Who, What, Where and When? 1850s

Local 1851 - Sarah Houston (Ransom Williams' future wife) is born in Texas. She is a mulatto and almost certainly enslaved. 1851 - John Wheeler Bunton buys land in Hays County, Texas. At this time he is believed to be the "owner", or master, of Ransom Williams. Ransom will later buy his own land in nearby Travis County. Map of Hays County, Texas

State 1850s - Enslaved population in Texas more than triples, from 58,161 to 182,566. Texas Cotton production increases from 60,000 bales to over 400,000 bales. 1850s - Thousands of Texas slaves escape to Mexico using Texas' Underground Railroad. Map of underground railroad.

National 1850 - The Compromise of 1850 creates the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, requiring all escaped slaves, upon capture, to be returned to their owners. Abolitionists nickname it the "Bloodhound Law" for the dogs that were used to track down runaway slaves. 1852 - Harriet Beecher Stowe writes Uncle Tom's Cabin to highlight the evils of slavery. It sells 1.5 million copies in one year, making it the best selling novel of the 1800s.