1808 – 1898 · Austin, Texas
Legacy
& History
Born enslaved. Arrived in Austin in 1839. Died a free man in 1898. Everything in between is worth remembering.
1808
Year of Birth
6
Churches Founded
1876
Gold Dollar Founded
5th
Generation Still Active
The Historical Record
Ninety Years
That Shaped Austin
Jacob Fontaine's life spanned ninety years — from bondage in Arkansas to freedom in Austin, from secret basement sermons to six congregations planted across Central Texas, from a single gold dollar to the first Black-owned newspaper in the city.
He arrived in Austin in 1839 — the same year the city was founded. He watched it grow from a frontier outpost into the capital of Texas. He shaped it in ways that history has too often overlooked, and that his descendants are now working to restore.
This is the full record — not a summary, not a footnote. The life of Jacob Fontaine, told from beginning to end.
1839
Arrived in Austin
A Life in Full
The Complete
Historical Timeline
Born into Bondage in Arkansas
Jacob Fontaine was born enslaved in Arkansas in 1808. He passed through the hands of several enslavers — among them the Tuttle and Isaacs families — before coming under the ownership of Rev. Edward Fontaine, a great-grandson of Patrick Henry. In 1839, Edward Fontaine moved to Austin as personal secretary to Texas President Mirabeau B. Lamar, bringing Jacob with him.
Arrival in the Capital City
Jacob arrived in Austin in 1839 — a city being built from scratch on the edge of the frontier. He would spend the rest of his life here, watching it grow, shaping it in ways that history has too often overlooked. He worked as a janitor in the Land Office Building, a grocer, a laundry operator, a bookseller, and a medicine dealer.
Preaching Before He Had the Right
Jacob served as sexton at St. David's Episcopal Church in 1855. By 1860 he was attending First Baptist Church alongside Sam Houston. But in the afternoons, he preached to Black Austinites in the basement of the old Methodist church at Brazos and Tenth Streets — years before emancipation gave him the right to do so openly. In 1864, he and others began secretly organizing a break from the White church.
Founding the First (Colored) Baptist Church
After emancipation, Jacob wasted no time. In 1867 he founded the First (Colored) Baptist Church in Austin and was elected first moderator of the St. John Regular Missionary Baptist Association. He was not merely a member of the new Austin — he was one of its architects.
Six Congregations Across Central Texas
Over twenty years, Jacob planted five more churches: Mount Zion at Williamson Creek (1873), Good Hope in Round Rock (1874), Sweet Home in Clarksville (1877), New Hope in Wheatville (1887), and St. Stephen's at Waters Park (1887). Each was a community anchor — a place of worship, education, and mutual support for Black Texans navigating Reconstruction.
A Gold Dollar and a Sister Found
In 1872, Jacob traveled to Mississippi and was reunited with his sister Nelly Miller — separated from him for twenty years by slavery. She gave him a single gold dollar. He invested it. Four years later, that dollar had grown to sixty — enough to launch a newspaper.
The Austin Gold Dollar
In 1876, Jacob founded the Austin Gold Dollar — one of the first Black weekly newspapers in the South, and the first newspaper under Black ownership in Austin. He published it from his two-story home at 24th and Orange Street. The paper ran until 1879, when his home and press were burned to the ground.
Fighting for the University of Texas
In 1881–82, Jacob emerged as Austin's leading Black advocate for establishing the University of Texas in Austin. He traveled to San Antonio, Seguin, and Marlin to secure the Black vote for his cause. He understood that education was inseparable from freedom — and he acted on that belief at every turn.
A Free Man Until the End
Jacob Fontaine died in Austin in 1898 — a free man, a church planter, a publisher, a civic leader, and a father. He was buried at Oakwood Cemetery. His descendants carried his name and his work forward. His fifth-generation grandson Dennis Jacob Berry continues that work today.
1876 · The Press
One Gold Dollar
Changed Everything
In 1872, Jacob was reunited with his sister Nelly Miller in Mississippi — separated from him for twenty years by slavery. She gave him a single gold dollar. He invested it carefully. Four years later, that dollar had grown to sixty.
With sixty dollars, Jacob founded the Austin Gold Dollar in 1876 — one of the first Black weekly newspapers in the South, and the first newspaper under Black ownership in Austin. He published it from his two-story home at 24th and Orange Street until 1879, when his home and press were burned to the ground.
"Born into slavery in Arkansas in 1808. Died a free man in Austin in 1898. Everything in between is worth remembering."
Dennis Jacob Berry — 5th Generation Grandson
The Living Legacy
Five Generations
and Still Counting
Jacob Fontaine's legacy did not end in 1898. His son Israel Fontaine carried the work forward. His descendants have kept the name alive across five generations — and his fifth-generation grandson Dennis Jacob Berry is now leading the effort to restore Jacob's place in Austin's historical record.
Through the Gold Dollar Podcast, the Rev. Jacob Fontaine Quest Tours, and this preservation project — supported by the Heritage Tourism Division of the City of Austin — the story is being told again, fully, for the first time.