Joel Ponton. (July 3, 1802 - February 1, 1875) Born in Virginia. Came to Texas 1833. Settled first at Gonzales. Served in the 1836 Texas War for Independence. Later moved to his land here on the Navidad, where he was a farmer, minister of the gospel, frontier doctor, and merchant. In 1840 Comanche Indians shot him and left him for dead with two arrows in his back, but he recovered. He served as Lavaca County judge, 1866-67. Ponton married five times; was father of nineteen children. (1971) #2762