Calcasieu County Louisiana Archives Cemeteries.....Bilbo Cemetery 
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BILBO CEMETERY   Lake Charles, LA
Jan Craven

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.

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.