Soy de Duval

The Corpus Christ Caller chronicled the goings and comings of San Diego during its early days. The importance of San Diego and Duval County in the development of the area is evident by the attention the foremost newspaper in the area paid to events occurring in the section. In January 1883, the Caller reported that L. Levy, a merchant from San Diego, was in Corpus Christi replenishing his stock of goods. At the same time, R. B. Glover of Benavides was also is in the city visiting the Caller offices. Glover—who had been out the printing business for 11 years—still helped to get the newspaper out. The same issue of the newspaper reported that Delfina de Alcala was the owner and operator of Hotel de Alcala located on the north corner of the “principal plaza” of San Diego. San Diego resident and State Senator N. G. Collins, one of the largest sheep owners in Texas, was named head of the Senate Committee on stock-raising in charge of all proposed legislation directly affecting sheep and oth...

One year after the railroad reached Benavides, the town began to gain importance in Southern Duval County. A post office opened in Benavides on January 18, 1881 with Jacob William Toklas serving as the first Postmaster. The day before, the post office at Realitos closed. Later that year the post office in Borjas also closed. As one of his final acts, County and District Clerk Andrew Valls submitted the names of S. A. Mattasson, Cenobio Cuellar, G. W. Davidson, Charles Roach and Manuel G. Diaz, to the Secretary of State as justices of the peace and notary clerks. In October, James D. Latta notified the Secretary of State that the Duval County Commissioners Court had appointed him as Duval County and District Clerk to replace Valls who resigned. He also tendered his notary Public seal. The year 1881 ended with a report from Piedras Pintas of yet another Indian raid that resulted in the death of 31 persons, the wounding of two and several going missing. Hugo Heldenfellls of Beeville built...

In its early years, wild cattle and horses dominated Duval County’s ranges. By 1880, the scene began to change dramatically as great sheep herds started moving in. The sheep industry was so big the San Diego sheep prices were listed daily in the Galveston News in a distinctive market report. The Galveston News reported in its September 21, 1880 edition that there were 275,257 sheep and 83,816 goats in Duval County. Cattle only numbered 7,951 and horses and mules totaled 16,789. The largest sheep raisers in Duval County included Manuel Vela (12,000), E. G. Perez (10,000), C. Hoffman (10,000), Rios Cayetano (10,000) and Hubbard and Company (8,000). The newspaper reported that Jacinto Guerra had 100,000 pounds of wool in storage in his store in San Diego. It seemed like everyone in the county was in the wool business. The largest buyers of wool, buying millions of pounds annually, were N. C. Collins and James O. Luby of San Diego. Other important buyers included E. Garcia Saenz, M. C. Spa...

The Galveston Daily News reported in its Dec. 5, 1876 edition that a resident of San Diego had contributed a series of articles to the Frontiersman in which he gave a detailed description of the town and surrounding area. Here are some of the highlights of what was reported at the time. The county was just being organized with San Diego as its county seat. The town was the center of the sheep-raising region in this part of the state. It boasted of a dozen “well-appointed” stores, a number of “tolerable” homes, a “large” Catholic church, a “model” school building, and a population of about 1,200. Within a radius of 50 miles from the town’s center, one could find more than 250,000 head of sheep, which were sheared twice a year. Each head of sheep would yield between 1½-2 pounds of wool. During clipping months, business is San Diego was quite hectic. A herder could handle between 1,500 and 2,000 head of sheep. This job typically fell on Mexicans who would get paid $8-$10 a month. In lar...

The year 1876 would prove notable to the area around San Diego. On April 22, 1876, N. G. Collins, P. C. Gravis, J. H. Moses, and other citizens petitioned the Nueces County Commissioners Court to recognize Duval County, which the Texas Legislature created in 1858. Duval County remained attached to Nueces County since its creation. Now, citizens were ready for their own government. Nueces County commissioners denied the request because they were not sure if San Diego was in Duval County or Nueces County. Most of the signatures on the petition came from San Diego. Moreover, a law officer did not verify the petition. Collins, Luby, and others again petitioned through Gravis who was Nueces County commissioner from the San Diego area. Once again, Nueces County tabled the request until they could review the boundaries between the two counties. On September 22, the group presented a third petition to the Nueces County Commissioners Court and once again, the court tabled action to allow the co...

N. G. Collins felt so sure about the success and need for a railroad that in 1875 he hired R. Hollub, an engineer, to survey and subdivide a tract of land 52 miles from Corpus Christi, which was to become an addition to Old San Diego. Collins had settled in San Diego when it was still close to a wilderness and had become its biggest sheep man. He believed so much in the railroad that he contributed $2,500 for the first 20 miles of line. James O. Luby, along with Frank W. Shaeffer, E. J. Nickerson and Hollub, partitioned the town of San Diego, which at that time was a large sheep and cattle round-up center. Pioneers also knew it as a citrus growing center. On Sept. 18, 1875, the Corpus Christi, San Diego and Rio Grande Narrow Gauge Railroad Company came into being with Frank Davis and Frank W. Schaeffer of San Diego among the original members of the railroad’s board of directors. The railroad’s charter called for a direct line to San Diego then to Eagle Pass with a branch to Laredo. A M...

The raging arguments ongoing today over immigration are nothing new to South Texas. Some of the arguments for immigration were advanced more than 100 years ago in Duval County. In 1874, E. N. Gray of Concepcion reported that many Mexican shepherds had returned to their native land because of the danger of Indians and outlaws. This exodus had caused a serious falling off in the wool business compared with former years, according to Gray. The Concepcion landowner hoped that the area would return to times that were more peaceful so that the Mexicans would return. “They are very necessary to future prosperity,” wrote the Corpus Christi Weekly Gazette . Examples of shepherds meeting premature deaths were many. On Sept. 1, 1874, residents of San Diego found Jesus Duran dead six miles from town. Justice of the Peace James O. Luby appointed a jury of inquest to determine the cause of death. The Jury of Inquest, consisting of Guadalupe Linares, Juan O. Yzaguirre, Eduardo O. Flores, E. G. Garci...

As mentioned in my previous blog, the bandit Alberto Garza was involved in cattle stealing and skinning in the Duval County area in 1873. The first week of April found Garza and his men at Rancho Piedras Pintas. W. L. Rogers told the Corpus Christi Gazette that Garza was “employed in killing and skinning cattle, stealing and robbing generally.” On Sunday, April 3, Garza and his followers surrounded Piedras Pintas, placed guards on all of the roads leading to the ranch and entered the ranch with 17 men. Six members of a posse were in possession of one the houses and barricaded themselves as Garza and his men entered the enclave. Garza indicated to them that he intended to hold Eugene Glover and Maurice Levy responsible for any interference by law enforcement and would burn Piedras Pintas to the ground. Cattlemen decided to take action against Garza and his band. On Monday morning, April 14, Jasper Clark, James Scott and others left Banquete for the settlement of Lagartoville, where a s...

In 1871, San Diego had a bank, two hotels, a weekly newspaper, general store and a number of cattle raising and farming operations. There were 135 legal voters in Nueces County voting Precinct 6, which included mostly San Diego. It also had a school with one teacher and as many assistants as were required. Nueces County voters elected James O. Luby Justice of the Peace in Precinct 3 and later as county commissioner. He served in these positions until 1876 when voters promoted him to be the first county judge of Duval County. Judge Luby went on to earn the nickname of the famous “fighting Republican”. Luby, a Select Master in the Masons, married Mary Hoffman in 1871. They went on to have five children. Another Duval County politician to arrive in San Diego in 1871 was J. Williamson Moses. He succeeded Luby as Duval County Judge and played an important role in the county’s early political history. In 1872, Luby reported that Kickapoos made three raids near San Diego. Citizens sent scouts...

From 1870 to 1880 sheep raising was the most profitable industry in Duval County. There were more than a million sheep in Duval and Nueces counties. Land was cheap and, unlike other sections of Texas, sheep owners and cattlemen had a good relationship. Many of the sheep men purchased land for as little as 12 cents an acre; often it was originally a Spanish land grant. The sheep yielded a better clip than usual in excellent range conditions. All stock was doing well. The population of San Diego was 1,083. N. G. Collins operated a store in San Diego where he traded in hides, wool, sheep, mutton, horses, mares, etc. Not everything was peachy in the sheep business, however. On December 27, 1870, attorneys  Løvenskiold  and McCampbell sold at auction 2,500 head of sheep and 1,000 head of goats belonging to Diego Garza. The auction was held at San Diego Rancho in front of the Collins store. The sale was to satisfy a promissory note Garza gave from Alfred Moses on June 13, 1869 for $...

Following is the Flores family tree shared with us by Eddie Garcia. The Flores family were the original grantees of the San Diego de Arriba and San Diego de Abajo land grants. Theresa Alvarado-Cunningham | February 16, 2019 at 5:50 pm | Reply (Edit) I am a decendant of Jose Antonio Ibáñez and was interested in looking at the Ibáñez lineage compiled by Eddie Garcia. I clicked on the link but was unable to open the file. Has the link expired? cardenas.ae@gmail.com | February 18, 2019 at 9:41 am | Reply (Edit) Sorry but there are no links to each family. Mr. Garcia’s email address does appear on the post so you may want to contact him directly. FYI my wife is an Ibanez but we are not great genealogists and have only a little information, but it does not go that far back. Good luck with your search. Alfredo E. Cardenas | October 29, 2013 at 12:49 am | Reply (Edit) Joe, Eddie sent me a file on the Ibanez family. He said" The Ibanez lineage is not only connected with the Flores Fam...

In 1868 and 1869, Duval County residents spent much time clearing titles to their lands. On May 27, 1868, Starr County Judge Samuel Stewart directed County Surveyor Felix Blucher to survey the five leagues of land at Concepcion originally granted to Francisco Cordente, which Juan Manuel Ramirez purchased from Cordente’s widow. On June 18-24, Blucher, with the help of chain crew Joseph Dunn and Edward H. Harney, conducted the survey of the Santa Cruz de la Concepcion.  Four months later, on September 12, 1868, Judge Stewart certified that the owners had paid taxes through 1868 on Santa Cruz de la Concepcion. El Senor de la Carrera grant was resurveyed in March 1868 and a judgment and decree was issued to Benito Gonzales Garcia on October 31, 1868. Garcia had first filed suit on May 21, 1864 in the 14th District Court in Nueces County presided over by E. B. Carpentier. Garcia sued under “an act to ascertain and adjudicate certain legal claims for land against the state, situated betw...

In April 1861, Confederate forces attacked Fort Sumter. This was the start of the War Between the States, more commonly known as the Civil War. Within a year, the war had reached San Diego. In March 1862, men met at the home of E. N. Gray in San Diego, and chose 50 year-old Clemente Zapata, a native of Zapata County, as captain of Company B in the Confederate Army. Zapata was an experienced fighter having taken part in a number of battles along the border. He later left the Confederate Army and enlisted in the Union forces. Both Confederate and Union armies were desperate for soldiers and sent recruiters into the brush country looking for draftees. Many local men got around from conscription by proclaiming Mexican citizenship. On a visit to Duval County area ranchos of Los Olmitos, Concepción, San Diego, and Amargosa, recruiter I. W. Engledow found that “nearly every other man I met claimed to be a citizen of Mexico and, therefore exempt from conscription.” This ploy did not work with ...

The prevailing issue in Nueces County in 1860 was land. No other issue concerned the Mexican American community and the old time settlers. Juan Cortina’s raids or the looming clouds of secession may have distracted the newcomers, but land was the central focus for the old-timers, both Mexicans and Anglos. The owners of the land grants, their families, and their ranch hands were vitally interested in ensuring that the land stayed in Mexican hands. This solidarity among Mexicans of all classes was described by a later writer as a yearning “for membership in a community that exerted …pressure on individuals to think in group terms and contribute to collective goals through political action. Solidarity thus came to be viewed as a key resource for political engagement…”  Candidate John McKinney’s role in the Saviego case was not lost on the Mexican American of Duval County – Charles Lovenskiold and Felix Blucher must have made sure of that. The Saviego case illuminated to Mexican ...

Judge John McKinney’s argument in the election contest against the vote at Agua Poquita was a repeat of the affidavits submitted to Gov. Sam Houston. Most of these affidavits attacked Precinct 9 voters individually as being illegal, living in Mexico or on the Río Grande, being too young, already dead, not being present at the polls on the day of the election, having similar names to others, etc.  O’Connor’s witnesses countered that there was no way those men could know every Mexican man in the county and their legal status. Although not part of the court case, the Ranchero had earlier offered similar facts. In an October 6 piece advocating the adoption of a voter registration law, the newspaper wrote, “there are many Mexicans who are entitled to vote, and understand the principles and wordings of our government, as well as any Americans.” Before the election, continued the newspaper, everyone makes a pitch for the Mexican vote; “those who get it are satisfied but those who do...

Gov. Sam Houston’s action in invalidating Duval County’s first election votes did not meet with universal approval. The State Gazette in Austin lambasted him, writing: He preferred charges of illegal precincts and w ent behind the vote of the returning officer . The law provides that the proper tribunal for this type of case is the district court in the adjoining district. We learn, however, that Gov. Houston constituted himself a court to try the case and that the Governor and Ex Officio Judge heard with imperturbable gravity the counsel and then, with the severe impartiality for which he is noted, decided in favor of his old political friend Col. [John] McKinney. We shall not enter upon the merits of the case, but the fact is clear that the only tribunal the case is the adjoining district Court, as pointed out by the law. We believe Gov. Houston exercised an arbitrary and unwarrantable power . (Emphasis mine.) The Ranchero pointed out while it was asking citizens to respect ...

After the votes were cast in the 1860 election, John McKinney’s supporters attacked the legitimacy of the election from many fronts. They alleged, among other things: that the new precinct in Duval County had been established in secrecy for the purpose of voting ineligible Mexicans;  that the announcement of the election did not meet the letter of the law;  that Charles Lovenskiold had issued rifles from the militia storehouse to the Mexicans;  that at the urging of Lovenskiold the Legislature had passed unwanted legislation that threatened the status quo, and  that land speculators – led by William G. Hale, Lovenskiold, Felix Blucher, and others – were responsible for the turnout to advance their schemes. Meetings were held throughout the Fourteenth Judicial District and petitions and sworn affidavits were mailed to Governor Sam Houston asking him to invalidate the election results of Precinct 9 and certify McKinney as the winner. Lovenskiold wrote to Hale tha...

In February 1860, the Texas Legislature enacted a law giving landowners yet another opportunity to ratify ownership to Spanish and Mexican grants south of the Nueces River. Mexican American landowners in Duval County began the process to legitimize their longstanding claims. These landowners needed help navigating the American legal system. They turned to two men who through the years had earned their trust. Prussian-born Felix Blucher began surveying land grants in Duval County as early as 1854. Attorney Charles Lovenskiold, a multi-lingual Dane, represented a number of landowners, as well. These men did not look at the Mexican Americans with the contempt of those seeking to get their lands. Perhaps because they felt an affinity to their foreign upbringing, the Mexican American landowners looked at these two men for advice.  As the land cases made their way to the courts, Judge Milton P. Norton of the Fourteenth Judicial District died unexpectedly in San Antonio in June 1860. Gove...