Biographies of Oakwood Cemetery Residents
Browse by surname: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
WAHRENBERGER, JOHN (1812-1864) Buried Sec 4, lot 42
John Wahrenberger was born in Switzerland in 1812, and immigrated to the United States in 1836. He lived in New Orleans for three years before moving to Austin where he worked as a gardener for Louis P. Cooke. In December, 1842, Wahrenberger learned that messengers were approaching Austin to transfer the Republic of Texas archives to Houston. He hastened back to Austin to give the alarm for the so-called Archive War. He was a member of the group of men who forced the return of the archives to Austin. His fellow citizens called him "Dutch John" and he owned considerable Austin real estate as well as a bakery, a hotel and cafe. He died in 1864. Source
http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online
WALKER, ALEXANDER STUART (1826-1896) Section 3, lot 997
Alexander Stuart Walker, lawyer and judge, was born in Virginia in 1826. He attended college in Indiana and read law and taught school in Kentucky. He moved to Texas in 1852. He studied law with David G. Burnet and James Pinckney Henderson and was licensed to practice law in 1853. He moved to Georgetown and was appointed district clerk. While serving in the Confederate Army in 1862, he was elected district judge. He remained in office until removed by the United States military forces in 1865 as an "impediment to Reconstruction." At this time, he moved to Austin where he planned the Democratic Statesman, and became its first editor in chief in 1873. He practiced law in Austin until 1879, when he was appointed to the Commission of Appeals. He was judge of the Sixteenth Judicial District, and associate justice of the Texas Supreme Court from March, 1888, to January, 1889. He was a Mason. He died in 1896. Source
http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online
WALKER, JOSEPH (1815-1886) Buried in Section 1, lot 197
Joseph Walker, early newspaperman, was born about 1815. He established the San Antonio Ledger in 1850. In 1852, he and John Salmon Ford purchased the Southwestern American, an Austin weekly, which they renamed the Texas State Times, in 1853. In 1857, Walker bought an interest in the Texas State Gazette, which he retained until 1867. He bought a half-interest in the Austin Statesman in 1871, and sold it to John Cardwell in 1875. He died in 1886. Source
http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online
WALSH, WILLIAM C (1836-1924) Buried in Old Grounds, Section A
William C. Walsh, Civil War officer and Texas Land Commissioner, was born in Ohio in 1836. He moved to Austin with his family in 1840. Walsh was a captain at the battle of Gaines Mill where he was severely wounded; he used a crutch the remainder of his life. In 1862, he was assigned command of the Austin post and two years later was named Quartermaster General of the state. After 1865, Walsh hauled wood, and ran a rock quarry. He bought a Barton Springs farm in 1866. In 1873, Walsh was elected chief clerk of the House of Representatives and then in 1878, he was appointed by Commissioner of the General Land Office. As Land Commissioner, Walsh launched the prosecution of a ring of forgers and land thieves who had raided the archives of the land office. His opposition to the free grass movement led to the establishment of the State Land Board in 1883 . Walsh directed the first survey of one million acres of land granted to the University of Texas under the l876 constitution; he then arranged for an additional survey of one million acres allotted to the school fund. The discovery of oil on those lands has been the basis of development of a splendid system of higher education in Texas. Walsh served on the state Capitol board and helped decide on the use of Texas granite for the capitol rather than Indiana limestone. He served on the board of public works for the construction of the Austin dam. Austin's Walsh Docks and boat ramp were later named for him. He died in 1924. Source
http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online
WALTON, WILLIAM MARTIN (1832-1915) Buried in Section 1, lot 381
William Martin Walton, attorney, Confederate army officer, and politician, was born in Mississippi in 1832. Walton moved to Texas by way of Arkansas and Indian Territory, arriving in Austin in 1853. In addition to practicing law from 1853 until 1857, Walton, a slave owner, farmed and prospected for gold on the Llano River. In 1858, he established a law partnership that lasted until the outbreak of the Civil War. An ardent secessionist, Walton served through the first year of the war as private secretary to Governor Francis R. Lubbock. In 1862, he enlisted as a private in the First Texas Lancers and was soon elected first lieutenant. In 1863, he commanded the vanguard Cape Girardeau raid. He took part in the Red River campaign. He spent the remainder of 1864 in south Louisiana and returned to Texas in the winter of 1865. That spring he learned of his wife's severe illness and left the army without leave. Impoverished by the war and barred from the practice of law, Walton was, in his words, "in a bad row of stumps." He hunted and fished for a living, marketing his kill and catch. In 1866, he was elected Attorney General of Texas but was removed from office by United States officials as "an impediment to Reconstruction." With the end of military rule, however, he returned to the practice of law. After 1899, Walton practiced law alone. Before his death in 1915, he spent his last two years compiling his memoirs. They were published in 1965 as An Epitome of My Life. Source
http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online
WASHINGTON, ELIZABETH TATE HARRIS (1818-1893) Buried in Section 1, lot 327
Elizabeth Tate Harris was born February 6, 1818 in Virginia. She married Thomas Pratt Washington in 1836 in Alabama. Among the family memoirs it is noted that the young Elizabeth was “quick as a whip at school” and was a fine musician. In 1845, the Washingtons moved to Texas. Her husband co-signed a note for $10,000 for a friend and when the friend defaulted he had no other choice than to sell all his holdings in Alabama and move to Texas where land was cheap. Among the many personal items and furniture they loaded into the covered wagons was a book of notes that she obtained from her family physician that was invaluable on the frontier and was used extensively by the family. Elizabeth, her husband and their five children settled in Travis County at the mouth of Onion Creek where it empties into the Colorado.. Like many pioneer families, they slept in the wagon beds until a log cabin and later their home could be built. Family memoirs also mention that sometimes friendly Indians would come by and were awed by Elizabeth’s piano playing. Because her husband was gone much of the time on outside interests, Elizabeth managed the property herself and even made it pay. After one of the floods of the Colorado Rivera, Thomas and Elizabeth moved to their home in Austin at 310 East 13thh Street .Elizabeth continued running the farm with the help of her sons until she died in 1893. SAC member
WASHINGTON, THOMAS PRATT (1806-1873) Buried in Section 1, lot 327
Thomas Pratt Washington was born in 1806 in Prince William County, Virginia. In 1845, Washington brought his family and slaves to Texas from Alabama and improved a 2,000 acre farm at the mouth of Onion Creek on the Colorado River. The plantation house, complete with a gin and a press, was completed in 1848. Mrs. Washington taught the neighbor children as well as her own. The Washington property, much of it represented in 106 slaves was lost as a result of the Civil War. Reconstruction difficulties caused further losses. After a Colorado River flood in the summer of 1869, Washington moved to Austin where he died in 1873. Source
http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online
WASHINGTON, WALTER OWEN (1883-1954) Buried in Section 1, lot 327
Walter Owen Washington, engineer, grandson of Thomas Pratt Washington, was born in Travis County in 1883. He graduated from the University of Texas in 1904 with a degree in civil engineering and returned in 1908 for graduate work in mining engineering. He was an officer in the engineering corps during World War I. He provided engineering service for many Texas counties. He pioneered advanced practices in the construction of concrete highways, particularly in rigid control over water-cement ratio for strength in concrete pavement mixes. He supervised construction of the Rio Grande valley's flood-control system of levees and floodways in Cameron County. In 1939-40, Washington was construction engineer for a Work Projects Administration federal water control and irrigation canal program in Willacy County. His last years were spent in Brownsville. He was active in historical associations and received various awards for his work. He died in 1954. Source
http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online
WEBB, WALTER PRESCOTT (1888-1963) Cenotaph in Section 3, lot 758
Walter Prescott Webb, historian and author, was born on a farm in Panola County, Texas on April 3, 1888. His father was a schoolteacher and part-time farmer. The Webb family had moved from Mississippi to Rusk County, Texas, then to Panola. The arid West Texas environment profoundly influenced Webb as reflected in his later writing about the Great Plains. During his tenure as director of the Texas State Historical Association (1939-46), he expanded the Southwestern Historical Quarterly, founded the Junior Historians of Texas, and launched a project to compile an encyclopedia of Texas, published in 1952 as the original Handbook of Texas. Webb was married on September 16, 1916, to Jane Elizabeth Oliphant. He was also a charter member and fellow of the Texas Institute of Letters and a member of the Philosophical Society of Texas. Webb died in an automobile accident on March 8, 1963; the Walter Prescott Webb Historical Society was later founded and named in his honor. Source
http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online
WILLIAMS, ELIZABETH ELLEN JOHNSON (1840-1924) Buried in Section 1, old ground D
Elizabeth Ellen Johnson Williams, schoolteacher, cattle dealer and investor was born in Missouri in 1840 and came to East Texas in 1844 with her family. The family finally settled in Hays County where Elizabeth received her basic education at the Johnson Institute, a private coeducational school founded in 1852 by her parents, and earned a degree in 1859 from the Chappell Hill Female College in Washington County. In 1873, after teaching at several other schools, she established her own private school. She later kept books for cattlemen and it was through her bookkeeping and her acquaintance with prominent cattlemen and investors of the day that she recognized the profits to be made in cattle. In 1871, Elizabeth registered her cattle brand under the name of Elizabeth Johnson. Two days later, she made her first real estate transaction by purchasing ten acres of land in Austin from one of her clients for 3,000 gold dollars. She achieved legendary status as an early Texas "cattle queen" and is thought to be the first woman in Texas to ride the Chisholm Trail with a herd of cattle that she had acquired under her own brand. Before her marriage to Hezekiah G. Williams in 1879, the couple signed a premarital contract allowing her to retain control of her financial affairs and keep her property separate. She presumably assisted her husband in his attempt to take the county seat away from San Marcos. The couple built a town called Hays City on their ranch in Hays County, but their colonization scheme failed and the town ceased to exist. After her husband's death in 1914, Lizzie grew increasingly reclusive and eccentric and had a reputation for being miserly. Austinites were startled to learn after her death that she had amassed almost a quarter of a million dollars. Her holdings included property in Travis, Llano, Hays, Trinity, Culberson and Jeff Davis Counties. She died in 1924 at the age of 84. Source
http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online
WOOLDRIDGE, ALEXANDER PENN (1847-1930) Buried in Section 4, lot 961
Alexander Penn Wooldridge, attorney, bank president, and mayor of Austin, was born in New Orleans in 1847. He graduated from the University of Virginia in 1868 and taught physical science in Kentucky. In 1872, Wooldridge moved to Austin, Texas, and studied law. Later that year was admitted to the Fifth Circuit Court of the United States as an attorney. In Austin, Wooldridge quickly became involved in civic affairs: he was president of the city's first public school board in 1880, and he served as chairman of the committee to have Austin named as the city for the location of the University of Texas. He served as secretary of the University of Texas Board of Regents from 1882 to 1894. He became president of the City National Bank and was president of the Austin Chamber of Commerce from 1888-1890. In 1902, he became president of the board of regents of the College of Industrial Arts and although he went into retirement the next year, his interest in civic affairs remained strong. In 1909, Wooldridge was elected mayor of Austin. He championed many improvements, such as paving and lighting of city streets, as well as additions to the police and fire departments. He retired from public office in 1919. He was the recipient of Austin's first Most Worthy Citizen award in 1924. Wooldridge Park and Wooldridge Elementary School were named in his honor. He died in 1930. Source
http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online
WOOTEN, THOMAS DUDLEY (1829-1906) Buried in Section 2, lot 440
Thomas Dudley Wooten, physician, was born in Kentucky in 1829. He received his M.D. from the University of Louisville. He practiced medicine in Kentucky and Missouri and during the Civil War was a district surgeon in the Confederate Army. After the war, Wooten practiced in Paris, Texas, and in the 1870s established a practice in Austin. He became one of the original regents of the University of Texas in 1881 and served as president of that board from 1885 until his death in 1906. Source
http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online
WORTHAM, WILLIAM BARTO (1853-1925) Buried in Section 4, lot 1033
William Barto Wortham, state treasurer was born in Jefferson, Texas, in 1853. He became an assistant bookkeeper in the office of the state treasurer in 1887. He was then elected State Treasurer in 1890 and served until 1899. He was instrumental in planning the Austin Dam Railway, and when the project failed, he made good the loss to the stockholders. In 1917, with the establishment of the oil and gas division of the Railroad Commission, he became chairman. He was an executive of several Austin banks. He was killed in an automobile accident on January 3, 1925. Source
http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online
WHIPPLE, JOSIAH W (1813-1894) Buried in Section 1, lot 12
Josiah W. Whipple, pioneer Methodist preacher, was born in Bennington, Vermont, on August 1, 1813, the first son of Angel and Celinda Whipple. After moving to Illinois with his family in the 1830s, he became a preacher in the Methodist Episcopal Church. After his ordination as deacon in 1841, he transferred to the Texas conference. Traveling by horseback and buggy, the ministers left Illinois in early October, and entered the Republic of Texas on December 17, 1841. At the second annual meeting of the Texas Conference, held at San Augustine on December 23, Whipple was received into full connection and appointed to the Austin circuit. The diary he kept from 1841 to 1844 is a rich source of information about frontier life in the Republic of Texas. Ordained an elder in 1843, he was appointed to the Houston circuit. When American Methodism divided in 1844, Whipple declared his loyalty to the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. He served the Austin Mission from 1846 to December 1886. Whipple served twenty-four years as a presiding elder. Whipple was married three times: to Sarah McGhee, with whom he had a son; Anna Rideout, mother of his daughter; and Sarah Dietricht, whose son he adopted. Whipple died in Austin on May 8, 1894 of old age. Source
http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online
