Following the American Civil War and news of emancipation reaching Texas, Benjamin Franklin Williams became active in Reconstruction Politics and the Methodist Episcopal Church.
[5] In 1869, Williams was “admitted in to full connection,” as a minister with the Texas Mission Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
[6] In 1868, Williams was among “most active,” black delegates to the Reconstruction Constitutional Convention of 1868, after having served as vice president of the Loyal Union League.
Among the four candidates in the race was William Henry Sincliar, a Northern Radical Republican who was incidentally instrumental in bringing professional baseball to Texas later in life.
[9] In 1885, when he represented Waller County in the 19th Texas Legislature at age 65, he was noted as, “a quiet, sensible and well informed man, and won the good will of his fellow members.