John Caldwell

Full Name: John Caldwell
Date of birth: December 10, 1802
Date of death: October 22, 1870

Terms of Service
Biographical Notes
Committee Information

Terms of Service top

Chamber	District	Dates of Service	Legislatures	Party	City/County	Note	Counties in District
S	25	Nov 5, 1855 - Nov 7, 1859	6th ⁽⁶⁾ ⁽⁷⁾ ⁽⁸⁾ 7th ⁽¹⁾ ⁽²⁾ ⁽³⁾ ⁽⁴⁾ ⁽⁵⁾		Unknown / Bastrop		Bastrop, Burnet, Travis

(1) Webberville is 15 miles east of Austin in eastern Travis County. Handbook of Texas Online.
(2) Webberville, Travis County. Members of the Texas Congress 1836-1845; Members of the Texas Legislature 1846-2004, 2005.
(3) Listed in "Senators holding over: Opposition." Roster of 7th Legislature, "Texas Legislature Complete for 1857-8," Civilian and Gazette. Weekly. (Galveston, Texas), 9/8/1857, p. 2, crediting Dolph Briscoe Center for American History. Portal to Texas History (University of North Texas Libraries).
(4) 7th Legislature - Roll of Senators (holdover Senator), 11/2/1857, pp. 1, 4. Senate Journal.
(5) 7th Legislature - Listed in "large cadre of returning senators," p. 276. The Texas Senate: Volume I, Republic to Civil War, 1836-1861, 1990.
(6) Included "[a]mong 1855 legislators that this writer has positively identified as Know Nothings." The party was active in Texas at the state level between 1855 and 1857. "An Analysis of the Texas Know Nothings," The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 70, Number 3, January 1967, pp. 414, 416-417, crediting Texas State Historical Association. Portal to Texas History (University of North Texas Libraries).
(7) 6th Legislature, Regular Session - Roll of Senators elected since the last adjournment presented their credentials, and being qualified, took their seats, 11/5/1855, p. 2. Senate Journal.
(8) 6th Legislature - "The Know-Nothings claimed to have won 11 of 33 seats in the Senate in 1855. Although only 5 - John Caldwell, William H. Martin, William M. Taylor, James W. Flanagan, and Elisha E. Lott - can be positively identified . . .", p. 258. The Texas Senate: Volume I, Republic to Civil War, 1836-1861, 1990.

Terms of Service top

Senate District 25
Nov 5, 1855 - Nov 7, 1859
Legislatures: 6th ⁽⁶⁾ ⁽⁷⁾ ⁽⁸⁾ 7th ⁽¹⁾ ⁽²⁾ ⁽³⁾ ⁽⁴⁾ ⁽⁵⁾
Home City/County: Unknown / Bastrop
Counties in district: Bastrop, Burnet, Travis

Biographical Information top

Biographical Sketches

Biographical sketch, John Caldwell, "pioneer Bastrop legislator," p. 62. "At this time, too [of his service in the Texas Senate in the 6th-7th Legislatures] . . . he was elected president of the American, or Know-Nothing, Party when the State Convention was held at Austin, 1/21/1856." Died of pneumonia "at his home in Bastrop," 10/22/1870. Biographical Directory of the Texan Conventions and Congresses, 1832-1845, 1942.
CALDWELL, JOHN (1802-1870), "settled in 1834 in Bastrop County on the Navarro league, which was deeded to Caldwell on 4/2/1833 . . . became commissioner of Bastrop County in 1840. He represented the county in the House of the 3rd-8th Congresses." Handbook of Texas Online.
John Caldwell, born 12/10/1802 in Frankfort, Kentucky; moved to Bastrop County, Texas, in 1834; died 10/22/1870. Wife Lucinda W. Haynie of Knoxville, Tennessee. "He [Caldwell] was also prominent in the affairs of the early Texas Republic, being elected to the Senate in September, 1838, and later was a member of the State Senate in 1857-58." Included in biographical sketch of grandson Thomas J. Caldwell, Volume IV, pp. 745-746. History of Texas; Fort Worth and the Texas Northwest Edition, 1922.
Portrait and biographical sketch, Hon. John Caldwell, pp. 225-229. Indian Wars and Pioneers of Texas, 1890.
Biographical sketch, pp. 145-146, 259; Senator in the 9th Congress, pp. 151-157. The Texas Senate: Volume I, Republic to Civil War, 1836-1861, 1990.

Other Resources

Census of 1850 - John Caldwell, Bastrop County, age 47, born in KY, farmer.
Census of 1860 - John Caldwell, Bastrop Post Office, Bastrop County, age 57, born in KY, farmer. FamilySearch. 1850 1860
John Caldwell, birth date 12/10/1802, death date 10/22/1870, portrait, burial in Oakwood Cemetery, Austin, Travis County. Find a Grave.
Sketches of John and Lucinda Caldwell included in Haynie Genealogy, Their 1650 Virginia Roots, 1839 Texas Trunk, Nine Limbs . . . "The Caldwells established themselves . . . some eighteen miles below Austin." HeritageQuest Online.
Delegate to Constitutional Convention, 1845. Journals of the Convention, assembled at the city of Austin on the Fourth of July, 1845, for the purpose of framing a constitution for the State of Texas, pp. 377-378. Austin: Miner & Cruger, printers to the Convention, 1845. Texas Constitutions Digitization Project (Tarlton Law Library, The University of Texas at Austin), 2009.

Committee Information top

7th R.S. - 1857 Indian Affairs (Chair) Public Debt Public Lands
6th R.S. - 1855 Enrolled Bills Indian Affairs (Chair) Judiciary Public Buildings Public Debt Public Lands

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