82R22589 MMS-D
By: Parker H.R. No. 1799
R E S O L U T I O N
WHEREAS, Among the early Anglo settlers of Texas who took
part in the struggle for independence and in the work of developing
the new republic were members of the related Zumwalt, Kent, and
Burket families; and
WHEREAS, Six of these interconnected families arrived in
Texas from Missouri in about 1830 and settled in DeWitt's Colony,
located in what is now Gonzales, Lavaca, DeWitt, Guadalupe, and
Caldwell Counties; notable among their members were "Black" Adam
Zumwalt, his brother-in-law Andrew Kent, his cousin "Red" Adam
Zumwalt, and another relative, David Burket; and
WHEREAS, Before the Texas Revolution, "Black" Adam Zumwalt
and his family lived in the Gonzales area, and in the late spring of
1835, Mr. Zumwalt attended the organizational meeting of the
Gonzales Committee of Safety and Correspondence; the following
October, he and his son Andrew took part in what is considered to be
the first skirmish of the Texas Revolution; known as the Battle of
Gonzales, the confrontation saw colonists repel a Mexican force
sent out from San Antonio to retrieve a cannon that had earlier been
lent to them for their protection against the Indians; on February
1, 1836, Mr. Zumwalt participated in the election of delegates to
the Convention of 1836, which adopted the Texas Declaration of
Independence, and after the fall of the Alamo on March 6, 1836,
General Sam Houston appointed him to manage the evacuation of
families living along the Lavaca River; while Mr. Zumwalt was
engaged in that duty, his son Andrew participated in the Battle of
San Jacinto; "Black" Adam Zumwalt subsequently served in the Texas
Army from June 6 to September 6, 1836; and
WHEREAS, After his return to the Gonzales area in 1837, Mr.
Zumwalt moved his family to a site in present-day Lavaca County that
became known as Zumwalt Settlement; elected captain of a militia
company, a post he held for some eight years, he took part in
various punitive expeditions against groups of marauding Indians,
including the large force that carried out the Linnville Raid of
1840; he also fought in the Battle of Salado Creek, an engagement
that took place on September 18, 1842, between Texas forces led by
Mathew Caldwell and Mexican troops under the command of General
Adrian Woll, who had just seized San Antonio; in that encounter the
Texans prevailed, and General Woll withdrew to Mexico; and
WHEREAS, Sometime during the 1850s, Mr. Zumwalt moved to
Fayette County, where he became associated with the settlements of
Cistern, Plum or Elm Grove, and Slack's Well; he died in Fayette
County on July 11, 1872; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Zumwalt's brother-in-law Andrew Kent took
possession of a league of land on the west bank of the Lavaca River;
he fought in the Battle of Gonzales, alongside his son David, and
later participated in electing delegates to the Convention of 1836;
on February 27, 1836, he joined some 30 other members of the
Gonzales Ranging Company of Mounted Volunteers and set off to aid
the Texas troops besieged in the Alamo, where he perished during
General Santa Anna's final assault on the fort; and
WHEREAS, "Red" Adam Zumwalt settled with his family in
Gonzales, where he built a residence that also served as a boarding
house/hotel and restaurant; the establishment was located on St.
James Street, across from the municipal plaza; Mr. Zumwalt also
voted in the election that chose delegates to the Convention of
1836, and he assisted in evacuating Gonzales-area families during
the Runaway Scrape; by 1837 or 1838 he and his family had returned
to Gonzales, which General Houston had ordered his men to burn, and
began to rebuild their lives; Mr. Zumwalt is believed to have
provided shelter and meals to many other returning settlers while
they were in the midst of erecting their new homes; "Red" Adam
Zumwalt also held title to a league of land north of Gonzales on the
San Marcos River, where he developed a farm and ranch; he died there
on March 9, 1853; and
WHEREAS, David Burket, who married into the extended Zumwalt
family, settled initially on property adjacent to Gonzales; he is
thought to have helped organize the Gonzales Committee of Safety
and Correspondence, and he subsequently voted for delegates to the
Convention of 1836; in the wake of General Santa Anna's victory at
the Alamo, he joined "Red" Adam Zumwalt in overseeing the exodus of
families from the Gonzales area; after returning to Gonzales in
1838, he settled with his family south of town, on the Guadalupe
River; Mr. Burket died on December 7, 1845; and
WHEREAS, The lives of these pioneer settlers are a vivid
reminder of the remarkable fortitude that enabled Texans of that
era to persevere in the face of extreme hardship and danger, and
their contributions and sacrifice are indeed deserving of
commemoration; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 82nd Texas
Legislature hereby pay tribute to the lives of "Black" Adam
Zumwalt, Andrew Kent, "Red" Adam Zumwalt, and David Burket for the
roles they played at one of the most fateful junctures in the
history of Texas.