A History of Juneteenth
In 1841, Nance Legins-Costley, her son of 10 months, and his sisters were freed through the efforts of a young lawyer named Abraham Lincoln. William Costley grew up on the same road that Lincoln lived and traveled. At the age of 24 Costley, along with three brothers-in-law, answered Frederick Douglass’ call to arms after the horrific “Crater” & Ft. Pillow massacres and joined the Illinois unit of the United States Colored Troops (USCT). Costley and his unit were engaged in battles around Petersburg, where he was wounded. Choosing not to be discharged, Costley rejoined his unit! His unit was then called back into action to be a show of force along the Texas-Mexico border, they embarked on ships in City Point (present-day Hopewell) Virginia on May 25, 1865. During that journey, they ran into a storm in the Gulf of Mexico and were forced to port for supplies. On June 19, 1865, thousands of armed black men in U.S. uniforms, including Private William Costley disembarked their ships in Galveston, Texas. Upon seeing that freedom was not realized by their brothers and sisters, they posted General Order No. 3 on the door of the Colored Church (present-day Reedy chapel) marching through the city with the proclamation of freedom and a celebration now known as Juneteenth was begun. That first male child, the son of Nance freed by Lincoln 25 years earlier, William Costley was a contributor to the beginning of Juneteenth.