William W. Moon

(March 25, 1814 - Jan. 7, 1897)

Orphaned two days after his birth, William W. Moon grew up with two uncles in his native Alabama. He married Sophronia Elizabeth Sublett (1819-46) in 1834 and moved to Bastrop, Texas in 1838. Moon joined the texas Rangers and first visited San Marcos Springs during a running Indian battle in 1843. Enchanted by the countryside, he brought his family here in 1845 and built a cabin at this site. The Moons were the first permanent Anglo-American settlers in what is now Hays County. Sophronia Moon died April 21, 1846, but her husband and four daughters were soon joined by other pioneers who decided to make their homes here.

William W. Moon made many contributions to the growing settlement. His cabin was the site of the first sermon preached and the first school held in Hays County. In 1846 he helped build the log church-schoolhouse which became a courthouse when Hays County was organized (1848). Moon and his family were charter members of the Presbyterian church formed in 1853. In addition to ranching, Moon operated a hotel and stage stop, blacksmith shop, and freight line. He was elected county sheriff and served, 1846-47, in the Mexican War, and 1862-63, in the Civil War. He died in 1897 and is buried in Wimberley Cemetery.