Soy de Duval

On July 2, 1887, The Corp Christi Caller reported   that Moritz Cohn of E. Morris & Co. was delivering quite a number of ready-made suits to boys in San Diegoy. William Hubbard, meanwhile, reported that the well digging at N. G. Collins’ place was not going well. A foul air was being encountered at 150 feet and scarce water was found. Judge Wright bound Pancho Bazan (?) to grand jury for allegedly stealing pair of boots. The accused failed to post bond and was jailed. There were 16 prisoners in the county jail. E. E. Denner married Johanna Nathan. The following week, the jail’s population had grown to 19 as the district court opened its session. A disturbance in the town’s west side the previous Saturday night resulted in one man charged with assault to murder and carrying firearms and another was held for assault. Avelino Perez’ ranch, two miles from town, had grass in abundance and 40 acres of cotton and watermelons. Rev. Sutherland of San Diego planned to make prohibit...

Victor Garcia, 74, married his seventh wife when he was 40 and reportedly had 15 children with her. All were living and doing well. He had another 16 children by six former wives. The Corpus Christi newspaper correspondent quipped that it looked like Garcia was “good for 20 more years.” President Cleveland pardoned Robert Doughty, the stepson of Duval County Assessor Frank C. Gravis. His crime was not reported. Ranch men were feeding cattle prickly pear and cottonseed with success. John C. Caldwell was surveying in Duval County and found some strange antlers. One was of a deer head with a third horn or antler growing out six 6 inches from its forehead. The other oddity was two heads of stag’s antlers horns locked until death during a fight. The horns were on display at Wolfram’s Saloon in Corpus Christi. Judge Luby was finishing up a house near J. W. Shaw’s residence, which he would rent to L. Pena. Capt. E. E. Deviney will also rent a house from Luby. Toribio Guerra bought the Yba...

For our readers interested in genealogy and family histories, we will list a number of social events from 1887, including weddings, deaths, marriages and births. No hard facts involving crime or politics in this blog. At the beginning of 1887, Caroline Brandis died in San Diego at the age of 55. She was the daughter of Joseph Wright Sr. and a member of the Episcopal Church. Brandis was survived by a husband and two children. Other deaths reported in early 1887 were James D. Latta and Laura Wright. Latta, a native of Glasgow, Scotland was only 35 when he died on March 13 in San Diego. He was survived by a wife and two children. Wright died in San Diego three days later, on March 16. She was the wife of Duval County Sheriff L. L. Wright, and the sister of R. R. Savage. She moved to Texas in 1877 with her brother and married in 1881. She was a Presbyterian. At the end of the month, on March 30, W. S. Halsey died in Benavides of paralysis. He was 58 and had been sheriff of Starr County at ...

It snowed in South Texas at the start of 1861; and that was only the beginning of curious happenings around San Diego and Corpus Christi. One particular item had the entire area talking. A saint reportedly appeared in Camargo. Accounts came to the area that the saint fed thousands with three tortillas and cured the sick and blind. One observer said the saint used a mixture of “agua ardiente” and water rubbed in an affected area to perform amazing healing. Initial reports had the saint being about 17 but appearing old with a beard. Mexican Federales shaved off the saint’s beard and asked him to grow it back to prove he was a saint. After turning around for a moment, the soldiers looked at him again and the saint’s beard was back. The man said he had come to serve the Mexican people and that another man would kill him but he asked the people not to harm him. The story got even more interesting. Reports had the devil following the saint in a black horse. Accounts from the border said the ...