Joseph M. Mettawer was born in Indiana on August 12, 1837. He came to Huntsville at an early age during the period prior to the emancipation of African Americans in Texas and the nation. Mettawer, born of free parents, was a horse trader who came to Huntsville with Colonel Pine during the Civil War. Colonel Pine, a slave owner, was bringing his slaves to Walker County "to get them out of the reach of the Yankees."
Mettawer, a free man, journeyed with him and a group of horse traders. He had lived a relatively free life until he was persuaded to accompany Colonel Pine and a white trader to New Orleans, Louisiana. While there, the trader sold him as a slave, and the slave owner brought him into Walker County. Once he was in Huntsville and Walker County, he was placed in jail because he insisted that he had "free status", while the slave owner insisted that he was chattel property. As a result, law enforcement officers jailed him for more than six months until his legal status could be determined.
P.R. Thomas, in his book Outline History of First Baptist Church, described Mettawer's legal ordeal in Biblical terms:" Suing for the rights of property, he emulated the Apostle Paul, when before the magistrate: he still proclaimed that he was free born. Soon it was all over." He was able to prove that he was not a runaway slave by appealing to white friends who had known him in Virginia for testimony that he was a free man. He was a businessman. He was a barber—first barber in Walker County—and an accomplished banjo player. After he opened his barbershop, he entertained his patrons with music.
Active in community affairs, Joe Mettawer was instrumental in using his talents to organize the Negro Brass Band, the first in Walker County, in 1868.
His standing with financiers in the city of Huntsville was sound. He acquired a sizeable amount of real estate in Huntsville, including a brick building on the west side of the downtown square. He built several houses on 20th Street across from the athletic dormitory of Sam Houston State University. The most significant home ever owned by an African American man in Huntsville was built around 1870. Mettawar's two-story home was on what was then West 12th Street was still standing in 1934 and was occupied at heat time by a white family.
He bought the freedom for " Aunt Maria" whom he married and with whom he maintained an honored and respected place in town. It was reported that "their home, their surrey and horses, and their appearance were always of high degree. " The couple had no children but adopted a young girl named Mary Sue. They gave her all the advantages and they left her considerable property. The Mettawers also took care of other children and young men and women by taking them into their home and caring for them.
On November 20, 1896, when the Antioch Baptist Church was established, Joe Mettawer was among the trustees, along with Walter Green and Jefferson Spillers. The tract of land, located near the northwest corner of Avenue M and 13th Street was purchased for $175. The property sold to the church was located on the current site of Huntsville City Hall. The trustees of the Fedie Defensor, Lodge No. 2367, Grand United Order of Odd Fellows of Huntsville, Texas, sold the property to Antioch Baptist Church. Mettawer was a member of the Lodge. Other members included Joshua Houston, S. G. Flood, Frank Jones and G. K. Collins. It is not known how the Antioch Baptist Church came into existence. What is known is that following the pastoral work of Reverend W. J. Lockett, a former deacon from Antioch Baptist Church in Brazoria County eventually became pastor of First Missionary Baptist Church. Mettawer served on the Deacon/Trustee Board of both churches. He was the first to institute music in the Sunday school and to use International Sunday School Literature. He was rated as a pathfinder for "real Christian civilization.”
Mettawer was one of three elected county commissioners during the Reconstruction period. The other two were Memphis Allen and Joshua Houston. Following the demise of Antioch Baptist Church, Mettawer served on the Deacon Board of Frist Missionary Baptist Church on 10th Street. Other trustees/deacons were Madison McKinny, Joshua Houston, Emmett Johnson, Johnnie Johnson, Arthur Porter, Bob Thomas, Will Thomas, William Williams, Professor Samuel Walker Houston, Professor C. C. Herndon, P.R. Thomas, Ed Moten, Dock Carroll, John Anderson, Jasper Simms, Tom Rolling, Clark Rolling, Robert Randolph, Leander Smith, Sam Jackson, R. E. Thomas, Aaron Simms, Bob Hogue, Bon Spivey, Ed Boone, George Robinson, J. H. L. Whitfield, Aaron Jackson, George Shepherd and Wyatt Johnson.
One of the few men that came to Huntsville as a free person, Joe Mettawer was described as " honest and upright in all his dealings and highly regarded by everyone living in the old town of Huntsville." He died on January 22, 1915, when he was about eighty-five years old.
Taken from Pathfinders: A History of the Pioneering Efforts of African Americans, Huntsville, Walker County, Texas by Dr. Naomi W. Lede.
Comments