Elisabet Ney
Historical marker location:(Jan. 26, 1833 - June 29, 1907)
World-renowned sculptor; lived 35 years in Texas, where she executed works of many noted citizens.
Born in Muenster, Westphalia, Germany, Elisabet grew up beautiful, talented, and self-willed. At 19 she began to study at the Academy of Arts, Munich, where her skill and charm brought many admirers, and her strong opinions made some think her eccentric.
Before she was 30, Elisabet had produced statues of German royalty and many European statesmen. In 1863 she married Dr. Edmund Montgomery, whom she had met as a young medical student from Scotland. In 1870 they moved to the United States and in 1872, to Texas, which they liked for its vastness and its high regard for freedom. They purchased the famous Liendo Plantation in present Waller County and there reared two sons, only one of whom lived to adulthood.
In 1892 Elisabet built this studio, "Formosa," in which to execute statues of Stephen F. Austin and Sam Houston for the Texas exhibit at the 1893 World Fair. The statues now stand in the State Capitol. Here she also did a recumbent statue of military leader Albert Sidney Johnston, which lies over his grave at the State Cemetery in Austin. Elisabet Ney and Dr. Montgomery are both buried at Liendo. (1968).
In the late 19th century, Texas became known for its cattle drives, in which cowboys would move herds of cattle from Texas to railheads in Kansas and other northern states. The cattle drives were dangerous and difficult work, but they played a key role in the development of the American cattle industry.