Robert L. and Julia Martin Hunter

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, friends, and it's a story worth the telling. Robert Lee Hunter and Julia Iva Martin, two names that belong to Pearland the way the prairie belongs to a Texas horizon. Their roots in that place go back to the 1890s, when the area wasn't even called Pearland yet.

It went by Mark Belt, and that detail right there ought to tell you this is a long story. Let's start at the beginning. Robert Lee Hunter was born on November 16, 1869, in Fort Bend County.

His grandfather was Dr. Johnson Calhoun Hunter, one of Austin's Old Three Hundred, and in the 1820s that man started a plantation that would carry the family name forward for generations. Dr.

Hunter built a large home for his family on that land. Robert's parents were Josephine Bonaparte Estes and Thomas Johnson Hunter, and after they passed, Robert took up residence in the cabin at Hunter's Plantation. Now that's a man who knew where he came from.

But he also knew when it was time to move on. Around 1903, Robert sold his plantation holdings and headed to Pearland in Brazoria County. He went to be near his sister Eunice, and to get into the cattle business with her husband, a successful rancher by the name of William T.

Magee, though most folks called him Billy. Meanwhile, a young woman named Julia Iva Martin had made her own journey to that same stretch of Texas. She was born on May 15, 1883, way up in Red Cloud, Nebraska, to Elmira Monselle Martin and Samuel Pleasant Martin.

The Martins came to Texas in 1894 and settled right there in Mark Belt, which by then the world was beginning to call Pearland. So Robert had the plantation roots. Julia had made the long road south.

And in Pearland, on September 27, 1905, Robert Hunter married Julia Martin. From 1906 to 1919, they had four children. The family made their home on Orange Street, and they built something bigger than a house there.

They built a reputation. The Hunters were well known and well respected in Pearland, and one of their daughters remembered that they regularly offered advice and hospitality to former slaves. Think about that.

In a time and place where it would have been easy to look the other way, the Hunters kept their door open. That's the kind of people they were. Robert Lee Hunter died on January 18, 1941, in the old Hunter House, on the very land his family's name had always been tied to.

Julia Iva Martin Hunter lived on, and she died in Houston on May 6, 1970. Both of them are buried in South Park Cemetery. But the city of Pearland wasn't finished with their story.

In 2008, the city changed the name of Orange Street Park, which comprised part of the Hunter homestead, to Robert L. and Julia Martin Hunter Park. And today, descendants of the Martin and Hunter families still live in Pearland. That name, that land, that welcome at the door.

Still here.

What the marker says

ROBERT LEE HUNTER AND JULIA IVA MARTIN HAD ROOTS IN PEARLAND AS EARLY AS THE 1890s WHEN THE AREA WAS KNOWN AS MARK BELT. ROBERT LEE HUNTER WAS BORN TO JOSEPHINE BONAPARTE ESTES AND THOMAS JOHNSON HUNTER ON NOVEMBER 16, 1869 IN FORT BEND COUNTY ON A PLANTATION STARTED IN THE 1820s BY HIS GRANDFATHER, DR. JOHNSON CALHOUN HUNTER, ONE OF AUSTIN'S OLD THREE HUNDRED. DR. HUNTER BUILT A LARGE HOME FOR HIS FAMILY. FOLLOWING THE PASSING OF HIS PARENTS, ROBERT L. HUNTER TOOK UP RESIDENCE IN THE CABIN AT HUNTER'S PLANTATION. AROUND 1903, HUNTER SOLD HIS PLANTATION HOLDINGS AND MOVED TO PEARLAND IN BRAZORIA COUNTY TO BE NEAR HIS SISTER, EUNICE, AND TO START IN THE CATTLE BUSINESS WITH HER HUSBAND AND SUCCESSFUL RANCHER, WILLIAM T. "BILLY" MAGEE. JULIA IVA MARTIN WAS BORN IN RED CLOUD, NEBRASKA ON MAY 15, 1883 TO ELMIRA MONSELLE [MUNSELL] MARTIN AND SAMUEL PLEASANT MARTIN. THE MARTINS CAME TO TEXAS IN 1894 AND SETTLED IN MARK BELT (PEARLAND). IN PEARLAND, ROBERT HUNTER MARRIED JULIA MARTIN ON SEPTEMBER 27, 1905 AND, FROM 1906 TO 1919, THEY HAD FOUR CHILDREN. THE FAMILY RESIDED IN A HOME ON ORANGE STREET. THE HUNTERS WERE WELL KNOWN AND RESPECTED IN PEARLAND AND, ACCORDING TO ONE OF THEIR DAUGHTERS, REGULARLY OFFERED ADVICE AND HOSPITALITY TO FORMER SLAVES. ROBERT LEE HUNTER DIED IN THE OLD HUNTER HOUSE ON JANUARY 18, 1941 AND JULIA IVA MARTIN HUNTER DIED IN HOUSTON ON MAY 6, 1970. BOTH ARE BURIED IN SOUTH PARK CEMETERY. IN 2008, THE CITY OF PEARLAND CHANGED THE NAME OF ORANGE STREET PARK WHICH COMPRISED PART OF THE HUNTER HOMESTEAD TO ROBERT L. AND JULIA MARTIN HUNTER PARK. DESCENDANTS OF THE MARTIN AND HUNTER FAMILIES STILL LIVE IN PEARLAND.