc lights. It made its appearance from behind Mount Bonnell and traveled north." (Austin Daily Statesman Apr 26, 1897).

In May one or more mystery airships made an appearance again over Austin, and that same night over Webberville: "Yesterday word came from Webberville announcing that John McCall, a prominent citizen of that section, had seen the airship about 10 o'clock Friday night. It was sailing very low, and be had a good view of it. He said it looked about fifty feet long, and was brilliantly lighted, looking something like a steamboat at night." (Austin American-Statesman, Sun, May 23, 1897)

So were the events of 1897 real, mass hysteria or hoax? One Austin man opined: "Where there's so much smoke there must be some fire. So many reports, from so many different points, cannot be fabrications... It is my opinion, that the airship, so-called, is nothing more nor less than a reconnoitering aerial war car from warlike Mars, investigating the conditions of the United States..." (The Austin Weekly Statesman, Thu, Apr 22, 1897). If indeed they were visitors from outer space, it's been 129 years since they visited Austin; they wouldn't recognize it today. Or maybe they did come back and saw the traffic, crowds and mess at the airport and said "I remember Austin when...".

Klaatu barada nikto.

 

References for more reading ...

Mystery Airships. Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystery_airship retrieved 2023 03.23

"A Windmill Demolishes It" The Dallas Morning News, April 19, 1897, p. 5

Aurora Cemetery historical marker, https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=183377

When Airships Invaded Texas, Texas Almanac, https://www.texasalmanac.com/articles/when-airships-invaded-texas

The Strange Mysterious Craft Passed Over Manor Last Friday Night. Austin American-Statesman, Mon, Apr 19, 1897

The Heavenly Mystery & Statesman's Mystery Man [Shoal Creek]. The Austin Weekly Statesman. Thu, Apr 22, 1897

Airship Again [Mt. Bonnell & Huddle's Point* on Bull Creek]. Austin Daily Statesman, April 26, 1897.

The Airship. It Was Seen in Austin and Webberville Friday Night. Austin American-Statesman, Sun, May 23, 1897

The Airship. Austin American-Statesman, Tue, Jun 1, 1897

Aliens in Aurora: Celebrating 1897 UFO crash in North Texas, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, April 14, 2016

 

*Side Note: Huddle's Point

Huddle's Point is a whole topic on it's own. But briefly:

• Huddle's Point is a landmark not appearing on maps I've reviewed. General location is the promontory on the west bank of Bull Creek overlooking its confluence with the Colorado.

• It is named after William Henry Huddle: https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/huddle-william-henry

• One source for its location is "She Recalls Bull Creek, Oak Grove of Long Ago!" The Austin American, Aug 14, 1966.

• It was referenced as a point of interest in old guides to Lake McDonald, now Lake Austin, e.g. Austin American-Statesman, Thu, Jun 8, 1893

• It appears in some county deed records: Travis County Deed Records: Deed Record 318 Page: 156 https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1249476/m1/162/

The Old Governor Albert C. Horton / Judge Thomas H. Duval House

Austin American-Statesman (Austin, Texas) · Sat, Mar 2, 1996

The old Governor Albert C. Horton (1798 - 1860) house was located at 6706 Bluff Springs Rd, Austin, TX 78744 (30.187683, -97.768383). A Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, 1972, the house suffered a fire in 1996 and the ruins were razed in 2025 due to safety concerns. Hornton owned the property 1841 - 1852. A later owner was Judge Thomas H. DuVal (1813 - 1880) then restored and enlarged by Mr. and Mrs. W.O Karcher in the 1960s.

The house was located less than mile east of the old road from Austin to San Antonio, today's South Congress Ave, and part of El Camino Real de los Tejas Nat'l Historic Trail. 

Lt. Gov. Hornton 

A veteran of the Texas War for Independence, upon the establishment of the Republic of Texas in 1836, Horton was elected to congress. He was chairman of the commission appointed by president M.B. Lamar which selected Waterloo, surveyed 1838, then later renamed Austin, as the capital of the Republic of Texas in 1839.

On March 7, 1842, Horton was recruited to serve as captain under Colonel Owen, to defend against Rafael Vásquez, and his force of 500–700 Mexican soldiers, who had seized San Antonio which in turn led to the temporary partial evacuation of Austin until Texas entered the Union in 1845.

Hornton was the first man elected Lieutenant Governor after Texas joined the Union, and lived here while serving as Chief of State May 19-Nov. 13, 1846, when Gov. J. Pinckney Henderson was on duty with the U.S. Army in the Mexican War.

Judge DuVal 

Thomas H. DuVal was first United States judge for the Western District of Texas. His two brothers, Burr H. and John C. DuVal, had answered the call of the Texas Revolution in 1835. Thomas moved to Austin with his wife and two children in December 1845 to practice law. From 1846 to 1851 he served as a reporter for the state Supreme Court. In 1851 Governor Peter Hansborough Bell appointed him secretary of state. In 1855–56 he was judge of the Second Judicial District of Texas, and in 1857 President James Buchanan appointed him first United States judge for the new Western District of Texas, which extended from Tyler in East Texas to El Paso and Brownsville and included Waco, Austin, and San Antonio. DuVal held this office until his death. The outbreak of the Civil War in 1861 caused suspension of the court's proceedings, but Judge DuVal, a Unionist, remained at his station in Austin. Between 1861 and 1863 he held two jobs there-one in the General Land Office, and another as deputy county surveyor. At the end of the war DuVal applied himself toward rebuilding acceptance and confidence in United States constitutional law. He pioneered in the opening of federal court sessions from Austin westward.

Photos

Photo from about 1980 before the fire. Notice RTHL plaque by door.

The following photos are from March 2022 when I visited the property to informally document the house while extant. Click on image to enlarge.

References 

Two state markers on Hornton

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=191990

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=158655

RTHL marker and application

https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth491501/

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=193510

TSHA articles

https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/horton-albert-clinton

https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/duval-thomas-howard 

Town of Manor and the 1869 Flood of the Colorado River

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