Few women's graves from the 19th century proclaimed them to be patriots - but Angelina Eberly's grave at Old City Cemetery in Indianola Texas does just that. Her name is mentioned on not one but TWO historical markers within a 1/2 mile of this site, a testament to her bravery and the historical significance of her actions that touched off "The Archives War."
Her dedicated historical marker reads as follows, and is waymarked here: (
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"ANGELINA BELL PEYTON EBERLY
(about 1800 - March 15, 1860)
A Tennessean, Angelina Peyton came to Texas in 1822. With her husband, J. C. Peyton, she operated an inn in San Felipe, capital of the Austin Colony. Peyton died in 1834; in 1836 the widow married Jacob Eberly. She and Eberly had a hotel in Austin by 1842, when Angelina Eberly discovered men secretly removing records from the capital. Firing a cannon, she started the "Archives War", and rescued the original records of the Republic of Texas. Later she lived at Indianola. Her burial place and marker (3/4 mile NW) were destroyed in a flood in 1875.
Recorded - 1978"
At her burial site, she is mentioned on the historical marker for this cemetery, which also bears a Historic Texas Cemetery medallion. That marker reads as follows, and is waymarked here: (
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"OLD TOWN CEMETERY
Located on the elevated ridge at Indianola Beach, the cemetery is one of three that served the Port of Indianola during the 19th century. The oldest existing grave marker, that of James Chilton Allan, bears a date of 1851. Also buried here are some of Calhoun County’s earliest settlers, who came in the first wave of German immigration to Texas in the 1840s. Many of the original tombstones, including that of Angelina Eberly (d.1860), heroine of the Texas Archives War, have disappeared over time because of storms and vandalism.
Texas Sesquicentennial 1836-1986
Historic Texas Cemetery
[medallion only]"
In 2022, her burial site is marked with a modern grey granite tombstone affixed to a 1930s-vintage concrete block with a Citizen of the Republic bronze medallion. This tombstone reads as follows:
"ANGELINA EBERLY
1798-1860
TEXAS PATRIOT"
[Citizen of the Republic of Texas medallion]"
While this appears to be a very humble recognition for her service to the Republic of Texas, this tombstone actually represents a consistent and persistent effort to maintain and honor her at her grave recognizes how this area is exceptionally vulnerable to hurricanes. In fact, Angelina Eberly's original tombstone was swept away and destroyed in the 1875 Indianola hurricane.
This site very well could have been lost, but for an effort, launched several years before the Centennial of the 1836 founding of the Republic of Texas, to survey, honor, and mark the accomplishments and sites associated with important historical figures from the Republic of Texas era.
The concrete block and medallion at Angelina Eberly's grave was placed as part of that Centennial celebration, part of a larger effort to remember and celebrate the memories and accomplishments of those citizens of the Republic of Texas whose actions insured the survival of the Republic.
From the Handbook of Texas: (
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"EBERLY, ANGELINA BELLE PEYTON (1798–1860)
Angelina Belle Peyton Eberly, innkeeper and Archives War cannoneer, was born in Sumner County, Tennessee, on July 2, 1798, the daughter of John and Margaret (Hamilton) Peyton. She married her first cousin, Jonathan C. Peyton, on July 2, 1818, and the couple left Tennessee for New Orleans. They boarded the Good Intent in June 1822 bound for Matagorda Bay. After living in Hawkins Camp and in Jesse Burnam's settlement, they located in San Felipe de Austin in 1825. With several slaves they operated an inn and tavern. The couple had three children. Jonathan died in June 1834, but Angelina continued to operate the hotel until the town was destroyed to prevent its falling into Mexican hands.
She was in Columbia after the Texas Revolution, and late in 1836 she met and married Jacob Eberly, a widower. They lived briefly in Bastrop and in 1839 settled in Austin, where she ran the Eberly House. On October 18, 1839, she served dinner to President Mirabeau B. Lamar and his cabinet; President Sam Houston chose to live in her house rather than occupy the president's home. Jacob Eberly died in 1841.
In December 1842 Thomas I. Smith and Eli Chandler were ordered to return the public documents from Austin to Washington-on-the-Brazos. Mrs. Eberly, realizing that the symbols of federal government were being removed from the city, fired a six-pound gun that city officials kept loaded with grapeshot in case of Indian attack. Austinites, aroused by the cannon, became involved in what is known as the Archives War. Ultimately, the archives were returned to Austin permanently.
In April 1846 Angelina leased Edward Clegg's Tavern House in Lavaca (later Port Lavaca). By 1851 she was running a hotel in Indianola. She died in Indianola on August 15, 1860, and was buried in a cemetery outside the community. Peyton Bell Lytle, her grandson, was named sole heir to her estate, appraised at $50,000."
For more on the Archives War, see: (
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More on Indianola can be found here: (
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