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Texana A. Castle
Texana A. Castle (née Childress; 1863-1930) was an African-American Baptist, who lived in Bryan, Texas for most of her life. She was affiliated with Baptist missionary projects and founded the Bryans Colored Rescue Home in the mostly African-American community of Boonville, Texas. Early lifeTexana A. Childress was born in March 1863 in Texas.[1] Little is known of her early life, other than that she had a brother, J. L. Sample, who also lived in the Cottonwood area near Bryan, Texas.[2] She could read and write, but had not attended school.[1][3] On May 2, 1885 in Bryan, Childress married Jefferson D. Castle,[4] (1855-1940) who had been a slave in Louisiana before moving to Brazos County, Texas and becoming a prominent landholder.[1][5] The couple had 12 children, but only 6 were living by the 1910 census.[4][3] CareerIn 1905 there was a call from the African-American community in Bryan to build an industrial school and colored orphans home.[6] In the early part of the following year, the "Fathers and Mothers Protection Society", founded by Castle and located in Bryan obtained a charter from the state.[4][7] Within a month, eleven acres of land had been purchased by the society on Harvey Street, along "the southeast line of the old Boonville town tract".[4] By September, ground had been broken, for the planned institution.[8] A nine-room two-story residence was constructed and the cornerstone was laid by the following summer.[9][10] Castle served as the administrator of the home, but did not live there, as she and her husband were farmers and kept a separate home.[3][11][12] The Bryan Colored Rescue Home operated as a training institute to teach farming skills and morals to black youths. The residents raised crops for their own use, and planted cotton on rented fields as cash crops.[11][13] Resident managers, which in the early days included Castle's daughter Mary Palmer, lived on site and taught at the school.[14][15] Castle traveled to raise funds for the organization and spoke at many conventions throughout the state, as well as various churches.[16][17][18][19] In 1913, it was reported that six thousand dollars had been raised for the home.[10] After thirty-seven years in Bryan, the couple moved to Big Springs, Texas in the early 1920s.[20] Death and legacyCastle died in 1930.[4][21] The home she founded continued operating for around a decade after Castle left Bryan, but finally closed in 1933 and the orphans who were residents at that time were relocated.[22] ReferencesCitations
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