Edwin Waller (November 4, 1800 – January 3, 1881) was an entrepreneur, signer of the

Texas Declaration of Independence The Texas Declaration of Independence was the formal declaration of independence of the Republic of Texas from Mexico in the Texas Revolution. It was adopted at the Convention of 1836 at Washington-on-the-Brazos on March 2, 1836, and was formal ...

, the first

mayor of Austin, Texas The mayor of Austin is the official head of the city of Austin in the U.S. state of Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km ...

, and the designer of its downtown

grid plan In urban planning, the grid plan, grid street plan, or gridiron plan is a type of city plan in which streets run at right angles to each other, forming a grid. Two inherent characteristics of the grid plan, frequent intersections and orthogona ...

Texas independence

He was born in

Spotsylvania County, Virginia Spotsylvania County is a county in the U.S. state of Virginia. As of the July 2021 estimate, the population was 143,676. Its county seat is Spotsylvania Courthouse. History At the time of European encounter, the inhabitants of the area that bec ...

, United States, in 1800 to a family settled in the state since colonial times when they emigrated from

Buckinghamshire, England Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

. His family later settled in

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

. In April 1831, he immigrated to the Mexican state of

Coahuila y Tejas Coahuila y Tejas, officially the Estado Libre y Soberano de Coahuila y Tejas (), was one of the constituent states of the newly established United Mexican States under its 1824 Constitution. It had two capitals: first Saltillo (1822–1825) for ...

. On July 20, he received a land grant from the government in present-day

Brazoria County Brazoria County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, the population of the county was 372,031. The county seat is Angleton. Brazoria County is included in the Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land metropolitan statis ...

. He began a shipping business, transporting cotton from

Velasco, Texas Velasco was a town in Texas, United States, that was later merged with the city of Freeport by an election conducted by eligible voters of both municipalities on February 9, 1957. The consolidation effort passed by a margin of 17 votes. Founded ...

, to

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

, using his ship, the ''Sabine'', and was once briefly arrested in Velasco for refusing to pay Mexican customs duty. He very quickly became active in the movement for Texas independence from Mexico. On June 26, 1832, he fought and was wounded at the

Battle of Velasco The Battle of Velasco, fought June 25-26, 1832, was the first true military conflict between Mexico and Texians in the Texas Revolution, colloquially referred to as the "Boston Harbor of Texas" It began when Texian Militia attacked Fort Velasco, ...

, an early skirmish in the Texas Revolution. In 1833, he became the

alcade Alcalde (; ) is the traditional Spanish municipal magistrate, who had both judicial and administrative functions. An ''alcalde'' was, in the absence of a corregidor, the presiding officer of the Castilian '' cabildo'' (the municipal council) a ...

of Brazoria Municipality. In 1835, he represented the Columbia Municipality at the Consultation in San Felipe de Austin, where he was chosen by the members to serve in the General Council of the Provisional Government of Texas. On February 1, 1836, he was elected as the Brazoria delegate to the

Convention of 1836 The Convention of 1836 was the meeting of elected delegates in Washington-on-the-Brazos, Texas in March 1836. The Texas Revolution had begun five months previously, and the interim government, known as the Consultation, had wavered over whether ...

Washington-on-the-Brazos Washington-on-the-Brazos is an unincorporated community along the Brazos River in Washington County, Texas, United States. The town is best known for being the site of the Convention of 1836 and the signing of the Texas Declaration of Independenc ...

, where he signed the newly adopted

on March 2. At the convention, he served on the committee that helped draft the Constitution of the

Republic of Texas The Republic of Texas ( es, República de Tejas) was a sovereign state in North America that existed from March 2, 1836, to February 19, 1846, that bordered Mexico, the Republic of the Rio Grande in 1840 (another breakaway republic from Mex ...

1839 Austin city plan

In 1839, he was chosen by Texas President

Mirabeau Lamar Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar (August 16, 1798 – December 25, 1859) was an attorney born in Georgia, who became a Texas politician, poet, diplomat, and soldier. He was a leading Texas political figure during the Texas Republic era. He was elec ...

to survey the site, sell lots, and erect public buildings for the new state capital in

Austin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

. The original land site for the capital was narrowed to 640 acres (2.6 km²) that fronted the

Colorado River The Colorado River ( es, Río Colorado) is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The river drains an expansive, arid drainage basin, watershed that encompasses parts of ...

between two creeks, Shoal Creek and

Waller Creek Waller may refer to: Places in the United States * Waller, Pennsylvania * Waller, Texas * Waller, Washington * Waller County, Texas Waller County is a county in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 56,794. Its ...

, which was later named in his honor. Waller and a team of surveyors developed Austin's first

city plan Urban planning, also known as town planning, city planning, regional planning, or rural planning, is a technical and political process that is focused on the development and design of land use and the built environment, including air, water, ...

, commonly known as the

Waller Plan The 1839 Austin city plan (commonly known as the Waller Plan) is the original city plan for the development of Austin, Texas, which established the grid plan for what is now downtown Austin. It was commissioned in 1839 by the government of the Re ...

, dividing the site into a fourteen-block

bisected by a broad north-south thoroughfare,

Congress Avenue Congress Avenue is a major thoroughfare in Austin, Texas. The street is a six-lane, tree lined avenue that cuts through the middle of the city from far south Austin and goes over Lady Bird Lake leading to the Texas State Capitol in the heart of ...

, running up from the river to Capital Square, where the new

Texas State Capitol The Texas State Capitol is the capitol and seat of government of the American state of Texas. Located in downtown Austin, Texas, the structure houses the offices and chambers of the Texas Legislature and of the Governor of Texas. Designed in 18 ...

was to be constructed. A temporary one-story capitol was erected on the corner of Colorado and 8th streets. On August 1, the first auction of 306 lots was held. The grid plan that Waller designed and surveyed now forms the basis of the streets of downtown Austin.

Other pursuits

On October 13, 1839, he offered his house for the meeting place to establish the first

Masonic Lodge A Masonic lodge, often termed a private lodge or constituent lodge, is the basic organisational unit of Freemasonry. It is also commonly used as a term for a building in which such a unit meets. Every new lodge must be warranted or chartered ...

in Austi

On January 13, 1840, he was elected the first

mayor of Austin The mayor of Austin is the official head of the city of Austin in the U.S. state of Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km ...

. He resigned before the end of his term, however, and moved to Austin County. A new county formed from parts of Austin County and neighboring Grimes County was renamed Waller County in his honor in 1873. In 1861, Waller represented Austin County at the Texas

secession Secession is the withdrawal of a group from a larger entity, especially a political entity, but also from any organization, union or military alliance. Some of the most famous and significant secessions have been: the former Soviet republics le ...

convention. As one of the last living signers of the Texas Declaration of Independence, he was given the honor of signing the secession ordinance first after Convention President

Oran Milo Roberts Oran Milo Roberts (July 9, 1815May 19, 1898), was the 17th Governor of Texas from January 21, 1879, to January 16, 1883. He was a member of the Democratic Party. Roberts County, Texas, is named after him. Early life Roberts was born in Laure ...

. In 1873, Waller served as the first president of the Texas Veterans Association. He died on January 3, 1881, in Austin, where he moved shortly before his death to live with one of his daughters. He was buried in Waller County, but his remains were later moved to the

Texas State Cemetery The Texas State Cemetery (TSC) is a cemetery located on about just east of downtown Austin, the capital of the U.S. state of Texas. Originally the burial place of Edward Burleson, Texas Revolutionary general and vice-president of the Republic of ...

in Austin.

External links

*
Texas State Cemetery: Edwin WallerEntry for Edwin Waller
from th
''Biographical Encyclopedia of Texas''
published 1880, hosted by th
Portal to Texas History.Waller CreekTexas, the Dark Corner of the Confederacy: Contemporary Accounts of the Lone Star State in the Civil War
'. U of Nebraska Press; 1994 [Retrieved 6 August 2017]. . p. 235–237. {{DEFAULTSORT:Waller, Edwin 1800 births 1881 deaths People from Houston People of the Texas Revolution Mayors of Austin, Texas People from Spotsylvania County, Virginia People of Texas in the American Civil War Burials at Texas State Cemetery 19th-century American politicians Signers of the Texas Declaration of Independence