Colonel John L. Camp

The Handbook of Texas follows John Lafayette Camp past the war. He graduated from the University of Tennessee in 1848, moved to Gilmer in 1849 and married Mary Ann Ward, a physician's daughter, in 1851. As a state senator from 1874 he sponsored railroad construction to encourage settlement of West Texas. Governor Richard B. Hubbard appointed him a district judge in 1878, and in 1884 President Grover Cleveland named him registrar of the land office in Arizona. Failing health ended that post after two years. He died in San Antonio in 1891 and was buried in Dignowity Cemetery.

What the plaque says

Colonel John L. Camp (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. (1964)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Lake Bob Sandlin State Park — 8.2 mi
  A 1987 state park on a 9,000-acre reservoir, where a Republic of Texas stockade called Fort Sherman stood in 1838 and the Caddo lived from A.D. 800 to 1860, now with fishing piers, trails and cabins.
• Daingerfield State Park — 16 mi
  A pine-and-hardwood park built in 1935-39 by a white and a Black Civilian Conservation Corps company, with a dammed lake, Bass Lodge and a 2.4-mile loop trail around the water.

More markers nearby

• Camp County — steps away
• Pitts Family Cemetery — 3.0 mi
• Pittsburg — 3.0 mi
• Site of First Carnegie Library in Texas — 3.1 mi