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Piecing Together the Story of Texas’s First Black-Owned Pottery 

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Piecing Together the Story of Texas’s First Black-Owned Pottery 


I chase ghosts! That is, I investigate the forgotten spirits and legacies of enslaved and free potters in Texas during and after the Civil War in the United States of America. This journey began with a 1991 conversation with my graduate advisor John Brough Miller, professor of ceramics at Texas Woman’s University in Denton, Texas, during which he shared the legend of John McKamie Wilson and enslaved potters in Seguin, Texas. Nearly a quarter century later, in 2014, an internet search led me to the website of the Wilson Pottery Foundation, created by the descendants of Hiram, James, and Wallace Wilson, the founders of H. Wilson and Co. Pottery. Three years later, in 2017, I attended the annual Wilson Pottery Show at the Sebastopol House in Seguin and was surprised by the amount of Wilson antique pottery on display and the number of collectors of it. I left the show with a heightened interest in the Wilson Potters.

 In 2018, Tarrant County College District, where I was an assistant professor of Ceramics, awarded me faculty leave to research the H. Wilson & Co. Pottery, which is located in Capote, Texas, approximately 48 miles east of San Antonio and 12 miles east of Seguin. A search on Ancestry.com led me to a database of United States craftspeople ranging from 1600 to 1995, which lists Hiram Wilson as the founder of H. Wilson and Co. Pottery. Hiram was formerly an enslaved potter at the Guadalupe Pottery owned by John McKamie Wilson from Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. Scholars believe H. Wilson and Co. Pottery was the first business owned by an African American in Texas.

A deeper dive led to the other Wilson Potteries (designated as sites by the Texas Historical Commission, which identifies them by number) in the Capote area, including the aforementioned Guadalupe Pottery (41GU6), which was the first Wilson pottery site operated by John McKamie Wilson and his enslaved potters. H. Wilson & Co. (41GU5) was the second site, started by formerly enslaved potters from the Guadalupe site. The third Wilson pottery site (41GU4) was the Durham-Chandler Pottery, owned by Marion “MJ” Durham, a White man, and John Chandler, a formerly enslaved potter trained in the acclaimed Edgefield District of South Carolina. (These sites are often referred to as “First Site,” “Second Site,” and “Third Site” by collectors to help differentiate the pottery produced at each. Second Site pieces, for instance, are more valuable than First Site pieces.) After Hiram died in 1884, H. Wilson & Co. was believed to have merged with Durham-Chandler to become Durham-Chandler-Wilson. According to the United States Craftsperson Files database, Durham-Chandler-Wilson was founded in 1870, which may indicate that Hiram worked at the third site with James, Wallace, and other itinerant potters.

I propose that the relationship between these three sites might stretch back further than folklore holds. What if Marion “MJ” Durham and John McKamie Wilson’s families knew each other in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina? What if Durham was one of the primary investors in the Guadalupe Pottery with John McKamie Wilson? A partnership with Durham would support Wilson’s decision to build a pottery company in Capote. As a member of the Durham potting dynasty in South Carolina, the former certainly possessed the knowledge and pottery production skills to ensure a sound investment.

During my faculty development leave, I visited local historical societies, which were warm and informative. Some locations were rich in artifacts, whereas others had a wealth of documentation supporting the local community. On top of attending the 2018 pottery show at the Wilson Pottery Museum in the Sebastopol House in Seguin, I interviewed Wilson’s descendants, collectors, and others who shared various stories that led them to the show. One gentleman shared his salt-glazed one-gallon H. Wilson & Co. stamped pot he purchased at a thrift store in Austin, Texas. One notable takeaway from this interview session was how often collectors referenced San Antonio-based Texas pottery scholar and pediatrician Dr. Georgeanna Greer. She helped rediscover the Wilson potteries after the sites had been dormant for over 50 years; I discovered the depth of her research when I visited historical societies in East Texas. I was overwhelmed and excited to find letters written by her to local archivists requesting or sharing information on local pottery sites.

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In 2020, I curated a solo exhibition in the Carillon Gallery at Tarrant County College South Campus in Fort Worth, Texas, which suggested a narrative and timeline to these potters by tracing the development of certain techniques. The centerpiece of the show, however, was not the ceramic pieces inspired by the Wilson potters and created for the exhibition, but rather the research identifying those who worked at one or more pottery sites seen via posters, including James and Wallace (and possibly Hiram) Wilson. Pots attributed to the first site, Guadalupe Pottery, suggests that Isaac and George Suttles, potters from Ohio, may have introduced the salt glazing technique found on pieces attributed to the first site’s pottery, as the practice originates from those trained in the North. The Suttles brothers later opened a pottery near Lavernia, Texas. 

The discovery of this extensive pottery community in Capote redirected my focus toward East Texas, known as the entry point of Texas westward expansion. A visit to the William J. Hill Texas Artisans and Artists Archive was crucial to helping me collect information on East Texas potters. A visit to the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston’s Bayou Bend Collections and Garden was also helpful in allowing me to examine Wilson Pottery from all three sites. Through the former, I located a “Checklist of Texas Potters ca 1840-1940,” compiled by Bob Helberg. This list provided names of formerly enslaved potters in the East Texas region, such as Milligan Frazier, A. Prothro, Elix Brown, and Joseph Cogburn. This in turn opened up another world of research possibilities. What if the pottery of the shops praised for their magnificent work such as Guadalupe Pottery were actually produced by trained enslaved laborers instead of the shop’s namesake? In other words, did the early Texas potters continue the industrial enslavement system that made the Edgefield District community in South Carolina famous?

This research is just a start. As I journey from central Texas back to Edgefield, South Carolina, searching for pottery families who migrated west before 1860 with their enslaved labor, bits and pieces of sherds are coming together to recreate the life stories of these potters. A beautiful mosaic is beginning to emerge.



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Judge Jack’s removal from Texas foster care case hurts kids

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Judge Jack’s removal from Texas foster care case hurts kids


This month, the full 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld its decision to remove U.S. District Judge Janis Graham Jack from a 14-year lawsuit against the Texas foster care system. The refusal to rehear the case also threw out Jack’s most recent finding of contempt against the state agencies involved.

It was an unfortunate outcome. Jack has been resolute and effective. Her orders prodded the state to spend more than $150 million reforming the foster care system — and the system has improved.

The original lawsuit was filed in 2011 on behalf of children stranded in the state’s foster care system. It named the governor and the chief executives of the Health and Human Services Commission and Department of Family and Protective Services as defendants.

As the case progressed, it revealed dire problems with investigations, placements, providers, staffing and caseloads. It also revealed the state’s recalcitrance toward court oversight, which occasionally drew Jack’s ire.

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In its ruling, the 5th Circuit cited snippets of Jack’s courtroom remarks as proof that she was no longer impartial and should be removed from the case. In a strongly worded dissent filed Feb. 11, Judge Stephen A. Higginson disagreed.

“I worry that we have concluded, from Judge Jack’s assiduous effort in the face of structural friction and intense factual complexity … that Judge Jack is not suited to preside over this case for precisely the reasons that she is suited to preside over this case.”

He also argued that, while the foster system had improved, one group of children still needs the court’s diligent protection. These youngsters are in permanent managing conservatorship; they will never be reunited with their families. They have intellectual and developmental disabilities, often are medically fragile and are exceptionally vulnerable to abuse and neglect.

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Booting tough Texas judge from foster care case would be huge mistake

His concerns were validated in the court monitors’ most recent report about deaths among these foster children. One case, involving an 11-year-old child with autism, is horrifying.

The boy, identified as O.R., had been placed in a residential treatment center in Greenville with a decade-plus history of serious violations. O.R. died during an outing with 19 other residents of the center to see the R-rated action movie Gladiator II.

Staff claimed the boy had been fine and walked into the movie theater on his own. However, law enforcement officers reviewed the theater’s security video and saw that the boy had been unable to walk unassisted, fell to the ground beside the ticket counter and had to be half-carried to a seat. He was dead by the time the movie was over.

Treatment center residents told investigators the boy had been screaming in pain that morning, hadn’t eaten any meals and had slept most of the day. A preliminary medical examiner’s report revealed the boy had a twisted intestine that had caused a bowel obstruction, a serious medical emergency.

O.R. was one of the foster children Jack worked to protect. We hope the next jurist assigned the case is as relentless in that effort as she has been.

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Warmer temps and sunshine ahead as rain moves out of North Texas

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Warmer temps and sunshine ahead as rain moves out of North Texas


Rain clears out, leaving North Texas with a week of sunny skies

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Rain clears out, leaving North Texas with a week of sunny skies

02:39

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A weak disturbance is passing through North Texas this morning, bringing rain to parts of the area.

This system will continue tracking eastward, moving the rain out of the Metroplex by late morning. However, eastern counties may continue to experience some light, scattered rain into the afternoon.

The morning will start with some cloud coverage thanks to that disturbance, but clouds will break as the rain exits, giving way to afternoon sunshine.

Temperatures will continue to warm this afternoon, with highs into the upper 50s and low 60s across North Texas, just a couple of degrees below normal for this time of year.

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By Monday, however, temperatures return to above average. Monday morning lows start in the upper 30s and lower 40s, and highs top out near 70 degrees for the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

Sunshine will kick off the week, warming Tuesday’s highs into the mid 70s.

A few clouds return midweek, with a bit of a breeze Wednesday.

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Highs top out in the lower 70s Wednesday as a dry cold front advances through the region. That front drops temps back into the middle 60s by Thursday.

North Texas warms back into the 70s to end the workweek and kick off the next weekend.

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No. 16 Texas holds on for 4-3 win over Dartmouth

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No. 16 Texas holds on for 4-3 win over Dartmouth


The No. 16 Texas Longhorns had to wait three extra days for the season opener at UFCU Disch-Falk Field, but weren’t able to put on the expected offensive display against an overmatched opponent, settling for a narrow 4-3 win over the Dartmouth Big Green on Friday.

Frigid temperatures in Austin pushed up the start time to noon Central, a combination that produced a small crowd at the Disch as winds blowing in from left field and the cold resulted in some hard-hit outs for Texas, which only had six hits, although three of them were doubles, two by sophomore left fielder Tommy Farmer.

The Big Green had more hits than the Horns with seven while matching Texas with six walks. In the decisive moments of the game, however, the Longhorns pitchers were able to strand those runners as the Big Green left 10 on base.

The first inning for Texas senior left-hander Jared Spencer was emblematic of how the game went — the Indiana transfer allowed a leadoff base hit and a two-out walk, but picked the leadoff batter off second base to end the threat.

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Two runs in the bottom of the inning appeared to put the Longhorns on track for a comfortable victory as junior shortstop Jalin Flores hit a sacrifice fly to left field after two singles to start the game.

After a two-out walk drawn by sophomore center fielder Will Gasparino, Farmer came through with his first double, driving in the inning’s second run.

Spencer had to work around two two-out walks in the second and a single in the third, but finally paid for all the baserunners in the fourth when a leadoff walk and a single up the middle followed by a sacrifice bunt put runners on second and third with one out. Dartmouth broke through with an RBI groundout to Flores.

After a one-out walk by Spencer in the fifth, he was replaced by junior right-hander Ruger Riojas, who retired both batters he faced.

Texas added an unearned run in the bottom of the fifth after sophomore second baseman Ethan Mendoza drew a walk and stole second base, advancing to third on a throwing error by the catcher and scoring on a sacrifice fly by senior first baseman Kimble Schuessler. Gasparino ultimately stranded two runners on a groundout to second.

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Farmer led off the sixth inning with his second double and advanced to third on a flyout by sophomore designated hitter Easton Winfield, scoring on a groundout by junior catcher Rylan Galvan. The Longhorns left two more runners on base, however, after Mendoza drew another walk, but couldn’t score on a double by Schuessler prior to junior right fielder Max Belyeu striking out looking to end the inning with a 4-1 lead.

Riojas started to run out of gas in his fourth inning of work in the eighth after retiring eight straight batters, allowing back-to-back singles before recording the first out. The UTSA transfer departed the game without getting a second out in the eighth after two singles each drove in a run. Riojas hit the next batter with the first pitch of the at bat, departing in favor of sophomore right-hander Thomas Burns, who recorded a strikeout and a flyout to end the inning without any further damage.

Burns allowed a one-out walk in the ninth prior to recording his first career save and preserving the victory for the Horns.

First pitch on Saturday was moved back to 1 p.m. Central due to rain in the area with the game airing on SEC Network+.



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