Tilton Cemetery
Baytown, Chambers County, Texas
Marker Inscription
According to family tradition, Charles Nathan Tilton was a cabin boy and boatswain's mate for the pirate Jean Laffite. Records show that Tilton came to Texas about 1829. He married Anna Barber, the 15-year-old daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth Barrow Barber, in 1831. They made their home in this area. Tilton fought in the Texas revolution, returning home during the "Runaway Scrape" to ensure the safety of his family. In 1838 he was granted a headright including 1,496 acres of land near this site. The Tilton family lived for a time on Matagorda Peninsula, where they named their home Tiltona and Charles engaged in shipping and cattle ventures. The land speculator and Congressman Samuel Maverick adapted his brand from Tilton's when he bought Tiltona and 400 heard of cattle in 1847. The Tilton family returned to Chambers County that same year. Between 1853 and 1860, Michael Chavenoe, a veteran of the Battle of San Jacinto and a Tilton family friend, died while visiting the family. Charles and Anna Tilton set aside an acre of land for a family cemetery at that time. Charles Tilton died in 1861 while in Galveston attending to his freight hauling business. He was interred here on Christmas Day. Anna Tilton died in 1883 and was buried beside her husband. Charles and Anna's nine children and their descendants continued to use the family graveyard. Veterans of the Texas revolution, the Civil War, World War I, World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War are interred here. Cared for by Tilton descendants, the cemetery remains as a chronicle of early Texas pioneers. (1999)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Family tradition holds that Charles Nathan Tilton served as a cabin boy for the pirate Jean Laffite before settling in Texas around 1829 and marrying Anna Barber in 1831. He fought in the Texas Revolution, received a large headright land grant, and traded in cattle and shipping—even lending his brand to the famed rancher Samuel Maverick. The family cemetery he established in the 1850s holds veterans of conflicts from the Texas Revolution through Vietnam, chronicling generations of early Texas pioneers.
Why it matters
The Tilton Cemetery is a layered record of frontier Texas—piracy legend, revolution, ranching, and military service—preserved by descendants across nearly two centuries.
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Related people
- · Charles Nathan Tilton
- · Anna Barber Tilton
- · Samuel Maverick
Related events
- · Texas Revolution
- · Runaway Scrape
Themes & tags
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