Wren Freedom Colony and Cemetery

Kendall County, TX

Status: Located – Needs More Research

Year Established: 1867

Council of Governments: AACOG

Public History: There are no current descriptions related to Wren Freedom Colony and Cemetery in the public record. If you are aware of any sources that we may have missed please share them with us.

Community History: The Wren Freedom Colony was established about 1867 when Alex Wren and three other African Americans acquired adjoining property, totaling 606 acres of land, just 3 miles north of Boerne Texas. Many African American families lived here, built families, homes, intermarried with African Americans in nearby colonies in Kerr, Blanco, Gillespie and Bexar counties. Over the years from 1800’s to 1920 they lived and died here, and a cemetery was established. Family names in this cemetery are: Benson, Blair, Brown, Buirst, Butler, City, Clark, Davis, Dilworth, Edmondson, Eggleston, Ferrell, Hardin, Hempill, Hillyer, Holmes, Houston, Irving, McClure, Meadows, Norman, Raybon, Smith, Spears, Street, Thomas, Warren, Washington, White, Wilburn, Wilson, Williams, and Wren. The Wren Cemetery still remains with over 120 burials, many with beautiful headstones. It can be visited today. It is all that remains here of this colony on this land. About 1890 these early African American settlers began moving off the colony homesteads and on to small lots in Boerne, Texas, in the area called “the Flats.” Here they built homes, a church and school. By 1925 most had moved to the Flats and elsewhere across the US in search of better schools, work, and a better life. The last burial and descendant of this Flats community died in 1999 and was buried in the Wren Cemetery–that is the last burial there. A historic marker is located on Spring Creek Rd. at the entrance driveway to the Wren Cemetery. The descendants and the local community maintain the cemetery.

Cemetery: Wren Cemetery