Herndon, John H. (John Hunter), 1813-1878

Born and educated in Kentucky, John Hunter Herndon arrived in Galveston, Texas, in 1838. He studied law in Kentucky and Houston, and was admitted to the bar in Fort Bend County in November 1838. In 1839, Herndon married Barbara Makall Wilkinson Calvit, heir to the Calvit sugar plantation in Brazoria County, and by 1860 he had become one of the wealthiest landowners in Texas. Although he was not in active military service during the Civil War, the war and Reconstruction depleted most of his fortune. Herndon died on July 6, 1878, and was buried at Hempstead.

From the guide to the John Hunter Herndon Papers, 1814-1872, (Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin)