Duval County Tejanos Step up to Govern

Changing Political Ideas Through Eras in Texas

Alfredo E. Cárdenas

Part 3 of a Series

After dispatching his family to safety in Corpus Christi, Benavides County Commissioner Archie Parr went to San Diego and offered help to the Tejano community, counseling them to refrain from responding in kind; he advised vengeance would be a mistake. While an all-Americano jury in faraway East Texas acquitted the three Americano shooters, the history of Duval County changed forever. Tejanos finally began to take command of their political destiny. They shared power with Parr, but make no mistake, Parr would be a footnote in history had it not been for the overwhelming Tejano vote with which he partnered. Indeed, Tejanos were already marching towards the same disposition; it may have taken longer without the Parrs, but the trend and numbers indicate that Tejanos would soon dominate politics.

“What can we expect from a political party that has its genesis in spilling Mexican blood?” La Libertad publisher F. de P. González asked. Tejanos took note and moved forward, arm in arm with Archie Parr, turning the political tables upside down and acquiring significant influence over the politics in Duval County, setting their sights on the future. “While Parr lives,” editor González noted, “the people will be loyal to him, and they will not lose. They will enjoy triumph after triumph until all citizens of the county come together under the banner of Parr’s party.”

In 1915, County Commissioner Parr won a seat in the Texas Senate, representing 18 counties that encompassed the Rio Grande Valley, north to the Winter Garden. It was a vast expanse of territory, and Parr left his Tejano friends in charge of Duval County while he attended to Senate business in Austin and throughout his district. During the first 15 years of his reign, a Parr son held the position of county judge, and another Americano held the position of county attorney, as there were no Tejano lawyers in the county at that time.

At this time, Americanos’ attacks on Parr included retribution on Tejanos, attacking them from many angles‒voting, drinking, gambling, etc. Their attempt to accuse Tejanos of disloyalty through draft dodging was the most offensive. While some Tejanos attempted to evade the draft, Duval County reported 1,531 draftees, which was close to the entire male population eligible to be drafted. Moreover, Duval County Tejanos showed loyalty and commitment to the country in many ways.

Eighty percent of the men who went to war from his district, Parr noted on the Senate floor, were Tejanos, and that number was 95 percent in Duval County. Furthermore, Duval County Tejanos joined the Red Cross and purchased war savings bonds. Four Tejanos from Duval County made the ultimate sacrifice. It was not just, Parr emphasized, to expect Tejanos to be patriots during the war and then deny them the right to vote.

Americanos’ efforts to retain control of the county’s political apparatus began to decline by the end of the Progressive Era. While Parr‒an Americano‒held the switch to politics in Duval County, he was one man, and the actual day-to-day operational control was in Tejanos’ hands. By the 1930s, every county office, from county judge to constable, was held and controlled by Tejanos. Few other Texas counties, if any, could make that claim. The same was true of school officials and those elected or appointed by the cities in the county.

Upon resigning from his sheriff’s post in 1936, Daniel Tobin replaced George Parr as county judge. With the addition of Tejano County Attorney R. F. Luna in the mid-1930s, every countywide office and all but one commissioner were held by Tejanos. Most of them had the same office through the early 1950s. Tobin held the post until he died in 1949.