Jackson family members gather in San Juan following Underground Railroad designation

SAN JUAN — There was little relief from the sweltering South Texas heat as roughly a dozen people gathered inside the Jackson Ranch Church on Saturday afternoon.

The low hum of fans could be heard as those in attendance sat in the church’s old wooden pews, listening intently as Roseann Bacha-Garza, an anthropology lecturer at University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, shared information about the future of the historic location.

Just days before the Juneteenth National Independence Day, which commemorates the end of slavery, Bacha-Garza hosted descendants of the site’s namesakes where they once risked everything to help slaves escape to freedom.

The meeting was an opportunity for Bacha-Garza to share information about the National Park Service’s Underground Railroad National Network to Freedom program and the fact that the application that they submitted in January was accepted.

It was also somewhat of a family reunion for those in attendance — descendants of ​​Nathaniel Jackson, a white farmer from Alabama, and his life partner Matilda Hicks, a formerly enslaved Black woman.

It was on the property, a short walk from the Rio Grande Valley, that Jackson and Hicks established a religious congregation and a safe haven for runaway slaves seeking freedom in Mexico. It is that history that earned the site its designation from the National Park Service.

“What’s happening now in the 21st Century, and we are now 20 years into the 21st Century, these family members are happy about their ancestry. They’re proud of their ancestry,” Bacha-Garza said. “Like I said inside, they are acknowledging it, which is step one, and then they’re embracing it, and then they’re celebrating it.”

“So to have them come here on a really hot day like today, knowing we were all going to be sweating inside, really means a lot because they want to know more,” she continued. “They want to learn more, and that’s very meaningful. That’s very impactful.”

Ramiro Roberto Ramirez is one of those descendants who has worked to maintain the property.

“It just goes on to show the depth of these people and their devotion to what was right,” Ramirez said. “There’s nothing more beautiful than freedom.”

Ramirez served as host during Saturday’s meeting, greeting everyone with a handshake or a hug, offering ice cold bottles of water, and sharing his knowledge of the property. More than anything, he offered a message of kindness that he said has been instilled in him from a very early age and passed down from his early ancestors.

“They always taught me of service,” he recalled. “This is what these people designated their lives, to be of service … It was not so much for them to escape freedom as what could they do for others that were trying to escape.”

“And it was always something of, it’s not enough that you’ve made it. Bring some people along with you. It’s not enough that you were blessed,” he continued. “I’ll never forget this, my father would end every prayer whether it was during time to eat or at night, ‘Ayuda los pobres, los enfermos, los huérfanos, y los los inocentes (Help the poor, the sick, the orphans, and the innocent).’”

Pablo “Paul” Villarreal, Jr., who currently serves as the Hidalgo County Tax Assessor-Collector, was also in attendance Saturday. As a descendant of the Jackson family, he said that he maintains their dedication to helping others.

“It’s an honor for me to be part of that history,” Villarreal said. “Because it became where the National Park Service — it was declared the Underground Railroad where the slaves would escape, and they would be fed here, some would get a job, some of them would go to Mexico. So overall, you know, it is a great feeling to know that our ancestors, you know, care about other people in this world.”

He said that he feels fortunate to be a part of a family whose history is being recognized by the National Park Service. He said that he hopes that people on both sides of the border will take advantage of the historic site and learn about his ancestors and their message of kindness which serves to this day.

“I hope that there’s a lot of people out in the country or Mexico or wherever that can learn more about this place because this is a unique place,” Villarreal said. “It’s a special place because Texas is one of the biggest states in the nation. And when you come down to this area down by the river, this is where the people used to come over here and … our ancestors used to take care of (them). That is beautiful.”

“It means a lot because that means that we’ve got to continue doing the same thing, doing good for others.”

To see more, view staff photographer Delcia Lopez’s full photo gallery here:

Photo Gallery: Jackson family members gather in San Juan following Underground Railroad designation