# Colbert Caldwell

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{{Short description|American judge (1822–1892)}}

'''Charles Colbert Caldwell'''{{sfn|Wallace|1979|p=31}} (sometimes reported as '''Coldwell'''; May 16, 1822 – April 18, 1892) was a justice of the [Supreme Court of Texas](/source/Supreme_Court_of_Texas) from September 1867 to October 1869. 
==Biography==
===Early life and military career===
Charles Colbert Caldwell was born in [Shelbyville, Tennessee](/source/Shelbyville%2C_Tennessee) on May 16, 1822. Nathaniel Caldwell,<ref name="tsha"/> his father, died in 1831, leaving him in the custody of his grandparents, who were of decent financial means and afforded him a good education. When he was fourteen he joined either an uncle or a black servant<ref>{{Cite news |last=Long |first=Trish |date=August 5, 2012 |title=Family takes root in El Paso; festival revived |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/el-paso-times-family-takes-root-in-el-pa/190622911/ |access-date=2026-02-05 |work=El Paso Times |pages=2}}</ref> on an excursion to Texas, where he attempted to enlist in General [Sam Houston](/source/Sam_Houston)’s army; he was rejected, however, for being too young. Upon returning home he met [Kit Carson](/source/Kit_Carson), whom he befriended and joined on Carson’s expeditions across the [American frontier](/source/American_frontier). Caldwell got work as a merchant in [Missouri](/source/Missouri) and Santa Fe, which introduced him to the [Spanish language](/source/Spanish_language).<ref name="herald">{{Cite news |date=February 4, 1986 |title=Coldwell family left its imprint on El Paso |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/el-paso-herald-post-coldwell-family-left/190513651/ |access-date=2026-02-03 |work=El Paso Herald-Post |pages=2}}</ref>

He met [Alexander W. Doniphan](/source/Alexander_W._Doniphan) in [St. Louis, Missouri](/source/St._Louis%2C_Missouri) and made another attempt to enlist (this one successful) at the age of seventeen. He became a member of Doniphan's staff during the [Mexican-American War](/source/Mexican-American_War) and travelled with Doniphan's forces down to Mexico. He received the nickname Tobe<ref name="generations">{{Cite news |date=April 28, 1956 |title=Five Generations Of Coldwells Have Resided in El Paso |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/el-paso-herald-post-five-generations-of/190513056/ |access-date=2026-02-03 |work=El Paso Herald-Post |pages=76}}</ref> and carried dispatches from Mexico to Washington.<ref name="remarkable">{{Cite news |date=April 20, 1892 |title=A REMARKABLE CAREER |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/san-francisco-chronicle-a-remarkable-car/190493180/ |access-date=2026-02-03 |work=San Francisco Chronicle |pages=3}}</ref><ref name="x">{{Cite news |date=May 5, 1892 |title=Untitled |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-kansas-chief-untitled/190492807/ |access-date=2026-02-03 |work=The Kansas Chief |pages=2}}</ref> In November of 1851 he was appointed adjutant-general of Arkansas to replace Allen Wood, who had resigned.<ref name="pioneer"/><ref>{{Cite news |date=November 28, 1851 |title=Appointments by the Governor |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/weekly-arkansas-gazette-appointments-by/190541462/ |access-date=2026-02-04 |work=Weekly Arkansas Gazette |pages=2}}</ref>

===Political and legal career===
After passing the Tennessee bar in 1846 Caldwell opened up a practice in [St. Francis County, Arkansas](/source/St._Francis_County%2C_Arkansas) but moved to Texas in 1859, where he purchased at least eleven slaves. On August 23 1865, Texas governor [Andrew Jackson Hamilton](/source/Andrew_Jackson_Hamilton) appointed Caldwell to the Seventh Judicial District. General [Philip H. Sheridan](/source/Philip_H._Sheridan) then appointed Caldwell an associate justice of the Texas Supreme Court on October 18, 1867.<ref name="tsha"/>

Caldwell wanted African Americans to have the right to vote; in the aftermath of the [American Civil War](/source/American_Civil_War) he was regarded as a [Radical Republican](/source/Radical_Republican) but was deemed a moderate by 1868. Starting in 1866, to gather support for his own effort to become a delegate to the upcoming 1868–1869 convention to draft a new state constitution for Texas, as well as for the convention itself, Caldwell hosted rallies. On December 31, 1867, a lynch mob arrived at [Marshall, Texas](/source/Marshall%2C_Texas), where Caldwell was delivering a speech to an African American crowd in which he "took full grounds for reconstruction under the Congressional plan",<ref>{{Cite news |date=January 11, 1868 |title=Jimplecute re Judge Colbert Caldwell |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-dallas-weekly-herald-jimplecute-re-j/42179257/ |access-date=2026-02-05 |work=The Dallas Weekly Herald |pages=2}}</ref> and attempted to kill Caldwell; Caldwell survived but was "badly frightened".<ref name="tsha"/> He became a delegate and was nominated by Andrew Jackson Hamilton as a potential chairman of the convention but did not get the position, which instead went to [Edmund J. Davis](/source/Edmund_J._Davis); Davis's views were more agreeable to radicals, but the moderate delegates thought Caldwell was "more dangerous than Davis".{{sfn|Kingston|1992|p=102}} On July 3, 1868 the convention gave the task of going to [Washington](/source/Washington_(state)) to give Congress a report on ongoing crime in Texas to [Morgan C. Hamilton](/source/Morgan_C._Hamilton) and Caldwell; the goal was to convince Congress to pass legislation that would give political positions to Republicans.{{sfn|Wallace|1979|pp=31,36,44,59}} 

Radical Republicans continued to detest Caldwell for his moderate beliefs and alleged apathy toward freed slaves and [Reconstruction](/source/Reconstruction_era); they convinced [Joseph J. Reynolds](/source/Joseph_J._Reynolds), commander of the Texas military district, to oust Caldwell from his position in the Texas Supreme Court on October 31, 1869.<ref name="tsha1">{{Cite web |publisher=Texas State Historical Association |title=Colbert Caldwell: A Key Figure in Texas Reconstruction History |url=https://www.tshaonline.org/texas-day-by-day/entry/15 |access-date=2026-02-05 |website=Texas State Historical Association |language=en}}</ref>

Caldwell was appointed collector of customs of [El Paso, Texas](/source/El_Paso%2C_Texas) in 1872.<ref>{{Cite news |date=October 19, 1919 |title=Miss Julia Coldwell Becomes Bride of Wm. R. Collins at St. Clement's |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/el-paso-times-miss-julia-coldwell-become/190622734/ |access-date=2026-02-05 |work=El Paso Times |pages=13}}</ref>

===Personal life and death===
He married Martha Julia Michie,<ref name="tsha">{{cite web|url=https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/caldwell-colbert|title=Caldwell, Colbert|website=Texas State Historical Association|last=Jackson|first=Charles Christopher|access-date=2026-02-03}}</ref> also from Tennessee, in 1847. They had eight children, six of whom lived to adulthood. He lived his later years in [Winfield, Kansas](/source/Winfield%2C_Kansas).<ref name="pioneer"/> 

On April 18, 1892, Caldwell, after having dinner with his daughter-in-law and his son N. C. Caldwell at N. C.'s house in [Fresno, California](/source/Fresno%2C_California),<ref name="comrade">{{Cite news |date=April 21, 1892 |title=KIT CARSON'S COMRADE |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-evening-mail-kit-carsons-comrade/190508657/ |access-date=2026-02-03 |work=The Evening Mail |pages=2}}</ref> retired to the lounge, claiming he would have a few minutes' sleep. When his daughter-in-law entered the lounge to check on him, she found Colbert struggling for breath. He died shortly thereafter.<ref name="body">{{Cite news |date=April 29, 1892 |title=The body of Judge Caldwell...|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-winfield-tribune-the-body-of-judge-c/190493479/ |access-date=2026-02-03 |work=The Winfield Tribune |pages=7}}</ref><ref name="x"/> He was sixty-nine, and the cause of death was determined to be heart failure.<ref name="pioneer">{{Cite news |date=April 27, 1892 |title=A Pioneer's Death. |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-santa-fe-new-mexican-a-pioneers-dea/190494411/ |access-date=2026-02-03 |work=The Santa Fe New Mexican |pages=1}}</ref>  His remains were buried in Winfield.<ref>{{Cite news |date=April 20, 1892 |title=JUDGE COLDWELL - DIES OF HEART FAILURE THIS MORNING |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-expositor-judge-coldwell-dies-of-h/190515142/ |access-date=2026-02-03 |work=The Expositor |pages=12}}</ref> 

His grandson, Colbert Coldwell, founded [Coldwell Banker](/source/Coldwell_Banker).<ref name="UT">{{cite web|url=https://tarltonapps.law.utexas.edu/justices/profile/view/16|title=Colbert Coldwell (Caldwell) (1822-1892)|publisher=University of Texas, Tarlton Law Library}}</ref>

==References==
{{Source-attribution|{{Cite news |date=April 28, 1892 |title=Obituary. |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/winfield-courier-obituary/190509737/ |access-date=2026-02-03 |work=Winfield Courier |pages=1}}}}
{{Reflist}}
==Works cited==
*{{Cite book |last=Wallace |first=Ernest |url=http://archive.org/details/howlingofcoyotes0000wall |title=The howling of the coyotes : reconstruction efforts to divide Texas |date=1979 |publisher=College Station : Texas A&M University Press |isbn=978-0-89096-083-7}}
*{{Cite book |last=Kingston |first=Mike |url=http://archive.org/details/texasalmanacspol0000king |title=The Texas almanac's political history of Texas |date=1992 |publisher=Austin, Tex. : Eakin Press |isbn=978-0-89015-855-5}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-off}}
{{succession box
|title=[Justice of the Texas Supreme Court](/source/List_of_justices_of_the_Texas_Supreme_Court)
|before=[James Denison](/source/James_Denison)
|after=[C. B. Sabin](/source/C._B._Sabin)
|years=1867–1869}}
{{s-end}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Caldwell, Colbert}}
Category:Justices of the Supreme Court of Texas
Category:1822 births
Category:1892 deaths
Category:19th-century Texas state court judges

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Colbert Caldwell](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colbert_Caldwell) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colbert_Caldwell?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.