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Anna Jennison Cunningham BIRTH 30 Apr 1782 Auburn, Worcester County, Massachusetts, USA DEATH 9 Jun 1860 (aged 78) Jeffersonville, Clark County, Indiana, USA BURIAL Walnut Ridge Cemetery Jeffersonville, Clark County, Indiana, USA MEMORIAL ID 131375201 1/3 of a League or 1,400 acres, was granted as a gift in 1854 to son Robert Cunningham’s heirs for his service and sacrifice at The Alamo. The abstract shows Anna Cunningham, Robert’s mother and heir, sold the property to Silas A. Kingsbury in 1855. He was her son-in-law and married Lucinda Cunningham, one of Robert’s siblings, in 1835 and the family had come to the Belton area in about 1854, where Lucinda died. The grant area starts in the north in the runway of Skylark Field Airport in Killeen and the eastern border ends near the Stagecoach Road and Mountain Lion Road transition that marks the border of Killeen and Harker Heights. The southern border is easily identifiable as East Stagecoach Road until it meets East Trimmier Road. The western border runs northwest from the junction of Stagecoach and Trimmier in a line that roughly parallels Teal Drive, Shumard Drive and Oak Valley Drive and ends at the sharp bend on Little Nolan Road. More details: Large tract of land in Killeen linked to defender of Alamo Valerie L. Valdez | Herald correspondent Mar 6, 2016 The Alamo. The name conjures up thoughts and emotions of extraordinary courage and a band of brothers fighting for and dying for each other and for a liberty none of them would live to see. All 180 to 200 men died at the Alamo during the siege that started on Feb. 23 and went through March 6, 1836. Some of the men are legendary - Jim Bowie and Davy Crockett - while others remain unknown, including Robert W. Cunningham. But Tim Farek, president of Cameo Homes, has discovered Killeen’s connection to Cunningham through local property the state of Texas gave to his family to honor his sacrifice as detailed in the “Robert Cunningham 1/3 League Survey” abstract dated 1960. Farek discovered the abstract while going through his mother’s files - Sonya Farek, who died in 2009 - and was instantly curious when he started reading it. “I wondered why did the State of Texas give away land up here when there was very little here back then. But it was common to give soldiers land as payment, so they could settle, farm and fight for it,” Farek said. 1,400 acres Through reading the abstract, he learned that the land, 1/3 of a League or 1,400 acres, was granted as a gift in 1854 to Cunningham’s heirs for his service and sacrifice at The Alamo. So, who was this defender of the Alamo who has a Killeen street, Cunningham Road, named for him? The Texas State Historical Association’s “The Handbook of Texas” stated Robert William Cunningham was born Oct. 18, 1804, in Ontario County, N.Y., and was the oldest of seven children of David Cunningham and Anna (Jennison) Cunningham. The family lived in southern Indiana, northern Kentucky and Arkansas. In 1832, he worked as a cargo flatboatman on the Mississippi River to New Orleans, where he lived for about a year. Cunningham left New Orleans and registered in Stephen F. Austin’s colony in 1833 for the land grant receiving title to a league of land, about 4,400 acres, on Skull Creek in Colorado County. He settled there, cleared his land and began to farm. Genealogy and historical information found on wikitree.com showed Cunningham married Louisa C. Hunt in 1833 and their daughter, Mary Ellen Cunningham Clapp, was born in 1834. Then hostilities arose and the colonists began forming forces to protect their property and lives. In 1835, Robert Cunningham volunteered to serve as a sergeant and a 2nd gunner in Captain T.L.F. Parrott’s Artillery Company in the Siege of Bexar. Around the Web Stay Safe, Stay Home In early 1836, he joined the Texas Army and was reassigned to Captain William R. Carey’s artillery company as a private. Additional historical data from wikitree.com stated Capt. Carey was the first Texas commander at the Alamo, and his artillery company was dubbed “The Invincibles.” His troops were assigned to artillery HQ at the SW corner of the Alamo. At dawn on March 6, 1836, the Mexican forces attacked and slaughtered the Texas soldiers who bravely fought to the end. Subdivisions The abstract shows Anna Cunningham, Robert’s mother and heir, sold the property to Silas A. Kingsbury in 1855. He was her son-in-law and married Lucinda Cunningham, one of Robert’s siblings, in 1835 and they had come to the Belton area in about 1854, where Lucinda died. Furthermore, the abstract documented that through the years, the land was subdivided and sold to various owners, and in 1883, H.L. Sprott bought one-third of the 1/3 League of the Cunningham Survey, 523 acres for $784.50, or $1.50 per acre. According to Tim Farek, the Sprott family divided the land among themselves and sold off parcels and decendants of E.L. Sprott sold 1.5 acres to Don Farek in 1995 with the original “Rock House Addition” on it. The Fareks renovated the house turning it into their Cameo Homes office in 1995. Also from wikitree.com, Louisa Cunningham made an 1838 widow’s request for her husband’s land in Austin’s Colony and was awarded the land by the Republic of Texas. She died in 1872 in Colorado County. Daughter Mary Ellen Cunningham Clapp had five children and she died in 1878 also in Colorado County. Tim Farek said it’s difficult to pinpoint the exact location of the original 1,400 acres of the Cunningham land grant in terms of today’s development. He stated the grant area starts in the north in the runway of Skylark Field Airport in Killeen and the eastern border ends near the Stagecoach Road and Mountain Lion Road transition that marks the border of Killeen and Harker Heights. The southern border is easily identifiable as East Stagecoach Road until it meets East Trimmier Road. The western border runs northwest from the junction of Stagecoach and Trimmier in a line that roughly parallels Teal Drive, Shumard Drive and Oak Valley Drive and ends at the sharp bend on Little Nolan Road. The northern border starts at the Little Nolan Road curve and runs northwest until it ends, back at the runway. “Many of the people presently living within the grant boundaries are veterans and some families living there have lost a family member,” Tim Farek said. “They also paid the same bitter price of freedom that the family of Robert Cunningham did in 1836 at The Alamo.”
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