DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and here's how Duane tells it back to you. Now, some men leave a mark on a place. Edwin Waller left a mark on a whole republic — and then kept right on going.
Born in 1800, Waller was already deep in the story of Texas before most folks had even heard the word. When the Consultation gathered in 1835 — that early, urgent, everything-on-the-table meeting where Texans were figurin' out what they were even fighting for — Edwin Waller was there. A member.
Present and accounted for. And then came 1836, and the Declaration of Independence. You know that document.
You've heard that document. Edwin Waller signed it. His name is on the thing that said Texas would be its own nation.
That is not a small sentence. But here's where it gets interesting — because some men sign a declaration and then step back into history's shadow. Waller stepped forward.
When the Republic of Texas needed its capital city, Austin, to have a mayor — its very first mayor — they turned to Edwin Waller. First. The inaugural one.
The man who helped birth the nation got handed the keys to its capital city. Now, the Republic eventually gave way to the state of Texas, and Texas eventually found itself at one of the great crossroads of American history. When the Secession Convention met in 1861, Edwin Waller was there too.
Still in the room. Still a member. The man had been present at the founding and now he was present at the fracturing.
And through all of it — the consultin', the signin', the mayoring, the conventioneering — there was this property. Land he acquired during the Republic itself. He came to live here in 1846, and he stayed for many years.
The man who helped write Texas into existence put down roots right here and watched the world he'd helped make keep on changin' around him. Edwin Waller died in 1883. The county you're drivin' through right now bears his name.
Make of that what you will.
What the marker says
Plantation Home of Edwin Waller (1800-1883). Member of the consultation in 1835. Signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence. First mayor of the City of Austin. Member of the Secession Convention in 1861. On this property, acquired during the Republic, he resided from 1846 for many years.