South Texas Tejano landowners, 1850
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1850 Census South Texas Spanish Land Grants |
The first U.S. census taken of Texas was in 1850, after the state joined the Union. This first census includes information about the South Texas region, south of the Nueces River, that may be of interest to local historians and genealogists.
After the U.S. war with Mexico ended, and the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo established the border at the Rio Grande River, the Texas Legislature created, on April 11, 1846, the county of Nueces out of San Patricio County. Nueces County, organized on July 12, 1846, consisted of the entire area south of the Nueces River. By the 1850 census, however, three other counties had been carved out of Nueces County: Webb on January 28, 1848, and Cameron and Starr two weeks later on February 12, 1848. (Luke Gournay. Texas Boundaries, Evolution of the State’s Counties, Texas A&M University Press.)
The 1850 Census of South Texas included only two counts; for Nueces County and the other three counties clustered as the “Rio Grande Valley.” Unfortunately, for Duval County aficionados, there is not a clear way to determine how many people lived in what would become Duval County in 1858. Even though the Duval County area was in Nueces County, it appears that census takers may have included it in the Rio Grande Valley tally.
The Nueces census included the City of Corpus Christi and an area classified as “Not Stated” which appears to be immediately adjacent to Corpus Christi. It is difficult to tell how many Tejanos resided in this area since the Census taker had no apparent knowledge of the Spanish language; consequently, he severely butchered the names of residents from Mexico.
For example, the census taker listed “Esten Lacrosse” as the only Tejano that appears to be a landowner. It is probably someone named de la Cruz if I am reading the handwriting right, with generous use of interpretation. In any case, he was a 50-year-old herdsman from Mexico, with a wife and two grown children. He owned property valued at $4,500.
He may have lived in the Banquete area or La Trinidad since his neighbor was J.W. Moses who was a mustanger and later justice of the peace in the region. Moses then moved to Duval County where he served as county attorney and county judge. He also authored the earliest known history of San Diego. Moses’ wife and family were also from Mexico. Interestingly, Moses does not appear as a landowner.
The fact that only one Tejano landowner appears in the census is quite surprising since some 48 Spanish and Mexican land grants existed in the area that Nueces County incorporated in 1850.
The fact that only one Tejano landowner appears in the census is quite surprising since some 48 Spanish and Mexican land grants existed in the area that Nueces County incorporated in 1850.Part of the explanation may be that Henry Kinney owned property land valued at $300,000. Kinney, a land speculator that came to Corpus Christi in 1841, was, by far, the most significant landowner in South Texas, including the Rio Grande Valley and Laredo. Another reason for the lack of Tejano landowners appearing in the census was that many had gone back to Mexico at the outbreak of war and may not have yet returned.
The census for Corpus Christi totaled 456, and the residents in the rural areas numbered 236, for a total population of 692, including a company of 42 soldiers. Forty-eight percent of the residents had Spanish surnames, including 191 natives of Mexico and 59 who were born in Texas. Not surprisingly every Tejano was a minor.
This latter point, however, was not valid for the census of the Rio Grande Valley where hundreds of Spanish surnamed residents reported to have been born in Texas, including 90-year-old Maria Escobar, placing her in Texas as early as 1760.
Escobar, like some thirty-one other Tejanas, also owned property.
Unlike English common law, which denied women equal rights in most respects including property rights, the Spanish crown had granted women property rights since the thirteenth century.
Indeed, in 1850 Tejanas in South Texas owned property valued at $69,920. One Tejana, Estefana Goseascochea, held $20,000 in real estate, making her one of the top three Tejano landowners in the Rio Grande Valley.
All told, 226 Tejanos owned property in the Rio Grande Valley, valued at $692,199. The table below lists all the Tejano landowners in the Rio Grande Valley. Please note that while the census taker was substantially better than the one in Nueces County, I decrypted some names to the best of my ability. I would welcome any corrections readers can offer.
On this note, I also welcome any information as to where these folks resided. I can tell where some of them lived but not all. For example, the top two landowners, Pedro Trevino and Blas Uribe were from Webb County and Goseascochea was from Brownsville.
Click on the link below to see the list of Tejano property owners in South Texas in 1850.
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