Ransom and Sarah Williams Farmstead

UT-Austin archeologist Nedra Lee displays artifacts to members of the Bunton family during their visit to the farmstead site.The family traveled from Arizona to attend the site visitation day.

In this video, Dr. Maria Franklin discusses what it has meant to have African American students from her University of Texas archeology and black history classes working on an African American site. Video courtesy of the University of Texas Liberal Arts Instructional Technology Services (LAITS).

UT-Austin student Felton Pierre excavates the chimney fall rocks near the intact chimney base (at right). Many artifacts were trapped underneath the large rocks when the chimney collapsed.

Prewitt and Associates archeologists Bethany Duke and Jenny McWilliams screen excavated fill from the Williams house site.Tiny items such as bones, metal fragments, and bits of glass often are recovered during screening.

In this video, Principal Investigator Doug Boyd of Prewitt and Associates, Inc., discusses the layout of the farmstead and how Ransom Williams built structures and walls to work with the topography of the site. Video courtesy of the University of Texas LAITS.

Prewitt archeologist Bob Thrift plots in a concrete livestock trough on the farmstead. This was an isolated feature that did not appear on the 1937 aerial photographs but shows up on aerial images from the 1970s. So this feed trough was not associated with the Williams family occupation.

Archeologist Ishan Gordon holds a stadia rod with a moveable laser sensor to get an elevation reading on an artifact that has been found during excavation. A laser set up on a tripod nearby sends out a rotating laser beam, and the laser sensor detects that beam. The position of the sensor on the stadia rod then is used to calculate the elevation.

In this video, Project Archeologist Aaron Norment of Prewitt and Associates, Inc., discusses artifact distributions and site interpretation. Video courtesy of KLRU, Austin.

Aaron Norment stands above the intact rock chimney foundation in the cabin area, in preparation for a photo shoot.

Jewel Andrews (left), one of Ransom and Sarah Williams’ great granddaughters, visited the Williams farmstead with Dr. Maria Franklin. Mrs. Andrews appreciated the opportunity to see first-hand what her ancestor’s farm looked like. In this photo, they are standing next to the giant oak tree near the yard of the Williams’ log cabin.

In this video, University of Texas archeologist Nedra Lee talks about the significance of finding artifacts related to education on the farmstead of a former slave. Video courtesy of KLRU, Austin.

Doug Boyd examines one of the metal barrel hoops found in the corral area of the farm. The large number of barrel hoops demonstrates how important water barrels were on a farmstead with no well or cistern.

In this video, LeeDell Bunton, Sr., whose ancestors lived in Antioch Colony and likely were related to Ransom Williams, talks about what it meant to visit the site ("it's like being on hallowed ground)" and imagines what it must have been like for the Williams family. Video courtesy of the University of Texas LAITS.

TxDOT Environmental Affairs Division archeologist Jon Budd holds part of a Hurlbut wagon brake lock he discovered at the farm. In addition to funding investigations, TxDOT provided funding for the Ransom Williams public education exhibit.

Members of the Manchaca/Onion Creek Historical Association (MOCHA) tour the site with archeologists. Historical researcher Terri Myer, of Preservation Central, is shown in front row, center. Myer's archival research provided a wealth of evidence about the Williams family and the farmstead site.

Nedra Lee takes a measurement of a portion of the foundation footing in the cabin area. Lee is a doctoral student in the Anthropology Department at the University of Texas at Austin.

While visiting the Prewitt and Associates laboratory, Winnie (Harper) Moyer examines some reconstructed stoneware vessels from the Williams farmstead. Mrs. Moyer was born in 1937 and grew up in Antioch Colony, located about 4 miles from the Williams farmstead. She remembered using stoneware pottery much like these vessels.