(1805–1855)
George Rounds, soldier and philanthropist, was born in New York about 1805, moved to Texas by 1836, and settled at Velasco. During the Texas Revolution he served in Colonel James W. Fannin‘s regiment, but escaped the Goliad Massacre when he became separated from the regiment. He was paid in a Captain Wadsworth’s company from December 22, 1835, to September 22, 1836. By 1850 Rounds may have been a mailman on a Brazos riverboat. For a time, he boarded with Ammon Underwood. On February 1, 1852, he purchased land in East Columbia where the Old Tavern grocery was later built. He died on September 13, 1855, in that community, leaving neither descendants nor heirs. Rounds’s will awarded his estate for the purpose of “educating the poor and orphan children in the community,” who received an added benefit when subsequent discovery of oil and gas on his property in the 1930s increased the value of the estate.
Kleiner, Diansa J. (June 1, 1995) https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/rounds-george
