Ammon Underwood

The plaque's merchant of fifty years also enslaved people. The Handbook of Texas records twelve enslaved people in Underwood's household in 1850 and thirty-four in 1860, and says much of his cotton fortune was lost in the Civil War era. He was Columbia's postmaster from 1836 to 1845. In 1842 Sam Houston nominated him justice of the peace for Brazoria County and withdrew the nomination three days later. He became an incorporator of the Columbia, Wharton and Austin Railroad in 1854 and of the Houston Tap and Brazoria Railroad in 1856.

What the plaque says

Ammon Underwood (February 13, 1810 - November 17, 1887) Born in Massachusetts; came to Texas, 1834. As a young man, held odd jobs, survived 2 shipwrecks, and explored Texas countryside. Fought in 1835 Siege of Bexar, Texas Revolution. Then settled here. Married Rachel Carson, 1839, by whom he had 4 children. Ran a thriving mercantile firm for 50 years, but lost a fortune in cotton during Civil War. Anson Jones, President of Texas, 1844-46, was a close friend. Served in the State Legislature in 1884. Recorded - 1970

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Varner-Hogg Plantation State Historic Site — 1.6 mi
  A Brazos sugar plantation built by enslaved people for the Patton family, later leased convict labor and Hogg family oil, now told through Rachel Patton and Sarah Ford.
• Levi Jordan Plantation State Historic Site — 9.8 mi
  A sugar and cotton plantation on the San Bernard River whose enslaved builders and their descendants left one of the best-preserved African American archeological sites in Texas.
• Brazos Bend State Park — 17 mi
  Oak and pecan bottomland, lakes and alligators on the Brazos River 45 miles from downtown Houston, with the museum's George Observatory in the woods.
• Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge — 21 mi
  Coastal prairie, salt marsh and bays between Freeport and Christmas Bay, where an auto tour along Big Slough passes wintering geese, ducks and wading birds in the tens of thousands.

More markers nearby

• George Rounds — steps away
• Josiah H. Bell — steps away
• Samuel Tubbs Angier, M.D. — steps away
• Old Columbia Cemetery — steps away