Major Israel M. Nunez

Duane's take

The way the marker tells it, here's the story of Major Israel M. Nunez. Born in 1841, gone in 1906, and in between, he packed in enough to fill a marker out here in Gillespie County.

Civil War veteran. Stage line operator. And the man who put Stonewall on the map.

Literally. In 1870, Major Nunez founded the town and named it for Confederate General Stonewall Jackson. Now that is a name with some weight to it, and Nunez apparently felt it suited the place just fine.

He made his home two miles south of town, raising a family of nine children out there on that Texas land. Nine. You get the feeling the Major was not a man who did anything small.

Then in 1886, he donated land for Stonewall School No. 18, making sure those children, and all the children of that community, had a place to learn. A town founded, a school planted, a family rooted. Major Israel M.

Nunez left his mark on this corner of Texas in ways that are still standing.

What the marker says

(1841-1906) Civil War veteran and stage line operator who in 1870 founded Stonewall, naming it for Confederate General "Stonewall" Jackson. Major Nunez, who lived 2 miles south of town and had a family of 9 children, donated land in 1886 for Stonewall School No. 18.