Bald Prairie, Robertson County
(1819-1893) Tennessee native Isaac Phillip Stem enlisted in the Western Frontier Service in that state in 1836. In October 1836 he moved to Texas and joined the Republic of Texas army at Houston. Continuing to serve in the military, Stem was a participant in the Battle of Plum Creek on August 1, 1840, in present Caldwell County. The battle was fought between Texas soldiers and Comanche Indians, who had raided the coastal towns of Linnville and Victoria. Stem served in the Somervell Campaign of 1841 and was a member of a company of mounted volunteers during the Mexican War. After his discharge from the Texas troops in 1846, Stem joined the United States Infantry at Corpus Christi and continued in the war with Mexico. Discharged at Monterrey due to illness, he later returned to Tennessee and joined the Tennessee Volunteers at Memphis. He later transferred into the U. S. Infantry once again. Isaac P. Stem and his wife, Lucy Ann Weaks, were the parents of eight children. The family moved to Robertson County in 1869 and Stem became a farmer and rancher. He died in 1893 and was buried here beside his wife.