TOMBSTONE TUESDAY: William Wiley George (1795-1862)

TOMBSTONE TUESDAY: William Wiley George (1795-1862)

When you enter the Port Lavaca Cemetery, the Flag Poles and Historical Markers sit right in front of you. One of the markers gives the history of the cemetery itself. One is a white 1936 State of Texas Marker dedicated to Jefferson Beaumont who was the Chief Justice of Calhoun County 1848-1856 and honors him for being he person for which Jefferson County, Texas was named. The other one is an historical marker that gives the history of Wiley George. Now, I had heard that name all my life, perhaps it was the way it laid on the ear, just wild and different than most, but as to who he was I had no clue. The fact that out of all the people buried in this cemetery he is the only one with an historical marker intrigued me. The reason for the marker is given there, he was a veteran of the War of 1812. There is much more to Wiley’s life then that. 

Wiley George was born in North Carolina in 1795 and there is no record of who his parents were. At 17 years of age, he was a planter who was 5 feet 7 inches in height with a light complexion, blue eyes, and a head full of dark hair. It was then that he signed up with the Georgia Militia to fight in the War of 1812.

For those who may not be familiar with the War of 1812, our young nation again declared war on Great Britain. This time it was not to win our independence, but to preserve our newly found freedom from the same foe. It is also known as “The Second War of Independence.” Among notables that served in the War of 1812 were First Lady Dolly Madison whose heroic action during the burning of the White House saved several of its most precious and valuable items. She is most known for saving the famous painting of President George Washington while the White House was going up in flames. Others that would be especially well known here in Texas are William Barrett Travis and David Crockett who gave their lives for our great state.

Wiley served as the rank of Private in Major Boon’s 4th Regiment, under Captain Martin Boon’s Company. The company served under a broad structure of Georgia Militias that included Colonel David A. Booth (which sometimes show up in different records as Boon). They were stationed at Fort Hawkins, GA. The fort was in present day Macon, GA, and was the central hub during the war. It was known as the Pentagon of the South during the War of 1812 because it was arguably the most significant site in the south being both the U.S. Army Headquarters and the entire Southeastern Theater for the Georgia Militia Headquarters. The fort’s job was to defend the Georgia frontier, and they were originally organized for service in the Creek War. The fort can still be visited today in Macon, Georgia. 

After being honorably discharged from the military he married his 1st wife, Nancy H. Jones in Cobb County, GA. Together the lived in Athens, Georgia and later in Montgomery, Perry County, Alabama. Wiley owned a large acreage of land in Alabama that he farmed and raised livestock. Nancy died in 1834 in Alabama and upon her death he married Jenny Steadham in Coweta County, Alabama. The marriage lasted only a couple of years as in 1837 Wiley left Alabama looking for a new life in the new Republic of Texas. He settled in San Antonio and engaged in business there for some time. He was a man who was in the business of horses and stock. His business took him to other places and ports in Texas such as Washington, Houston and eventually, in 1840 to the City of Victoria.

That same year, a refined lady full of grace and grit named Anna Bronson McConnell and her husband Mr. Thomas McConnell, moved from their childhood homes in Portsmouth, Ohio to make Texas their new home. They moved to the tiny port village of Linnville, that was located on Lavaca Bay where goods were brought into Texas for destinations of Victoria, San Antonio and other towns and settlements in the new Republic. They had not been there a year when a band of about 1000 Comanche Indians under the leader Chief Buffalo Hump raided, plundered and burned the port of Linnville. Several people were killed including Hugh O. Watts the customs officer. Thomas and Anna joined the other citizens of the village in escaping the natives by taking boats and a schooner out into the bay where they watched helplessly as their home, business, and property was burned and destroyed throughout the day’s horrific events. Upon their departure the Indians left nothing to salvage of the village of Linnville. 

Anna and Thomas joined the other survivors of the raid and moved down south and became proprietors and co-founders of what is now the City of Port Lavaca.  Thomas died in 1844 as an honored member of the Texas congress. He left Anna and two daughters, Virginia, who was married to James E. Randell and Eliza A., wife of William G. Randell behind. 

Upon moving to Victoria, Wiley George worked on a ranchero in Victoria County, and it was here that he met and married Anna McConnell in 1845. They moved to Lavaca in 1848 to a fine new home and Wiley speculated on horses, and his occupation was listed as a merchant. It also showed that he owned land worth 6000 dollars which today would be approximately 249,324 dollars. On the 1860 Census he listed his occupation as a stock raiser and had increased that worth to 20,000 dollars and his personal estate of 10,000. Anna and Wiley had two daughters Mary, born in 1846 in Victoria and died in 1851 in Port Lavaca, and Anna born in 1855 and died in 1861. The girls both died at ages 5 and 7 during a yellow fever and diphtheria epidemic. Their son W. B. George, who was born in 1849, lived to be a husband and father in Jackson County. Wiley died in 1862, of yellow fever according to family history, in the 1862 yellow fever epidemic of Matagorda and is buried here in Lynnworth Cemetery in a mass unmarked grave.

After his death, Anna moved to Victoria and she applied for and received a pension from Wiley’s service in the War of 1812. In his will he left the bulk of his estate to Anna and their only son and surviving child William Bronson George, valued at $4,613.50, which today would amount to $147,986.76, making Wiley a wealthy man. Anna lived out her life in the Port Lavaca and Victoria area, she died in Dallas in 1884. 

Compiled by Sheryl Cuellar

U.S. Census of 1850 and 1860

The Dallas Herald. March 23, 1884, pg. 2

1812 Veterans Buried in Texas, GSW1812 – Texas Society