Grayson County TXGenWeb

Thomas Volney Munson
1843 - 1913

Prof. T.V. Munson is a native of Illinois, was raised on a farm in Fulton county; educated at the State University of Kentucky at Lexington; began active work as a nurseryman with his father-in-law, Mr. Bell, at Lexington, Kentucky, in 1871. In April 1876 he moved to Denison and soon after laid the foundation for his nursery, which is one of the most extensive in the entire South. He originated, jointly with Mr. James Nimon, the now famous Parker Earle Strawberry, a berry regarded, all things considered, as the most valuable grown in the United States. Although Prof. Munson had an extensive business in the general nursery line, he was more widely known as a specialist in the improvement of American grapes by hybridizing the best selection of the leading American species, seeking to obtain more valuable varieties for each distinct climatic region. His "Brilliant" species in the Kansas City market brought from 5c to 10c a basket more than the Delaware in 1894. (The Sunday Gazetteer, Sunday, September 16, 1894)

Texas viticulture history requires a discussion of T.V. Munson of Denison, Texas. Few persons have or will ever study, describe, classify, breed, select, propagate, market, record, and exhibit greater technical excellence about the grape than Mr. Munson. For 30 years, 1880 to 1910, he traveled 50,000 miles by horse, train, and foot in 40 states, making concise
notes on over 1,000 native vines. He then dedicated three years to the development of the first draft of his classification, and later supplied the leading Viticulture colleges of the world with a complete set of American grape specimens. He received national recognition for his comprehensive Exhibit of American Grapes at the 1893 Exposition in Chicago, Illinois. The Exhibit was subsequently given to the USDA in Washington, D.C., and was the largest and most accurate single collection of grape species ever made.

T.V. Munson not only classified grapes, he collected a vast number of native vines and their current varieties which he bred and evaluated for selecting outstanding cultivars. This was one of the most outstanding private plant breeding programs ever developed. When a superior cultivar was identified, it was propagated for sale to the public from The Munson Nurseries. The railroad system at Denison, Texas was ideally located for shipping vines and other horticultural plants throughout the South. Profits from the nurseries subsidized Munson's life-long study of the grapevine.

The greatest contribution of T.V. Munson was his cooperation with the French wine industry in developing phylloxera resistant rootstocks. Once the problem was identified as an insect and it was learned that American species were resistant, the great challenge of moving rootstock material to France was taken by Munson. For four months in south central Texas, from Bell to Bexar counties, Munson organized dozens of workers and land owners who collected 15 wagons of dormant stem cuttings for shipment to France. Most importantly, all lots were identified by species and shipped via three ships to southern France. The vines were the breeding stock for the rootstocks which saved the European wine industry. Hundreds of villages were saved and thousands of grape growers were able to grow grapes again. The rootstocks used throughout the world today originated in Europe from the Texas native grape material from Munson. For this effort, T. V. Munson was awarded the Legion of Honor, Chevalier du Merite Agricole, by the French Government.

Munson, the man, was truly an outstanding individual. He was highly intelligent, extremely motivated, and physically strong. Munson was a deep thinker. Religion, nature and philosophy were very important, as he studied the Bible, Plato, Aristotle, Socrates, and especially Francis Bacon. Munson strived to capture "the nature of life," how it evolved and how
it interacted with the environment. He was 100 years ahead of his time, breeding grapes to match the variety to the climate and to naturally prevent insect and disease damage. He believed in accomplishment. To write an idea down was not enough for Munson, it must be worked through to completion. In 1909, Munson published his life's work on viticulture, Foundations of American Grape Culture, which is in print today and available from the Denison, Texas Public Library.

Source : "A Texas Grape and Wine History", by Dr. George Ray McEachern

Fundamentals of American Grape Culture
by T.V. Munson

Thomas Volney Munson History

Foundations of American Grape Culture
by T.V Munson, D. Sc.
c1909

Grayson County College
T.V. Munson

West Extension/Munson Center

The Grape Man of Texas: T.V. Munson

Events that Shaped T.V. Munson

Vineyards & Grape Varieties