Mike,

The legislation that established the land grant program was introduced by Woodville native (and member of the Texas Legislature) Samuel Bronson Cooper who later went on to become a six-term U.S. Congressman from East Texas. As I recall, the program was soon cancelled since virtually all the state owned public lands had been granted in trust to higher education (UT, A&M, etc.)
Many counties used land siezed for non-payment of taxes to accomodate local residents that were Confederate veterans. I know of examples of this in Tyler County, Texas. In 1892 when Cooper ran for the U.S. Congress he used this program to advance his candidacy despite the fact that it had been repealed by the state some time before. I don't recall what the acreage of the grants were supposed to be.