DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Wilson Potteries, out in Guadalupe County. Now settle in, because this one's worth the time. A Presbyterian minister named John M.
Wilson came to this part of Texas in 1856, bringing his family and his slaves along with him. And if you're wonderin' what a man of the cloth was doin' thinkin' about the pottery business — well, the marker's got a straightforward answer for that. Earthen vessels were major food storage items in the nineteenth century.
That's not a small thing. You needed them for just about everything. So in 1860, Wilson established a pottery kiln right there in that vicinity.
Now here's where the story turns, and turns hard. In 1869, Wilson sold his interest in the business. And three of his former slaves — James, Hiram, and Wallace Wilson — they didn't walk away from what they knew.
They started their own pottery shop. Called it H. Wilson and Company.
Think about that for a moment. The Reconstruction Era was a time when many newly-freed slaves found work only as sharecroppers — that's what the marker tells us, and that weight is real. But James, Hiram, and Wallace Wilson built something different.
They created their own style of pottery. Ran a successful business. And they kept that business running all the way until 1884.
H. Wilson and Company. Their name on it.
Their work in it. Their own style comin' out of that kiln. Out here on the Texas road, sometimes the marker that stops you in your tracks is the one that won't let you forget who did the work.
What the marker says
Presbyterian minister John M. Wilson came to this area in 1856 with his family and slaves. Since earthen vessels were major 19th-century food storage items, Wilson established a pottery kiln in this vicinity in 1860. After Wilson sold his interest in the business in 1869, 3 of his former slaves began their own pottery shop. James, Hiram, and Wallace Wilson, who operated H. Wilson & Co. until 1884, created their own style of pottery and ran a successful business during the Reconstruction Era, when many newly-freed slaves found work only as sharecroppers. (1985)