Second Baptist Church of Seguin
Seguin, Guadalupe County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Following the Civil War, freedmen and their families settled in communities and sought out a place to educate their children and a place of worship. The reverend Leonard Ilsley, a native of Maine, came to Seguin before the Civil War and remained after the war to assist the freedmen community. He helped organize several freedmen churches in the county, performed dozens of marriage ceremonies, and financed the building of a male dormitory at Guadalupe College. On November 16, 1865, Rev. Ilsley met with a small group of freedmen and freedwomen in Seguin and organized the second Baptist Church of Seguin. The congregation eventually settled in to a small concrete and adobe building on East Court and South Bauer Streets known as the Andrew Neill Church House. Rev. Ilsley preached and provided pastoral leadership until Hiram Wilson was appointed pastor in 1867. Prior to emancipation, Hiram Wilson and his brothers were slaves of a presbyterian minister. Under Rev. Wilson’s leadership, the church purchased property at its current location on S. Guadalupe Street in 1874 and built a building for worship and a school. Membership included several Buffalo Soldiers, successful business owners, and educators, including William Ball, who co-organized the Abraham Lincoln School and served as principal. Ball served as pastor of the second Baptist Church from 1884 to 1920. born in a time of turbulence and turmoil, the Second Baptist Church of Seguin has been a beacon of safety, hope and faith for the African American Community of Seguin for well over 150 years. (2017)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
When the Civil War ended, freedmen in Seguin sought places to worship and to school their children. On November 16, 1865, the Rev. Leonard Ilsley—a Maine native who stayed to aid the freedmen and helped organize churches across the county—gathered a small group to found the Second Baptist Church of Seguin. Under the Rev. Hiram Wilson, once enslaved himself, the congregation bought its present site in 1874 and built both a sanctuary and a school; members included Buffalo Soldiers and educator William Ball, who helped organize the Abraham Lincoln School.
Why it matters
Born the very year of emancipation, the church stands among the Black institutions that gave newly freed Americans worship, education, and self-governance at the dawn of Reconstruction.
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Related people
- · Leonard Ilsley
- · Hiram Wilson
- · William Ball
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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