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Friday
March 19, 2010 Since 1922 |
No place like home in Chambers Co.
By Wanda Orton
Contributor Published October 9, 2009 As Pat Dyer shared her memories of growing up in Cove, I kept thinking about her ancestors – all of whom comprise a who’s who in Chambers County history – and how proud those pioneers would be that she and countless other descendants still live in the locality.
Unlike many parts of the country where people can’t wait to leave home forever, an amazing number of Chambers County folks stay right where they are. Or, if they move somewhere else, they eventually return to their homeland.
Like, in Pat’s case: “Family members are still living in grandpa's house, Aunt Winnie's house, Uncle Quince’s house, Aunt Becca's house and I’m here in mother's house. All in Cove.”
Pat’s mother, Gladys Avera, was the daughter of Henry C. Icet and Armilda Griffith. Aunt Winnie and Aunt Becca are her mother’s sisters, Winnie Harman and Rebecca Welch, and Uncle Quince is her mother’s brother, Quincy Icet.
Grandparents of Gladys included Capt. William Icet and Emily Blanchet and Dr. Henry Griffith and Rebecca Ann Hartman. Gladys was the great-granddaughter of Henry Griffith and Amelia Barrow.
You don’t have to be a historian to recognize those names. They were the well-known pioneers who settled West Chambers County in the 1800s.
A native of Wheeling, Ohio, William Icet came to Cove in 1859. His wife was born in Paris, France. They had eight children, one of whom was Pat’s grandfather, Henry Constant Icet.
William led an exciting life during the Civil War, serving as a blockade runner for the Confederate Navy. He ran ammunition from the South to the North and eventually he was captured in New Orleans. After being released in February 1865, William fled to Mexico to avoid being confined again but kept in contact with his family.
After the Civil War, he returned to Cove and operated the first cotton gin in Chambers County. Although the gin was sold to Joshua Harmon and moved by boat to Oak Island in 1880, Icet and his sons, William and Henry remained in business at Cove, running a shipyard and sawmill.
Pat said, “The shipyard was interesting. They built schooners and other boats and repaired boats. His sons worked with him from the time they were 10. He also bought alligator skins and sold them in Galveston and he tanned hides for fur traders.”
Present-day Mont Belvieu stands on the land settled by Pat’s ancestor, Henry Griffith. He received a grant for 4,428.4 acres from Mexico in 1831. A native of Pennsylvania, he was married in Louisiana to Amelia Barrow, a sister of the early settlers of Chambers County. In 1835, Griffith sold 1,047 acres to William Duncan. In the original document for the sale Griffith refers to the site as "that tract of land known as the big hill but hereafter to be called Mont Belvieu."
Griffith’s original land grant stretched all the way from Mont Belvieu to Old River.
His son, Dr. Henry Griffith, operated a store where the Old River Canal Co.’s main pumping plant later was located.
Pat’s father, Jim Avera, was the only family member who didn’t have deep roots in Chambers County. He was from Gulfport, Miss., and was working for Pure Oil Co. in Cove when he met and married Gladys Icet.
Wanda Orton is a retired managing editor of The Baytown Sun.
Contributor Published October 9, 2009 As Pat Dyer shared her memories of growing up in Cove, I kept thinking about her ancestors – all of whom comprise a who’s who in Chambers County history – and how proud those pioneers would be that she and countless other descendants still live in the locality.
Unlike many parts of the country where people can’t wait to leave home forever, an amazing number of Chambers County folks stay right where they are. Or, if they move somewhere else, they eventually return to their homeland.
Like, in Pat’s case: “Family members are still living in grandpa's house, Aunt Winnie's house, Uncle Quince’s house, Aunt Becca's house and I’m here in mother's house. All in Cove.”
Pat’s mother, Gladys Avera, was the daughter of Henry C. Icet and Armilda Griffith. Aunt Winnie and Aunt Becca are her mother’s sisters, Winnie Harman and Rebecca Welch, and Uncle Quince is her mother’s brother, Quincy Icet.
Grandparents of Gladys included Capt. William Icet and Emily Blanchet and Dr. Henry Griffith and Rebecca Ann Hartman. Gladys was the great-granddaughter of Henry Griffith and Amelia Barrow.
You don’t have to be a historian to recognize those names. They were the well-known pioneers who settled West Chambers County in the 1800s.
A native of Wheeling, Ohio, William Icet came to Cove in 1859. His wife was born in Paris, France. They had eight children, one of whom was Pat’s grandfather, Henry Constant Icet.
William led an exciting life during the Civil War, serving as a blockade runner for the Confederate Navy. He ran ammunition from the South to the North and eventually he was captured in New Orleans. After being released in February 1865, William fled to Mexico to avoid being confined again but kept in contact with his family.
After the Civil War, he returned to Cove and operated the first cotton gin in Chambers County. Although the gin was sold to Joshua Harmon and moved by boat to Oak Island in 1880, Icet and his sons, William and Henry remained in business at Cove, running a shipyard and sawmill.
Pat said, “The shipyard was interesting. They built schooners and other boats and repaired boats. His sons worked with him from the time they were 10. He also bought alligator skins and sold them in Galveston and he tanned hides for fur traders.”
Present-day Mont Belvieu stands on the land settled by Pat’s ancestor, Henry Griffith. He received a grant for 4,428.4 acres from Mexico in 1831. A native of Pennsylvania, he was married in Louisiana to Amelia Barrow, a sister of the early settlers of Chambers County. In 1835, Griffith sold 1,047 acres to William Duncan. In the original document for the sale Griffith refers to the site as "that tract of land known as the big hill but hereafter to be called Mont Belvieu."
Griffith’s original land grant stretched all the way from Mont Belvieu to Old River.
His son, Dr. Henry Griffith, operated a store where the Old River Canal Co.’s main pumping plant later was located.
Pat’s father, Jim Avera, was the only family member who didn’t have deep roots in Chambers County. He was from Gulfport, Miss., and was working for Pure Oil Co. in Cove when he met and married Gladys Icet.
Wanda Orton is a retired managing editor of The Baytown Sun.