William "Willie or Billy" Archie Madden was born 23 October 1887 in Seadrift, Texas. His parents were William Hanna Madden and Margaret Wilkinson Madden. He was drowned in Hurricane Carla in September, 1961. His body was found on LaSalle Ranch after the storm was over. He was buried in Seadrift Cemetery, Calhoun County, Texas on September 11, 1961. The gravestone inscription states, "VICTIM OF HURRICANE CARLA - Found on La Salle Ranch." Hurricane Carla , a Category 5 hurricane, hit the town of Port O'Connor with winds up to 170 mph and a tidal surge of 18.5 feet. Port O'Connor was virtually wiped out. Stories say that he had $2,000 sewed into his pants which was used to pay for his burial expenses.
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Willie Madden's Gravestone |
Seadrift Cemetery |
When I met Willie he was living in a little shack that he had built across the Intracostal Waterway from Port O'Connor, Texas. He lived there by himself selling fish and oysters to the people of the town. He had lived on the little island for some time after he and other inhabitants had been evicted from Matagorda Island by the U.S. government in 1940 when the island was condemned to be used as a temporary training facility for the Army as a bombing range.
He had been married to Nona "Noni" at one time. Some say his grief after his divorce caused him to move to the little island.