February is Black History Month.  Brownwoodnews.com will run a series of articles this month about some of the early Black leaders in Brown County.  This is the first in the series.

Rev. George E. Smith was one of the first Blacks to move to Brown County, and was the founder of the first school for blacks here, later to be known as the Hardin School.

Smith was born a slave in Virginia, circa 1847.  In 1861, with his grandmother’s help, he escaped and ran away to Washington, D.C.  The Civil War having just begun, he was considered “contraband” by Union troops, and was forced to dig trenches around the city to protect it from the Confederate armies.  In 1869, after the Civil War, he enlisted in the U.S. Army, Company C, 9th Cavalry, in Washington, D.C.  He was sent to Texas and served at Fort Concho and Fort Davis.   From these forts he participated in campaigns against Apache Indians in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona.  In 1874, upon the expiration of his enlistment, Smith mustered out of the Army as a Sergeant, with discharge remarks of “excellent character.”

Smith returned to Washington, D.C. for two years, then in December 1876 he re-enlisted in the Army for another five years.  This time he was assigned to Company D, 10th Cavalry, and was sent back to Texas to fight against the Apache and Cheyenne Indians.  Due to their fierce fighting spirit, dark skin, and curly hair, the Cheyennes began calling them “Buffalo Soldiers.”  After completing his five-year commitment, Smith again mustered out of the Army as a Corporal at Fort Concho in December 1881.

Smith stayed in Texas this time and was appointed a Deacon in the African Methodist Episcopal Church in San Angelo.  In 1883 he was appointed an Elder in the church and given the mission to go into “unoccupied territory” and organize AME churches.

George Smith travelled to Brownwood in 1885, and found that there was no school for Black children.  He approached the local school board, and after meeting their requirements, established a school.  He taught the local children wherever he could find a place, including churches and his own rented quarters.

At the time Brownwood had only one African American church, the Mount Zion Baptist Church.  In 1888 Smith organized a new church and named it Lee Chapel African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church.  That same year he married a local girl, Virginia Love, a union that produced fourteen children.  He also served as a pastor in Coleman, Ballinger, Menard, and Fort Stockton.

In 1890 George Smith gave up his teaching position in the school and found other employment.  With money saved, he purchased land in the new Bailey Addition, where he built and sold homes at a low cost to other Black families.  He also worked to provide City water to the homes in the Bailey Addition, a project which was completed on August 9, 1913, the day of his death.

George E. Smith – Slave, Soldier, Deacon, Educator, Businessman, is buried in Greenleaf Cemetary.