Isaac S. Addison

Isaac Simmons Addison was born in 1789 in Maryland, a son of George Mitchell Addison. Isaac married Sarah Murray on August 19, 1811, in the First Methodist Church Episcopal Church in Baltimore Maryland. Isaac, Sarah, and several of their children moved to Coahuila y Texas in 1835. Isaac and Sarah, devout Christians, quickly became leaders in the Methodist Church in Texas and it was in their home that the first Sunday School in the Milam and Washington County area of Texas was held.

Isaac and family were part of the “Runaway Scrape” in 1836 and their son, Oscar M. Addison, wrote an account of it. Isaac and his sons Oscar M. Addison and George Lewis Addison, along with 84 others, signed the petition in 1838 to create Burleson County, but it was not forthcoming.  On February 2, 1846, Isaac received the 320 acre Land Grant that he had applied for in 1841. In 1841 the Isaac S. Addison family gave some land in Burleson County to the Methodist Church and named it the Waugh Campground. The site was used for quarterly conferences of the church and for revivals. The site was owned by the church for over 125 years.

In household #76 of the September 25, 1850, U.S. Census of Burleson County, Texas was: Addison, Isaac S., 61 male, carpenter, born in MD; Addison, Sarah, age 65, female, born in England; Addison, John, age 21, male; Addison, Margaret, age 16, female; and Addison, Isabella, age 8, female. Isaac became Chief Justice of Burleson County in the fall of 1850 and served until the fall of 1852. Isaac S. Addison died November 14, 1858, and his Probate/Secession records were filed in the Burleson County Clerk’s office. He probably was buried in Caldwell’s City Cemetery in a now unmarked grave, along with his wife Sarah.

Mrs. Sarah Murray Addison, born in 1785, was living with their sons O.M. and Malcolm, daughters Margaret and Isabella E. Posey and Isabella’s family in the August 17, 1860, Census of Burleson County. Isaac and Sarah Addison had several children:

1.     Joseph Jackson Addison was born December 28, 1813, in Pennsylvania. He came to Texas in 1835 with his parents and served in the Army of the Republic of Texas in 1836. Joseph married Rachel Margaret King, a daughter of Judge Hugh Brevard King, in 1841 in Milam County, Republic of Texas. Rachel was born November 19, 1823, in Lauderdale County, Alabama. Joseph received a Milam County Bounty Land Grant of 160 acres, dated February 8, 1847, for his service to the Republic. Joseph and Margaret had children: Susan, John K., Sylvia J., Josephine, Margaret, William O., Rufus H., Catherine E., and Isaac E. Addison. Mrs. Rachel Addison died January 20, 1864, and Joseph Jackson Addison died April 16, 1868. They are buried in Caldwell’s Old City Cemetery.

2.     George Lewis Addison came to Texas after the rest of the Addison family, arriving in time to join the New Orleans Grays in 1836. He received a Milam Bounty Land Grant of 320 acres, dated November 1, 1853, for his service to the Republic. George eventually returned to Baltimore, Maryland.

3.     Oscar Murray Addison was born November 24, 1820, in Maryland. During the Civil War, he served as a Chaplin in the Confederate Army. He was a Methodist Minister in Hood County, Texas on September 15, 1870. He and his wife, Mary, had two sons Ernest and Oscar M. Addison, Jr. Oscar and his young wife, Latisha, were living in Somervell County, Texas on June 8, 1880, where he was a Methodist Minister. Oscar’s correspondence with his family and his personal papers are filed in the Dolph Briscoe Library in Texas. Reverend Oscar M. Addison died October 12, 1898, and is buried in the Brazos Point Cemetery, in Bosque County, Texas.

4.     James Harvey Addison was born in 1824 in Maryland and came to Texas in 1835 with his parents. On July 4, 1860, James, his wife L.M., and their son James M. Addison were living in Freestone County, Texas, where James H. was a Methodist Minister.

5.     Malcolm H. Addison was born December 17, 1826, in Baltimore, MD. He came to Texas in 1835 with his parents. He served in the Commissary Department during the Civil War. He married Emma A. Fuqua on October 27, 1864, in Burleson County, Texas. He graduated from McKenzie College and at one time was a druggist in Caldwell. He was also a postmaster, A Justice, and edited the Caldwell Register newspaper for some years. In 1896, he printed his Reminiscences of Burleson County, Texas, which is a series of articles that were published in the newspaper in 1886. Malcolm H. Addison died in February 1906, and was buried in Caldwell’s Masonic Cemetery. His wife survived him.

6.     John Wesley Addison was born in 1829 in Maryland and came to Texas in 1835 with his parents. He became a Methodist Minister.

7.     Margaret E. Addison was born December 17, 1833, in Maryland and came to Texas in 1835 with her parents. She and George E. Hitchcock were united in marriage on November 17, 1860, in Burleson County, Texas. George was born February 5, 1818, in New York. He was a saddle maker on August 1, 1870, living in Caldwell. Margaret and George had children, Mary C. and Henry Hitchcock. George Hitchcock died January 17, 1892, and Margaret Addison Hitchcock died June 30, 1920. They are buried in Caldwell’s City Cemetery, Burleson County, Texas.

8.     Isabella C. Addison was born November 30, 1841, in the Republic of Texas. She and William H. Posey married November 30, 1857, in Burleson County, Texas. William was born November 16, 1832, in South Carolina. William and Isabella had children; William, Ella, Lilly, Cora, and Eugene. William was a farmer, first in Burleson County and later in Brown County, Texas. They were living at Indian Creek in Brown County in 1906. William died May 30, 1923, and Isabella died April 24, 1925. They are buried in the Indian Creek Cemetery, Brown County, Texas.

Bibliography

M.H. Addison, Reminiscences of Burleson County Texas, 1896.

Linda F. Houck, Caldwell Newspapers, Burleson County Texas, Ericson Books, 1999.

Find A Grave, Internet, 2011.

1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, U.S. Census of Texas, Internet.

Probate Minutes, Books 7 & 8, Burleson County Clerk’s Office, Caldwell, Texas.

Land Grant Search, Texas General Land Office, Internet, 2011.

Index to Military Rolls of the Republic of Texas, Internet, 2011.