Isaac Caldwell
American judge (1795–1836)
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Isaac Caldwell (1795 – January 12, 1836)[1] was a justice of the Supreme Court of Mississippi[dubious – discuss] from 1825 to 1826.[2]
Born in Clinton, Mississippi, Caldwell became well-known as an attorney.[3] In 1829, Caldwell fought a duel with state legislator John R. Peyton over the latter's vote preventing Caldwell's hometown from being named capital of Mississippi; neither participant was injured.[3] Caldwell was the law partner of Senator George Poindexter,[4] and following Poindexter's defeat in his 1836 bid for reelection, Caldwell ended up engaging in a duel with one of Poindexter's political opponents, Colonel Samuel Gwin.[5] The parties fought with pistols,[3][6] and "[b]oth parties fell. Caldwell expired in two hours. Gwin was shot through the lungs and survived about a year".[5]
His widow died in 1842.[7]
Henry S. Foote alleged that his wife, who died a couple years later, initially believed a suicide, was murdered by her second husband.[8] Her second husband, a Dr. Kearney, allegedly fled to Mexico to escape prosecution.[9] In 1843 Thomas Kearney was listed as an "administrator de bon nonis" for the estate of Isaac Caldwell.[10]
The Caldwells were buried in a small family cemetery near what is today Interstate 20.[11]
