George Washington Grant and Grant's Colony

Alabama native George Washington Grant (c. 1814-1898) and his brother, Egbert, moved to Texas in 1831. George and his wife, Mary Jane, having no children of their own, adopted a boy and girl and fostered numerous children. George was a successful entrepreneur, operating a stagecoach line between Huntsville and Waxahachie with Egbert, and also dealing in agriculture, lumber and real estate. He founded the town of Grant Springs and opened a sawmill there, and at one time owned nearly 10,000 acres of land in eastern Walker County, building a cotton gin and grist mill to support his enterprises. Grant also led the effort to establish Sam Houston Normal Institute (later Sam Houston State University), was a founder of the first Christian church, and served terms as county sheriff and County Judge during reconstruction. Before the Civil War, Grant had numerous enslaved people on his land. After Emancipation, he sought ways to assist former slaves toward economic independence. Initially he sold tracts to freedmen at reduced prices. Grant then decided to create a model farming community on his land with assistance from Society of Friends (Quakers) and the Freedmen’s Bureau. He named it Harmony Settlement, more commonly known as Grant’s Colony. Grant donated a large tract along Patrick’s Ferry Road between Huntsville and Dodge. He built farmhouses, a meeting house and a cotton gin, and gave land for Harmony Grove School for “freedmen and children irrespective of race or color.” Though intended to be integrated, in practice the colony was primarily an African American community. The community declined by the early 20th century, and when the Sam Houston National Forest was created in 1936, little remained except the colony’s cemetery. Grant’s efforts to empower his neighbors through education and land ownership portray him as one of his community’s most important and progressive citizens. (2014)