| Texas (Smith County), Tyler — African Americans at Camp Ford |
| | The issues of African Americans in the military became a keystone of controversy involving the politics of prisoner
of war exchange. This issue did not start in the east, but in the theater of the Mississippi river, and Camp Ford
became a critical part in the drama. African Americans were involved with Camp Ford from its beginning
as a prison camp. Local slave labor built the stockade. There were four white officers of black troops detained in the
facility, and at least . . . — Map (db m60186) HM |
| Texas (Smith County), Tyler — Cabin of Lt. Col. J.B. Leake — (Camp Ford, Tyler Texas) |
| | J.B. Leake was a Lieutenant Colonel in the 20th Iowa. Captured at the battle of Stirling Plantation near Morganza, Louisiana September 29, 1863, he arrived in the first large group of prisoners on October 23, 1863. Lt. Col. Leake, being the highest ranking officer at Camp Ford, recieved a cabin in a prime location — closest to the spring. The cabin, completed December 4, 1863, was built in the southwest corner of the stockade. The site of the original cabin is 50 yards to the . . . — Map (db m60596) HM |
| Texas (Smith County), Tyler — 7708 — Camp Fannin |
| | Numerous military bases were expanded or established throughout Texas during World War II. Originally planned as an Air Corps installation, construction of Camp Fannin began in late 1942. Named in honor of Texas revolutionary hero James Walker Fannin, Jr., the camp opened in the spring of 1943 and was formally dedicated in September. The main purpose of the camp was an Infantry Replacement Training Center (IRTC), and during its peak operation as many as 35,000 to 40,000 men were trained every . . . — Map (db m60597) HM |
| Texas (Smith County), Tyler — 14566 — Camp Fannin Internment Camp — World War II P.O.W. Camp |
| | Camp Fannin was also the site of an internment camp, with the first prisoners of war (POWs) from Germany's Afrika Korps arriving in Oct. 1943. BY early 1944, the military designated the site a POW base camp that administered a number of smaller branch camps in East Texas. As a result of a home front wartime manpower scarcity, upon the request of local representatives, the War Department allowed the use of POW labor in forestry and agriculture in East Texas. During its existence, the camp . . . — Map (db m60598) HM |
| Texas (Smith County), Tyler — Camp Fannin, Texas |
| | The camp was named in honor of Col. James Walker Fannin, who was killed at the Battle of Goliad in the Texas Revolution. It opened in March, 1943, the first cadre from Camp Robinson, Arkansas arrived in March 1943 and the first trainees arrived in May 1943. An estimated 150,000 men were trained for combat through December 1945. At the end of World War II, it served as a Separation Center and was deactivated in June 1946.
Encompassing over 150,000 acres of land, the main post was located . . . — Map (db m61703) HM WM |
| Texas (Smith County), Tyler — Camp Ford |
| | On this site during the Civil War was located Camp Ford the largest prisoner of war compound for Union troops west of Mississippi river named in honor of Col. John S. "Rip" Ford who originally established a training camp here in 1862. It was converted in the summer of 1863 to a prison camp.
It first consisted of four to five acres enclosed by a stockade sixteen feet high. In the spring of 1864 following the Confederate victories at Mansfield, Louisiana and Mark's Mills, Arkansas the . . . — Map (db m26916) HM |
| Texas (Smith County), Tyler — Camp Ford |
| | stockade prison of Federal soldiers during the Civil War — Map (db m33408) HM |
| Texas (Smith County), Tyler — Camp Ford - Early Days as a Prison Camp |
| | During the winter of 1863-64 the camp housed only about 170 prisoners, mostly officers. Life was generally
pleasant and the men were well treated. Prison crafts and endeavors flourished. Fairly substantial log cabins were
erected. Streets were laid out and named, and Captain William May of the 23rd Connecticut even produced three
issues of a hand lettered prison newspaper The Old Flag. Most important for the future, Captain Amos
Johnson of the USS Sachem was named . . . — Map (db m60203) HM |
| Texas (Smith County), Tyler — Camp Ford - Establishment of the Camp |
| | In March 1862, the movement of the Confederate army in Northern Arkansas to the Mississippi River left the northern frontier of the Trans-Mississippi virtually defenseless. Immediate efforts in Texas were made to raise new regiments for service in Arkansas. In April 1862 the "Eastern Camp of Instruction", was established at this site to train recruits. The facility was renamed Camp Ford after Col. John S. "RIP" Ford, superintendent of Conscripts for
Texas, and former Texas Ranger and Indian . . . — Map (db m60180) HM |
| Texas (Smith County), Tyler — Camp Ford - Naval Prisoners |
| | Camp Ford had the distinction of having the most naval prisoners of any camp, North or South. There was no coordination between the branches, with each responsible for arranging the exchange of their men. By the fall of 1864, the naval prisoners, some of whom who had been held in January of 1863, were pressing for release, stating that they had been forgotten by their superiors. Negotiations stalled over Confederate demands that any exchange of the Camp Ford prisoners include the exchange of CS . . . — Map (db m60184) HM |
| Texas (Smith County), Tyler — Camp Ford - Prisoners from Louisiana |
| | In June 1863, CS General Richard Taylor commenced a campaign in South Louisiana that resulted in the capture of a number of Union troops in the Morgan City area. The enlisted men were paroled, but the officers were detained and sent to Shreveport. In late July, these men including three white officers of black regiments, were sent to Tyler.
Initially held in the federal Courthouse in town, they were moved in August to Camp Ford. There was no stockade, and the officers were allowed to range . . . — Map (db m60181) HM |
| Texas (Smith County), Tyler — Camp Ford Confederate Guards |
| | The initial guards at the camp were local militia commanded by a regular officer, Captain S.M. Warner. With the
arrival of the Fordoche prisoners in October 1863, their numbers were inadequate, and an independent Cavalry
company, the Walter P. Lang Rangers were rushed from Shreveport to assist in controlling the prisoners. Along with
them came Col. R.T.P. Allen of the 17th Texas Infantry, who had been recovering from wounds he recieved in July.
Allen was a West Pointer, and . . . — Map (db m60197) HM |
| Texas (Smith County), Tyler — Camp Ford Stockade — Confederate Prisoner of War Camp — Union Prisoners |
| | The initial prisoners to arrive at Camp Ford were kept in the open with no stockade. Panic resulted with the arrival with over 600 prisoners October 23, 1863. The Camp Commander, Col. R.T.P. Allen, with only 40 guards, discovered a plot among the prisoners for a mass break out. Planters in the area were called upon to bring their slaves and erect a stockade. The work commenced on November 11 and within 10 days an area of about three and a half acres was enclosed with a wall made of split logs . . . — Map (db m59725) HM |
| Texas (Smith County), Tyler — Judge Stockton P. Donley |
| | in whose honor Donley County was named
Confederate officer
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Texas
born in Missouri
May 27, 1831
died Feb. 17, 1871
his wife
Emma Donley
born July 15, 1834
died July 9, 1909 — Map (db m33933) HM |
| Texas (Smith County), Tyler — Our Land - Our Heritage — In Recognition Of The Families Who Settled This Land |
| | Our Land - Our Heritage
1894 - 1942
Dedicated to those who
sacrificed their land and
heritage when Camp Fannin
displaced a number of families
from their original homesteads.
Placed in remembrance and
acknowledgement of their loss.
March 1998
Donated by the Walsh Family
(Lower Plaque)
In Recognition Of The Families Who Settled This Land
1894 — 1942
In 1942, the War Assets Administration purchased or acquired through adverse . . . — Map (db m62658) HM WM |
| Texas (Smith County), Tyler — Tyler Junior College |
| | Tyler Junior College was established in 1926 during the formative years of the junior college movement in Texas. This institution began as an extension of the Tyler public school system with school superintendent G.O. Clough serving as its first president.
World War II stimulated several new programs at the college, but the greatest growth came in the post-war years. In 1945, voters established a new independent junior college district governed by a locally elected ten-member board of . . . — Map (db m33549) HM |
| Texas (Smith County), Tyler — Wood-Verner Cemetery |
| | The oldest known graveyard in the Dixie area, Wood-Verner cemetery is named for two families who owned land surrounding the site. The earliest marked grave is that of John Gordon, who died in 1850. Affiliated with the local Methodist church for much of its history, it now is maintained by a volunteer association. Among those interred here are pioneer settlers, Polish immigrants, former slaves, and at least two veterans of the Civil War. Many of the graves are unmarked. The cemetery serves as a . . . — Map (db m33551) HM |
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