Tuesday, June 5, 2018

A Tidbit on Alamo defender, Robert W. Cunningham

I came across an article dated 6 March 2016 that appeared in the Killeen [TX] Daily Herald penned by Valerie L. Valdez. In "Large tract of land in Killeen linked to defender of Alamo," Valdez relates that Tim Farek, president of Cameo Homes, came across a document in his mother's papers that linked Alamo defender, Robert W. Cunningham, to Killeen, Texas - a town adjacent to Fort Hood.

1400 acres [1/3 league] of land had been granted by the State of Texas to Cunningham's heirs in 1854 in recognition of his sacrifice to the Republic in 1836. Robert's mother,  Anna Jennison Cunningham sold the land to Silas A. Kingsbury in 1855. Kingsbury had married Robert's sister, Lucinda. The Kingsburys moved to the Bolton, TX area in 1860.

The article traces the tracts history to its sale in 1883 to H.L. Sprott, who bought 523 acres of the Cunningham Survey for$784.50 [$1.50 per acre] and the sale by Sprott's heir to the Farek's abcestors of  an are and a half in 1995. The "Rock House Addition" on the original tract became the Cameo Homes office.

Valdez gives some background on Cunningham and his family. She also points out that there is a street in Killeen named for Robert - Cunningham Road.

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