Martin Dunman Sr. ²

  Noted events in his life were:

• Land: in the amount of 2745.05 acres, 18 Aug 1845, Brazos CO, TX. ³ This land is in Galveston County today.

• Census: 1850 Agricultural Census, 28 Apr 1850, Galveston CO, TX. ²

He had 40 acres of developed land, 4760 acres of undeveloped land, the cash value of his farm was $4000, the value of his farming implements and machinery was $100.

He had 25 horses, 80 milk cows, 10 working oxen, 5000 other cattle, 30 sheep and 90 swine. The total cash value of the live stock was $2600.

The crop he grew was Indian corn and he had 1300 bushels on hand.

• Census: Galveston CO, TX - 1850 Federal Census, 29 Apr 1851, Port Bolivar, Galveston CO, TX. ⁴ page 562, stamped page 281

• Facts Found. Article from April 96 The Naturalist
Houston Audubon Society
440 Wilchester Boulevard
Houston, Texas 77079-7329

A History of the High Island Sanctuaries The first of a series of articles by Sara Bettencourt

There's the old song, "When it's springtime in the Rockies, I'll be coming back to you." Bessie Cornelius once said it might more aptly be named "When it's springtime in High Island." I suppose many of you are doing what I am doing loading up the car with binoculars, scope, flighty children (give 'em wings!) t he Galveston tide tables, a few bologna sandwiches, and seven brands of bird books (experts can skip this step) in preparation for the annual trek to the High Island sanctuaries. We do this in celebration of a miracle. And, although spring migration is now somewhat of an endangered miracle, it is a phenomenon that has occurred for . . . centuries? Millennia? Perhaps, as we get our gear ready, we might occasionally wonder what it was like in centuries past. Did our sanctuary woods look much the same in 1896 as in 1996? To what uses was the land put? Who were the people who worked and lived and called the High Island land home ?

High Island, known to the locals as "the hill," is a forested salt dome rising approximately 38 feet above sea level, located on the upper Texas Coast between Bolivar and Sabine Pass. An astounding variety and concentration of birds can be observed here for three reasons. Its elevation protects plant life from salt water, allowing plants more typical of Texas hardwood forests to flourish. It is also an area where freshwater, salt water, forest and prairie meet, increasing the diversity and concentration of avifauna. Most important, the High Island region is in the direct path of the annual trans-Gulf migration as birds move north after wintering in the warm climates of South and Central America. Seeking shelter and food after the Gulf crossing, birds restore themselves in Houston Audubon Society's sanctuaries, where dense oak mottes are the only substantial feature above the surrounding marshlands for more than ten miles in any direction.

The first settler of record on the land which now contains the sanctuaries was Martin Dunman. Born in Louisiana in 1807, he emigrated to Texas in 1829 with six siblings and his uncle, James Taylor White , after the death of his parents. He married Elizabeth McLaughlin, his first cousin once removed, and resided first in the White Settlement in what is now Chambers County, about 20 miles east of Wallisville. By the outbreak of the War for Texas Independenc e, Dunman was living on Bolivar Peninsula at the High Islands, as the area was known. Although he occasionally assisted the independence cause by selling beef cattle to the troops, it appears that Dunman was primarily a Tory, as were others living east of the San Jacinto River. Many area settlers had roots in Louisiana, often driving cattle to markets there (albeit illegally, compliments of the benign neglect of Mexican officials), and thus held no animosity toward Mexican rule, it being not only similar to Spanish rule of Louisiana, but also rather accommodating. Others were labeled Tories simply because they had no strong political opinions and preferred to be left alone.

In 1881 Dunman's widow applied to the State of Texas for a Land Certificate for Wido ws of Texas Veterans and attempted to document her late husband's military service in the Texas Army. The application was denied, perhaps because Martin Dunman was twice arrested in 1836: for refusing to donate beef for the Texians, and for assisting in th e escape of two Mexican officers. For the first offense, Dunman and six others were to be placed in double irons aboard a Texas vessel in Galveston Bay, when David Burnet, President of the Republic of Texas, ordered their release. In the latter instance, D unman escaped into Louisiana, being pursued nine days by a Texas officer. Not everyone in the Dunman family was a Tory, however. William Barret Travis' immortal letter from the Alamo pleading for reinforcements was carried to Liberty County by Joseph Dunma n. (It is not known which of Martin's relatives brother, uncle or first cousin was the courier.) Regardless of Martin's sentiments, he received a headright of one league and one labor of land from the Republic of Texas in 1838, based not on military servic e, but by a Texas law allowing grants to all who had been "resident citizens of Texas at the time of the Declaration of Independence in March 1836." Dunman used part of his headright to obtain a patent for the Bolivar Peninsula land upon which he was alrea dy living. The grant, over 2,500 acres, was described as being situated in Galveston County, between the Gulf of Mexico and East Bay Bayou at what is called the High Islands , and was approved by Anson Jones, President of the Republic of Texas, on August 18, 1845.

Dunman also acquired additional land on Bolivar Peninsula, west of High Island, when his brother Joseph died in 1842, leaving no heirs save Martin and other siblings. On his properties Martin raised cattle, sheep, goats and hogs, and operated a corn mill. Dunman fits right in with the colorful history of the Peninsula, which has been frequented by the pirate Jean Lafitte, and it is rumored, in more recent times, by Bonnie and Clyde. Dunman was part owner of the sloop Reindeer , notorious for its inv olvement in smuggling activities at the "Rolling Over Place," a 600 yard strip of land on the Peninsula between the Gulf of Mexico and East Bay. To avoid paying customs duties in Galveston, smugglers pushed barrels of cargo across this narrow strip from th e gulf side to the bay side. Located just west of High Island, Rollover Pass and the channel which has now been dug to connect the two waters commemorate the site.

Thousands of years before Dunman and others settled the land, the Akokisa and Atakapa India ns lived in the area, and a few Indian middens have been discovered on Bolivar Peninsula. Many legends have been associated with High Island, and it was Martin and Elizabeth Dunman, some say, who were the first to make a written record of the old stories. One tells of a gravely ill Indian maiden being led to High Island by a mysterious snow white doe; upon arriving, she was restored to health. Thereafter, the Indians revered the hill as a sacred place.

Martin Dunman died in 1852 at age 46, leaving behind his wife, seven children, and another on the way. As previously noted, Elizabeth applied for a land grant, asserting that "the affiant [Elizabeth] is unmarried and has always been unmarried since the death of her said husband." Not so. After Martin's death, the widow Elizabeth Dunman married John Hampshire, a long-time resident of Smith Point, and later of Bolivar Peninsula. Further confusion: Elizabeth's grandmother, Nancy White, married as her fourth husband, Jacob Hampshire, the father of John Hampshire. So, when Elizabeth wed John, she was marrying her Uncle John-by-marriage, and her step-grandfather then became her father-in-law, also. It is said that when John Hampshire died (1871 or 1872), "she, Elizabeth, did not attend the funeral, took all his legal papers with her, and left their home."

Back to first husband, Martin. Emboldened with only the barest of clues, I began the search for the location of Martin Denman's tombstone. Finally, I was given the name of Jim Meredith, the owner of the Barrow Ranch in Chambers County. (Three of Martin's siblings married Barrows.) I called Mr. Meredith what a marvelous fellow! After explaining the project and requesting permission to visit the property to photograph the tombstone, Mr. Meredith enthusiastically welcom ed me, with only one caveat: "I don't know about your Martin Dunman, but you aren't going to dig him up, are you?" The old graves were located in the prairie, under an old oak tree. Several of the graves were marked with only fieldstones, with no inscripti ons. But by the foot of the tree, part of a rock protruded. Bernardo, a ranch hand, arrived with trowel, rag, whisk broom, and a bucket of water and offered his help. Under about two inches of dirt and a good "slathering of cowpatty" we found the tombstone , broken in two pieces, but completely legible: Sacred to the memory of MARTIN DUNMAN Who departed this life May 22, 1852, Age 46 years.

Martin Dunman has gone to the great beyond. But who, you ask, inherited the land that would later become the High Island sanctuaries? It's a cliff hanger. Stay tuned.

The above article and information was reprinted from the Houston Audubon Society The Naturalist Aprin 1996 by Sara Bettencourt .

If you have any questions e-mail me at: loydc@infotexas.com

Martin married Elizabeth McLaughlin, daughter of James McLaughlin and Lucy Marie Carr, on 18 Jan 1829 in Galveston CO, TX.¹ (Elizabeth McLaughlin was born about 1813 in LA and died on 8 Nov 1887 in Galveston CO, TX.)