Robert L. and Julia Martin Hunter
Pearland, Brazoria County, Texas
Marker Inscription
ROBERT LEE HUNTER AND JULIA IVA MARTIN HAD ROOTS IN PEARLAND AS EARLY AS THE 1890s WHEN THE AREA WAS KNOWN AS MARK BELT. ROBERT LEE HUNTER WAS BORN TO JOSEPHINE BONAPARTE ESTES AND THOMAS JOHNSON HUNTER ON NOVEMBER 16, 1869 IN FORT BEND COUNTY ON A PLANTATION STARTED IN THE 1820s BY HIS GRANDFATHER, DR. JOHNSON CALHOUN HUNTER, ONE OF AUSTIN’S OLD THREE HUNDRED. DR. HUNTER BUILT A LARGE HOME FOR HIS FAMILY. FOLLOWING THE PASSING OF HIS PARENTS, ROBERT L. HUNTER TOOK UP RESIDENCE IN THE CABIN AT HUNTER’S PLANTATION. AROUND 1903, HUNTER SOLD HIS PLANTATION HOLDINGS AND MOVED TO PEARLAND IN BRAZORIA COUNTY TO BE NEAR HIS SISTER, EUNICE, AND TO START IN THE CATTLE BUSINESS WITH HER HUSBAND AND SUCCESSFUL RANCHER, WILLIAM T. “BILLY” MAGEE. JULIA IVA MARTIN WAS BORN IN RED CLOUD, NEBRASKA ON MAY 15, 1883 TO ELMIRA MONSELLE [MUNSELL] MARTIN AND SAMUEL PLEASANT MARTIN. THE MARTINS CAME TO TEXAS IN 1894 AND SETTLED IN MARK BELT (PEARLAND). IN PEARLAND, ROBERT HUNTER MARRIED JULIA MARTIN ON SEPTEMBER 27, 1905 AND, FROM 1906 TO 1919, THEY HAD FOUR CHILDREN. THE FAMILY RESIDED IN A HOME ON ORANGE STREET. THE HUNTERS WERE WELL KNOWN AND RESPECTED IN PEARLAND AND, ACCORDING TO ONE OF THEIR DAUGHTERS, REGULARLY OFFERED ADVICE AND HOSPITALITY TO FORMER SLAVES. ROBERT LEE HUNTER DIED IN THE OLD HUNTER HOUSE ON JANUARY 18, 1941 AND JULIA IVA MARTIN HUNTER DIED IN HOUSTON ON MAY 6, 1970. BOTH ARE BURIED IN SOUTH PARK CEMETERY. IN 2008, THE CITY OF PEARLAND CHANGED THE NAME OF ORANGE STREET PARK WHICH COMPRISED PART OF THE HUNTER HOMESTEAD TO ROBERT L. AND JULIA MARTIN HUNTER PARK. DESCENDANTS OF THE MARTIN AND HUNTER FAMILIES STILL LIVE IN PEARLAND.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Robert Lee Hunter descended from Dr. Johnson Calhoun Hunter, one of Stephen F. Austin's Old Three Hundred colonists, and grew up on the family's Fort Bend County plantation. Around 1903 he sold his holdings and moved to Pearland, then known as Mark Belt, to raise cattle with his brother-in-law, and in 1905 he married Nebraska-born Julia Iva Martin, whose family had settled the area in 1894. Respected community members remembered for offering advice and hospitality to former slaves, the couple later had a Pearland park named in their honor.
Why it matters
The Hunters link the founding Anglo colonization of Texas to the ranching and town-building of the early twentieth century, tracing one family's arc across nearly a century of Brazoria County history.
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Related people
- · Robert Lee Hunter
- · Julia Iva Martin Hunter
- · Dr. Johnson Calhoun Hunter
Themes & tags
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