DUANE
Duane's take
The marker's the one telling this story, and I'm just the voice carrying it down the road for you. Now settle in, because this one takes some grit to get through — and it earns every mile. Coryell County was established in 1854, and the folks who put down roots there came mostly from the Old South.
You can probably imagine what that meant for the people who arrived a few years later under very different circumstances. Shortly after the Civil War ended, a group of freedmen — men and women who had just seen the world turn on its axis — gathered themselves together and built something new. They named it Lincolnville, in honor of President Abraham Lincoln, and they set it four miles west of Gatesville, near a place called the Moccasin Bend area along the Leon River.
Now, the man who stepped up to help lead those founding families was James Maberry. He had been an overseer for Chief Justice John Walker Maberry, and whatever that experience had given him, he turned it toward building — not toward holding down, but toward lifting up. The families who formed that colony carried names you ought to know: Cook, Easley, Mayberry, Snow, and Weatherly, among others.
Acquiring land on the edge of the Texas frontier was not an easy task. The marker doesn't soften that, and neither will I. But here's what else the marker tells you: every single one of those freedmen was an experienced farmer, a rancher, a caretaker.
They knew how to work the land because they had been made to work it their whole lives. The Leon River Valley offered up catfish and small game in abundance, and the settlers learned quickly to live off the land to supplement their meager wages as freed slaves. That phrase — meager wages as freed slaves — that's the marker's own language, and it deserves to sit in the air a moment.
Two things rose to the top of the community's list of priorities almost immediately, and if you think about what had been denied to them, you'll understand why without me spelling it out. A church and a school. They had not previously been allowed to openly practice religion or attend school.
So on April 10, 1872, the Reverend G.C. Alexander established Bethlehem Baptist Church. That congregation later moved to Gatesville in 1882.
The school side of things had a harder road. The first African American school in Coryell County opened in Gatesville in 1868 — but that building burned shortly afterwards. In its place, Lincolnville School No. 62 became a public school by 1883.
It held on, and it kept on holding, all the way until 1943, when most small rural schools in the area were consolidated. Racial strife. Harsh frontier conditions.
A school that burned. Wages that were meager by the marker's own admission. Lincolnville survived all of it.
The marker calls that survival a testament to the efforts of the citizens of the Lincolnville Community, and I don't think you need to add a single word to that. A few descendants of those founding families — the Cooks, the Easleys, the Mayberrys, the Snows, the Weatherlys and the rest — are still in the area today. Four miles west of Gatesville, along the Leon River, near Moccasin Bend.
The ground remembers, even when the roads have changed.
What the marker says
Coryell County, established in 1854, became home to settlers mostly from the Old South. Shortly after the end of the Civil War, local freedmen formed a community four miles west of Gatesville called Lincolnville in honor of president Abraham Lincoln, located near the Moccasin Bend area along the Leon River. James Maberry, former overseer for Chief Justice John Walker Maberry, provided leadership for the founding families of the colony, including Cook, Easley, Mayberry, Snow and Weatherly among others. Acquiring land and establishing new homes on the edge of the Texas frontier was not an easy task, but all of the freedmen were experienced farmers, ranchers, and caretakers. The Leon River Valley provided an abundant supply of catfish and small game and the settlers quickly learned to live off the land to supplement their meager wages as freed slaves. A church and school were immediate priorities of the community which had not previously been allowed to openly practice religion or attend school. Bethlehem Baptist Church was established on April 10, 1872, by the reverend G.C. Alexander. The church later moved to Gatesville in 1882. The first African American school in Coryell County opened in Gatesville in 1868, but the building burned shortly afterwards. In its place, Lincolnville School no. 62 became a public school by 1883 and existed until 1943 when most small, rural schools were consolidated. The survival of Lincolnville, despite racial strife and the harsh conditions of the frontier, is a testament to the efforts of the citizens of the Lincolnville Community. A few descendants of the founding families remain in the area today. (2015)