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The Civil War brought great change for everyone in Texas, white and Black alike.
The plantation owners lost their plantations and their hold on Texas politics. White residents of Texas lost their citizenship. Money was worthless in a broken-down economy. Lawlessness was rampant.
Slaves gained their freedom and citizenship, but it was still a difficult, often violent adjustment. In most cases, slaves had not been taught how to read and write and with limited resources, they were often at the mercy of landowners.
The KKK, a strong force in Bastrop County, terrorized Black people carrying out lynchings and other acts of violence. As late as Sept. 22, 1921, the following article was written about a Klan parade in Elgin.
“The largest crowd of people that ever assembled on the streets of Elgin was lined up on both sides of First Street. … Cars were parked on both sides of the streets as close together as they could be placed, and men, women and children occupied every place of vantage on the sidewalks, the upper story windows and even on top of the awnings. … It was about 9:30 before the fiery cross came in sight, coming from the west on Central Avenue. The procession was headed by three horsemen, horses and men wearing white robes and masks; then came a large American flag, which was followed immediately by a cross of blazing fire. About one hundred white robed men followed in single file, walking some 8 or 10 feet apart. Several banners were carried proclaiming the principles of the organization, and warning certain classes of law breakers.”
White people were also lynched, as in the case of Bartholomew Moon south of Elgin. Night Riders raided his home, took him out and hung him. He was buried in his own yard. No one knows what crime he was accused of, or if the incident was racially or grudge motivated. This tragedy occurred between 1877 and 1879.
The number of slaves in Texas was staggering. By 1825, 69 families out of Austin’s Old Three Hundred owned slaves. The 443 slaves composed nearly a fourth of the total population of 1,790, according to Prairie View University. In 1850, 30% of Texas families owned slaves. Two percent owned 20 or more enslaved people, according to the Texas State Library & Archives Commission. By 1860, the census showed 182,566 slaves, over 30% of the total population of the state.
Many of the former slaves stayed on the same plantation and continued to work for wages while some went to cities looking for work. Others went searching for their children.
Some of the former slaves formed Freedom Colonies. According to the Texas Freedom Colonies Project, there were 557 historic black settlements in Texas.
St. John Colony is southeast of Austin, located in both Caldwell and Bastrop counties and involved more than 2,000 acres. It was founded in 1872 as a result of repression of Black people in the Hogeye area near Elgin.
The movement to found the settlement was led by the Rev. John Henry Winn Sr., 1830-1888, based in Webberville. He was a Black circuit preacher born in Virginia. Based on freedom, faith and family, the colony is not only ongoing, but dynamic. It’s complete with church, cemetery and museum.
The St. Mary Colony is at the far western corner of Bastrop County on Texas 71. Like St. John Colony, it was a freedman’s farming settlement of former slaves. The Bastrop County Historical Museum had a fine exhibit, which was also featured in the Elgin Depot Museum. Among the other colonies were Cedar Creek Colony, Salem Colony located in the southern area of the county, Pleasant Grove Colony settled north of Elgin, and the Colorado and Flower Hill colonieslocated near Smithville.
Problems after emancipation included the Jaybird-Woodpecker Feud, 1888-1889, in Ft. Bend County. Jaybirds were the Whites, and the Woodpeckers were the Blacks. Former plantation owners attempted, largely successfully for decades, to hold onto political power by disenfranchising Black voters.
Charlene Hanson Jordan wrote the above narrative as the sixth of a weekly column. Her newest book, “Notes & Recollections, Post Oak Island & Elgin, Texas,” is available at the Elgin Depot Museum where exhibits, photographs and books on local history are also available. The museum is open on Fridays and Saturdays from noon to 4 p.m. Watch for notices. Every Thursday from 4 to 7 p.m, “Notes & Recollections” may be purchased from the Niswanders at the Elgin Farmers Market in Veterans Memorial Park. The book is also available at the Elgin Courier office, 105 N. Main St. in Elgin or 512-285-3333 during business hours all week, or from Charlene directly at [email protected] or 512-856-2562.
