High Island is known world wide as a birding paradise during the spring migration. While the live oaks and dense woods of the slightly elevated island fill with birds in the spring, the beaches along the Bolivar Peninsula fill with wintering shorebirds and water fowl. Today, the island is filled with bird sanctuaries managed by Houston Audubon and Texas Ornithological Society. When visiting the island it is easy to forget about the past and get lost in the frenzy of avian life. For a little slice of history, head over to the cemetery off 5th street. In the far corner you will find the grave of this man…
Tombstone Tale: Charles Cronea was born in 1805 in Marseilles, France. In 1818 he slipped aboard a frigate ship bound for America from France. Soon after he arrived in America, he became a pirate with Captain Jean Lafitte. Privateering was hard and dangerous work, and he eventually left the company to become a farmer. When the Texas Revolution broke, he joined Captain David Garner’s company of frontier farmers and survived to fight in the battel of San Jacinto. In 1893, the Galveston Daily News printed an interview with Charles, who colorfully describes the battle of San Jacinto and the capture of Santa Anna. In the interview he states his opinion, ““if Santa Anna had not been a Mason, his hide wouldn’t held shucks. But both Santa Anna and Sam Houston were both high Masons, and Houston and the other Masons got him off in a disguise.” Cronea went on to join Gen. Zachary Taylor to fight in the war with Mexico.
In 1885, for his military service he was awarded 1,280 acres near High Island, and he moved his family to the area to farm. The home that he built is said to have been the first structure on the island and stood proudly until 2008 when Hurricane Ike destroyed it. That same storm took out a good number of the large oaks on the island as well. The pirate, turned revolutionary, turned farmer lived to be eighty-eight years old and is said to have been considered an oracle by his many children and grandchildren. In typical pirate fashion, it is reported that the man enjoyed flavoring his opinions with a fair amount of cussing. But then again, that seems fitting for a pirate.
There is a historic marker located next to his unusual grave. The grave is made of cement and oyster shell that is domed over the length of the grave. A newer monument was placed at the foot of the original tombstone to better mark the location and honor his memory.
