The Wynne community of Canton is one of the oldest African American communities in Texas and takes its name from Edmund Arnold Wynne, who was born on June 18, 1850, in Cherokee County to a family of slaves. His family moved to the Big Rock area of Van Zandt County in 1866, and by 1869, four years after emancipation, his father, Henry Wynne, had bought 100 acres of land. In July 1871, Edmund married Martha Shaw and joined the state militia to combat the lawlessness that had arisen in opposition to Reconstruction. He bought his own land in 1876, and in 1879 he sold part of it for one dollar an acre to the Colored Methodist Church of Clear Springs, the name of the African American community that had formed in the Big Rock area. He and his father also established Clear Springs School for African American children. By 1882, Edmund had sold his land at Big Rock and moved to Canton, where he bought another farm. After Martha died in 1883, he married Ella Lawley. As he became more successful in farming, he supported the community that would come to be known as the Wynne community, helping neighbors become self-sufficient and raising money to build a mill. His success and involvement also drew other former slaves and struggling families to the area. In 1888 he sold land for one dollar for the site of the Promise Land Colored Methodist Church, which was used for church and school. He remained active in Black education, helping retain the respected educator Rufus Hardin as a teacher at one of the schools until 1896. One school to which Edmund sold land in 1902 was eventually renamed Wynne School. In 1896, after Ella died, he married Ann Preisley Matthews, and after a lifetime of community involvement, Edmund Wynne died on April 1, 1931.