History of the Brenham Area

Brenham, Texas, originally called Hickory Grove, changed its name in 1843 to Brenham in honor of Dr. Richard Fox Brenham a Republic of Texas hero of the Mier Expedition. It was the prisoners of the Mier Expedition who were subjected to Santa Anna’s so called “Black Bean Incident.” Dr. Brenham had practiced medicine in the Hickory Grove area.

In 1841 President of the Republic of Texas, Mirabeau B. Lamar, asked Brenham to serve as a civil commissioner of the Texan Santa Fe expedition, which embarked to bring the city of Santa Fe and trade along the Santa Fe Trail under the control of the Republic of Texas. The mission failed and Brenham and his “Santa Fe Pioneers" were arrested and imprisoned in Mexico City. Brenham was released in April 1842 and returned to Austin, where he joined the Somervell expedition against Mexico. When William Somervell ordered his volunteers to disband and return to Texas despite their success in capturing Laredo, Texas, and Guerrero, Tamaulipas, Brenham joined with others who were unwilling to return home. This group set out for Mier, Mexico on the Mier expedition. On December 23, 1842, the group crossed the river and occupied Mier unopposed. The next day the Texans vacated the town and went back to their camp but required the town to deliver certain supplies to the camp. However, Mexican General Pedro Ampudia arrived at Mier and prevented delivery of the supplies. On Christmas Day, the Texans entered Mier again, this time by force although outnumbered10 to 1. After fighting into the next day, the Texans suffered 31 killed and wounded and the Mexican’s losses were estimate at 600 dead 200 wounded. Nonetheless, the Texans were nearly out of rations and agreed to surrender but the terms were not well defined.

The prisoners were first sentenced to death but that sentence was later lifted. The prisoners were held at Matamoros but orders came to move them to Mexico City. On the route to Mexico City, the prisoners revolted and many managed to escape near the town of Salado on February 11, 1843. Brenham was killed in the fighting. All but three of the escaped prisoners were re-captured.

After the escape attempt, all 176 surviving prisoners were sentenced to death. However, Santa Anna, after promising foreign minsters he would show mercy, had the sentenced changed to death for every 10th man, to be determine by lottery. All prisoners were forced to draw beans from a jar. Those that were unlucky and drew a black bean were lined-up and shot. Later that year, Hickory Grove changed its name to Brenham to honor the local area doctor Robert Fox Brenham. If you want more information about Texas history and Texas historical figures, a good starting place is the Texas Handbook Online. http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/

The Brenham post office was established in 1846 and by1858 the new county seat was a thriving agricultural center area and the town of Brenham was incorporated. Brenham served as the terminus of the Washington County Railroad built in 1860, and was a distribution point for goods to Texas’ interior until 1871, when the Houston and Texas Central Railroad was extended to Austin.

The area suffered a yellow fever epidemic 1867 and federal occupation forces burned many of the commercial buildings during Reconstruction in 1867 following a confrontation with local citizens. The mass grave of those claimed by yellow fever is marked in a local cemetery. There were also destructive fires in 1873 and 1877.

German immigration began in the county in the 1850's and increased after the Civil War. Large farms were divided into smaller ones and worked by German immigrants. German immigration to the area peaked in 1880s. A look around the area at road signs and the names of local businesses today  the German and Czech influence is still apparant. For instance, there are roads named Adamek, Beckemann, Boehmemann, Berlin, Fuelberg Pass, Schlottman and Steinfeld. There are businesses baring the names Schoeder, Schwartz, Hodde, Otto, Randermann and Hertzog.

By the 1890s cottonseed oil, mattress manufacturing, food and fiber processing, and metal fabricating were significant economic activities. In February 1844 Brenham became the county seat of Washington County.

Brenham has served as a regional educational center since Reconstruction, when a large freedmen's school was established. In 1875 the town began operating the first tax-supported school system in Texas. and German Methodists founded Mission Institute in 1883, now named Blinn College in appreciation of financial support from Rev. Christian Blinn.

Today, to prominent employers in town are Blinn College and Blue Bell Ice Cream.