Memucan Hunt:

An Inventory of Papers at the Texas State Archives, 1836-1846, undated (bulk 1837-1846)

Biographical Sketch

Memucan Hunt was born in North Carolina on August 7, 1807. He attended the Bingham School in Hillsboro, and was later involved in business interests in Weldon, North Carolina and Norfolk, Virginia. In 1834 he moved to Mississippi to take charge of a plantation given to him by his father.

Early in 1836, Thomas Jefferson Green arrived in Mississippi to recruit volunteers to fight in the Texas Revolution. Hunt, along with neighbor James Pinckney Henderson and several hundred others, joined Green, traveling down the Mississippi River to New Orleans. The men sailed from New Orleans to arrive at Velasco in June 1836. In August of that year, to prepare for a threatened invasion by Mexico, President David G. Burnet commissioned Hunt Brigadier General in the Texas Army. At his own personal expense, Hunt enlisted, organized and equipped troops for the Texas Army from Tennessee, North Carolina, and Mississippi. In December of 1836, with the threat of a Mexican invasion apparently over, Hunt resigned his commission to return to his home in Mississippi, but he was persuaded by President Sam Houston to serve Texas as Minister to the United States. Hunt assisted William H. Wharton in gaining United States recognition of Texas independence.

From December 1838 to May 1839 Hunt served the Republic as Secretary of the Navy, appointed by President Mirabeau B. Lamar. In May 1839 he was the Texas representative on the United States-Texas Boundary Commission.

President Houston appointed Hunt Inspector General of the Texas Army in 1842, and he also served as Adjutant General in the Somervell Expedition of that year. In 1846 Hunt volunteered to serve in the Mexican War, and served briefly on the staff of General James Pinckney Henderson.

After annexation, Hunt served one term in the Texas legislature in 1852. In 1853 he again represented Texas on the United States Boundary Commission, to adjust the southwest boundary.

He spent the next several years trying to recoup his losses in behalf of Texas, and the legislature overwhelmingly approved his claims for compensation in land. He obtained a charter for a railroad from Galveston to Red River, and traveled extensively in search of investors. It was on one such trip that he was taken ill in New Orleans and forced to return to Galveston. Advised by his doctor to go to a higher altitude, he went to his brother's home in Tipton County, Tennessee. It was there that he died on June 5, 1856.

Hunt was married in 1850 to Anne Taliaferro Howard of Galveston. Hunt County was named in his honor.

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Scope and Contents of the Records

The papers of Memucan Hunt are mostly correspondence, with some legal documents and financial records, including receipts, promissory notes, partnership agreements, documents dealing with land deals and Hunt's government service, and a list of family members and their residences. Materials date from 1836 to 1846, and undated, with the bulk of the materials dating from 1837 to 1846. Papers relate to Texas politics, annexation, and land sales. Correspondence includes personal invitations and letters of introduction. Correspondents include James Pinckney Henderson, Archibald Yell, Thomas Jefferson Green, and Thomas Jefferson Rusk.

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Restrictions

Restrictions on Access

None.

Restrictions on Use

Under the Copyright Act of 1976 as amended in 1998, unpublished manuscripts are protected at a minimum through December 31, 2002 or 70 years after the author's death. Researchers are responsible for complying with the Copyright Law.

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Related Material

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

(Identify the item), Memucan Hunt Papers. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.

Accession Information

Accession number: 1912/003

These papers were transferred to the Texas State Library from the Comptroller's Office in 1911. As reported in the Second Biennial Report of the Texas Library and Historical Commission, 1911-1912, this group of papers was among 100,000 manuscripts transferred by the Comptroller's Department in accordance with the law "making the State Library the custodian of all historical manuscripts no longer required in the current work of the various State Departments..."

Processing Information

Cynthia Beeman, November 1984

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Detailed Description of the Records

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