Virginia native Edwin Waller migrated to Texas from Missouri in 1831 as part of Stephen F. Austin's third colony. An active participant in the earliest stages of Texas' struggle for independence, he took part in the 1832 Battle of Velasco, served as Alcalde of Brazoria, and represented Columbia in the Consultation of 1835 at San Felipe. He helped frame Texas' Declaration of Independence and Constitution and also served in the army during the 1836 Texas Revolution. After the war he became Postmaster General and later a land commissioner for the new Republic. In 1839, as a government agent, he platted the townsite of Austin, the new capital of Texas, and the next year became the city's first mayor. Resigning during his first term, he moved to his plantation home just north of this site. The Waller plantation became the center of a large rural area, where he opened a post office and store and provided for a school and church. For many years he also served as Austin County Judge. In 1873 a new county formed from Austin and Grimes Counties was named in his honor. Originally buried on his plantation, his body was later reinterred in the state cemetery at Austin.