DUANE
Duane's take
Here's the story as the official marker tells it — my job is just to do it justice. Now settle in, because Joel Ponton was the kind of man who makes you wonder if one lifetime was really enough to hold him. Born in Virginia on July 3, 1802, he came to Texas in 1833 and put down his first roots at Gonzales.
When 1836 rolled around and Texas called men to fight for independence, Joel Ponton answered. That much you'd expect from a man of his era. What came after is where the story gets interesting.
He moved out to his land on the Navidad River, and if you're thinkin' he picked one thing to do with himself out there on the frontier, think again. The man was a farmer. He was a minister of the gospel.
He was a frontier doctor. He was a merchant. Four callings, one man, and the Navidad as his backyard.
Now, 1840. Here's where the story leans in close and drops its voice. Comanche Indians shot Joel Ponton and left him for dead — two arrows in his back.
Two. And the Comanches rode on, satisfied they'd settled the matter. They had not settled the matter.
Joel Ponton recovered. He went right on farming, preaching, doctoring, and selling goods. He later served as Lavaca County judge from 1866 to 1867.
He married five times over the course of his life and was father to nineteen children. Nineteen. Joel Ponton died on February 1, 1875, and I'll just say this — two arrows couldn't stop him, so at least the man got to leave on his own terms.
What the marker says
(July 3, 1802 - February 1, 1875) Born in Virginia. Came to Texas 1833. Settled first at Gonzales. Served in the 1836 Texas War for Independence. Later moved to his land here on the Navidad, where he was a farmer, minister of the gospel, frontier doctor, and merchant. In 1840 Comanche Indians shot him and left him for dead with two arrows in his back, but he recovered. He served as Lavaca County judge, 1866-67. Ponton married five times; was father of nineteen children. (1971)