Archeologists unearth Bernardo Plantation

By JOE SOUTHERN
 HEMPSTEAD — Archeologists have discovered and are excavating the site of Bernardo Plantation, the place where Gen. Sam Houston took possession of the Twin Sisters cannons and marshaled his troops for the battle of San Jacinto.
Located just a few miles south of Hempstead on property owned by Houston media mogul Greg Brown, teams of professional and volunteer archeologists have unearthed two of the four fireplaces of the 1822 plantation home and are recovering a treasure trove of artifacts.
“This is one of the lost plantation sites of Texas that we’ve found,” said Jim Bruseth, director of the archeology division for the Texas Historical Commission.
Bernardo Plantation was built in 1822 by Jared Ellison Groce II and is believed to be the largest plantation in the Republic of Texas and the western-most cotton plantation in the South.
“Some have argued that the first cotton crop grown in Texas was grown here,” Bruseth said.
The plantation is built near a rock crossing in the Brazos River and served as a crossroads for travel in the old republic. The steamboat Yellow Stone used to tie up at the ferry landing at the site.
“The Twin Sister cannons were delivered to Sam Houston here from Cincinnati, Ohio,” Bruseth said.
The site is being excavated in cooperation with the Texas Historical Commission, the Community Archaeology Research Institute of Houston and the Houston Archeological Society. In addition to the brick and sandstone fireplaces, the workers have found nails, glass and ceramic shards, pieces of bone, coins, bullets, buttons, parts of lanterns, hoes, horse tack, parts of a cast iron fence and more.
Gregg Dimmick, a pediatrician from Wharton, with the assistance of avocational archeologist Jim Woodrick, discovered the site last spring. In August, teams using a magnetometer and then ground-penetrating radar verified the exact location of the main house. On Wednesday, Dec. 9, teams arrived to begin the dig.
“We could go on for years with this,” Bruseth said.
Displayed on a table with some of the newly-uncovered artifacts at the site were some items found just across the river in 1915 from the spot where Houston’s troops camped. Bruseth said this is a major find for Texas history.
“If you’ve read any of the early documents about the fight for Texas independence, this plantation site figured prominently in that,” he said. “Anybody of any importance came through here.”
The house had four rooms, each 20 feet by 20 feet. Each room had its own fireplace. There was a 12-foot wide dogtrot down the center of the building.
“The house was dismantled in 1865,” Brueth said. He said there is evidence the house was built in stages, with the first two fireplaces being made of sandstone quarried by slaves from the river. The second two fireplaces were made of red brick, also constructed by slave labor.
According to a press release issued by the Texas Historical Commission, Bernardo provided the facilities, services and a strategic location for Sam Houston and his Texian soldiers to prepare for the Mexican army 10 days before the Battle of San Jacinto.
The Twin Sisters cannons arrived from Ohio sympathizers and nearby, the steamboat Yellow Stone waited to ferry soldiers across the Brazos River. Large groups of people fleeing the approaching Gen. Santa Anna and his troops passed through as part of what became known as the Runaway Scrape.
The collection of structures including the main house, stand-alone kitchen, slaves’ quarters, traveler’s hostel and cabin for the resident doctor was where more than 100 people once lived and worked along the banks of the Brazos River. Bernardo, believed to be named after the Mexican governor of Texas at the time, is considered the South’s last major cotton plantation as well as the nation’s farthest westward cotton plantation.
“With regards to Texas early history, its location in the Brazos Valley is where the South became the West,” said Texas State Historian Light Cummins. “Bernardo was where plantation history began in our state with the planting of the first cotton crop in the Austin colony, and in terms of slave numbers remained the largest plantation in the Republic of Texas.”
Previous investigations in the summer and early fall yielded portions of hand-held tools, wagon and harness pieces, fragments of ceramic vessels and other household items.
“As we began to recover artifacts we were presented with some of the most poignant experiences an archeologist can have,” said Robert Marcom, a principal investigator with the Houston-based nonprofit Community Archaeology Research Institute, Inc. (CARI). “For instance, finding a heavy hoe blade that’s more than 170 years old is a reminder of both the economic possibilities that the early settlers hoped to exploit as well as the terrible human cost that enslavement exacted on those who were forced to labor under the hot Texas sun.”
CARI will continue to manage the Bernardo Plantation Archeology Project with the assistance of the THC and volunteers from the Texas, Houston, Fort Bend and Brazosport archeological societies. Long term plans include partial excavation of the site, leaving some areas for future experts to explore with techniques not yet available.
The goal is to eventually use the site as a learning tool for archeology classes and field schools. Researchers also hope to learn more about descendents of the slaves who once worked the plantation, many of whom are believed to live in and around the Hempstead area.
For more information about the Bernardo Plantation contact the THC’s Archeology Division at 512-463-6096 or visit www.thc.state.tx.us.