Students, who attended the first all-Black free school in Gillespie County in the late 1800s, pose in front of the one-room building where first through sixth graders studied. Francis Phillips is the second student on the second row from left. – Submitted photo
Community, D: Community, Gillespie Life, News
Slavery brought Black families to Fredericksburg
The Phillips family’s journey from slavery to success
The Colored Methodist Episcopal Church, now known as the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, received a facelift in the 21 Century. – Submitted photo
Texas of the 1860s was still untamed territory when 15-year-old John Phillips, a runaway slave from Louisiana, arrived in Fredericksburg around 1863.
John landed in Willow City, where he worked as a day laborer. He met and married Mary Duering (sometimes spelled Deering), who was the daugh...
