Tributes

James Wilson was born in 1930 to the late Martha & Clifton Wilson. To that union were born two sons, and three daughters in St. Mary Colony (Bastrop County). He attended the St. Mary’s Colony Jr. High School. During those years, education was very scarce for African Americans. Brother Wilson would always claim, “I only had a third grade education.” He was around 15 or 16 years of age when he had to stop school to begin working the farm with his father. At age 18, Brother Wilson married Shirley Flay Walker of St. John Colony and they had two boys. In order to provide for his family, at 23 Brother Wilson left his family at home to pursue work for the city of Houston in the 1950’s. During that time it was not uncommon for the men to have to go off to work to support their families. His wife and children remained at home with family. Brother Wilson, as a young man, was very athletic and a very strong left handed Baseball player. During his time in Houston he was given the opportunity to pitch for The Houston Buffaloes or “Buffs” which was an American minor league…They are now known as the Houston Astros. In 1952 & 1953 James held the position of pitcher. Though the Buffs were players, Blacks were not allowed in the locker room with Whites. In 1954 Brother Wilson had to suddenly return to St. Mary Colony due to a horrible act of violence against his family which claimed the life of his Father, Mother, Youngest Brother, Wife and two children all of which died in a fire. Brother Wilson had no alternative other than to move to Austin to earn enough money to help pay for burial expenses and to keep ownership of the homestead. He was determined not to allow the act of violence which took the life of his loved ones to force him to lose his land. He begin to work at Hills Café as a cook and then on Jan. 5, 1955 he began working at Central Freight Lines being one of the first two African American Employees as Night watchman, Mechanic, and Driver state-wide. Brother Wilson retired from Central in 1990 as a Dock Foreman. He started attending Mt. Sinai BC on May 21, 1954. Under the leadership of Pastor L. V. Ates, he was ordained as a Deacon. On Sept 8, 1956, he married Faye Pearl Thomas. By this union, he was blessed with seven children to raise as well as being able to build relationships with two children from his past. To all his children he continuously displayed amazing love equally. Because he had such a strong belief about being a provider for his family, he also worked nightly at Garages such as Shaw’s & Brown’s. Deacon Wilson was known around Austin as the “Baddest Mechanic on the Eastside”. When Deacon Wilson retired from Central, he opened his very own “Wilson’s Garage.” Where he worked until he was bothered with health issues. Even in his mid-80’s one would still find him making sure he helped anyone that asked for assistance with their vehicles. He became the Chairman of the Mt. Sinai BC Deacon’s Ministry in 1957 and faithfully served as a Devoted Committed & Faithful Servant until the Lords called his home on April 24th @ 2:14pm

Tributes

James Monroe Wilson

January 18, 1930 - April 24, 2017