Following the Civil War, Minnie (Washington) Yates and her husband, R.C. Yates, overcame continuing hardships faced by African Americans to build opportunity for their family and community. Minnie, one of five children of James Washington and Ella (Hall) Washington, was descended from freed former slaves of the Navarro County and Gonzales County Jones Plantation. Around the turn of the century, Minnie and R.C. Yates moved from Morales in Jackson County to settle in Poth, where they purchased about 100 acres of land, a symbol of freedom long sought by many African Americans. In 1916, they moved an old schoolhouse from Dewees to their property, where it became home to Mount Moriah Baptist Church and a community school. A graduate of Guadalupe College in Seguin, Minnie Yates valued education and worked to teach her eleven children and others in the area, and she recruited her friend Myrtle Love (Brown) Everage to teach at the school. Everage later became a school principal with a long career in education. Minnie and R.C. Yates became influential settlers in the Poth area, promoting community through education and encouragement.