on some evenings a young gaines would sneak off into a corn field where he taught himself to read by candlelight gaines would later state that he had an accomplice in this endeavor: a white boy who lived on the plantation and agreed to sneak him some books its evident that he had a real zest for learning alexander-walls said but more than that he had a zest for people being able to be treated fairly perhaps its not surprising then that gaines used his literacy and strong sense of moral justice to begin preaching the gospel to his fellow slaves his early commitment to ministry is highlighted by historians alwyn barr and robert calvert in their 1981 book black leaders: texans for their times (gaines) often told his wife and children much to their amusement of disguising himself as a woman replete with dress and sunbonnet so that he could drive a buckboard (a type of small horse cart) to nearby plantations to preach without being stopped by the patrollers barr and calvert wrote over the years gaines made at least two semi-successful escape attempts the first came shortly after the death of the louisiana plantation owner at which time he was sold in the new orleans slave market and sent to work on a steamboat within a few months gaines was on the run traveling hundreds of miles north into arkansas in a move that has puzzled historians he appears to have remained there only six months before returning to new orleans where he was recognized and apprehended in 1859 gaines was brought to texas and sold to christopher columbus hearne the wealthy hearne family owned 10 000 acres of fertile brazos river bottomland which they used to grow cotton gaines was a slave on one of their plantations in robertson county until 1863 when he decided to run away to mexico he took every chance he could possibly get particularly in texas knowing that there is an international border and a foreign nation that had at worst an ambivalent and at best a slightly liberationist view towards escaped slaves blanton said though he never made it to the border he was captured by a group of texas rangers near fort mckavett this second escape attempt was not a total loss for gaines rather than being returned to the plantation he was held in fredericksburg until the end of the civil war although ostensibly still a slave and under arrest gaines had considerable freedom of movement and worked as a blacksmith and a sheepherder barr and calvert note finally in the summer of 1865 texans received a piece of news that threatened to upend the social and political fabric of the entire state setting gaines on a collision course with the state capitol ‘on the war path when maj gen gordon granger sailed into galveston harbor on june 19 1865 his mission was one of both liberation and control as texas a&m professor of african american history albert broussard explains grangers famous statement informing enslaved texans of their freedom also outlined the limits of that freedom its a very peculiar kind of statement broussard said theyre expected to remain with their employers but now the relationship is employer-to-employee as opposed to enslaved person-to-master no idleness will be tolerated they dont want them roaming the roads even though they may be looking for family members children or loved ones it was during those strange early days of emancipation that gaines decided to make his return to the brazos valley still a young man in his 20s he settled in the small predominantly black community of burton in washington county where he began to preach