DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it — and friend, this one's worth every mile of road between here and there. Cyrus Campbell was born on October 11, 1810, and if you'd met him early on, you'd have sized him up as a working man — a blacksmith, callused hands, good with fire and iron. He made his way to Texas in 1828, which means he was here before Texas was Texas.
Before the Republic, before the flag, before any of it. And that matters, because when history came calling, Cyrus Campbell was already at his anvil. After the Battle of San Jacinto in 1836, the Republic of Texas had a problem on its hands — a very famous, very captured problem by the name of General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna.
And somebody had to make the leg irons. Somebody had to forge the iron that would hold the most powerful military figure in Mexico. The Republic of Texas looked around, and they found their blacksmith.
Cyrus Campbell made those leg irons. You think about that the next time someone tells you a craftsman's work doesn't matter. He performed a number of other jobs for the Republic as well — the marker doesn't spell them all out, and maybe that's fitting.
Some men do more than history bothers to write down. Campbell married twice over the course of his life. He moved around, as men of his era tended to do.
And then, in 1883, he came to De Leon. According to tradition, it was Cyrus Campbell who chose the site for the De Leon Cemetery. Now here's where the story turns quiet.
He chose that ground. He walked it, looked it over, and said — this is the place. And then, on September 12, 1883, Cyrus Campbell died.
The man who had been active in the Methodist Church, who had shaped iron for a captured general, who had come to Texas before most folks had ever heard the word — his was the first grave in the cemetery he chose. The site selector became the site's first resident. You can't write that.
You can only live it.
What the marker says
(October 11, 1810 - September 12, 1883) A blacksmith by trade, Cyrus Campbell migrated to Texas in 1828. He performed a number of jobs for the Republic of Texas, including the making of leg irons for Mexican General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna after his capture at San Jacinto in 1836. Married twice, Campbell moved to De Leon in 1883 and was active in the Methodist Church. According to tradition, he chose the site for the De Leon Cemetery. His was the first grave here. Recorded - 1981