TOMBSTONE TUESDAY: William Charles “Bart” Blardone

April 21, 2026

by Sheryl Cuellar

TOMBSTONE TUESDAY: William Charles “Bart” Blardone (1878 – 1916)

The length of life does not constrict the fullness of life. Many people live long lives in peace and joy without anything notable tacked on to their name, others are filled with events and circumstances that crowd the dash between the year of their birth and death dates. Whether it is due to circumstance or personal choice, it is the dash that holds the story of that life. The life of William Charles “Bart” Blardone was not a long one, but he certainly has a crowded dash.

W.C. “Bart” Blardone was born on December 22, 1878, in Indianola, Texas to Constant Charles Blardone and Isabella Clark Blardone. He was the second born out of six children, his siblings were Constance Blardone, Lola Maxwell Blardone Ryan, Ara Anna Blardone, Mabel Bickford Blardone McConnico, and Sgt. Clark Blardone. His father was born in New Orleans, and his mother was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. The couple met and married in Port Lavaca in August of 1875. Constant bought some land outside of Port Lavaca and was a farmer. The censuses of 1870 and 1900 shows him as a store clerk. In 1887 he was appointed as U.S. Postmaster for Port Lavaca, Texas, the first of 3 generations that would hold that position. He also held the position of Calhoun County Treasurer. Bart and his sister Constance both attended school in Port Lavaca as their names are recorded on the earliest record of students in the county in 1888-89.

When Bart was 20 years old, he joined the U.S. Army in unit 2 Texas Infantry company M and served in the Spanish American War. During that time, he was promoted to the rank of Corporal and then Sergeant. The war was not a long one taking place between April 1898 and August of that same year. The war began over the sinking of the U.S.S. Maine and one of its most noted involvements was that of Teddy Roosevelt and his Rough Riders. The Treaty of Paris was signed in December of that same year and upon that Bart left the service and ventured out to make his own way in life.

Like many young men Bart did not sit still and settle down long in one place and the next place I could find him was in articles published in the San Antonio Express and the Victoria Advocate in 1899 stating that he was passing through both places on his way down to old Mexico to take a position on the Mexican National Railroad. Then in 1900 he again shows up in the New Orleans Times-Picayune as taking part in a Calvary Contest that took place at the Louisianna State Fair. The contest required the participants to adhere to the same skills that were used in military standards. Bart loved horses and spent his life around them and later in life he engaged in the business of horse stock. He was in the Calvary Team at the competition and is listed as Trooper Bart Blardone. His skills as a rider were impressive, with one reporter writing the following: “Trooper Blardone, who followed, brought out a cheer from the stand. He came like lightning, leaning a trifle in his saddle and looking the rough rider thoroughly. As a horseman he possibly scored the best appearance of the day, and he made friends with the audience for his daring and absolute control of his spirited mount.” Indeed, he did score well as did his teammates.

Upon returning to Texas, I could find him buying and selling horses with Mr. L. J. Foster in 1903, and in 1907 buying several horses from John Clark. He was well known in the Calhoun County area as he grew up here in Port Lavaca and for a time was in the butcher business with Dave Garner according to the El Campo Citizen.

In January of 1908 Bart was once again reported to be in New Orleans by the Times-Democrat newspaper. He was attending an annual gathering of the 11th annual meeting of the First Troop’s Calvary I. N. G. After the business part of the meeting a trophy named the “Weinfurter Trophy” that had been presented to Capt. Robert G. Guerard after his team won the Louisianna Field and Washington Artillery Cavalry tournament was given to be put in a place of prominence and repository among other such trophies that had been won. The trophy was described as an old cup and a very handsome one that bore the inscriptions, “J.J. Weinfurter Trophy. Horse Show Tournament. Louisianna State Fair 1900.” Followed by the inscription, “First Troop Cavalry, I. S. N. G., May 12, 1900: squad participating, Capt. Robert G. Guerard, Lt. James B. Sinnott, Sgt. C. Robt. Churchill, Sgt. W. S. Hero, Trooper Bart Blardone.”

After returning to Calhoun County, in December of 1908, Bart got into a bit of trouble with the law. Like most young men at that time he liked to hunt for wild game and Calhoun County had its share of wonderful choices to fill any cook pot. The problem was not is shooting the game but in selling it. The State of Texas like other states at that time had recently put into place laws to allow seasons for hunting various kinds of wild game, fish, and fowl. They were put into place so that the species would have a better chance of replenishing itself instead of becoming close to extinction. Bart had killed some 25 wild ducks that were out of season, which over a person’s own land was perfectly fine, it became a crime when he sold two of them to Fred Montier of Port Lavaca. The new laws prohibited the sale of wild game out of season, and it was considered a misdemeanor. Bart was arrested by Sheriff Wilson and placed into custody until the matter could be put before a judge. The case was tried before County Judge Pope who considered that section of the law as unconstitutional, however the district court of Calhoun County held the law valid and fined Bart Blardone for violating the law. Bart appealed the case to the Texas Court of Appeals. The game warden was equally as anxious for the case to move up to a higher court. The laws were so new that there had not only been a substantial number of cases filed, but there had also been a great deal of division in the constitutionality of the laws in courts around the state and the nation. The warden looked at it to have a landmark case that would set the law firmly one way or another thereby cutting through all the uncertainty of a legal outcome in future cases. The case was appealed and it was almost an entire year before the Texas Court of Appeals entered its verdict 2 to 1 in upholding the decision of the Calhoun County District Court and Blardone paid his fine. This was indeed a landmark case, and I found a lengthy list of other cases that were tried with Blardone’s case as precedent. It made the news papers in Ft. Worth, San Antonio, Waco, just to name a few.

After Bart laid the case of the wild ducks to rest, he fell in love and married a hometown girl. She was Florence E. “Flossie” Clement who was the daughter of Thomas Houlton Clement and Louisa Gay Horton Clement of Port Lavaca. The couple were married in San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas on April 21, 1909, as announced in the Houston Post, April 25, 1909. The couple left the wedding and traveled out in West Texas for their honeymoon. It was September of that same year before they returned home to Port Lavaca to settle down and build a life together.

According to the Census of 1910 Bart listed himself as a farmer and a stockman. It just showed Flossie and himself, as the couple had no children. In 1911 Bart was sworn in as a sheriff’s deputy under Sheriff Jim O’Neil in Port Lavaca. As in any small town in Texas during that time life was easy going with not much more than the occasional fight or a rowdy cowboy who had a bit too much fun at the local tavern. It was during Bart’s tenure as deputy that there was one case that was serious. According to the Tombstone Tuesday post about Sheriff James O’Neil researched and written by Jody Weaver, sometime during the year of 1911 a crime was committed that was severe and the consequences were every bit as severe. During that year construction was being done on building a road from Port Lavaca to Victoria, a member of the road crew known only as Charley, was arrested for raping a young grocery clerk by Sheriff O’Neil and deputy Blardone. The citizens of Port Lavaca and Calhoun County were not at all pleased about this deplorable crime and a lynch mob quickly formed. Unlike the lynching that was carried out after the death of Sheriff Fulkerson, and because of that lynching, Calhoun County, and other counties in the surrounding areas had built jails. The Calhoun County Jail was located just a block down from Sheriff O’Neil’s home. Charley was locked up in the Jail and Sheriff O’Neil gave the key to his wife Jessie, who wisely placed it in the fire box over the oven and built up the fire where the key would be red hot and expand so that it could not be used in the lock until it had cooled down. After securing the key he, aka. “Mr. Jim” and deputy Bart, aka. “Mr. Bart” went out to calm the mob that had gathered and was growing. When officers from Victoria arrived, they were able to get the mob under control and things calmed back down. Eventually Charley was tried, convicted, and he was sentenced to death by hanging for the crime. It was Sheriff Jim that had to carry out the sentence. The scaffold had 5 ropes that were attached to the scaffold and to the trapdoor. Mr. Jim, Mr. Bart, and 3 other men all pulled a rope together, so no one would know which man had actually sprung the door. It was a dreadful experience for those who had to take part in carrying out that sentence.

Life went on for Bart and Flossie; they tended their farm and Bart worked steadily as a stockman. The couple did not have any children, but they were aunt and uncle to plenty as they were both from large families. In 1916 Bart got sick and continued to get worse for several weeks before succumbing to a cerebral tumor that took his life on April 6th at the early age of 37. Flossie filed for veterans benefits after his death and lived her life out in Port Lavaca never remarrying or having any children. She passed away July 14, 1960, and is buried next to Bart in the Port Lavaca Cemetery.

Written by Sheryl Cuellar

www.findagrave.com

www.ancestry.com

Port Lavaca, Texas 1840 – 1990

www.newspapers.com

San Antonio Express-News 3-26-1899; 1-21-1909

Houston Chronicle 11-30-1908

Houston Post 9-5-1909; 3-9-1907; 4-25-1909; 1-21-1909

Victoria Advocate 4-29-1916; 3-25-1899; 7-6-2022

The Times-Picayune 5-1-1900; 5-2-1900

The Times-Democrat 1-16-1908; 5-1-1900

The Weekly Advocate 8-1-1903