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Our Mission

Our mission is to inform, promote, and connect historical and cultural contributions of minorities that have impacted the communities from the ten original counties, thereby filling in the historical gaps of Washington County, Texas, and American history.  By filling in these historical gaps, we will enrich the lives of citizens within the ten regions that made up the original Washington, County which are Washington, Montgomery, Milan, Brazos, Burleson, Grimes, Madison, San Jacinto, Walker, and Lee.  It is our hope that these influences would ultimately impact the state and even the nation on the great works derived out of these counties.

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Our Vision

Our vision is to create a more accurate, inclusive Texas history rightfully portraying the historical and cultural contributions, “under-told, untold, and unknown stories” of African Americans, and other minorities, specifically in the areas of family dynamics, religion, education, and politics.

BACKGROUND

The late historian and former Judge Eddie E. Harrison loved Washington County and even more he loved getting to know the families that live(d) her and their histories.  He also knew that the many great family stories were not widely shared.  He established the Texas Ten Historical Explorers, Inc. (TTHEI).

 

Revealing untold and under-told history in the counties developed from 1836 Washington County presents as many challenges as they do opportunities.  Local historians, preservationist, genealogists and interested persons recognized the “gap” in the history of Washington County and joined Mr. Harrison on this quest.  Many other historians observed these phenomena across the State, as well as the Nation.  As a result, a push to make history more inclusive caused the National and State Historical communities to create programs to bridge this “gap.”  The Texas Ten Historical Explorers, Inc. (TTHEI) embarked on a strategic plan to resolve the issues in the ten counties developed from the Washington County of 1836.

 

The formation of TTHEI began in 2007 with a call between two concerned historians, Eddie Harrison, and Reggie Browne.  Reggie Browne, who is a descendent of the noted Seward Family (Plantation) telephoned Mr. Harrison about how to restore and revitalized the Camptown Cemetery.  Mr. Browne has relatives buried there, as well, other prominent Black citizens of early Brenham and members of Mount Rose Missionary Baptist Church (MRMBC) graves reside in that cemetery.  The cemetery’s history is very intertwined with MRMBC, which is located a block away.  This is also the church where Mr. Harrison serves as a respected deacon.  Such an undertaking required some detailed processes; thus, when the two, who were also joined by several other relatives and colleagues, merged their over 90 years of historical research experience, that was the beginning of the development of the Texas Ten Historical Explorers.

 

The first step in these processes was to establish the Camptown Cemetery Association, which was established on November 9, 2007.  Then the next step was to seek the guidance of the Texas Historical Commission on rescuing a neglected cemetery and how to get an historical designation.  On July 9, 2009, the official notice designating the Camptown Cemetery as a Historic Texas Cemetery was received.  Given the entwinement of the cemetery and the church, in 2011 the two historians decided to write a complete history of the church for their 145th anniversary, which would be in 2013.  In doing so, they complete a 210-page history book about Mt. Rose MB Church and Washington County.  Many of the cemetery residents’ histories were revealed through their research and many of these stories were not known nor written in one source.  With so much valuable history documented, in 2012 the Association submitted their compilations for the church and the cemetery to the Texas Historical Commission for historical markers.  The church received their Texas Historical Marker first and the dedication was held on September 7, 2013.  The cemetery’s marker was dedicated on March 22, 2014. 

 

On June 19, 2014, the group decided to expand by inviting more researchers into their ranks and held their first meeting.  This was the beginning of developing a group whose sole purpose is to research the missing history of the area.  Many members recognized the history of families in the area extended beyond the current day Washington County and recommended including the 10 areas that made up the 1836 Washington County before areas branched off to become their own counties.    In July of 2015 the group changed their name to the Camptown Texas 10 Counties Historical Explorers and filed for 503(c) (3) tax exemption.   With much deliberation, in 2016 the name was officially changed to the Texas Ten Historical Explorers, Inc.

TEXAS TEN HISTORICAL EXPLORERS

CONTACT

800-690-6407

LOCATION

PO Box 214

Chappell Hill, TX 77426

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