Veteran Bio

Mr. Chiles was left an orphan at an early age. Leaving his relatives when he was about eighteen years old he became permanently separated from them and never knew much about them. He left Virginia in 1828 and started west with the intentions of making his own way in the world. He stayed a few years in Tennessee and then came to Texas where he became a surveyor. He was a member of Captain William H. Patton's "Columbia Company" at San Jacinto and on June 16, 1838, was issued Donation Certificate No. 340 for 640 acres of land for having participated in the battle. On March 28, 1838, he received Bounty Certificate No. 2734 for 640 acres of land for having served in the army from April 2 to November 25, 1836.

Mr. Chiles moved to Caldwell in 1856 and united with the Baptist Church and soon became a deacon of that religious body. He held that position until he died. He also took a great interest in Baylor University at Independence. He was married to Emily Hitchcock on the Yegua in Burleson County near the Washington County line, June 16, 1842. His wife was a daughter of James Hitchcock and a sister of Andrew J. Hitchcock, one of the few of Fannin's men who escaped the Goliad massacre March 27, 1836. She was born December 15, 1824 and died June 9, 1877. Mr. Chiles died May 29, 1864. Both are buried in the cemetery in Caldwell, Burleson County.

Children of Mr. and Mrs. Chiles were Virginia, who married R. A. Higgason; Elizabeth, who married Isaac Winston; James, who died at Vicksburg while serving in the Confederate army; Barbara, who died at the age of sixteen while attending school at Independence; Mary L., who married W. T. Womble; William Tryon, who married Bettie Helsep; Dabney; Thomas C., who married Lula Fielder; Baylor, and Emily Chiles, who married Charles S. Williams.

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