Colonel Isham Chisum

Duane's take

The way the marker tells it, here's the story of Colonel Isham Chisum. And it's worth every mile of the telling. Isham Chisum was born in 1818, and by the time his life was done in 1884, he had left a mark on Kaufman County and on the history of Texas that wouldn't wash out in a hard rain.

The marker names him one of the leading early citizens of Kaufman County, and friend, that was not an honorary title. This man earned it the hard way. When Texas stood at its crossroads moment (the Secession Convention of January through March 1861), Isham Chisum was the man Kaufman County sent to represent them.

He was in the room where that decision was made. And then, later that same year of 1861, he didn't go home and sit on a porch. He went to war.

He rode with the Confederate cavalry of Colonel Tom Green in the New Mexico campaign. That's a long way from Kaufman County, and it was only the beginning. By 1864, Isham Chisum had risen to the rank of Colonel himself: Colonel of the 2nd Partisan Rangers, Walker's Division.

And the mission they were handed was not a small one. The Red River Campaign. The fighting at Mansfield and Pleasant Hill, Louisiana.

The objective, as the marker puts it plainly, was to prevent a Federal invasion of Texas. He stood in that line and he held it. Now here's where the story gets a little wider.

You might hear that last name (Chisum) and feel a flicker of recognition, and you would not be wrong. Isham Chisum was a cousin of Jesse Chisholm, the man who pioneered the famous Chisholm Cattle Trail. And he was also a cousin of cattle baron John Simpson Chisum.

One family, three men, and between them they touched the cattle drives, the open range, and the battlefields of two campaigns. Back home, Colonel Chisum married Charlotte Martin, and the marker notes that they have many descendants still living in Texas today. So when you're out here on these roads, keep that in mind; some of those folks just might be passing by.

What the marker says

(1818-1884) One of leading early citizens of Kaufman County. Represented the county in Texas Secession Convention, Jan.-March 1861. Later in 1861, he fought in Confederate cavalry of Col. Tom Green in New Mexico campaign. As Colonel of 2nd Partisan Rangers, Walker's Division, fought at Mansfield and Pleasant Hill (La.), in Red River Campaign to prevent a Federal invasion of Texas in 1864. A cousin of Jesse Chisholm, who pioneered famous Chisholm Cattle Trail, and of cattle baron John Simpson Chisum, Col. Chisum married Charlotte Martin. They have many descendants in Texas.