The history books states that Samuel May Williams was the first to grow sugar cane. Well, it was actually his brothers Nathaniel and Matthew. This area became known as the Hellhole of the Brazos and the land that was given to Samuel Williams was eventually sold to Benjamin Franklin Terry and William J. Kyle who eventually sold their sugar mill to the two dastardly confederate men known as Edward Cunningham and Littleberry Ellis. These two greedy men abused and tortured every single African American who they leased out for their financial gain. They did all of the work and received none of the compensation. These hardworking African American men even built the railroad right there on Hwy 90. The sugar mill which was started by enslaved men in 1828 and eventually worked to death under convict leasing in 1871 eventually became the Imperial Sugar Company. It is so sad that the subdivision known as New Territory where I once lived has a park and streets named after Cunningham and Ellis and a school (Satartia Middle School where my grandaughter Skarlet attended) named after Ellis’s daughter. How could they honor these men? The true story is finally being revealed and One Day We Shall Overcome.

1828: Fort Bend’s Sugar Industry Begins

Samuel May Williams, who served as a Spanish translator and clerk to Stephen F. Austin, received 11 leagues of land - 49,000 acres - along Oyster Creek in Fort Bend County by Austin for his services in 1828

Summary of Bob Armstrong's History of Sugar Land & Imperial Sugar

Williams started growing sugar cane. Ten years later, he sold his 4,428 acres – the Oakland Plantation – to his brothers: Nathaniel Felton Williams and Matthew Williams. They continued growing sugar cane and built a mule-powered mill.

Sugar cane flourished in Fort Bend. It was considered superior to sugar cane grown in Louisiana because it contained more juice. Fort Bend County, along with Matagorda, Wharton and Brazoria Counties, became known as the “Sugar Bowl of Texas.

During and after the Civil War, sugar production waned and refining facilities fell fell into disrepair. The families of Terry and Kyle eventually began selling off property to a wealthy Confederate colonel and landowner: Edward Hall Cunningham of San Antonio.

When Matthew Williams died in 1853, Benjamin Franklin Terry and William J. Kyle, two two wealthy California gold prospectors and later Confederate colonels (Terry's Texas Rangers), bought the Williams' land and surrounding properties. They changed the name to Sugar Land Plantation. Their 12,500-acre property became one of the largest sugar plantations in Texas.

Cunningham formed a partnership in 1875 with another Confederate colonel -Littleberry Ambrose Ellis.

Cunningham’s and Ellis’ use of convict labor would soon become unprecedented. The two would hold leases on every inmate in Texas (more than 2,000). And their sugar-refining enterprise and empire would notoriously be known as the
“Hellhole on the Brazos.

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Fast Fact

Ambrose Ellis and Richard Ellis, the grandfather and uncle, respectively, of Littleberry A. Ellis, were signers of the Declaration of Texas Independence in 1836. This document endorsed slavery, opposed rights for people of color or women, denied citizenship to Africans, descendants of Africans and Native Americans. The constitution, which ceased to exist when Texas joined the U.S. in 1845, also made it illegal for slave owners to emancipate their slaves and stated that no person could be prevented from bringing slaves into Texas.

Educate. Honor. Heal. The Society of Justice & Equality for the People of Sugar Land (S.O.J.E.S.) is an independent, non-profit community organization dedicated to historic preservation and educating the community about the contributions of African Americans in the creation and progression of Sugar Land and Fort Bend County, Texas. This includes commemorating and memorializing the Sugar Land 95. sojesjustice.org