Henry William Munson was born in Natchez, Mississippi and owned land in the Alexandria, Louisiana area for a time and then joined the people who were answering the call of Stephen Austin for settlers to settle a huge body of land in Texas.
Henry William Munson bought land that was located next to land owned by Austin. He moved on to the land in 1824. He paid one dollar per acre, payable in a year. It was prime land picked out by his friend Austin. It was located inland from Freeport, Texas in what is now Brazoria County. This is close to what is considered to be the birthplace of Texas.
With 20 slaves Henry built a successful cotton and cattle ranch. He named it the Oakland Plantation.
He had lived near Oakland Plantations in Mississippi and Louisiana. He lived an active life and fought in the Texas Revolution. He die at age forty in a cholera plague in 1833. I have a great grand father who died that same year in Kentucky from a cholera plague.
The family still has the ranch. In recent years they have donated 10 acres for the establishment of a historic park. It is in Angleton and is named the Henry William Munson Park. A 70 foot concrete statue of Austin has been placed in the park.
There is a lake that is shaped like the map of Texas. I guess that I will have to go see the park. You do not see a lake shaped like Texas every day.
Henry lived a busy 40 years. Lived in three states, fought in several battles, and established a ranch. He found time to father eight children. His death bed request was "educate my children". They were.
