Childress, George Campbell (1991)

(January 8, 1804 - October 6, 1841) Born into a prominent Nashville, Tennessee, family, George Campbell Childress attended Davidson Academy (later the University of Nashville). He was admitted to the bar in 1828, the sam year he married Margaret Vance. She died in 1835, soon after the birth of a son. Childress first visited Texas in 1834, at the urging of his uncle, empresario Sterling Clark Robertson. He soon returned to Nashville, however, and worked as a newspaper editor. By January 1836, he had returned to Texas and settled in Robertson's colony. The following month Childress and Robertson were elected delegates to the Convention of 1836, where the Texas Declaration of Independence was adopted on March 2. Childress is considered to be the primary author of that document. Sent by the Republic of Texas to attain recognition of the new country by the United States, Childress was unsuccessful and returned to Tennessee for a time. While there he married Rebecca Stuart Jennings. By 1841 Childress was in Galveston in an unsuccessful attempt to establish a law practice. Despondent over his financial situation, he committed suicide on Oct. 6 and was buried in an unmarked grave. Thirty-five years later Childress County was named in his honor.

Childress, George Campbell is a historical marker in Galveston, Galveston County, dedicated in 1991. It is one of 283 historical markers documented in Galveston County in the Texas Historical Commission Atlas, among 373 historic sites cataloged across the county.

The site sits at 29.3034, -94.7900 near Galveston. The nearest cataloged historic site is Texas Bar Association (historical marker), about under a tenth of a mile away. Others within a short drive include Galveston County, Early History, Galveston County, Exploration of, and Galveston County, Texas Revolution and Civil War.

This record corresponds to Texas Historical Commission Atlas #5167000278. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.