Bells from Independence and Waco University

There are two bells located in the historic center of campus — one that was used to announce class times at Waco University before its merger with Baylor University in 1886 and a slightly smaller one from Baylor’s original campus in Independence that was brought to Waco in 1934.

The bell from Independence was given to the Baylor Female Department by founding trustee Albert C. Horton in 1858. According to a generally accepted story, Horton gave “fifty silver Mexican dollars” to be cast into the bell. The bell bears the inscription, “Presented by Hon. A. C. Horton, A.D. 1858. Ladies Seminary, Independence, Texas.” Horton was a slaveholder.

The plaque for the Waco University bell states that it was purchased with money raised by students in 1874. The bell was moved to Baylor’s campus in Waco after Baylor and Waco universities merged in 1886, placing the institution’s ownership of the bell after the time period of slavery and the Civil War.