[TRANSCRIBER’s NOTE: “Uncle” Jim Brigham, as referred to here, is more commonly referred to as “Free Jim” Brigham in the various modern histories of Hunt County and in government records.  Further, as to the question of how Brigham could earn money, it may be answered as such: Because cotton and other major cash crops did not prosper in Hunt County until the railroads came in the 1880s, many settlers who came from the deep South and brought their slaves with them actually rented out their slaves to those families who did not own them.  Various histories indicate Brigham’s master either let him keep a portion of such funds or that Brigham earned money working on county projects.]

Located in Hunt County, Texas 5 miles northeast of Greenville, on State Highway 24, Pop. 300.

Perhaps the most unique town in Texas, Neylandville was established in the early 1860s by an ex-slave negro, “Uncle” Jim Brigham. He had bought his own freedom and that of his wife Matilda and his youngest son “Little George”, leaving four other sons and five daughters as slaves until the Civil War set them free. Then, as a pioneer, he established himself in this rich black land section of Texas. Today (1937) the town he founded still thrives as an exclusive negro settlement, and is the only one known to exist in the state.

Uncle Jim was the property of the Neyland family living in the eastern part of Hunt County. He was industrious, a hard worker, and saved what little money came his way, until he accumulated enough to purchase the freedom of the three from his master.

After the Civil War, and with the advent of emancipation, other slave families joined the negro settlement; prominent among them was Will Harris, Marget [sic—nearly unreadable] Lee, Porter Laws and another member of the Brigham family, “Uncle Tom”. Jim Brigham and Porter Laws, through their wisdom and good council [sic], became leaders in the colony. When the matter of rearing and educating the children of the former slaves came to their attention, they solved the problem by adopting all negro children where the mothers could not provide for them. St. Paul school was established for the education of these wards and all children were sent to school during the off season, but worked in the fields of Brigham and Laws for their tuition and upkeep during the crop season. They were clothed and cared for, as well as educated, until they became of age, when they were allowed to go their way.

The St. Louis and Southwestern Railroad built through the settlement in 1886, at which time it received its name in honor of Robert Neyland, eldest son of the former master of Jim Brigham.  Soon after the railroad, a postoffice [sic] was established, and B.F. Brown, a colored school teacher was named postmaster and notary public. He served in this capacity until 1888, when the town of Neyland, two miles southwest of Neylandville  was established by the whites and the postoffice was removed to that location.

Neylandville probably has no counterpart anywhere in Texas, being truly a pioneer town whose 300 negro inhabitants are, for the most part, prosperous and thrifty descendants of the first settlers. Will Burris, a son of one of the former slave families, has a notable apple orchard adjacent to the town. The fruit produced in this orchard has won many first prizes at the Hunt County Fair and the State Fair of Texas.  St. Paul School is still the educational center, and now has a faculty of six negro teachers.