José Antonio Navarro
José Antonio Navarro | |
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American (1848–1871) | |
Spouse | Margarita de la Garza |
Profession | Statesman, revolutionary and merchant |
José Antonio Navarro (February 27, 1795 – January 13, 1871) was a
Navarro County, Texas, established in 1846, is named in his honor, as is the small town of Navarro, Texas.[1]
Early life and career
Navarro was proficient in the laws of Mexico and Spain, although he was mainly self-educated.
Working with the empresarios of the period, he helped Austin obtain his contracts to bring settlers into the area.[2] He became a land commissioner for Dewitt's Colony, and soon after, for the Béxar District. In 1825, he married Margarita de la Garza and they raised seven children. His son José Ángel Navarro III served three terms in the Texas Legislature.[4]
During the early 1830s, Navarro represented Texas both in the legislature of the state of Coahuila y Tejas and in the federal Congress in Mexico City.[5] Always a champion of democratic ideas, Navarro, collaborating with Austin, worked to pass legislation that would best benefit the people of Texas.[2]
Navarro later served as a leader in the
José Antonio Navarro was one of the first signers of the
In 1841, Navarro reluctantly participated in the ill-conceived Texan Santa Fe Expedition sent by President Mirabeau B. Lamar, when he tried to persuade the residents of New Mexico to secede from Mexico and join with Texas.[14] He was captured, put on trial, sentenced to death, and imprisoned for years.[15] He escaped with the help of sympathetic Mexican Army officials, sailing back to Texas.[16]
José Antonio Navarro became a representative in the
Slave ownership
Like a number of other Tejanos, Navarro owned enslaved African Americans. Between 1856 and 1864, he owned between six and nine enslaved people. As a legislator in the Mexican state of Coahuila y Tejas, Navarro introduced a bill known as the "Law of Contracts" which allowed enslaved people to be brought to Texas as indentured servants under contract, working to pay their debt in labor to their owners. Census records indicate that as early as 1850, Navarro owned an enslaved twelve-year-old boy named Henry.[18]
Later life
In his retirement, Navarro wrote several historical and political essays about Texas and San Antonio's role in the Mexican Independence movement for the San Antonio Ledger.
Ranching occupied much of his time in later years, and he spent most of each spring, summer, and fall on the 6,000-acre (24 km2) San Geronimo Ranch, rich grasslands near Seguin, Texas, about 35 miles east of San Antonio.[19]
Navarro later sold his ranch and lived full-time in San Antonio, where he died in 1871.
Legacy
In 1846, the Texas Legislature named
A state historical marker identifies his Geronimo Creek Ranch in South Texas. Navarro Street in downtown San Antonio is also named for him.
Tejanos who served under Juan Seguín
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Republic of Texas service post-San Jacinto
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Sources:
- "San Jacinto Museum of History - The Kemp Sketches". San Jacinto Museum of History.
- MacDonald, L. Lloyd (2009). Tejanos in the 1835 Texas Revolution. Pelican Publishing. pp. 260–262. ISBN 978-1589806382.
- Teja, Jesus F. De la; Matovina, Timothy; Poché, Justin (2013). Recollections of a Tejano Life: Antonio Menchaca in Texas History. University of Texas Press. p. 90. ISBN 978-0292748651.
- Texas State Archives, Republic of Texas Claims
- Texas A & M professor Wallace L. McKeehan, also on the school's Board of Regents website: Hispanic Texian Patriots in the Struggle for Independence
- Handbook of Texas
References
- ^ a b Lozano (1985), p. 30.
- ^ a b c Todish (1998), p. 107.
- ^ Tovares (2004), PBS American Experience, Remember the Alamo.
- ^ Campbell, Camilla. "NAVARRO, JOSÉ ÁNGEL [THE YOUNGER]". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved February 24, 2016.
- ^ Edmonson (2000), p. 105.
- ^ Edmonson (2000), p. 38.
- ^ Matovina (1995), p. 26.
- ^ de la Teja (1991), p. 26.
- ^ Groneman (1990), pp. 5, 83.
- ^ a b Matovina (1995), p. 66.
- ^ Lord (1961), p. 176.
- ^ Todish (1998), p. 91.
- ^ Brands (2005), p. 382.
- ^ Lozano (1985), p. 31.
- ^ de la Teja (1991), p. 101.
- ^ a b Lozano (1985), p. 32.
- ^ de la Teja (1991), p. 34.
- ^ "Henry and Patsy Navarro". Texas Historical Commission. Retrieved 2021-10-02.
- ^ Navarro Ranch
- Brands, H.W. (2005). Lone Star Nation: The Epic Story of the Battle for Texas Independence, 1835. New York: Random House, Inc. ISBN 1-4000-3070-6.
- del la Teja, Jesus (1991). A Revolution Remembered: The Memoirs and Selected Correspondence of Juan N. Seguin. Austin, TX: State House Press. ISBN 0-938349-68-6.
- Edmondson, J.R. (2000). The Alamo Story-From History to Current Conflicts. ISBN 1-55622-678-0.
- Groneman, Bill (1990). Alamo Defenders, A Genealogy: The People and Their Words. Austin, TX: Eakin Press. ISBN 0-89015-757-X.
- ISBN 0-8032-7902-7.
- Lozano, Ruben Rendon (1985). Viva Texas: The Story of the Tejanos, the Mexican-born Patriots of the Texas Revolution. ISBN 0-943260-02-7.
- Matovina, Timothy M. (1995). The Alamo Remembered: Tejano Accounts and Perspectives. ISBN 0-292-75186-9.
- Poyo, Gerald Eugene (1996). Tejano journey, 1770–1850. ISBN 0-292-76570-3.
- Todish, Timothy J.; Todish, Terry; Spring, Ted (1998). Alamo Sourcebook, 1836: A Comprehensive Guide to the Battle of the Alamo and the Texas Revolution. Austin, TX: Eakin Press. ISBN 978-1-57168-152-2.
- Tovares, Joseph (2004). Remember the Alamo. Documentary video produced by Tovares. PBS American Experience.
- Winders, Richard Bruce (2004). Sacrificed at the Alamo: Tragedy and Triumph in the Texas Revolution. Austin, TX: State House Press. ISBN 1-880510-81-2.
Further reading and viewing
- Lindley, Thomas Ricks (2003). Alamo Traces: New Evidence and New Conclusions. ISBN 1-55622-983-6.
- Ramos, Raul A. (2008). Beyond the Alamo, forging Mexican ethnicity in San Antonio, 1821–1861. NC: University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 978-0-8078-3207-3.
- Martinez de Vara, Art (2020). Tejano Patriot: The Revolutionary Life of Jose Francisco Ruiz, 1783 - 1840. ISBN 978-1625110589.
- David McDonald, Jose Antonio Navarro: In Search of the American Dream in Nineteenth-Century Texas, Texas State Historical Association, 2011.
- Defending Mexican Valor in Texas: Jose Antonio Navarro's Historical Writings, 1853–1857, Jose Antonio Navarro, David R. McDonald, Timothy M. Matovina, State House Press, October 1995, ISBN 978-1-880510-31-5.
- In Storms of Fortune: The Public Life of José Antonio Navarro, written by Anastacio Bueno, M.A. thesis, University of Texas at San Antonio, 1978.
- Jose Antonio Navarro, co-creator of Texas, Baylor University Press, 1969, 127 pages, ASIN: B0006CAIBS.
- Remember the Alamo, American Experience; PBS documentary program (video recording), 2004.[1]\==Further reading and viewing==
External links
- Biography of José Antonio Navarro, written by an Old Texan, published 1876 and hosted by the Portal to Texas History
- José Antonio Navarro from the Handbook of Texas Online
- Read Jose Antonio Navarro's entry in the Biographical Encyclopedia of Texas hosted by the Portal to Texas History.
- PBS American Experience, People & Events: José Antonio Navarro (1795–1871) [2]