RODRÍGUEZ, AMBROSIO (?–1848). Ambrosio (Ambrocio) Rodríguez, merchant, rancher, and soldier of the Republic of Texas, was born in San Antonio, the son of Manuel Ignacio and Antonia (Curbiere) Rodríguez, both of whom were descendents of Canary Islanders who settled in the Bexar region. According to his eldest son, José María Rodríguez, Ambrosio Rodríguez was perhaps the first to inform Col. William B. Travis of the advance of Antonio López de Santa Anna's army and to urge him to abandon the Alamo and fall back to the army that Sam Houston was forming at Gonzales. When Travis failed to do so, Rodríguez joined a company of cavalry composed of Hispanics loyal to the Constitution of 1824 and rode to join Houston. He served as second corporal in Capt. Juan N. Seguín's company at the battle of San Jacinto and became a close friend of Houston's. A kinsman of Rodríguez, Capt. Mariano Rodríguez, served as paymaster on the staff of General Santa Anna. From November 1 until December 31, 1836, Rodríguez served as the second lieutenant of First Lt. Manuel Floresqv's Company B of Seguin's Second Regiment of Cavalry in the Army of the Republic of Texas. On January 16, 1828, Rodríguez married María de Jesús Olivarri. They were the parents of eight children, and their family became one of the wealthiest and most influential in early San Antonio. His daughter Alice was the first wife of Gen. John L. Bullis. Rodríguez served for a time as alderman of San Antonio and owned a store in the city and a ranch near Seguin. He was also a slaveowner. According to his son's recollection he participated in the Council House Fight in 1841 and served as a volunteer in Capt. José Antonio Menchacaqv's militia company raised to oppose Adrián Woll's San Antonio raid of 1842. This company withdrew from the fighting, however, when it learned that Woll's men were Mexican regulars rather than bandits. Rodríguez died in San Antonio in 1848.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Frederick Charles Chabot, With the Makers of San Antonio (Yanaguana Society Publications 4, San Antonio, 1937). Daughters of the Republic of Texas, Muster Rolls of the Texas Revolution (Austin, 1986). José María Rodríguez, Rodríguez's Memoirs of Early Texas (San Antonio, 1913; 2d ed. 1961). Amelia W. Williams and Eugene C. Barker, eds., The Writings of Sam Houston, 1813–1863 (8 vols., Austin: University of Texas Press, 1938–43; rpt., Austin and New York: Pemberton Press, 1970).
