Liendo Plantation
A historic cotton plantation and Civil War military site near Hempstead in Waller County, Texas.
Last updated August 26, 2026
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Overview
Liendo Plantation is a historic property near Hempstead in Waller County, Texas. It began as land granted to José Justo Liendo in 1828, when the area was part of Mexico, and later became a working cotton plantation under Leonard Waller Groce. Groce acquired the property in 1841 and developed the plantation, including a plantation house completed in 1853. The name Liendo derives from the property's original grantee. The site is especially significant for its role during the American Civil War. The Confederate military used the plantation complex as Camp Groce, initially a training and organization camp for infantry recruits and later a prison camp for United States soldiers captured in battles in Texas and Louisiana. The camp was affected by disease, poor conditions, and high mortality. Prisoners associated with the camp included men captured at the Battles of Galveston, Sabine Pass, and Calcasieu Pass, as well as prisoners transferred from Camp Ford. Burial grounds in and around the former camp preserve the memory of Union prisoners and Confederate personnel who died in the Hempstead area. After the Civil War, the property was used by United States forces. In 1865, cavalry units under Major General George A. Custer camped in and around Liendo Plantation for approximately two months during the postwar military occupation of Texas. The military presence formed part of the broader effort to administer the former Confederacy, manage paroles, secure infrastructure, and restore civil order. The nearby military post also supported federal Reconstruction-era activity, including the work of the Freedmen's Bureau. A yellow fever epidemic in Hempstead in 1867 caused substantial civilian and military deaths. In 1873, German American sculptor Elisabet Ney and her husband, Scottish American physician and scientist Edmund Montgomery, purchased the plantation and home. The couple lived at Liendo from 1873 until Montgomery's death in 1911, although Ney increasingly worked from Austin after 1892. Their ownership connected the site with important figures in nineteenth-century Texas art, science, and intellectual life. Ney and Montgomery are buried on the grounds. Liendo Plantation's historic importance has been recognized through several preservation designations. The plantation house received a state historical marker in 1936. The larger property was designated a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark in 1964 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places on June 21, 1971. Today, Liendo is best understood not as a commercial consumer brand but as a historic place associated with plantation agriculture, enslavement, the Civil War, prisoner-of-war history, Reconstruction, and the lives of Elisabet Ney and Edmund Montgomery.
History
The land associated with Liendo Plantation was granted to José Justo Liendo in 1828, during the period when the region formed part of Mexico. Leonard Waller Groce purchased the tract in 1841 and established it as a cotton plantation. Groce expanded the agricultural operation and added a plantation house in 1853. The plantation depended on enslaved labor; historical accounts identify Groce as the enslaver of more than 100 people. This context is central to understanding the property's economic development and its later wartime history. During the Civil War, the Confederate States Army incorporated the plantation into the military network around Hempstead. The site was first known as Camp Liendo and was subsequently renamed Camp Groce in honor of Groce. In spring 1862, it served as a camp of instruction for Confederate infantry recruits. Barracks were constructed for Camp Groce and the nearby Camp Hebert, and a number of Confederate regiments were organized, trained, and equipped in the area. The camps were abandoned and reused more than once because of unhealthy conditions. Between 1861 and 1863, nearly 200 Confederate soldiers reportedly became sick and died at the Hempstead camps or in associated hospitals. Camp Groce was reopened as a prison camp in June 1863 for United States prisoners captured at the Battles of Galveston and Sabine Pass. During that year, 427 Union prisoners were held there, with 21 deaths recorded in the supplied historical account. In 1864, the Confederacy sent additional prisoners to the camp, including men captured at Calcasieu Pass, members of the crews of USS Granite City and USS Wave, and soldiers from the 1st Texas U.S. Cavalry. A further transfer from Camp Ford brought the total number of prisoners held at Camp Groce during the two principal wartime years to approximately 1,110. Disease, including yellow fever, contributed to deaths and later transfers to other camps. The account records 168 deaths, 28 missing prisoners, 20 escapes, and other changes of status across the Camp Groce, Camp Gillespie, and Camp Felder prison system. In March 1865, thousands of Confederate troops from Walker's Division moved into the Hempstead area as Confederate military authorities considered a final defensive position in Texas. Following the surrender of Confederate forces, United States troops arrived in the region. In August 1865, a division of volunteer cavalry commanded by George A. Custer camped in and around Liendo Plantation for about two months. The postwar military presence was intended to help administer the defeated Confederacy, manage former Confederate paroles, protect transportation routes, and establish federal authority. In 1866, companies of the 17th United States Infantry were stationed at Hempstead in support of Reconstruction and Freedmen's Bureau operations. A severe yellow fever epidemic struck the town in 1867 and killed many civilians and soldiers. The plantation entered a new phase in 1873, when Elisabet Ney and Edmund Montgomery purchased the house and property. Ney was a German American sculptor, while Montgomery was a Scottish American physician and scientist. They occupied Liendo for the remainder of Montgomery's life. Ney increasingly based her activities in Austin after 1892, but Liendo remained associated with the couple and their work. Montgomery died in 1911, and both he and Ney were buried on the grounds. Preservation recognition followed in the twentieth century. The plantation house received a Texas state historical marker in 1936. The full plantation was designated a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark in 1964, and the property entered the National Register of Historic Places on June 21, 1971. Related cemeteries and markers in the Hempstead region commemorate the soldiers and prisoners who died in connection with the wartime camps. Liendo therefore represents several overlapping histories: Mexican-era land grants, antebellum cotton agriculture and enslavement, Confederate military mobilization, Civil War prisoner detention, postwar federal occupation, Reconstruction, and Texas cultural history through Ney and Montgomery.
- 1971
National Register listing
[1]Liendo Plantation was added to the National Register of Historic Places on June 21.
- 1964
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark designation
[1]The entire plantation was designated a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark.
- 1936
State historical marker installed
[1]The plantation house received a Texas state historical marker.
- 1873
Elisabet Ney and Edmund Montgomery purchase Liendo
[1]The sculptor and physician-scientist acquired the plantation and made it their principal home for much of the following decades.
- 1865
Postwar United States troops camp at Liendo
[1]Cavalry units under George A. Custer camped in and around the plantation after the Confederate surrender.
- 1863
Camp Groce becomes a prison camp
[1]The site was reopened to hold United States prisoners of war captured in campaigns along the Texas and Louisiana Gulf Coast.
- 1862
Camp Groce used as a Confederate training camp
[1]The Confederate Army used the plantation as a camp of instruction for infantry recruits.
- 1853
Plantation house added
[1]Groce added the plantation house that became the principal historic structure at Liendo.
- 1841
Leonard Waller Groce acquires the property
[1]Leonard Waller Groce purchased the tract and developed it into a working cotton plantation.
- 1828
Land granted to José Justo Liendo
[1]José Justo Liendo received the land grant from which the plantation later took its name, while the region was still part of Mexico.
Products and positioning
Historic plantation, cultural heritage site, and Civil War-related historic place.
Recent events
- 1971
Liendo Plantation added to the National Register of Historic Places[1]
Other
The site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on June 21, 1971.
- 1964
Liendo Plantation designated a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark[1]
Other
The entire plantation was designated a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, expanding formal recognition beyond the main house.
- 1936
Liendo Plantation receives a state historical marker[1]
Other
The plantation house was recognized with a Texas state historical marker, an early formal acknowledgment of the property's historic importance.
Sources1 sources
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