Born in Marseilles, France, Charles Cronea came to America on a French frigate as a cabin boy in 1818. Soon after, boarding a ship out of Charleston, South Carolina, Cronea and several companions entered the service of Jean Laffite of Galveston engaged in privateering cruises off the coast of Spanish Mexico. After nearly a year under the command of Capt. James Campbell., he left the ship when it was burned at the mouth of the Mermentau River in Louisiana.

Cronea married Amanda Richey in 1830. By 1835 he had settled in the Mexican Municipality of Jefferson. The Texas Revolution broke out that Fall. Cronea joined Capt. David Garner’s Company of frontier farmers and participated in the siege of Bexar. Some records say Cronea’s company joined with the forces of Sam Houston in 1836, and that during the battle of San Jacinto, Cronea was guarding prisoners nearby. In 1846 he entered the U.S. Army in the war against Mexico under Gen. Zachary Taylor.

Later a farmer in Sabine Pass, Cronea married Mary Louisa Elender in 1845. They moved their family to High Island in 1876. Cronea was awarded 1,280 acres as a surviving soldier of the Texas Revolution in 1885. Cronea is buried in this cemetery. (1996)