The Commission

Walker County Historical
Commission
1301 Sam Houston Ave.
Rm. 226
Huntsville, TX 77340
(Courthouse Annex)

Telephone

(936) 435-2497

WCHC Online

Send email

Meetings

3rd Monday of each month
5:30 P.M.
Walker County Museum

Museum

Gibbs-Powell Home
1228 11 St. at Avenue M
Huntsville, TX

Hours

Friday 12-4PM
Saturday 12-4PM
Commission meetings,
and by appointment

Telephone

(936) 295-2914
(936) 436-4928 (fax)

Tours

(936) 291-3581
(936) 577-4257

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General John Slater Besser

A native of Pennsylvania, John Slater Besser was a brigadier general, legislator, and judge in Missouri before moving his family to Texas in 1842. While living in Montgomery and Walker counties, Besser held a number of public offices before and after the Civil War. He served as director and financial agent of the state penitentiary under Governors Bell, Henderson, Pease, Runnels, Houston, Clark, and Lubbock, and was Walker County Judge from 1878 to 1880. Married four times, Besser was the father of nine children born to his first wife, Julia Hampton.