Edmund A. Wynne
Canton, Van Zandt County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The Wynne community of Canton is one of the oldest African American communities in Texas. Its namesake, Edmund Arnold Wynne, was born June 18, 1850, in Cherokee County to a family of slaves. His family moved to the Big Rock area of Van Zandt County in 1866. By 1869, just four years after emancipation, his father, Henry Wynne, managed to buy 100 acres of land. In July 1871, Edmund married Martha Shaw, and joined the state militia to stop the general lawlessness that had developed in opposition to reconstruction. Edmund purchased his own land in 1876 and in 1879, he sold for one dollar an acre of this land to the Colored Methodist Church of Clear Springs, the name for the African American community which had formed in the Big Rock area. He and his father also established clear Springs School for African American children. By 1882, Edmund sold his land at Big Rock and moved to Canton where he purchased another farm. After Martha died in 1883, Edmund married Ella Lawley. As Edmund Wynne became more successful in farming, he supported what would be known as the Wynne community, aiding neighbors in becoming self-sufficient and even in raising money to build a mill. His own success and involvement also attracted other former slaves and struggling families to move to the area. In 1888 he sold for one dollar land for the site of the Promise Land Colored Methodist Church, used for church and school. He actively participated in the education of the black community, helping keep the respected educator Rufus Hardin as a teacher at one of the schools until 1896. One of the schools that Edmund sold land to in 1902 eventually became renamed Wynne school. In 1896, Ella died and Edmund married Ann Preisley Matthews that year. After a lifetime of community involvement, Edmund Wynne died on April 1, 1931.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Born into slavery in 1850, Edmund Arnold Wynne came of age just as emancipation transformed the South. By 1869 his father had bought 100 acres, and Edmund followed, purchasing his own land and then selling parcels for a dollar to Black churches and schools across the Big Rock and Canton areas. Over a lifetime he helped former slaves and struggling families become self-sufficient, supported teachers, and lent his name to the Wynne community, one of the oldest African American communities in Texas.
Why it matters
Wynne's life is a vivid chronicle of Reconstruction-era Black landownership, education, and community-building, showing how freedpeople translated new freedom into durable institutions in the face of violent resistance.
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Related people
- · Edmund Arnold Wynne
- · Henry Wynne
- · Rufus Hardin
Themes & tags
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