CAMPBELL, RUFUS EASTON (1815~1878) Rufus Easton Campbell, farmer and soldier, son of Joseph Campbell, Jr. and Rachel Orton, was born in Missouri Territory, on August 15, 1815, in what probably is now Lafayette County, Arkansas. Upon moving to Texas with his father, brothers and sister, eleven-year-old Rufus arrived in Green DeWitt’s Colony at Gonzales, Texas on March 22. After Joseph died in 1831, the family moved to Columbia, Brazoria County.

Rufus and his four brothers fought in the Texas War of Independence and were credited with being part of the party that captured Mexican President Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. In fact, lore has it that Rufus made the shackles that held Santa Anna.

After the war, Rufus settled down with his brothers before an inheritance from an uncle in North Carolina allowed him to purchase his own tract of land. He married the former Carolina Moshell King Drake Ayers in 1843 and was the father of 17 children.

He had a successful career as a farmer and cotton gin owner before dying in 1878 of a heart attack while fighting a large fire on his plantation. He was buried in a private cemetery before being reintered at the Texas State Cemetery on May 17, 1986.

Information taken from “In Memoriam: Rufus Easton Campbell: 1815 – 1878” by William M. Campbell.