Samuel Rhoads Fisher, Jr.: Confederate Officer and Texas Land Commissioner (1832–1911)
Revised by: Brett J. Derbes
Published: April 6, 2011
Updated: May 23, 2023
Samuel Rhoads Fisher, Jr., (sometimes known as Rhoads Fisher) Confederate infantry officer, was born on March 13, 1832, in Matagorda County, son of Samuel Rhoads Fisher and Ann (Pleasants) Fisher. His father, Samuel Rhoads Fisher, was the namesake of Fisher County, a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence, and the first Secretary of the Navy for the Republic of Texas. During the 1840s Fisher was educated at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. In the 1850s he lived in Matagorda and worked as a clerk. In 1856 he relocated to Austin, Travis County, where he worked as a clerk and owned eight enslaved people. He married Sophia Rollins Harris on January 12, 1860, and the couple had three daughters and three sons.
Fisher voted in favor of secession, and on October 1, 1861, he enlisted in the Sixth Texas Infantry as captain of Company G (also known as the Travis Rifles). The Sixth Texas Infantry served in the Trans-Mississippi Department. During the January 11, 1863, battle at Arkansas Post, Fisher was captured and sent to prison at Camp Chase, Ohio, and then he was moved to Fort Delaware. He was released at City Point on April 29, 1863, and in 1864 became the temporary commander of the Sixth Texas Infantry. During the siege of Atlanta on August 21, 1864, he was wounded and visited the hospital. On November 2, 1864, he was promoted to major, and the commanding officers recommended him for a lieutenant colonel position. Although he was approved, no position was open for him to take.
During the November 30, 1864, battle in Franklin, Tennessee, he was captured again; this time he was taken to Johnson's Island, Ohio, and was released after the war on June 16, 1865. At the time he was described as five foot ten inches tall, with blue eyes and red hair. After the war Fisher returned to Austin, Texas. By October 9, 1868, he was on the board of directors of the Young Men's Real Estate and Building Association of Austin. In 1870 he worked as a merchant in Austin. By1880 he worked as chief clerk of the General Land Office and held the position for over thirty years and became known for bringing land forgers to justice. He was accused of land fraud in 1880 but was acquitted of all charges. In 1888 he continued to serve on the board of the Young Men's Real Estate and Building Association. In 1892 he retired as land commissioner in Austin to engage in real estate business. By 1900 he was widowed and lived in Burnet, Texas. Fisher died on October 9, 1911, at the home of his daughter in Burnet and is buried at Oakwood Cemetery in Austin. Reverend C. A. Taylor of the Baptist Church of Burnet conducted the funeral, while C. M. Callaway, Ernest von Rosenberg, Ike D. White, F. M. Maddox, A. W. Townsend, and James Thomas Robison served as pallbearers.
Bibliography:
Austin American-Statesman, October 11, 1911. Austin Republican, October 9, 1868. Dallas Morning News, July 2, 1892. El Paso Herald, October 10, 1911. Galveston Weekly News, February 5, 1880. Houston Telegraph, March 3, 1865. James M. McCaffrey, ed., Only a Private: A Texan Remembers the Civil War: The Memoirs of William J. Oliphant (Houston: Halcyon Press, Ltd., 2004). "Samuel Rhoads Fisher, 1794–1839," Sons of DeWitt Colony Texas (http://www.tamu.edu/ccbn/dewitt/fishersm.htm), accessed February 10, 2011.
Time Periods:
The following, adapted from the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, is the preferred citation for this entry.
Stephanie P. Niemeyer Revised by Brett J. Derbes, “Fisher, Samuel Rhoads, Jr.,” Handbook of Texas Online, accessed March 09, 2026, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/fisher-rhoads-h.
Published by the Texas State Historical Association.
TID:
FFI49
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- April 6, 2011
- May 23, 2023
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