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Black History Week: Red River Kept Early Black Family in City
by Lee Alyce McGrew
Denison Herald
February 21, 1993

If not for high waters in the Red River, the Hilliard family would never occupy a special place in Denison's history—the first black family in Denison after slavery.

The late Oliver Hilliard, one of the sons, and his family were on their way to Oklahoma after being freed by Oran Roberts, governor of Texas (1878–1882). When they reached the Red River, they found high waters and opted to settle on the high, flat land of Denison.

Hilliard became a coach cleaner for the railroad, a job he held for 50 years. He is the only black listed on the granite monument in Denison's Katy Park.

He was also the last of the four original trustees of Magnolia Cemetery. He would often talk, in his later years, of how in the midst of their sadness at the death of a loved one, they would have to buy property and set up a cemetery before they could bury one of their own dear friends. They sold small segments of land to the black citizens, calling them cemetery plots. This was done in order to make the down payments.

For a time, everyone was very interested and each plot was diligently kept clean and beautiful. Then the elderly began to fade away and many of the descendants left the Denison area, leaving no one to keep their plots clean.

This year, however, we were successful in getting help to clean the cemetery and create a job for Roy McKnight, who will now work to keep it clean.

Two Hilliard daughters, the last of the children, are still in the area—Lois and Mary Belle—and two grandchildren, Lois Ford and Marguerite Bradshaw.

Denison also had three black hospitals, five black physicians and one dentist. Drs. Cook, Foster and McKinney were older physicians succeeded by Dr. Riddle of Mercy Hospital, Dr. Holloway of Holloway Hospital, both on Munson Street in the Rock Hill area, and Dr. Franklin of Franklin Clinic and Hospital. Dr. H. R. Weaver was a dentist with his own clinic adjoining his home.

Editor's note: Councilwoman Lee Alyce McGrew is writing in honor of Black History month, which runs through February. She asks that anyone with information on blacks in Denison to contact her at 465-2931.

Denison Herald
April 1, 1992

Denison - Funeral for James Leonard Hilliard, 95, former resident who died March 20, 1992 in the Veterans Hospital Care Unit in Houston, were held  Thursday in Houston.
Hilliard was born July 11, 1886 in Denison, son of Oliver and  Mary Elizabeth Hilliard.  He attended Denison schools.  He joined Pleasant Grove Baptist Church and later Hopewell Baptist Church, where he sang in the senior choir.  Hilliard was a member of the American Woodman Band in Denison.
After graduation he was employed by MK&T Railway as a railway postal clerk from Denison to Waco.  Soon after, he was called to service during World War I and was stationed at Camp Bowie in Fort Worth.  After being discharged, he worked for MK&T Union Station and later worked for the Denison Post Office.  He married Vera Wheeler in Denison and after her death in 1936 he moved to Houston and later married Amanda Jackson who died in 1983.
In Houston, Hilliard worked for the Southern Pacific Railroad as a dining car steward.  He later volunteered for the Navy during World War II and was stationed at Richmond, California and Corpus Christi. where he and his wife operated a tea room.  While in the Navy he served as an officers' Steward and played the saxophone in the Navy Band.  He and his wife moved back to Houston where he operated a catering business.
While in the service, he attended Texas Southern University and studied commercial baking and voice.
In Houston he was a member of Good Hope Missionary Baptist Church where he sang in the senior choir and the Haywood-Smith Choral Club.
Survivors include 3 sisters, Pearl Carter and Mary Bell Hilliard of Denison and Lois Randle of Dallas.
Biography Index

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