Girl who lived on Wilson County plantation charted her own path as an adult after slavery

WILSON COUNTY, Texas – A letter from a former slave who lived on a Wilson County plantation in the mid-1800s offers a new look into how she adjusted to life after slavery was abolished.

Former KSAT reporter Jessie Degollado previously filed multiple stories on the Whitehall Polley Mansion when the property was purchased by a couple in 2023 and when a permanent exhibit honoring the enslaved opened at the Sutherland Springs Historical Museum in 2024.

The curator of the 2024 exhibit, scholar Melinda Creech, Ph.D., spoke with KSAT photojournalist Azian Bermea about Teresa McLeod-Moore and how she charted her own path outside of Wilson County.

More related coverage of this story on KSAT:

• Exhibit honoring the enslaved at the Polley Plantation opens Saturday
• Couple who unknowingly bought ex-slave plantation learn about mansion’s past, history of slaves along Cibolo Creek