Jenks Branch, Texas
Jenks Branch, also known as the Miller Community, was a freedmens colony located between the modern towns of Leander and Liberty Hill in Williamson County, Texas. The community began when Milas Miller, a formerly enslaved man, purchased land in 1870 near the Jenks Branch Creek on the south side of the San Gabriel River. By 1880 he owned over 1000 acres of land.
History
The community traces its roots to the purchase of hundreds of acres of land by Milas Miller near Jenks Branch Creek. The creek is named for two early land owners John W. Jenks and John W. Branch. Milas was born enslaved in South Carolina in York County between 1824 and 1827 and was brought to Texas by his owners when they moved to Williamson County in the 1850s. Other Black people purchased land nearby Miller and the community began to build. In total, Black families owned more than 1100 acres. Some also rented land from the Black land owners. Other family names associated with the community include McClain, Johnson, Mason, Barton, Faubion, Schooley, Huddleston, Hollingsworth, Pickett, Gant, and Inman.Milas Miller built a brush arbor to use for school and church. Later the Liberty Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church was built just west of the arbor. Two cemeteries were created near the church on land given by Joe McClain and William David Miller. The Independent American Knights of Liberty established and built a lodge about a half mile east of the church. It was torn down in 1913.