COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
Ceremony in Honor of Orange Wicks
In 2017, the Bastrop County Bar Association hosted a dedication ceremony to honor Orange Wicks, Bastrop County’s first black justice of the peace.
Improbable and inspiring, Wicks’ story is one worth celebrating. After spending nearly twenty years of his life in slavery, he moved to Bastrop county and established a life for himself around the year 1868. Within just a few years Wicks had met his future wife Anna and established himself as a school teacher. In a testament to his value to the community, Wicks was elected justice of the peace for Precinct 3 in 1888. Although at times controversial, the life of Orange Wicks is best characterized by his leadership and commitment to the Bastrop County community. The Bastrop County Bar Association recently held a scholarship fundraiser that included a performance reenacting parts of Wicks’ life. The success of that fundraiser has allowed the funding of numerous scholarships for local students, and the installment of missing tombstones at the grave site of Mr. and Mrs. Wicks.