Walter Moses Burton

Walter Moses Burton (August 9, 1840 – June 4, 1913) was an American politician. Born a slave, he later served as a Republican in the Texas Senate.

Biography Burton was born into slavery, on August 8, 1840, in North Carolina. He was brought to Texas about 1850. His enslaver, Thomas Burke Burton, a plantation owner in Fort Bend County, taught him to read and write. After Emancipation, Thomas Burton sold Walter Burton several large plots of land for $1,900 (equivalent to $37,655 in 2025), and this made Walter Burton one of the wealthiest landowners in the county.

In 1868, Burton married Abby "Hattie" Jones. As a senator, he championed Black education and worked with state Representative William H. Holland to pass a bill founding Prairie View Normal School (now Prairie View A&M University). He also advocated for sensible gun control and the end of convict leasing. In 1996, Fort Bend Independent School District named an elementary school in his honor.