Grant, James, 1793-1836

Physician and Texas revolutionary leader James Grant was born on July 28, 1793, at Milton of Redcastle, Ross-shire, Scotland. Upon completing his medical studies, Grant served as a ship’s surgeon on three East India Company voyages to India and China between 1813 and 1819. Before departing for the Far East, he married Margaret Urquhart and subsequently fathered two children with her, Stewart Majorbanks (or Marjoribanks) and Jamesina. Grant arrived in Texas in 1824, where he met Guadaloupe Reyes, with whom he had seven children.

Grant managed haciendas for a consortium of British companies as well as personally purchasing the Hacienda los Hornos in Parras, Coahuila. He also attempted to settle 800 families near Goliad in 1833 with John Charles Beales, but the Beales’ Rio Grande Colony quickly collapsed. Grant then moved to Nacogdoches and was elected to the state legislature of Coahulia and Texas in 1832. He later served as the secretary of the legislature in the spring of 1835, before Santa Anna disbanded the government.

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