Grayson County TXGenWeb

First Black Property Owner

The first know colored property owner in Denison was Joseph Davis. He was born a slave in Louisiana and came to Denison in 1872.

After being freed, he worked as a riverman, in a lumber yard, and as a Cowboy in Texas before coming to Denison. He and his wife, Matilda, were married at Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in 1866. They had fourteen children and were Baptists.

Davis purchased a plot of ground bounded by Washington and Elm streets and Lamar and Houston avenues. He also owned some 120 acres along Big Mineral.

Davis worked for the Houston and Texas Central Railroad for about twenty-five years before he and his family moved in 1900 to Platter, Oklahoma. There he died on January 14, 1922 at the age of 82. His wife, a few years his junior, lived until 1932.

Two of his sons still live in this area: George Davis, 507 North Fannin, and William "Dock" Davis of Platter.

Denison Herald
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