African American Community in Gillespie County

African American Community in Gillespie County. . , Enslaved African Americans were brought to Gillespie County beginning in the 1850s. By 1860, 33 enslaved people were recorded as owned by seven families. John and Thomas Doss owned 13 of the enslaved. At this time, the population of the county was mostly first-generation German immigrants who opposed slavery., In 1863, John Doss died, his will listing enslaved people: Jack Silas, George, Wash, Paris, Mary, Millie, Bella and Ellen. It is believed that several of these individuals settled in Gillespie County after emancipation. Millie, in particular, was gifted 100 acres in John Doss’ will. These former slaves were perhaps some of the earliest members of the African American community that continued for the next 100 years. The 1870 census records more than 50 African Americans living in Gillespie County. In 1877, African Americans William McLane, Silas Russell and James Tinker purchased and donated land to establish a "colored school." Additional donations from the African American and German community funded the school building, the 1922 iteration of which is now located at 107 E. Schubert. In 1887, James Tinker et al purchased land and the community united to build the Colored Christian Methodist Episcopal Church at 520 E. Main Street. While the African American community dwindled over the years, descendants still live in this area., Unlike many southern communities which regulated separate cemeteries, the area's oldest German Lutheran churches permitted burials of African American residents with white residents in the cemetery, albeit in a separate section of Der Stadt Friedhof Cemetery. The African American burial ground, school and church serve as living reminders of the challenges these generations faced.