DEAVELON, ALONZO ALPHMER (1817–1884). Alonzo Alphmer DeAvelon, also known as Deavalon and DeAvolen, stock raiser, customs official, and state representative, was born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1817. During his youth and early adulthood he studied law and medicine, although it is unclear whether he practiced either profession. He married Cynthia Magahee in Wilkinson, Mississippi, on January 17, 1849. This couple had two daughters.

During the summer of 1856 DeAvelon immigrated with his family to Texas from Tylertown, Mississippi. DeAvelon lived in Palestine, Anderson County, until 1859 when the family relocated to Corpus Christi. During the Civil War DeAvelon served as a customs collector in New Orleans. Following the war DeAvelon returned to Corpus Christi. He won election in 1866 as representative for Nueces County to the Eleventh Texas Legislature. DeAvelon owned a meat-packing plant in the North Beach section of Corpus Christi, and he also worked as a farmer and rancher. In his later years he wrote several books of poetry about the Corpus Christi area. DeAvelon died in Corpus Christi on November 13, 1884, and was buried there at Old Bayview Cemetery.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: 

Mrs. Frank DeGarmo, Pathfinders of Texas, 1836–1846 (Austin: Von Boeckmann-Jones, 1951). Obituary of A. A. De Avalon (http://168.53.172.250/oldbayview/deavolenobituary.htm), accessed May 21, 2007.

Aragorn Storm Miller

Citation

The following, adapted from the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, is the preferred citation for this article.

William E. Bard, "ADAMS, WALTER R.," Handbook of Texas Online (http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fad08), accessed March 19, 2015. Uploaded on June 9, 2010. Published by the Texas State Historical Association.