Isaac Campbell

Notes:

CAMPBELL, ISAAC (ca. 1813? 1843). Isaac Campbell, Republic of Texas congressman, was born about 1813. He moved to Texas in January 1836 as a single man and settled in San Augustine County, where he married Elizabeth Holman. From December 5, 1838, to January 24, 1839, he represented San Augustine County in the House of Representatives of the Third Congress of the republic and was one of the commissioners who selected the site of the city of Austin. Campbell was a royal arch Mason, a charter member in 1837 of the McFarland Lodge in San Augustine, and a representative in 1838 of the Grand Lodge of the Republic of Texas. He assisted in formation of the Rising Star chapter in 1841. In 1839 early Texas architect and master builder Augustus Phelps built Campbell a two-story Greek-Revival home on Main Street in San Augustine. The home was sold to Matthew Cartwright in 1847 and was still in excellent condition in 1990. Campbell lived there until his death on September 7, 1843. The probate of his estate was not filed until December 19, 1846.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:
George L. Crocket, Two Centuries in East Texas (Dallas: Southwest, 1932; facsimile reprod. 1962). Texas House of Representatives, Biographical Directory of the Texan Conventions and Congresses, 1832? 1845 (Austin: Book Exchange, 1941).

Isaac married Elizabeth "Betty" Holman on 4 Jun 1839 in San Augustine County, Texas. Elizabeth (daughter of Col. Isaac Holman and Anne Wigglesworth) was born about 1815 in Kentucky; died about 1886. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Married:
Harry Noble wrote that "Isaac Campbell, a flamboyent promoter and land developer, married Mrs. Elizabeth "Betty" Holman Dye (William W. Holman's widowed twenty-four-year-old sister). They were wed on June 4, 1839. Wanting to impress her with a grand wedding present, Campbell had earlier purchased four lots in the Sweet addition and contracted with Augustus Phelps, a San Augustine master carpenter, to build a fine two-story house (presently known as the Cartwright House) on the northeast corner of Ayish and Main Street. (Noble, page 117). Campbell suffered a series of financial reversals shortly after his marriage. In September on 1843 his house was sold at public auction. Two days later, Isaac Campbell, age thirty, was dead. Although records do not give details, some suggest that Campbell had gotten himself into such a financial tangle that his way out was suicide. (Noble, page 118).

After his suicide the Masons, of which Isaac was a member, called a special meeting as a funeral service for Brother Campell and their members wore the Badge of Mourning for the usual length of time. (Noble, Harry ANTHONY B. PATTON "Justice of the Peace" San Augustine Tribune, Thursday, November 21, 2002)

William W. Holman (Isaac's brother-in-law) would "sell the house, outhouses and lots to Reverend Francis Wilson and three Methodist Wesleyan College trustees: William D. Ratliff, John C. Brooke and James Perkins for $1200...for the next few years the former home of Isaac Campbell would be at the disposal of the College president and used a facility for the College's Female Department." (Noble, Harry WESLEYAN COLLEGE "Birth of the College" San Augustin Tribune, Thursday, March 27, 2003)