Edmund A. Wynne

Duane's take

Here's the story as it comes down to us through the official marker, and I'm gonna do my best to honor it. The Wynne community of Canton, Van Zandt County, is counted among the oldest African American communities in all of Texas. And at the heart of it stands one man whose life reads like something you'd want told around a fire on a long night.

Edmund Arnold Wynne. Born June 18, 1850, in Cherokee County, to a family of slaves. That's where his story begins, and it does not begin easy.

In 1866, his family made the move to the Big Rock area of Van Zandt County. And then, just four years after emancipation, something remarkable happened. Edmund's father, Henry Wynne, managed to buy one hundred acres of land. 1869.

Let that settle for a moment. The ink on freedom was barely dry, and Henry Wynne was already planting roots in the earth he now owned. In July of 1871, Edmund married Martha Shaw.

That same year he joined the state militia, working to stop the general lawlessness that had developed in opposition to Reconstruction. He wasn't sitting still. He was building something, even when forces around him were determined to tear things down.

Edmund purchased his own land in 1876. Then in 1879, he sold one acre of that land to the Colored Methodist Church of Clear Springs, and the price he asked was one dollar. One dollar.

That was the currency of commitment. Clear Springs was the name the African American community in the Big Rock area had taken for itself, and Edmund and his father Henry also established Clear Springs School there, for African American children. By 1882, Edmund sold his land at Big Rock and moved to Canton, where he purchased another farm.

Then in 1883, Martha died. Edmund later married Ella Lawley, and he kept on building. As his farming became more successful, he poured that success back into the people around him.

He supported what would come to be known as the Wynne community, aiding neighbors in becoming self-sufficient. He even helped raise money to build a mill. His own success and his visible involvement attracted other former slaves and struggling families to come and settle nearby.

In 1888, he sold land, again for one dollar, for the site of the Promise Land Colored Methodist Church, a place used for both church and school. He stayed active in education, personally helping keep the respected educator Rufus Hardin teaching at one of the schools until 1896. That same year, Ella died.

Edmund married Ann Preisley Matthews that year, and he kept going. In 1902, he sold land to one of the schools in the area, and that school eventually became renamed Wynne School. A community.

A school. A church. A mill.

A hundred acres bought by a father just four years free. Edmund Arnold Wynne died on April 1, 1931, after a lifetime, the marker says plainly, of community involvement. That's the official word.

But out here on this road, passing through Van Zandt County, the real weight of it is this: he didn't just survive what was thrown at him. He built something that still carries his name.

What the marker says

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.