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Black business history · Capote, near Seguin
Hiram Wilson and the potters who put their own name on the business
In 1856, Hiram, James, and Wallace Wilson were brought to Capote in Guadalupe County while enslaved. There they learned to turn local clay into stoneware. After emancipation, they took that knowledge into a shop of their own.
In 1869, Hiram established H. Wilson and Company near Seguin. James and Wallace helped operate the pottery, and Texas State University’s archaeological history also credits George and Andrew Wilson. Some vessels bore the company’s name. For people who had once made pottery under slavery, that mark carried a new meaning: it identified a business they owned and ran.
The Wilson potters built one of the rare Black-owned potteries in the nineteenth-century South. Black entrepreneurship in Texas reaches back even further: William Goyens ran businesses in Nacogdoches decades before the Wilson shop opened. The business operated until around Hiram’s death in 1884. Its surviving stoneware gives Texans a way to see their work today.
The Wilson potters built a manufacturing business near Seguin. Elsewhere in Texas, Black entrepreneurs moved goods across state lines, organized a bank, sold beverages, and built software.
Nacogdoches · Trade and transport
William Goyens
In the decades before emancipation, Goyens worked as a blacksmith and wagonmaker and hauled freight from Natchitoches, Louisiana. His business connected East Texas customers to a trading route beyond the state line.
After emancipation, the Wilson potters used skills they had learned while enslaved to make stoneware in their own shop. Some surviving vessels carry the company name.
Working with fellow Prince Hall Masons, McDonald helped organize the Fraternal Bank and Trust Company. Black residents had a bank of their own at a time when segregation shaped where families and businesses could turn for financial services.
Ulmer started with her great-grandmother’s flaxseed lemonade recipe and added honey. What began at an Austin lemonade stand in 2009 became Me & the Bees Lemonade, a packaged beverage brand that also supports bee conservation.
Omadeke founded The Mentor Method to help employers match mentors with colleagues and manage mentoring programs. She raised venture funding and later sold the software business, taking it from an idea through acquisition.
Black chamber leaders who opened doors for Texas businesses
The Texas Association of African American Chambers of Commerce (TAAACC) traces its roots to the Texas State Negro Chamber of Commerce, founded in 1936. Local chambers gave owners a way to act together on issues that a single firm could rarely change alone, including access to public contracts. Explore TAAACC’s history and work ↗
Charles O’Neal
As TAAACC president, O’Neal advocates for Black-owned firms seeking contracts with government agencies and private companies. As board chairman of U.S. Black Chambers, Inc., he also represents that work nationally. His path to chamber leadership began in the newspaper business, where he worked for nearly two decades.
A former Victoria city councilmember and past TAAACC chairman, Wyatt helped rebuild the association’s statewide operations. In his own account, he helped move the state chamber office to Austin and staff it in 1995. A Texas Senate committee witness list identifies him as TAAACC chair in 2013. In 2026 the association again listed him alongside state representatives for its legislative update.
The association’s 2026 conference paired a legislative update with sessions on digital readiness, buying or merging businesses, and succession. An owner preparing to sell a company could learn about succession in the same gathering where lawmakers discussed policy affecting Texas firms. Read the chamber’s conference program ↗
Texas firms in the Black Enterprise 100s
For four consecutive editions ending in 2009, Houston’s CAMAC International ranked No. 2 nationally among Black-owned industrial and service companies. Kase Lawal started out trading agricultural commodities and expanded into oil and gas. Black Enterprise reported $2.43 billion in 2008 revenue, up from $1.6 billion in 2007. Read the magazine’s 2009 profile ↗
How eight Texas firms ranked in 2014 and 2015
San Antonio’s Millennium Steel of Texas, an automotive steel processor, moved from No. 17 to No. 16. The 2015 list reported $200.1 million in revenue for the firm. Dallas had national competitors in two very different lines of work: Roland Parrish’s restaurants and Albert Black Jr.’s supply-chain company.
Company
Texas city
2014 rank
2015 rank
Millennium Steel of Texas
San Antonio
17
16
The Lewis Group
Houston
25
26
Bird Electric
Eastland
—
37
Facility Interiors
Carrollton
45
43
Summus Industries
Sugar Land
52
51
Parrish Restaurants
Dallas
55
57
On-Target Supplies & Logistics
Dallas
85
79
ChaseSource
Houston
97
89
Years refer to list editions. The 2015 table supplies both ranks. A dash means the magazine printed no previous rank. Read the archived 2015 table (PDF) ↗
Houston’s Lewis Group remained among the national leaders
Sherman Lewis III expanded from gas stations into restaurant franchises after a Jack in the Box leased space at one of his stations. After rankings of No. 25 and No. 26 in the two editions above, a 2017 Black Enterprise profile placed the firm at No. 30, with $116 million in revenue and nearly 1,000 employees. Read the 2017 profile ↗
These historical rankings describe firms as the magazine listed them at the time. Black Enterprise ranked auto dealers and financial institutions separately. Explore the BE 100s categories ↗
Houston entrepreneurs in real estate
Kevan and Ayesha Shelton
The founders of Park Street Homes were named honorary chairs of the Greater Houston Black Chamber’s 2026 Pinnacle Awards. In announcing their selection, the chamber recognized their investment in the community as well as their work building businesses.
As CEO of GEJ Development, Johnson Rose built a Houston portfolio spanning public institutions and private clients. Her chamber service, teaching, and national leadership in the Black broker network connect the business of development to the people preparing to enter it.
