William Shaler Stilwell (1809-1837)

    A native of New York, William Stilwell came to Texas through Velasco on January 28, 1836, likely for the purpose of enlisting in the Texas army. A few days after landing, on February 1, he enlisted with Turner's Company but was transferred shortly afterward to Captain Isaac N. Moreland's Company. He was at the Battle of San Jacinto and apparently impressed his superiors enough that he was appointed an officer some time after. Stilwell was stationed on Galveston Island when he was promoted to Captain of Artillery and ended his military career with that rank when his enlistment ended in February, 1837. He died a few months afterward in Houston on September 12, 1837, possibly from one of the yellow fever epidemics sweeping through the area at the time.

Note: This is a cenotaph. Founders Memorial Park, originally founded in 1836 as Houston's first city cemetery, was rapidly filled due to a yellow fever epidemic and closed to further burials around 1840. The cemetery became neglected over a period of time, often vandalized and was heavily damaged by the 1900 hurricane. In 1936, despite a massive clean up effort, a century of neglect had taken its toll. The vast majority of grave markers were either destroyed or missing and poor record keeping prevented locating individual graves. Several cenotaphs were placed in random areas throughout the park in honor of the more high-profile citizens buried there, but a great number of graves go unmarked to this day.


Founders Memorial Park
Houston

COORDINATES

29° 45.429, -095° 22.740

William Pettus Hobby (1878-1964)

    William Hobby, editor, publisher, and governor of Texas, was born in Moscow, Texas, on March 26, 1878, the son of Eudora Adeline (Pettus) and Edwin E. Hobby. One of six children, Hobby moved in 1893 with his family from Livingston to Houston, where he entered Houston High School. In 1895 he began working for the Houston Post as a circulation clerk. Hobby became a business writer for the Post in August 1901. He began to take an active interest in politics, was a founder of the Young Men's Democratic Club of Houston and in 1904 was secretary of the party's state executive committee. He became city editor, then managing editor of the Post, and participated in the covering of some of the most spectacular stories of the time. In 1907 he left the Post to become manager and part owner of the Beaumont Enterprise, which he soon acquired. Hobby was elected lieutenant governor in 1914 and was reelected in 1916. He was married in 1915 to Willie Cooper, daughter of former United States Representative Samuel Bronson Cooper. She died in 1929. When Governor James Edward Ferguson was removed from office in 1917, Hobby became the twenty-sixth governor of Texas and the youngest man, at thirty-nine, to hold the office. Hobby served during an eventful period.

    During World War I he set up an effective military draft system for Texas, a state in which half of the country's military camps and most of its airfields were located. In 1918 Hobby defeated Ferguson by the largest majority ever received in a Democratic primary. Hobby's administration saw the passage of measures for drought relief, runoff requirements in party primaries, and state aid for schools and highways. He appointed the first Highway Commission in 1917. Laws included measures for oil conservation, the establishment of the oil and gas division of the Railroad Commission and of the Board of Control, and provision for free school textbooks. After completing his term, he returned to the Beaumont Enterprise and purchased the Beaumont Journal. He retained control of both papers for more than a decade. In 1924 he became president of the Houston Post-Dispatch. When J. E. Josey acquired the newspaper in 1931 from Ross S. Sterling, Hobby continued in the presidency and maintained executive control. In 1939 he acquired the paper, again called the Post. In February 1931 Hobby married Oveta Culp of Killeen and Houston, a former parliamentarian of the Texas House, who became a Post staff member, served in World War II as commander of the Women's Army Corps, and served in the Dwight David Eisenhower administration as the first secretary of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. The Hobbys had a son and a daughter. Under Hobby, the Post grew in circulation and prestige. The Houston Post Company also included the radio station, KPRC, and the television station, KPRC-TV. In August 1955 Hobby became chairman of the board of the company, with Mrs. Hobby as president and editor. Hobby died in Houston on June 7, 1964. A state historical marker at his birthplace was dedicated at Moscow in 1964, and both Hobby Airport and Hobby Elementary School in Houston were named for him. Source

Section H3

Glenwood Cemetery

Houston

COORDINATES

29° 45.056, -095° 23.166

James Monroe Hill (1818-1904)

    James M. Hill, soldier at the battle of San Jacinto, was born in Putnam County, Georgia, on March 13, 1818, the son of Elizabeth (Barksdale) and Asa Hill. The family lived for a time in Hillsborough and Columbus, Georgia, before immigrating to Texas. Asa Hill visited Texas in 1834, and the following year the Hills were one of seventeen families to charter a schooner to take them to Stephen F. Austin's colony. Young Hill, with his parents and eight brothers and sisters, landed at Matagorda on May 31, 1835, and soon established a farm in Washington County. After the fall of the Alamo, Hill and his father set out with seven other men, including William Bennett Scates, to join Sam Houston's army. They met Capt. William W. Hill's detachment at Columbus, and young Hill joined this group while his father went on to army headquarters. Asa Hill was later detached from the army to warn settlers of Houston's planned withdrawal to the Brazos River. At San Jacinto James M. Hill served in Company H of Col. Edward Burleson's First Regiment, Texas Volunteers. This company was led by Robert Stevenson in the absence of its commander, Captain Hill, who had contracted measles at Donahoe, on the Brazos. James Monroe Hill was one of the few men present at the first interview between Houston and Antonio López de Santa Anna and is portrayed in William Henry Huddle's painting The Surrender of Santa Anna, now hanging in the state Capitol. 

    Hill is said to have joined a volunteer company in response to Adrián Woll's invasion of Texas in 1842. Later that year his father and two brothers, Jeffrey Barksdale Hill and John C. C. Hill, participated in the Somervell expedition. Before John Hill left for the Rio Grande, his brother James gave him a new rifle, telling him "never to surrender it to a Mexican." After the battle of Mier, at which Jeffrey was wounded and all three of the Hills were captured, young John smashed his brother's gift against the pavement rather than give it up. Their father later drew one of the white beans at Saltillo in the Black Bean Episode. On September 14, 1843, Hill married Jane Hallowell Kerr in Washington County. Jane was born in Tennessee in 1824, had immigrated to Texas with her family in 1831, and had taken part in the Runaway Scrape in 1836. The couple spent the next forty-one years in Fayette County. According to his wife's brief memoir, Hill was a soldier in the Confederate Army. The family moved in 1884 to Austin, where Hill opened a store on Congress Avenue. In April 1894 at a Texas Veterans Association meeting in Waco he was appointed chairman of a committee to locate the battlefield of San Jacinto. He and the other members of the committee, Francis R. Lubbock and William P. Hardeman, visited the ground on July 4 of that year and recommended that the state acquire the site as a memorial. In 1897 Governor Charles A. Culberson appointed Hill one of three commissioners to purchase the battleground. His colleagues on the committee were Sterling Brown Hendricks and Waller T. Burns. The purchase was made in November of that year. 

    In Austin, on October 19, 1897, Hill completed his recollections, "relating personal experiences and vivid details" of the battle of San Jacinto. He was then eighty years old and one of only ten surviving San Jacinto veterans. Upon the death of Guy M. Bryan on June 4, 1901, Hill, then first vice president (1893-1901), became president of the Texas Veterans Association. He served until his death on February 14, 1904. He was buried in Oakwood Cemetery, Austin. Hill and his wife were the parents of four daughters and four sons, two of whom served in the Confederate Army. One son, James L. Hill, was a member of a Texas cavalry regiment and participated in Earl Van Dorn's famed Holly Springs, Mississippi, raid in 1862. James Monroe Hill was the grandfather of George Alfred Hill, Jr. He was a Methodist and an honorary life member of the Texas State Historical Association. His papers, including a typescript of his reminiscences of San Jacinto, are preserved at the Barker Texas History Center, University of Texas at Austin. Source

Section 4
Oakwood Cemetery
Austin

COORDINATES

30° 16.684, -097° 43.677

Prentice Altamont "Pidge" Browne (1929-1997)

    A native of Peekskill, New York, "Pidge" Browne spent much of his minor league career in the farm system of the St. Louis Cardinals and belted 190 home runs over the course of his 13 years in the minors. His two best seasons occurred back to back in the Texas League, when he hit 33 home runs for the 1955 Shreveport Sports, an unaffiliated team, then 29 more homers in 1956 for the Cardinals' Houston Buffaloes affiliate. Acquired by the Colt .45s for their first season in the National League, he made his major league debut on April 19, 1962, as a pinch hitter for pitcher Turk Farrell; batting against Jack Hamilton of the Philadelphia Phillies, Browne grounded out to second baseman Tony Taylor. Six days later, Browne started at first base for Houston against the Chicago Cubs and got his first MLB hit, a triple off Don Cardwell. He would appear in 65 games for the Colt .45s through the end of July, 15 as a starting player. His best day came May 6 on the road against the Milwaukee Braves, when Browne had three hits, including his only Major League home run, in five at bats and scored three runs in a 9-1 Houston win. He was sent to the Triple-A Oklahoma City 89ers to finish the 1962 season, and retired at the end of that campaign. Browne worked in the freight business after his retirement from baseball, and died in Houston at age 68 in 1997.

Serenity Terrace
Earthman Resthaven Cemetery
Houston

COORDINATES

29° 57.558, -095° 24.714

 

Jesse Martin Combs (1889-1953)

    Jesse Martin Combs, jurist and congressman, son of Frank and Mary (Beck) Combs, was born in Shelby County, Texas, on July 7, 1889. He was orphaned as a small child and raised by his maternal grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Jesse Beck. After graduating from Center High School, Combs attended San Marcos State Teachers College (now Southwest Texas State University) and received his degree in 1912. He taught at several rural schools before becoming the Hardin county agent in 1914. Four years later he was admitted to the bar and elected county judge. He subsequently served as judge for the Seventy-fifth District Court, which served Tyler, Hardin, Liberty, Chambers, and Montgomery counties. He moved to Beaumont and sat on the Ninth Court of Civil Appeals from 1933 to 1943. He was also influential in developing Beaumont's South Park school district, and was president of the Board of Trustees of Lamar Junior College (now Lamar University) from 1940 to 1944.

In May 1944 Combs announced that he would challenge incumbent Martin Dies for the Second Congressional District seat. Faced with a difficult battle, the controversial Dies decided not to seek reelection. Combs served four terms in Congress as a key associate of fellow Democrat Samuel T. (Sam) Rayburn. As a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, Combs was influential in securing federal appropriations for housing, industrial, and water projects, such as those at Dam B and McGee Bend. He opposed a large reduction in the capital-gains tax and supported President Harry Truman's 1947 loyalty order for government employees. Combs generally backed Truman in Congress, although he broke with the president over the Tidelands Controversy. Poor health led him not to seek reelection in 1952. He died of lung cancer on August 21, 1953, at Beaumont and was buried there in Magnolia Cemetery. He was a Baptist. Two sons and his wife of forty-two years, Katherine (Alford), survived the former congressman. Source


Magnolia Cemetery
Beaumont

COORDINATES

30° 06.116, -094° 06.205

Thomas Chilton (1798-1854)

    Thomas Chilton, United States congressman and author, was born near Lancaster, Kentucky, a son of Rev. Thomas John Chilton and Margaret Bledsoe. One week before his seventeenth birthday he married and commenced study for ordination as a Baptist minister while simultaneously studying for the bar. After setting up a law practice in Owingsville he was elected to the State House of Representatives at age 21. He became enamored of the political persona of Andrew Jackson and carried Jackson's banner to the Twenty-first Congress from Elizabeth, Kentucky. Chilton was first seated in the U.S. House of Representatives on January 11, 1828.

   In Washington, DC, Chilton took residence at the boarding house of Mary Ball and was lodged in the same room as David Crockett, a representative from Tennessee. The two men rapidly became friends and would spend the better part of the next six years acting in political concert. The most significant event they shared was disillusion with Andrew Jackson, and abandonment of his political party in March 1830. Chilton failed in his bid for reelection to the Twenty-second Congress but was elected as an Anti-Jacksonian to the Twenty-third Congress. By the end of that term both Chilton and Crockett were tired of dealing with the Jackson machine and associated dirty tricks. The two men were glad to turn their backs on Washington, so in 1835 Chilton chose to resume the Baptist ministry in addition to law practice. 

   In 1834 a Philadelphia publisher released a book titled Narrative of the Life of David Crockett of the State of Tennessee. Many readers suspected that this autobiography was crafted by someone other than Crockett himself. It had indeed been crafted by Chilton, from Crockett's written material and in response to questioning, but the agreement between these friends was absolute public silence on the matter. After a century of historical suspicion the details were unearthed during research by Crockett biographer, James Atkins Shackford, when he discovered two letters in Crockett's hand which revealed the circumstances. Chilton remained in Kentucky for the next four years. In 1839 he removed his family to Talladega, Alabama, where he accepted the pulpit of the Hope Baptist Church. In August 1851, he was invited to pastor the First Baptist Church in Houston, and so, with his second wife, Louisa and their six children in tow, left Alabama for Texas. He began his ministry there on December 6, 1851, but resigned on October 28, 1853 to pastor a church in Montgomery, Texas. While delivering a sermon on August 15, 1854 he suddenly clutched his chest, collapsed, and died of a heart attack before the congregation. The town of Chilton, Texas was named for his son, Lysias. A grandson, Horace Chilton, became the first native born Texan to serve in Congress.

Old Methodist Cemetery
Montgomery

COORDINATES

30° 23.338, -095° 41.868

Benjamin Modelle Green (1810-1895)

    Benjamin Green was born on August 18, 1810 in Catahoula Parish, Louisiana to Richard M Green and Priscilla Reynolds. The Green family came to Texas prior to 1834 and settled in what is now Liberty County. He signed up with his older brother Reason for the Texas army during the revolution in 1836 and on April 21, fought at the Battle of San Jacinto* with an unknown company. At some point between 1834 and 1840, Benjamin married Cynthia Riley Pruitt (Prewitt); the couple would go on to have seven children. On October 6, 1871, Cynthia died and was buried in the old French Cemetery. Tragedy again struck Benjamin in 1881 when, while out splitting logs searching for wild honey with his son Edmond, his axe slipped, partially decapitating his son. Despite Benjamin's best efforts, his son died the following day and was buried next to his mother. Benjamin himself died on July 7, 1895 at his home and buried alongside his wife and son.

*Name not on any known muster rolls.


French Cemetery
Dayton

COORDINATES

30° 04.784, -094° 52.072

Alexander Purnell "Sandy" Horton (1810-1894)

    Alexander Horton, early settler, local official, and aide-de-camp to Sam Houston during the Texas Revolution, the son of Julius and Susan (Purnell) Horton, was born on April 18, 1810, in Halifax County, North Carolina. In 1823 he moved with his widowed mother and other members of her family to Texas. With his brother, Sam W., and his brother-in-law James Whitis Bullock, Horton crossed the Sabine River into Texas on January 1, 1824. The three built a cabin on the Attoyac River, where Horton, aged thirteen, was left in charge, while the other two returned to Louisiana for the remainder of the family. In 1827 Horton participated in putting down the Fredonian Rebellion, and on August 2, 1832, under Bullock, he fought in the battle of Nacogdoches against José de las Piedras. From 1831 to 1833 he served as sheriff of Ayish Bayou and in 1835 represented Ayish Bayou (or San Augustine) in the Consultation. When Sam Houston was appointed commander-in-chief of the Texas army in 1836, Horton was named his aide-de-camp and fought as such in the battle of San Jacinto. He was chairman of the board of land commissioners in 1838 and collector of customs of San Augustine in 1838-39. Horton was again sheriff of San Augustine in 1844 and played an active part in arresting the leaders of the Regulator-Moderator War. After 1844 he was mayor of San Augustine for several years. His last public office was as representative of San Augustine and Sabine counties in the Fifteenth Legislature. He died on his farm near San Augustine on January 11, 1894. Source


Horton Cemetery
San Augustine

COORDINATES

31° 32.679, -094° 05.837

Francis James "Salty" Parker (1912-1992)

    Salty Parker, baseball player, coach and manager, was born July 8, 1912 in East St. Louis, Illinois. He played in the major leagues for only one month (August 13, 1936 - September 16, 1936), appearing in eleven games for the Detroit Tigers. After a lengthy minor league managerial career, including a stint managing Leones de Escogido in the Dominican Republic (1957-59), Parker coached for the San Francisco Giants (1958-61), the Cleveland Indians (1962), the Los Angeles/California Angels (1964-66; 1973-74), the New York Mets (1967) and the Houston Astros (1968-72) and served brief stints as manager of the Mets and the Astros. After his MLB coaching career, Parker scouted for the Angels and remained active in Houston-area baseball, coaching in the Karl Young League for many years.

Section 409

Forest Park Westheimer Cemetery

Houston

COORDINATES

29° 44.434, -095° 36.617

Lera Millard Thomas (1900-1993)

    Born Lera Millard on August 3, 1900 in Nacogdoches, Texas, she attended Brenau College in Gainesville, Georgia, and the University of Alabama. She married Albert Thomas in 1922 and would have two daughters, Ann and Lera. When Albert Thomas was elected to Congress in 1936, they moved to Washington, DC where they stayed for the rest of his life. On February 15, 1966, her husband died and a special election was called on March 26, 1966 to elect another Representative. Lera Millard Thomas was the first woman elected to Congress from the State of Texas, when she was elected as a Democrat in the special election to succeed her deceased husband. She received over 74% of the vote against Republican Louis Leman who urged voters to vote for the widow Thomas. She served on the Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee where she supported funds to expand the Houston Ship Channel. Because he died after filing for office in 1966, Albert Thomas's name remained on the Democratic Primary ballot for the 8th District and his widow determined that she would not seek a full term for 1967. State Representative Bob Eckhardt won the primary for a full term. After serving the remainder of her husband's term, Thomas left Congress on January 3, 1967 and served as special liaison for the Houston Chronicle to members of the armed services in Vietnam. When she returned from Vietnam, Thomas founded Millard's Crossing Historic Village in Nacogdoches. She resided in Nacogdoches until her death there on July 23, 1993 and was interred in Oak Grove Cemetery.


Oak Grove Cemetery
Nacogdoches

COORDINATES

31° 36.265, -094° 38.909

"Dimebag" Darrell Abbott (1966-2004)

    Guitarist and producer Darrell Lance Abbott was born in Arlington, Texas, on August 20, 1966 to  Jerry and Carolyn Abbott. Darrell Abbott, better known as "Dimebag" Darrell to his fans, is perhaps best-known for forming the rock band Pantera with his brother Vincent Abbott in the early 1980s. Pantera became one of the world’s most popular metal bands and helped to keep the rock genre alive throughout the 1990s. Born and raised in the Dallas area, Darrell Abbott was influenced by music at a young age. Son of country songwriter and record producer Jerry Abbott, Darrell and his brother Vincent, better known as Vinnie Paul, were encouraged early on to play music. Despite being surrounded by country music as a child, Darrell was drawn to such rock music influences as Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath, Ace Frehley of Kiss, Eddie Van Halen of Van Halen, and Randy Rhoads (Ozzy Osbourne’s post-Black Sabbath guitarist). In his early teens, he frequently won local and statewide guitar talent competitions. 

    Darrell (on guitar) and his brother Vinnie Paul (on drums) formed the original version of Pantera in 1981 and founded the record label Metal Magic in order to release their music. At first, the band was more pop-oriented and somewhat reminiscent of the so-called Sunset-Strip style of metal rock. Abbott was originally known as "Diamond" Darrell, because of the flashy style of rock music he played. When vocalist Philip Anselmo joined Pantera in 1987, the band redefined its sound and began playing a harder-edged style that some music critics dubbed "power metal." It was at this time that Abbott changed his nickname from “Diamond” to "Dimebag." He reportedly auditioned for the band Megadeth in the late 1980s but was turned down. Pantera signed with a subsidiary of Atlantic Records in 1990 and released the album Cowboys from Hell. Two more albums soon followed, Vulgar Display of Power in 1992 and Far Beyond Driven in 1994. Far Beyond Driven debuted at Number 1 on the Billboard charts and marked the band’s peak of commercial success. Pantera released two more albums and received four Grammy nominations over the course of its career. 

    Abbott lived in Arlington and had a recording studio in his home where several Pantera albums were recorded. However, after persistent feuding between Darrell Abbott and Philip Anselmo, Pantera broke up in 2003. During that same year that Pantera split up, Darrell and his brother Vinnie Paul formed the new band Damageplan. With Dimebag on guitar and Paul on drums, the brothers recruited vocalist Patrick Lachman and bassist Bob Kakaha. Abbott produced the group’s debut album, New Found Power, which was released in February 2004. Damageplan traveled to Columbus, Ohio, to play a concert on December 8, 2004, at the Alrosa Villa Nightclub. However, during the first song of the evening, audience member Nathan M. Gale fatally shot Darrell, along with concertgoer Nathan Bray, Alrosa Villa employee Erin Halk, and Damageplan security guard Jeff Thompson. Apparently, Nathan Gale was upset about Pantera’s breakup and blamed Dimebag for the band’s demise. 

    He was survived by his father, Jerry, and his brother, Vinnie Paul. Darrell’s funeral service took place at the Arlington Convention Center, and he was buried in the Moore Memorial Garden Cemetery in Arlington, along with one of Eddie Van Halen’s guitars. Darrell Abbott was noted for his short, tight guitar solos, which many critics argued helped preserve the traditional heavy metal sound, even after the genre had lost popularity in the 1990s. He performed on recordings of other groups, including Anthrax and Nickelback. Darrell Abbott also played a cut on Spacewalk: A Salute to Ace Frehley (1996), a tribute album to his early guitar influence, and he and Vinnie Paul collaborated with country musician David Allan Coe. After Abbott’s death, Guitar Player magazine acknowledged him as one of “The 10 Most Important Guitarists Ever.” With his roaring approach and heavy metal guitar riffs, Abbott inspired a generation of young metal guitar players. Source

Lakesides Estates

Moore Memorial Gardens

Arlington

COORDINATES

32° 45.239, -097° 07.192