Liendo Plantation and Mr. Hermenau
History of Liendo Plantation
In 1828 José Justo Liendo purchased 11 leagues of land near present-day Hempstead, Texas from the Mexican government. Through intermediaries, Liendo sold roughly 3000 acres of the property to plantation owner Leonard W. Groce for $1,500. A very successful cotton farmer, Groce bought the remainder of the property for $1,200 in 1860. The plantation was operated with as many as 300 slaves, and its revenue was between $80,000-$100,000 during especially productive years.
Groce’s Greek Revival-style plantation home on the property was built by slave labor and completed in 1853. It was constructed using bricks made from the red clay of the Brazos River and received the name Liendo, after the property’s original owner. Two stories tall with 16 rooms, the house was lavishly furnished and became a popular overnight stop for Texas’ more prominent citizens.
During the Civil War, Liendo Plantation was the site of Camp Groce, a Confederate recruiting and training station, later converted into a busy prisoner of war camp. During Reconstruction, the plantation was occupied by former Union general George Custer and 4000 troops as part of an effort to prevent Confederate retrenchment in Mexico under the emperor Maximilian. After Emancipation, the plantation soon became bankrupt. Groce’s son sold the mansion and 1,100 acres of land to Elisabet Ney and her life partner Edmund Montgomery for $10,000 in 1873.
Ney and Montgomery at Liendo
Undeterred by the disappointment of two years at an unsuccessful German expatriate colony in Georgia, Ney still held dreams of living an idealistic existence on the Frontier and was thrilled by the opportunity that Liendo presented. The grand home had seen much better days, but the land was beautifully lush and fertile, leading Ney to declare “Here I shall live, and here I shall die!”
The years the couple spent at Liendo were challenging, filled with good times but also severe burdens. Early on, their oldest son, Arthur, then three years old, died of diphtheria. His grieving parents cremated his body on the property. The neighboring community, already suspicious of this very peculiar family, became almost hostile when rumors circulated that Ney was a witch, burning her own children in the fireplace.
Furthermore, their almost total lack of agricultural knowledge made the property a continual financial burden. As she found difficulty hiring and retaining staff, she attempted unsuccessfully to recruit emigres from Germany. A letter from a Mr. Hermenau, described below, reveals that Ney wished to hire a manager for the property based on this outreach effort. Nevertheless, his overture was evidently rebuffed. Her partner, Montgomery, was too preoccupied with his philosophical writings to spend much energy working the land.
After spending nearly twenty years raising her surviving son Lorne and attempting to turn Liendo into a profitable enterprise, Ney was confronted with the failure of both efforts. Her relationship with her son was and remained beyond repair, and the couple was deep in debt thanks to the financial drain the plantation represented. After her return to sculpting and the construction of her Austin studio in 1892, Ney would be constantly commuting, usually solo in a simple hack, between Hempstead and Austin, dividing her time between her career and the plantation. Ultimately her desire to spend more time in Austin led her to build the 1902 addition to the studio, expanding the homely amenities she unsuccessfully hoped would entice Montgomery to the Capital city. Sadly, she only had a few years to enjoy the addition, as she died on-site in 1907.
After Ney’s death, Montgomery buried her in a grove of Live Oaks at Liendo they had planted together years before as a final resting place. Though Montgomery deeded the property to Theodor Low in 1909, he reserved the right to remain in the main house, and did so until his death in 1911, after which he was buried beside Ney.
Several owners followed. When the property was purchased by Phyllis and Carl Detering in 1961, Liendo was completely refurbished and reconstructed and became open to the public in 1973. The home was awarded a state historical marker in 1936, and the entire property became a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark in 1964, It was also added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971. It is still open to the public for tours once a month, and a marker on the grounds commemorates Elisabet Ney’s life, among others.
Mr. Hermenau's Letter to Liendo
Mr. Hermenau wrote to Elisabet Ney in 1883 to apply for a position as manager of Liendo. Upon moving to Texas, Elisabet Ney and Edmund Montgomery purchased the historic if dilapidated Liendo Plantation as their home. The couple attempted to earn a livelihood off of the land, growing corn and cotton, and later raising dairy cows. Their efforts were mostly unsuccessful, however. Ney complained that she was unable to find reliable employees to manage the land. She then decided to attract German workers by advertising in German-language newspapers and reaching out to her connections in Germany; this is likely how Mr. Hermenau apparently became aware of the opportunity at Liendo.