William Freeman
William Freeman was born a slave in Anderson County on August 1, 1863, to Charlotte Freeman. His mother was a slave and the maid at the Jacob Hunter Plantation near Mound Prairie. After the slaves were freed in 1865, they moved to Palestine. William received his early education from the First Ward Colored School in Old Town Community and attended Prairie View State Normal School for two years in the early 1880s, focusing on a teaching certification and brick masonry studies. In 1885, William married Mary Frances Carter and they had three sons: Wesley, Samuel and Byron. Mary died in 1899 and William married Bobbie McMeans. They had four children: Elizabeth, Polly, Eugene and Lionel.
as a rural school educator in Anderson County, William Freeman joined other visionary African Americans to change the name of the colored school in Palestine to Frederick Douglass Elementary School in 1898. The next year, he earned his teacher’s re-certification and, in 1901, became the principal of Douglass Elementary until 1909. In addition to his leadership abilities, Freeman was also a master brick mason. He made bricks for many of Palestine’s buildings before brick factories existed. He owned a brick yard and made bricks that were used to build the first Anderson County Jailhouse in 1879. Some notable works by Freeman are rock houses where red iron ore rocks were used to cover the homes’ exteriors. The son and grandson of William Freeman followed in his footsteps as principals of the Douglass school for 46 years. Freeman’s legacy as an educator, brick maker, brick mason and carpenter shaped Palestine’s history. He died on August 28, 1931, and is buried in Memorial Cemetery.