Van Zandt, Isaac

Isaac Van Zandt (1813-1847) was a general store owner, lawyer, legislator, diplomat, and founder of Marshall, Texas. Following the 1837 failure of his Coffeeville, Mississippi, general store, he moved to Texas in 1838 to practice law. Van Zandt married Frances Cooke Lipscomb in 1833.

Van Zandt served the Republic of Texas as a representative of Harrison County in the House of the Fifth and Sixth Congresses, 1840–42. In 1842 Sam Houston appointed him chargé d'affairs to the United States. Furthermore, Van Zandt authored the Texas Homestead Act and worked in Washington for the annexation of Texas to the Union. He returned to Texas in time to attend the Convention of 1845. He was campaigning for the office of governor in 1847, when he caught yellow fever and died in Houston. Van Zandt County is named after Isaac Van Zandt.

Source : Handbook of Texas Online, s.v. Van Zandt, Isaac, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/VV/fva12.html (accessed May 27, 2010).

From the guide to the Van Zandt, Isaac Papers 82-106., 1835-1865, 1948, (Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin)