Chambers County was formed in 1858, made up from parts of Jefferson and Liberty counties. The original county seat was Wallisville on the Trinity, but the county seat was moved to Anahuac in 1908. The Spanish established a fort at Anahuac in 1821, which was a point of entry for settlers from the United States under the Spanish and Mexican administrations. Under the Mexican administration, a man by the name of Juan Bradburn was in charge of Anahuac. He jailed William Barrett Travis during a dispute with settlers, prompting settlers to persuade Bradburn's superiors to depose him and free Travis. It was during this dispute that the colonists drafted what came to be called the Turtle Bayou Resolutions, protesting the policies of the Bustamente government in Mexico City and calling for a return to the Mexican Constitution of 1824. This served as the first formal notice to the Mexican government that settlers in Texas were becoming impatient with their status. Thomas Jefferson Chambers, for whom Chambers County was named, was born in Virginia. Having studied law in Mexico, he first came to Texas as Surveyor General for the government of the Mexican State of Coahuila and Texas, and was also designated superior judge for the territory. He held several large Mexican land grants, including the land upon which the present State Capitol at Austin stands. Chambers sided with the colonists in their dispute with the Mexican government, was commissioned a major general in the Texas Army Reserve, and played a major part in the revolution. The home that Chambers built at Anahuac had a window with the panes arranged like the Lone Star of Texas. In 1865, someone fired a shot from outside, killing General Chambers as he was sitting in an upstairs room. The gunman was never found. His home still stands.
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