Houston Matters

Descendant of Former Slave Owners Seeks Out Descendants of Their Former Slaves

As a kid, Houston Chronicle business columnist Chris Tomlinson was fascinated by family stories of his great-grandfather coming to Texas as a pioneering settler of the American West. But as he grew older, he started to understand the story wasn’t as glorious as he thought — his ancestors were slaveholders. Just five years ago, Tomlinson […]

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As a kid, Houston Chronicle business columnist Chris Tomlinson was fascinated by family stories of his great-grandfather coming to Texas as a pioneering settler of the American West. But as he grew older, he started to understand the story wasn’t as glorious as he thought — his ancestors were slaveholders.

Just five years ago, Tomlinson finally cast aside years of reluctance to research the sometimes brutal stories of his white ancestors and the stories of the slaves they owned, many of the descendants of which still live around the site of his family’s former central Texas plantation.

Houston Matters’ Michael Hagerty sat down with Chris Tomlinson to find out what he learned about a place called Tomlinson Hill.

MORE:
Tomlinson Hill Documentary
Chris Tomlinson interview on NPR’s Fresh Air

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Michael Hagerty

Michael Hagerty

Senior Producer, Houston Matters

Michael Hagerty is the senior producer for Houston Matters. He's spent more than 20 years in public radio and television and dabbled in minor league baseball, spending four seasons as the public address announcer for the Reno Aces, the Triple-A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

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