African-American History
Seguin has a long and rich black history.
Background and Overview
Large numbers of cotton planters poured into this area after Texas joined the United States. With them came hundreds of slaves.
By 1855, the county held 1,637 slaves. At that time, these African Americans made up about 30% of the county's total population.
The U.S. Census of 1850 showed that Texas had 58,161 slaves. According to a report of the State Comptroller, in the next five years the number of slaves almost doubled to 105,974. The numbers continued to increase up to and even during the Civil War.
Slaves were extremely valuable to their owners. At a time when an average acre of Texas land was valued at $1.28 by the tax assessor, the typical individual slave was worth about $500.
In 1855 the total assessed value of all the land in the state came to about $59 million. The total value of the "Negroes" was listed at about $53 million.These figures were used by Frederick Law Olmsted in his book A Journey Through Texas .
Slavery came to an end with the Civil War. A Union Army under Gen. Gordon Granger landed at Galveston. The Confederates under Robert E. Lee had surrendered in Virginia about two months earlier. Granger declared that the war was over in Texas as well. And so, under the authority of the Emancipation Proclamation, the slaves here were "henceforth and forever free."
That great day was June 19, 1865, or Juneteenth, as it came to be known and celebrated for years to come.
Free Blacks Make a New Life Here
During the Reconstruction period following the Civil War, many newly free black families settled small farms onunclaimed land, especially in the southern part of this county.
Many black men found work as cowboys. Many from this area went up the trails to Kansas and beyond on the famous cattle drives.
Other freedmen made their home in the city of Seguin.
Their descendants helped to develop a business district on East Court Street that was called the String.
Many religous and civic organizations made their home near the intersection of West Court and Guadalupe Streets. These included Guadalupe College, the Lincoln School, Second Baptist Church, Wesley-Harper Methodist Church, and a Masonic lodge.
Of course, in the early years, most blacks and whites alike lived and worked on farms out in the country.
Black History Sites
Two extraordinary out-of-town sites in Guadalupe County, the Wilson Potteries and the Sweet Home School, are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
For more than 50 years, Seguin was home to a college for freed slaves, their children, and their descendants. (see bio of Wm. Ball, below.) The main building burned one freezing night, February 9, 1936. Efforts to fight the flames were futile when pumps and hoses froze. Efforts to continue the school were doomed by the poverty of the Depression years. Sadly, the ruins of Guadalupe College, visible west of town at the end of Brackenridge Lane, do not yet have a historical marker of any kind.
The best place to begin a Black Heritage tour is downtown, near the old district called the String. The Heritage Museum stands cattycorner from City Hall, at 114 North River St. It is open from 2 p.m. until 5 p.m. weekdays, and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
John Gesick, the head of the museum and Chairman of the Guadalupe County Historical Commission, has worked with the Wilson Family Foundation. Together they have created an excellent display that tells some of the story of the Wilson Potteries.
Large numbers of cotton planters poured into this area after Texas joined the United States. With them came hundreds of slaves.
By 1855, the county held 1,637 slaves. At that time, these African Americans made up about 30% of the county's total population.
The U.S. Census of 1850 showed that Texas had 58,161 slaves. According to a report of the State Comptroller, in the next five years the number of slaves almost doubled to 105,974. The numbers continued to increase up to and even during the Civil War.
Slaves were extremely valuable to their owners. At a time when an average acre of Texas land was valued at $1.28 by the tax assessor, the typical individual slave was worth about $500.
In 1855 the total assessed value of all the land in the state came to about $59 million. The total value of the "Negroes" was listed at about $53 million.These figures were used by Frederick Law Olmsted in his book A Journey Through Texas .
Slavery came to an end with the Civil War. A Union Army under Gen. Gordon Granger landed at Galveston. The Confederates under Robert E. Lee had surrendered in Virginia about two months earlier. Granger declared that the war was over in Texas as well. And so, under the authority of the Emancipation Proclamation, the slaves here were "henceforth and forever free."
That great day was June 19, 1865, or Juneteenth, as it came to be known and celebrated for years to come.
Free Blacks Make a New Life Here
During the Reconstruction period following the Civil War, many newly free black families settled small farms onunclaimed land, especially in the southern part of this county.
Many black men found work as cowboys. Many from this area went up the trails to Kansas and beyond on the famous cattle drives.
Other freedmen made their home in the city of Seguin.
Their descendants helped to develop a business district on East Court Street that was called the String.
Many religous and civic organizations made their home near the intersection of West Court and Guadalupe Streets. These included Guadalupe College, the Lincoln School, Second Baptist Church, Wesley-Harper Methodist Church, and a Masonic lodge.
Of course, in the early years, most blacks and whites alike lived and worked on farms out in the country.
Black History Sites
Two extraordinary out-of-town sites in Guadalupe County, the Wilson Potteries and the Sweet Home School, are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
For more than 50 years, Seguin was home to a college for freed slaves, their children, and their descendants. (see bio of Wm. Ball, below.) The main building burned one freezing night, February 9, 1936. Efforts to fight the flames were futile when pumps and hoses froze. Efforts to continue the school were doomed by the poverty of the Depression years. Sadly, the ruins of Guadalupe College, visible west of town at the end of Brackenridge Lane, do not yet have a historical marker of any kind.
The best place to begin a Black Heritage tour is downtown, near the old district called the String. The Heritage Museum stands cattycorner from City Hall, at 114 North River St. It is open from 2 p.m. until 5 p.m. weekdays, and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
John Gesick, the head of the museum and Chairman of the Guadalupe County Historical Commission, has worked with the Wilson Family Foundation. Together they have created an excellent display that tells some of the story of the Wilson Potteries.