William Freeman
Palestine, Anderson County, Texas
Marker Inscription
William Freeman was born a slave in Anderson County on August 1, 1863, to Charlotte Freeman. His mother was a slave and the maid at the Jacob Hunter Plantation near Mound Prairie. After the slaves were freed in 1865, they moved to Palestine. William received his early education from the First Ward Colored School in Old Town Community and attended Prairie View State Normal School for two years in the early 1880s, focusing on a teaching certification and brick masonry studies. In 1885, William married Mary Frances Carter and they had three sons: Wesley, Samuel and Byron. Mary died in 1899 and William married Bobbie McMeans. They had four children: Elizabeth, Polly, Eugene and Lionel. as a rural school educator in Anderson County, William Freeman joined other visionary African Americans to change the name of the Colored School in Palestine to Frederick Douglass Elementary School in 1898. The next year, he earned his teacher’s re-certification and, in 1901, became the principal of Douglass Elementary until 1909. In addition to his leadership abilities, Freeman was also a master brick mason. He made bricks for many of Palestine’s buildings before brick factories existed. He owned a brick yard and made bricks that were used to build the first Anderson County Jailhouse in 1879. Some notable works by Freeman are rock houses where red iron ore rocks were used to cover the homes’ exteriors. The son and grandson of William Freeman followed in his footsteps as principals of the Douglass school for 46 years. Freeman’s legacy as an educator, brick maker, brick mason and carpenter shaped Palestine’s history. He died on August 28, 1931, and is buried in Memorial Cemetery. (2013)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Born into slavery in 1863 to Charlotte Freeman, a plantation maid, William Freeman gained his freedom as a toddler and went on to study at Prairie View, training as both a teacher and a brick mason. He helped rename Palestine's Colored School for Frederick Douglass in 1898 and served as principal of Douglass Elementary from 1901 to 1909, even as he made and laid bricks for many of the town's buildings. His son and grandson followed him as principals of the school for forty-six years.
Why it matters
Freeman's life bridges emancipation and the building of Black educational institutions, and his multigenerational legacy shows how one freedman's family shaped a community's schools and its very streetscape.
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Related people
- · William Freeman
- · Charlotte Freeman
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Frederick Douglass Elementary School
Palestine, TX
Opened in 1875 as the 'First Ward School for Coloreds,' this was the only public school ever built in Palestine's Old Town neighborhood, and for nearly a century it educated the community's African-American children. Renamed for Frederick Douglass in 1898 after the great abolitionist's death, it rebuilt in brick after a 1912 fire and became far more than a schoolhouse — hosting teacher associations, Friday assemblies, and county-fair exhibits. Three generations of the Freeman family led it before desegregation closed its doors in 1967.
Alonzo Marion Story
Palestine, TX
Born in New Orleans and college-educated, Alonzo Marion Story came to Texas young and devoted his life to teaching mathematics, settling in Palestine in 1912 to instruct students at the town's school for African American children. He served for decades as teacher and principal, staying on through his final years even after losing his eyesight, and continued tutoring from home after retiring. The community named schools in his honor, a testament to a man revered across the era of segregated education.
Timothy Stephen Smith
Palestine, TX
Born in 1902 to a father who had escaped slavery, Timothy Stephen Smith earned a degree from Prairie View A&M and taught school for forty-two years. Convinced that Anderson County's voting boundaries diluted Black political strength, he and others sued in 1973; Judge William Wayne Justice agreed, striking down a "racially motivated gerrymander" and forcing a switch to single-member districts. Similar success against the City of Palestine soon followed, opening the way for the county's first Black officeholders.
Site of Northeast Texas Christian Theological and Industrial College
Palestine, TX
Founded in 1900 by Black members of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) under the Rev. A. J. Hurdle, this convention set out to build a college for its people, and by 1904 a building association of women within the group had raised enough to buy forty-nine acres near Palestine. The Northeast Texas Christian Theological and Industrial College opened with seven students in 1912, its students studying in the classroom and farming the college's own land. When fire destroyed the main building around 1920 the school closed, and its remaining structures were later razed, leaving no visible trace.