Guards memorialized with marker by Mark Fleming 
The Baytown Sun - Posted: Saturday, September 18, 2010

Another piece of Texas history was memorialized Saturday with the unveiling of a historical marker recalling the Bayland Guards, a Civil War company made up of men from the area around what is now Baytown. The marker is next to the boat ramp at Bayland Park.

John Britt, history professor and honors program coordinator at Lee College, was the keynote speaker. He told the story of the group of men who, along with others from the Houston area, became part of the Galveston Infantry Regiment, which was later the Second Texas Infantry of the Confederate Army.

Dr. Ashbel Smith, a local physician who had been a diplomat in the Republic of Texas government, formed the unit. Another well-known name in the unit was Sam Houston Jr., the son of the first president of the Republic.

General Sam Houston, the former president, maintained a residence called Cedar Point at the mouth of Cedar Bayou in Chambers County. Though General Houston opposed secession from the United States, he maintained a close relationship with his son, Britt said.

Two sons of Anson Jones, the last president of the Republic, were also in the Bayland Guards.

In addition to Britt’s recounting of the history of the military unit being remembered by the historical marker, Baytown Mayor Stephen DonCarlos presented a proclamation from the city in honor of the new historical marker. 

Trevia Wooster Beverly, of the Harris County Historical Commission, and Bobby J. Wheat, chairman of the Chambers County Historical Commission, formally presented the marker to the city.

In addition to local historians and dignitaries, several descendants of the members of the Bayland Guards attended Saturday’s marker unveiling.

Dean Hawkins came from Irving, Texas, to attend the event. She said her great-great-grandfather was Barton Clark, a member of the Guards. Clark had moved from the Houston area to the Baytown area to farm cotton, she said, before joining the Guards when he was about 20.

Hawkins said Clark survived the war only to die shortly afterward in 1868 from a lung disease, probably tuberculosis, he contracted during his military service.

Donna Britt, from Cove, is descended from two of the soldiers in the Bayland Guards: D. Dugat and Solomon Williams, who were both her great-great-grandfathers.

Britt, who teaches history at Lee High School, said her ancestors also lived in Cove. She is the sixth generation of her family to live there, she said.

The Bayland Honor Guard, a historical reenactment group, presented a volley salute. The Bay Area Dulcimer and Strings Society provided music. The La Porte Polypropylene Plant of Total Petrochemicals provided financial sponsorship of the marker.