BILBO CEMETERY Lake Charles, LA ** ********************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ************************************************ BILBO CEMETERY Lake Charles, LA Published in Kinfolks, Vol 18 #2 1994. Kinfolks is the quarterly publication of the Southwest Louisiana Genealogical Society, Inc. This cemetery has been placed at this site by Jan Craven, Host of the Calcasieu Parish USGenWeb Site with full knowledge and permission of SLGS, Inc, Bilbo Cemetery is the oldest cemetery in Lake Charles and is located on the east shore of the lake, near the present-day Civic Center. It is located on the site of a former military outpost, Cantonment Atkinson, which was occupied in the late 1820's and early 1830's. In 1832 Thomas BILBO of Mississippi bought the land and moved his wife, Ann LAWRENCE, and their children to southwest Louisiana. The former mess hall of the military post, a sturdy log building, served as the family home. Bricks from the old military camp formed the early tombs and markers in the cemetery. The earliest grave in the cemetery, and probably in the town, was that of Margaret BILBO, the youngest daughter of Thomas and Ann LAWRENCE BILBO. However, there is no marker to indicate the exact site of her grave. Another of the BILBO daughters married John Jacob RYAN, who is often called the "father of Lake Charles". RYAN died on 17 Dec 1899, and is known to have been buried in the Bilbo Cemetery, but his grave is also unmarked. Although is has been estimated that over 200 pioneer residents of Lake Charles have been buried in the old cemetery, most of the graves were either unmarked or their markers were lost, have deteriorated or were destroyed by vandals. Today only about 20 or 30 marked graves remain. Time, weather, the flooding waters of the lake, vandalism and desecration, in addition to neglect and lack of regular maintenance have all taken the toll on the historic old Bilbo Cemetery and have all but destroyed the graves. The following people are know to have been buried there. BILBO, Ann LAWRENCE w/o Thomas BILBO no dates [LVH: d/o Richard Lawrence, w/o Thomas J. Bilbo] BILBO, Benjamin 1806-1883 [LVH: s/o Thomas J. and Anna Marie (Lawrence) Bilbo] BILBO, J. L. no dates [LVH: Joseph Lawrence, s/o Thomas J. and Anna Marie (Lawrence) Bilbo, h/o (1) ? (?) Bilbo and (2) Georgia Elmira Hodges] BILBO, Mrs. J. L. No dates [LVH: Georgia Elmira, d/o James L. and Martha L. (Riddle) Hodges Jr, w/o Joseph Lawrence Bilbo] BILBO, Margaret, 9 Mar 1832 - 8 Apr 1840 [LVH: d/o Thomas J. and Anna Marie (Lawrence) Bilbo] BILBO, Laura May 1 Sept 1881 - 12 Nov 1956 w/o W. Murray MOLDEN BILBO, Thomas No dates CAGLE, Charles C. 16 Mar 1863 - 23 Dec 1896 CAGLE, George L. 24 Dec 1834 - 26 May 1896 CAMPBELL, A. B. 7 Oct 1863 - 26 Feb 1895 CARROLL, Eliza 6 July 1834(?) - 25 May 1930 CARROLL, Jeff 20 Sept 1857 - 12 Feb 1928 CARROLL, Jane 6 May 1824 - 21 Feb 1899 GORDAN, Jennie C. 25 Aug 1859 - 20 Sept 1885 w/o A. C. GORDAN HAWKINS, J. A. 12 Jan 1817 - 5 Jan 1891 HICKS, Henrietta A. 21 Dec 1884 - 5 July 1945 HICKS, Marian Inez d. 20 July 1901 2 mo., 25 days d/o O. A. & S. I. HICKS HICKS, Norman F., Sr. 15 Nov 1880 - 16 Dec 1930 HICKS, Norman F., Jr. 15 Nov 1904 - 5 June 1946 HICKS, Oscar A. No dates. UCV Marker HODGES, James 13 July 1813 - 1 Nov 1890 [LVH: s/o James L. Hodges Sr, h/o Martha L. Riddle] HODGES, Martha L. 21 Mar 1818 - 22 Dec 1890 w/o James HODGES [LVH: nee Riddle, w/o James L. Hodges Jr] HUGHES, N. ?. b.__?__ d. 1 June 1901 LEWIS, Nettie d. 28 Dec 1901 age 27 yrs. 2 mo. 2 days w/o Wiley LEWIS LOWERY, Clara Bell 23 June 1890 - 18 Nov 1893 d/o J. & E. LOWERY LOWERY, Clara Bell 28 July 1860 - 18 Nov 1898 LOWERY, John 9 June 1859 - 11 Oct 1984 MILLS, Joseph L. b.__?__ d. 5 May 1955 MILLS, Pearlie May d. 16 Oct 1905 age 7 years d/o S. A. & Laura MILLS MOLDEN, Laura (see Bilbo) MOLDEN, Robert P. 4 Feb 1863 - 9 Sept 1921 MORRIS, Mary F. 11 Apr 1844 - 13 Jan 1926 PARISH, Eliza Ann 10 Dec 1855 - 11 Dec 1858 PUJO, Mary Sylverta 6 Feb 1893 - 24 Nov 1908 RYAN, Asa no dates Co K. 110th La. Inf. CSA [LVH: s/o John Jacob and Rebecca Gaines (Bilbo) Ryan Jr, h/o Letitia Minerva Hodges] RYAN, J. Anderson d. 18 May 1885 36yrs. 9mo. 3days [LVH: Jacob Anderson, s/o John Jacob and Rebecca Gaines (Bilbo) Ryan Jr] RYAN, James I. 31 July 1832 (or 1852) - 17 May 1886 (or 1896) [LVH: s/o John Jacob and Rebecca Gaines (Bilbo) Ryan Jr, h/o E.B. (?) Ryan] RYAN, William P. 11 Oct 1859 - 29 Sept 1892 [LVH: William Porter, s/o John Jacob and Rebecca Gaines (Bilbo) Ryan Jr] STODDARD, Bennett R. 31 May 1832 - 18 Jan 1899 Hood's Brig. 1st Tex. 1861 CSA [LVH: h/o Martha Ryan] STODDARD, Martha 24 Nov 1844 - 5 Apr 1897 [LVH: d/o John Jacob and Rebecca Gaines (Bilbo) Ryan Jr, w/o Bennett R. Stoddard] STODDARD, Rebecca Virginia 19(30?)July 1866 - 9 Sept 1876(8?)d/o B.R. & M.J. STODDARD [LVH: d/o Bennett R. and Martha (Ryan) Stoddard] WILLIAMS, Jacob 15 Apr 1838 - 14 Oct 1911 WILLIAMS, Miria/Miriah _?_ _?_ 1863 - 13 Oct 1912 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Other persons known to be buried in the cemetery, but not cited on the listing: BILBO [LVH: 1st w/o Joseph Lawrence Bilbo] BILBO, THOMAS J JUN 20 1766 SEP 20 1846 [LVH: s/o John Peter and Susanna "Ann" (Walker) Bilbo, h/o Anna Marie Lawrence] RYAN, JACOB A SEP 15 1848 MAY 18 1885 [LVH: Jacob Anderson, s/o John Jacob and Rebecca Gaines (Bilbo) Ryan Jr] RYAN, JOHN J JR FEB 14 1816 DEC 17 1899 [LVH: John Jacob Jr, s/o John Jacob and Mary Ann (Hargrave) Ryan, h/o (1) Rebecca Gaines Bilbo and (2) Emma B. (Platz) Munns] ============================================================================== == File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Jan Craven. Annotations by La Vaughn H. "LV" Hayes are preceded by LVH. Charles G. Alcock of Denton, TX contributed information useful to the annotation.