Bell Family Cattle Branding Iron

1878

The Bell family founded a freedom colony called the Settlement.

Calvin Bell was an enslaved cowboy forced to drive cattle on the Chisholm Trail in Texas during the Civil War. After emancipation, Bell and other formerly enslaved cowboys saved money to buy land to build their own community. Still, in order to purchase land in Galveston County, Calvin Bell, David Hobgood, Thomas Caldwell, and Kneeland Britton were required to provide "testimonies of good standing" from white businessmen.

Despite these limits on their freedom, the Bell, Britton, Caldwell, and Hobgood families established a thriving community in the Settlement. Calvin Bell also became the first African American to register a cattle brand in the county. Like the Bells, many families in the Settlement manifested their freedom through landownership, entrepreneurship, and community building.