Martín De León

Martín De León (1765–1833) was a rancher and wealthy Mexican empresario in Texas who was descended from Spanish aristocracy. He was the patriarch of one of the prominent founding families of early Texas. De León and his wife Patricia de la Garza established De León's Colony, the only predominantly Mexican colony in Texas. They founded the town of Villa de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe Victoria Nombre de Jesús (now known as Victoria) on the Guadalupe River. The name referred both to the river and to Mexico's president Guadalupe Victoria.

This article is about the Mexican empresario. For the saint, see Martin of Leon.

Martín De León
Born
Martín de León y Galván

1765
Tamaulipas, Mexico
Died1833 (aged 68)
Victoria, Texas
Resting placeEvergreen Cemetery
Victoria, Texas
28°48′43″N 97°00′48″W
Known forEmpresario founded
De León's Colony
Spouse(s)Patricia de la Garza
ChildrenFernando (1798)
Candelaria (1800)
Silvestre (1802)
Guadalupe (1804)
Félix (1806)
Agapito (1808)
María (1810)
Refugio (1812)
Agustina (1814)
Francisca (1818)
Parent(s)José Bernardo de León y García
María Antonia Galván y de las Rivas

De León was a merchant who originally supplied basic necessities to mine workers at Real de San Nicolás. In 1790 he joined the Fieles de Burgos regiment, where he was promoted to Captain.[1] The De León E–J (Espíritu de Jesús) cattle brand became the first registered brand in what was to become Texas. The extended De León family included politicians and freedom fighters who helped alter the course of history both in Texas and in Mexico. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark number 6542, placed at Evergreen Cemetery in 1936, acknowledges Don Martin de León's contribution to Texas.[2] Recorded Texas Historic Landmark number 6543, placed at Church and Bridge Streets in 1936, denotes Don Martin de León's home in Victoria.[3]

Early life

Martín De León was born in 1765 in Burgos, Tamaulipas, Mexico to José Bernardo de León y García and María Antonia Galván y de las Rivas from Burgos, Spain who were wealthy and well-connected aristocratic immigrants.[4] He first worked as a supplier of basic necessities to Real de San Nicolás mine workers. He joined the Fieles de Burgos regiment in 1790, being promoted to Captain.[1]

De Leon's colony

De León and his wife Patricia de la Garza [5] began ranching in Cruillas following their marriage.

In 1799, De León moved northward and established Rancho Chiltipiquin, a cattle ranch in the vicinity of San Patricio County, Texas.[1] Their cattle brand, with a connected E and J (standing for Espíritu de Jesús), became the first registered cattle brand in what was to become Texas. The brand had been modeled after one used by the Jesuits, and brought from Spain when the De León family emigrated. Martín officially registered it in Texas under the family name in 1807.[6]

De León's 1807 and 1809 petitions to act as an empresario for colonization in Texas were denied by the Spanish government. After Mexico gained its independence from Spain in 1821, colonization possibilities looked more favorable.[7] The provisional Mexican government approved a contract on April 13, 1824 for De León to settle forty-one Mexican families on the lower Guadalupe and Lavaca rivers, in the vicinity of Coleto, Garcitas, Arenosa, and Zorillo (Placido) creeks. The settlement's original name was Villa de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe Victoria Nombre de Jesús, for both the river and Mexico's president Guadalupe Victoria. It is now known as Victoria.[4]

This was the only predominantly Mexican colony in Texas, where the eastern areas were settled primarily by immigrants from the United States.[8] The Mexico legislature passed the General Colonization Law on August 18, and enacted on March 25, 1825, allowing foreigners to gain title to land that was not within 20 leagues of the border of another country or within 10 leagues of the coast.[9]

Family

In 1795, Martín De León married Patricia de la Garza. Her financial inheritance contributed to the foundation of De León's Colony. Upon her husband's death, de la Garza assumed the role of head of the De León family. She kept the family together during exile in Louisiana. After their return to Victoria, she became a leading figure who helped shape and nurture the community.[6] Their extended family colonized Texas, and included politicians whose deeds affected the course of history both in Texas and in Mexico.

The couple had four sons: Fernando, Silvestre, Félix and Agapito. Fernando helped trade livestock for munitions to help Stephen F. Austin, and later became aide-de-camp to provisional Texas governor James W. Robinson.[10] Silvestre fought beside his brother-in-law Plácido at the 1835 Siege of Béxar to drive Martín Perfecto de Cos out of Texas.[11]

The couple also had six daughters, who were overshadowed by the men they married. Candelaria married José Miguel Aldrete, who was 1835 state land commissioner of Coahuila y Tejas. Aldrete joined several Texas insurgent groups to resist President Antonio López de Santa Anna.[12] Guadalupe married Desiderio García, of whom nothing is known. María de Jesús (María) married politician Rafael Manchola, who was elected to the state legislature in 1830.[13] María del Refugio (Refugio) married Mexican freedom fighter José María Jesús Carbajal,[14] who waged guerrilla warfare in Mexico against López de Santa Anna's political machine. Agustina married Plácido Benavides, who opposed Santa Anna's dictatorship, but believed that Texas should remain part of Mexico. Benavides led a unit of Tejano fighters at the Battle of Goliad. He was recruited by Stephen F. Austin for the Battle of Bexar. Benavides became known as the "Texas Paul Revere" for his 1836 journey from San Patricio to Goliad to Victoria, warning residents of the approaching Mexican army.[15] Francisca married Vicente Dosal, of whom nothing is known.[1] [16]

Death and legacy

Martín De León died of cholera in 1833, a year of epidemics that swept North America along its waterways.[17] His estate was worth $500,000.[18] De León is buried at Evergreen Cemetery in Victoria, Texas.[19]

Recorded Texas Historic Landmark number 6542 placed at Evergreen Cemetery in 1936 acknowledges Don Martin de León's contribution to Texas.[2] Recorded Texas Historic Landmark number 6543 placed at Church and Bridge Streets in 1936 denotes Don Martin de León's home in Victoria.[3]

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See also
  • History of the Mexican-Americans in Texas

Further reading
  • Crimm, Ana Carolina Castillo (2004). De León, a Tejano Family History. University of Texas Press. ISBN 978-0-292-79758-1 – via Project MUSE.

References
  1. Roell, Craig H. "Martín De León". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Archived from the original on 9 July 2011. Retrieved 20 March 2011.
  2. "THC-Evergreen Cemetery". Recorded Texas Historic Landmarks. Texas Historical Association. Archived from the original on July 31, 2017. Retrieved July 31, 2017.
  3. "THC-De León Home". Recorded Texas Historic Landmarks. Texas Historical Association. Archived from the original on July 31, 2017. Retrieved July 31, 2017.
  4. Quiroz, Anthony (2005). Claiming Citizenship: Mexican Americans in Victoria, Texas. Texas A&M University Press. pp. 3–4, 6. ISBN 978-1-60344-591-7. Archived from the original on 2017-07-31 – via Project MUSE.
  5. Stewart, Paula. "Patricia de la Garza". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Archived from the original on 9 July 2011. Retrieved 20 March 2011.
  6. Acosta, Teresa Palomo; Winegarten, Ruthe (2003). Las Tejanas: 300 Years of History. University of Texas Press – via Questia (subscription required) . pp. 20–24. ISBN 0-292-70527-1. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04.
  7. Weber, David J. (1992). The Spanish Frontier in North America. Yale Western Americana Series. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. p. 300. ISBN 0-300-05198-0.
  8. Roell, Craig H. "De León's Colony". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Archived from the original on 13 May 2011. Retrieved 21 March 2011.
  9. Barker, Eugene C. "Mexican Colonization Laws". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Archived from the original on September 22, 2015. Retrieved October 8, 2015.
  10. Roell, Craig H. "Fernando De León". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Archived from the original on 9 July 2011. Retrieved 21 March 2011.
  11. Roell, Craig H. "Silvestre De León". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Archived from the original on 9 July 2011. Retrieved 21 March 2011.
  12. Huson, Hobart. "José Miguel Aldrete". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Archived from the original on 15 December 2010. Retrieved 21 March 2011.
  13. Roell, Craig H. "Rafael Antonio Manchola". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Archived from the original on 14 February 2015. Retrieved 21 March 2011.
  14. "José María Jesús Carbajal". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Archived from the original on 24 May 2011. Retrieved 21 March 2011.
  15. Roell, Craig H. "Plácido Benavides". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Archived from the original on 9 July 2011. Retrieved 21 March 2011.
  16. "Martin de Leon: Founder of Victoria, Texas". Corpus Christi Caller-Times. Retrieved 2020-05-25.
  17. Poyo, Gerald Eugene (1996). Tejano Journey, 1770–1850. University of Texas Press. p. 117. ISBN 978-0-292-76570-2.
  18. Wade, Mary Dodson (2008). Texas History. Heinemann Library. p. 12. ISBN 978-1-4329-1151-5.
  19. Martín De León at Find a Grave
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