Freeman Farm

Duane's take

Now, what I'm about to tell you comes straight off the official Texas Historical Commission marker for Freeman Farm — this is their account, and I'm just the one drivin' it down the road for you. Somewhere around 1846, in the state of Alabama, a young man named William Franklin Freeman married a young woman named Elizabeth Ann Davis. He was born in 1827, she in 1829, and together they were just getting started on what would turn out to be one of the more remarkable stories Anderson County ever produced.

They didn't make their move right away. First came a child, born in 1849 — and that, it seems, was the moment the road called. They came to Texas and settled two miles south of Kickapoo, in Anderson County.

They purchased land. Then they got to work. In the 1850s, the Freemans built a homestead.

And when I say built, I mean built — hand-hewn lumber, and bricks made right there at the site. No supply store run. No delivery.

What the land gave them, they shaped with their own hands into something permanent. Over time, the Freemans came to own more than three thousand acres. Three thousand.

Now, here's where the story has to carry its full weight. The plantation was self-sustaining — and it was operated by the Freemans and the slaves they acquired. That is the marker's account, and it deserves to be said plainly.

Enslaved people worked that land, worked those buildings, made that self-sufficiency possible. The record holds that. And what a sprawling operation it was.

Additional buildings stood across the property — a blacksmith shop, an icehouse, a cotton gin, a syrup mill, a smokehouse, a chicken house. They produced their own clothing and shoes right there, using a spinning wheel, shoe forms, and a cobbler's bench. Much of the furniture came out of local hands too — wardrobes, tables, chairs, pie safes, desks.

The place didn't just feed itself; it clothed itself, shod itself, furnished itself. The plantation even served the surrounding area as a local post office. If Kickapoo needed something handled, there's a decent chance the Freeman Farm was handling it.

Elizabeth Ann Davis Freeman, born in 1829, died in 1856 — the farm was still young when she was gone. William Franklin Freeman carried on, and he carried on with ambition. By 1876, he was functioning as county commissioner.

And in the 1880s, he was serving as president of Kickapoo College. A farmer, a civic figure, an institution in his own right — until his death in 1892. After he passed, his second wife, Bethena Oldham, born in 1841 and died in 1904, took the reins and managed the farm for many years.

Not a caretaker role — management. The farm kept going because she made it keep going. The marker notes that the Freeman family continues to be active in civic affairs.

Some legacies don't retire. Some roots just keep reaching. Three thousand acres, hand-laid bricks, a post office, a college president, and a line of family that never quite stepped back from the work of the community.

That's Freeman Farm, two miles south of Kickapoo, Anderson County, Texas.

What the marker says

William Franklin Freeman (1827 - 1892) and Elizabeth Ann Davis (1829 - 1856) were married in Alabama in 1846. After the birth of their first child in 1849 they came to Texas and settled two miles south of Kickapoo in Anderson County. They purchased land for a farm and in the 1850s built a homestead using hand-hewn lumber and bricks made at the site. The Freemans were successful farmers and owned more than 3,000 acres of land. The plantation was self-sustaining and was operated by the Freemans and the slaves they acquired. Tasks were completed in additional buildings located here including a blacksmith shop, an icehouse, cotton gin, syrup mill, smokehouse, and chicken house. They produced their own clothing and shoes using a spinning wheel, shoe forms and a cobbler's bench. Much of the furniture was produced locally including wardrobes, tables, chairs, pie safes and desks. The plantation served the Kickapoo area as a local post office. W. F. Freeman functioned as county commissioner in 1876, and as president of Kickapoo College in the 1880s. After his death, his second wife Bethena Oldham (1841 - 1904) managed the farm for many years. Their family continues to be active in civic affairs. (1993)