Jonesboro

GORDON, ISABELLA HADDON HOPKINS (18051895). Isabella Gordon, pioneer northeast Texas settler and promoter of Clarksville, the fifth of eight children of Francis and Catherine (Elliott) Hopkins, was born in Mount Sterling, Kentucky, on August 10, 1805. Her father was a wealthy Kentucky planter who moved the family to Gibson County, Indiana, in 1811 but returned to Kentucky after the death of his wife. He then moved the family to Texas in December 1823. He intended to join Stephen F. Austin 's colony but settled instead at the mouth of Mill Creek on Red River in what is now Bowie County. On April 18, 1824, Isabella married John Hanks, a native of Kentucky, who had preceded the Hopkins family to the Red River area. John and Isabella Hanks made their home on the north side of Red River near the site of present Idabel, Oklahoma, but later moved to the south side of the river after the United States government forced the removal of settlers following the 1820 and 1825 Choctaw treaties. John Hanks died on October 8, 1827. One surviving child, Minerva Ann, was born to this marriage. On July 15, 1829, Isabella married James Clark, a salt manufacturer, Indian trader, and public servant. James and Isabella Clark lived in what is now Sevier County, Arkansas, before moving in 1831 to Jonesboro on the Red River, in the area that later became Red River County, Texas. At that time Jonesboro was claimed by Mexico and Arkansas Territory. On December 31, 1830, the Clarks registered for a Mexican land title as colonists in Arthur Wavell 's colony, but titles were never issued. In December 1832 Sam Houston passed his first night and took his first meal on Texas soil at the Clark home.