Isaac Van Zandt (July 10, 1813 – October 11, 1847) was a political leader in the

Republic of Texas The Republic of Texas ( es, República de Tejas) was a sovereign state in North America that existed from March 2, 1836, to February 19, 1846, that bordered Mexico, the Republic of the Rio Grande in 1840 (another breakaway republic from Mex ...

Van Zandt County, Texas Van Zandt County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas, in the northeastern part of the state. As of the 2020 census, its population was 59,541. Its county seat is Canton. The county is named for Isaac Van Zandt (1813–1847), a memb ...

, was named in his honor.

Early life

Van Zandt was born on July 10, 1813 in

Franklin County, Tennessee Franklin County is a county in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is located on the eastern boundary of Middle Tennessee in the southern part of the state. As of the 2010 census, the population was 41,052. Its county seat is Winchester. Franklin ...

to Jacob and Mary Isaacs Van Zandt. The Van Zandt family had migrated to America from the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

prior to the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

.K.M. Van Zandt, ''Force Without Fanfare: The Autobiography of K.M. Van Zandt'' (Fort Worth: Texas Christian Univ Pr, 1995), p. 1.

Career

Van Zandt went into a joint business venture with his father by opening a store. Van Zandt later moved to

Coffeeville, Mississippi Coffeeville is a town in and one of two county seats of Yalobusha County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 905 at the 2010 census. It is named after John Coffee (1772 – 1833), a planter and military leader. The minor American Ci ...

, where he opened his own store. After experiencing financial difficulties after the depression of 1837, Van Zandt became interested in a debate society which enabled him to use his natural talent for

public speaking Public speaking, also called oratory or oration, has traditionally meant the act of speaking face to face to a live audience. Today it includes any form of speaking (formally and informally) to an audience, including pre-recorded speech deliver ...

. This spurred an interest in law and within a year he was a member of the

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

. Van Zandt came to the

in 1838 and settled in Elysian Fields in what was then Panola County. In 1839 he moved to what is now

Marshall, Texas Marshall is a city in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat of Harrison County, Texas, Harrison County and a cultural and educational center of the Ark-La-Tex region. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, the population of M ...

. Van Zandt was the representative of Harrison County in the House of Representatives of the Republic of Texas from 1840 until 1842, when

Sam Houston Samuel Houston (, ; March 2, 1793 – July 26, 1863) was an American general and statesman who played an important role in the Texas Revolution. He served as the first and third president of the Republic of Texas and was one of the first two i ...

appointed him Republic of Texas Chargé d'Affaires in Washington, DC. In 1841 Van Zandt donated land, along with Peter Whetestone, to create a

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

for Harrison County. Van Zandt named the new city in honor of the Chief Justice of the

U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

John Marshall John Marshall (September 24, 1755July 6, 1835) was an American politician and lawyer who served as the fourth Chief Justice of the United States from 1801 until his death in 1835. He remains the longest-serving chief justice and fourth-longes ...

. As the Republic of Texas

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...

to the United States Van Zandt was instrumental in crafting the

Annexation Annexation (Latin ''ad'', to, and ''nexus'', joining), in international law, is the forcible acquisition of one state's territory by another state, usually following military occupation of the territory. It is generally held to be an illegal act ...

Treaty of the Republic of Texas to the U.S. Van Zandt returned to Texas in 1845 to serve as a delegate to the Texas state constitutional convention.

Personal life, death and legacy

Van Zandt married Frances Lipscomb in 1833. Van Zandt died during a

yellow fever Yellow fever is a viral disease of typically short duration. In most cases, symptoms include fever, chills, loss of appetite, nausea, muscle pains – particularly in the back – and headaches. Symptoms typically improve within five days. In ...

epidemic in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

while campaigning for governor in 1847. The Van Zandt family donated their

plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...

as the site for the

College of Marshall East Texas Baptist University (ETBU) is a private Baptist university in Marshall, Texas. It is affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas (Southern Baptist Convention). History ETBU is located on the site of the former Van Zandt Fa ...

(now

East Texas Baptist University East Texas Baptist University (ETBU) is a private Baptist university in Marshall, Texas. It is affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas (Southern Baptist Convention). History ETBU is located on the site of the former Van Zandt Fa ...

) in 1912. In 1936 a memorial was constructed in Canton, the seat of Van Zandt County. Isaac Van Zandt was the father of Texas politician and businessman K. M. Van Zandt and his sister Ida Van Zandt Jarvis, a generous benefactor and the first female trustee of

Texas Christian University Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private research university in Fort Worth, Texas. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison and Randolph Clark as the Add-Ran Male & Female College. It is affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciples ...

(TCU). Isaac was also the great-great-great-grandfather of

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

songwriter and performer

Townes Van Zandt John Townes Van Zandt (March 7, 1944 – January 1, 1997) was an American singer-songwriter.

External links

Papers, 1774-1953 and undated, of son Khleber Miller Van Zandt in the Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library at Texas Tech University

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Van Zandt, Isaac 1813 births 1847 deaths Deaths from yellow fever People from Marshall, Texas Infectious disease deaths in Texas People from Franklin County, Tennessee People from Coffeeville, Mississippi American city founders Political office-holders in the Republic of Texas American people of Dutch descent