Colonel John L. Camp

Duane's take

The way the marker tells it, here's the story of Colonel John L. Camp. John L.

Camp was born in 1828, and he made his way to Texas from Alabama in 1849. He settled in Gilmer, where he practiced law and taught school. A man of two callings, at least, before the war came calling with a third.

When the Civil War broke out, Camp organized a company and was elected captain of Company E, 14th Texas Cavalry, dismounted, a unit that rode into history as part of General M. D. Ector's famed brigade.

And if you're thinking dismounted cavalry had it easy, think again. Camp found himself in the thick of the fight in Tennessee and Georgia. Wounded twice.

Captured twice. By the time the war wound down, he was sitting in a prison camp. That is about as hard a road as a man can walk through a single conflict.

Now here's where the story takes a turn that says everything about the era. Camp came home, put the war behind him, and in 1866 the people elected him to Congress. He won that election fair and square.

And then, because of his Confederate service, he was denied his seat. The people voted him in, and the door was shut in his face. He did not quit.

He went on to serve as a district judge and as a state senator, and he campaigned hard for the adoption of the Constitution of 1876, the one meant to bring Reconstruction in Texas to an end. John L. Camp died in 1891.

The county bearing his name still carries his story, and now you carry a piece of it too.

What the marker says

(1828-1891) Came to Texas from Alabama in 1849. Practiced law and taught school in Gilmer. In Civil War, organized and was elected captain of Co. E, 14th Texas Cavalry (dismounted), unit in famed Gen. M. D. Ector's brigade. In thick of fight, in Tennessee and Georgia, was wounded twice, captured twice, was in prison camp at the war's end. Elected to Congress in 1866, was denied his seat because of Confederate service. Served as district judge and state senator. Campaigned for adoption of Constitution of 1876, to end reconstruction in Texas.