FALLS COUNTY, Texas (KXXV) — A July unveiling is planned for a memorial at the Falls County courthouse. It bears the names of 435 emancipated people who journeyed from South Carolina to Texas in 1867.
- A memorial to be unveiled in Marlin, Texas this July will bear the names of 435 freed slaves who journeyed from South Carolina to Falls County in 1867
- The monument will be placed at the Falls County courthouse, marking what organizers say is the first African American memorial at that location
- David Anthony Taylor, founder of Black Pearls Genealogy, says the project is about preserving history that might otherwise be lost for descendants of color.
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A memorial bearing the names of 435 newly emancipated men, women, and children who traveled from South Carolina to Falls County, Texas, in 1867 is set to be unveiled in Marlin this July.
In January 1867, the 435 freed slaves made the journey by ship from South Carolina to Galveston before traveling to Falls County in search of a better life in Texas. Their names will be inscribed on the front and back of a monument to be placed at the courthouse — what organizers say will be the first African American memorial at that location.
David Anthony Taylor, founder of Black Pearls Genealogy, is leading the effort to honor those families.
"It's actually all 435 people's names are on this memorial on the front and the back. So a lot of people, they may not even know their ancestries, this trip even happened," Taylor said.
Taylor says tracing family roots is especially difficult for people of color due to a lack of historical record keeping — and that the memorial is a way to preserve what might otherwise be lost.
"This is really important because it's so much of people of color's history that's being erased," Taylor said.
A monument already stands in South Carolina to commemorate the beginning of the journey. Taylor hopes the Marlin monument serves as a connection between local families and a broader national history.
"Being able to trace your family roots is really important. And so by putting this memorial up, people can see the names of their descendants," Taylor said.
Taylor also hopes the memorial encourages descendants to connect with one another.
"We wanna make sure that people are aware of their ancestors. Number one, how they got to Texas, and they can actually — we want to make sure that other descendants can reach out to people on this memorial," Taylor said.
For Taylor, this project is about more than history.
"We're trying to do our part to make sure that the information is not totally gone from our history. So we want the people to make sure these names are known," Taylor said.
If you are interested in finding out whether you have any ancestors on this memorial, or if you would like to learn more about the genealogy project, you can reach out to David Anthony Taylor by contacting Black Pearls Genealogy.
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