Thomas Byers Huling

Thomas Byers Huling (October 19, 1804 – November 2, 1865) merchant and politician, son of Thomas and Rebecca (Berryhill) Huling, was born in Perry County, Pennsylvania, on October 19, 1804. After operating a steamboat business on the Mississippi River, he moved to Texas in 1834 and obtained a land grant on the south bank of the Angelina River in what later became Jasper County. A merchant and land speculator, Huling sold and transported provisions to Capt. James Chesser's locally raised unit during the Texas Revolution. He served as judge and postmaster after the war and owned the land on which Zavala was founded. Along with Henry Millard and Joseph Pulsifer, Thomas B. Huling helped lay out the original plans for Beaumont, Texas.

Huling also owned the land upon which the former town of Zavala, Texas, was founded.