Isaac Phillip Stem
Bald Prairie, Robertson County, Texas
Marker Inscription
(1819-1893) Tennessee native Isaac Phillip Stem enlisted in the Western Frontier Service in that state in 1836. In October 1836 he moved to Texas and joined the Republic of Texas army at Houston. Continuing to serve in the military, Stem was a participant in the Battle of Plum Creek on August 1, 1840, in present Caldwell County. The battle was fought between Texas soldiers and Comanche Indians, who had raided the coastal towns of Linnville and Victoria. Stem served in the Somervell Campaign of 1841 and was a member of a company of mounted volunteers during the Mexican War. After his discharge from the Texas troops in 1846, Stem joined the United States Infantry at Corpus Christi and continued in the war with Mexico. Discharged at Monterrey due to illness, he later returned to Tennessee and joined the Tennessee Volunteers at Memphis. He later transferred into the U. S. Infantry once again. Isaac P. Stem and his wife, Lucy Ann Weaks, were the parents of eight children. The family moved to Robertson County in 1869 and Stem became a farmer and rancher. He died in 1893 and was buried here beside his wife.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Tennessee native Isaac Phillip Stem enlisted in frontier service at seventeen and, after moving to Texas in 1836, joined the Republic of Texas army at Houston. He fought at the 1840 Battle of Plum Creek against Comanches who had raided the coast, served in the Somervell Campaign, and rode with mounted volunteers in the war with Mexico before joining the U.S. Infantry. He later settled in Robertson County as a farmer and rancher, dying in 1893.
Why it matters
Stem's long career of arms spans the defining conflicts of early Texas—Republic-era Indian warfare and the Mexican War—that secured and expanded the young state's frontier.
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Related people
- · Isaac Phillip Stem
- · Lucy Ann Weaks
Related events
- · Battle of Plum Creek
- · Somervell Campaign
- · Mexican-American War
Themes & tags
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