Robert Hancock Hunter diary

Collection

Identifier: urn:taro:utexas.cah.01797

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The Robert Hancock Hunter Diary, 1813-1892, contains reminiscences of Hunter related to his service with Captain Bird’s company, the Battle of San Jacinto, Runaway Scrape, and the Grass Fight, and includes appended notes by Mrs. Beulah Gayle Greene of Edna, Texas. Also found in the diary is a letter, 1892, written by Hunter and addressed to his son, containing family history, as well as a genealogy and history about Hunter’s father, Dr. Johnson Hunter.

Dates

Creation: 1813 - 1892

Creator

Hunter, Robert Hancock, 1813-1902 (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

There are no use restrictions on this collection. Publisher is responsible for complying with copyright law.

Biographical Note

Robert Hancock Hunter (1813-1902) was born in Circleville, Ohio, to Mary Martha (Harbert) and Dr. Johnson Calhoun Hunter. The Hunters moved to Texas in 1822, settling in Fort Bend County in 1829. Robert Hancock Hunter served during the Texas Revolution, participating in the Grass Fight and the siege of Bexar in both Captain James Franklin Perry’s volunteer company and Captain John Bird’s company. Upon receipt of the news that the Alamo had fallen, Hunter’s unit retreated, and though the unit saw battle in the San Jacinto campaign, Hunter stayed behind in Harrisburg to guard the baggage train. Following the battle, he served as a guard for General Antonio López de Santa Anna.

Upon the end of the Texas Revolution in 1836, Hunter returned to Fort Bend County where he farmed and raised stock. He married Samirah M. Beard in 1841, and they had seven children. With his wife’s father in 1845, Hunter established a farm and a saw and grist mill in Guadalupe County. He sold the mill in 1857 and moved to Victoria, where three years later he wrote his reminiscences of life in Texas and the Texas Revolution, based on his diary. His memoir, Narrative of Robert Hancock Hunter, 1813-1902, was published in 1936 to great success. In 1880 Hunter moved to Flatonia, Fayette County, where he was a member of the Texas Veterans Association and active in the Democratic party and the Methodist Church. He died in 1902.

Source: Handbook of Texas Online, s.v. Hunter, Robert Hancock, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/HH/fhu38.html (accessed July 21, 2010).

Extent

1 Volumes

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Robert Hancock Hunter served during the Texas Revolution, participating in the Grass Fight and the siege of Bexar in both Captain James Franklin Perry’s volunteer company and Captain John Bird’s company. The diary contains reminiscences of Hunter related to his service with Captain Bird’s company, the Battle of San Jacinto, Runaway Scrape, and the Grass Fight, and includes appended notes by Mrs. Beulah Gayle Greene of Edna, Texas.

Accession Number(s)

1971-068

Processing Information

This collection was processed by Sara Rumbo, June 1973.

Basic processing and cataloging of this collection was supported with funds from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) for the Briscoe Center’s History Revealed: Bringing Collections to Light project, 2009-2011.