Vol. II. JANUARY, 1899. No. 3.
The Publication Committee disclaims responsibility for views expressed by contributors to the Quarterly.
[This hitherto unpublished private diary appears in The Quarterly by the kind permission of Col. Guy M. Bryan, who, as all old Texans know, is a nephew of Stephen F. Austin. It follows closely a copy in possession of Colonel Bryan made by his brother, Moses Austin Bryan, from the original, which was written by Austin in pencil in a small blank book that he managed to conceal when he was searched at the time of his incarceration. The matter at the end refers to a project which Austin succeeded in accomplishing while he was in Mexico, and which was in fact the establishment of the first public mail route between the Mexican Republic and the United States. This matter is written without a date on the back of the last page of the copy.
Col. Bryan says that Austin's criticism of the Catholic church should be taken as referring not to the church in general, but to the form of Catholicism then prevailing in Mexico.
The italicized title given below is written in ink on the cover of the MS., except the explanatory words, “private” and “before confinement and,” which are added by Col. Bryan. Under this title on the MS. are penciled the words: “Three months in the ex-Inquisition ¬ allowed to speak to any one, one year in the Prison of the Acordada, and the balance of the time with the City of Mexico for his limits, under bond, and was finally released without trial under a general amnesty law passed by the Congress.” This title and the penciled addition would appear to be original with Moses Austin Bryan.—Editor Quarterly.]
Private Diary of Genl. S. F. Austin before confinement and while confined in the Ex-inquisition city of Mexico, 1833 &1834 &1835.
I left Mexico on the 10th Decr., 1833 in a coach in company with Don Luis de la Rosa, deputy in the general congress, Don Octavian de la Rosa, &Don Migual Orteaga.
The 1st day at Tampantla 5 Leagues.
Decr. 11th at Huihuitoca 12 “.
Decr. 12th “ Tula 12 “.
Decr. 13th “ Arroyo Sarco 13 “.
Decr. 14th “ San Juan del Rio 14 “.
San Juan del Rio. Very long street; Don Luis and myself went to take a walk, every thing very dull—a church built in 1683 with a new front of the Corinthian order, at the expense, as the padre told us, of a famous robber &assassin, who had been the terror of the country—he was taken at last—he employed the money which he had robbed in building the front of the church—he received civil pardon &spiritual absolution; &went to heaven, so said the padre—&he knew, because the tradition was not old, about 50 years.
Dec. 15, at Queretaro—(14 Leagues) A city of convents &churches, with some very good private houses.—The convent of Santa Clara (for nuns) is the largest, it is said, in the Republic, &the richest. The inside of the church is excessively loaded with costly ornaments, all of the most ancient gothic stile, worthy emblem of such a monster, of the past century—One is astonished at seeing these monuments of the barbarity &ignorance of the 10th and 12th centuries, preserved with so much care in the 19th century, &in a Republic. Marry women with God. How ridiculous.—To break the commandment of God himself, &to go contrary to his intent in creating women, in order to please God in consequence.
16th Dec. We remained at Queretaro.—We visited the convents—these are many and very large. In that of 1 Cruz there is a large orchard well watered—It has a large fountain constructed by a marquis who has perpetuated his fame &piety by a statute of himself of his own size, which stands in the centre of the fountain on a base of stone—He is habited in the old fashion. There are extensive baths convenient to the fountain, constructed by the same marquis.—How much sweat &tears from the Indian slaves, must the money have cost, which the marquis employed in the construction of this fountain and baths? But he received absolution from the monks &went to heaven.
In the orchard there are many very pretty cypress trees. I collected seeds from them to carry to Texas.—They shewed me some of these trees planted by the hands of the Rev. father Morfit, who had been a monk in this convent, &a missionary at Nacogdoches in Texas. This monk is very famous, for he has been a second Moses. At Nacogdoches all the springs went dry, &he went out with images of the saints &necessary apparatus to perform miracles. He struck a blow with a rod of iron on a rock, which stands on the bank of the creek La Nana, in Nacogdoches, &immediately a stream of water gushed out, sufficient to supply the inhabitants with water to drink. This miracle was canonized in Rome, and a print or engraving of the fact was made in order to perpetuate it.—This same padre, when he left Nacogdoches for Bexar, lost a baggage mule, which a Tiger killed; and in the morning as soon as the padre knew it, he made the Tiger come and kneel at his feet, and then he was harnessed &loaded with the baggage of the dead mule, which he carried to Bexar, &then having received a pardon for having killed the mule, was sent back to the desert. All this is true, because several old women told it to me in Nacogdoches &Bexar, and we ought not to suppose that Rome would order an engraving to be made of a miracle of the water, only to deceive credulous people.
In Queretaro the sweet potatoes are very rich, the best I have ever tasted. Sweetmeats are very good &exceedingly cheap.—In the convent of Santa Clara are sold large quantities of sweet-meats of infinite kinds &qualities—Ah woman, what inadequate shadows are these sweet-meats made by that hands, compared to the tranquil pleasure which ye ought to dispense, by occupying that rank in society &in the world, which the God of nature gave ye, &which the barbarous &avaricious cunning of Rome has deprived ye.
This city is very well supplied with water of good quality, brought by an aqueduct from the mountain in front of the city. It passes a valley on arches, which are very well constructed, &are about 60 or 70 feet high. The aqueduct is about half a league long. It is a useful work, worthy of Paris or any city in the world.
In the public square there is a large fountain of hewn stone, very convenient &beautiful—The water rises to the second story in the houses situated in the lowest part of the town.—There is a story respecting this work, which has been affirmed to me as correct. That two rich men in a moment of conviviality, speaking of the practicability of bringing water from the mountain in front, one said that it was practicable, &the other affirmed that it was impossible, &offered to build a fountain in the public square of solid gold, if the other would bring the water. Upon this the 1st admitted the challenge, &they both mutually obligated themselves to the execution, by an act legally passed. He that offered to bring the water, completed the work &made the aqueduct &arches above mentioned. But he spent his fortune &ruined himself.—The other then refused to make the fountain of gold, a law suit was commenced, &in fine he was compelled to make it of hewn stone, and to conduct the water through all the streets of the city, in which he also expended his fortune &ruined himself. In this case wine rendered a very great service to the human race, because it caused those two rich men to employ their fortunes for the benefit of the people, instead of giving them (as very probably they would have done) to convents.
The streets of Queretaro are irregular, of various width &crooked or serpentine—it is situated on the side of a hill.—The potatoes of this place are famed for their sweetness, when roasted they appear to be sweetmeats.—If it were practicable, as is said, to open a Road for carriages from this city to the head of navigation Panuco river, it would increase very fast, &in a little time would be opulent, modernized &free from prejudice. Because it would be the depot for all the Bajio, &a great commerce would be carried on in domestic &foreign produce.—It would be in fine, the centre of commerce of a fertile &extensive Territory—After that, various manufactures could be established here to great advantage, by making use of the convents for that purpose, &by giving employment to many vicious inhabitants, who now appear to live, God knows how, as they have no ostensible occupation.
The Tavern at which we staid in front of the convent of Santa Clara, is a very large &well built house of two stories.—It is very convenient, having a fountain of water, warm and cold baths, very good rooms, but without a single bedstead or cot. All the furniture of one of the best rooms, consisted of two or three common chairs &a very ill made table.—It is said that the stage company of Mexico, is endeavoring to purchase the house for a tavern, &will furnish it after civilized fashion.—
(17th Decr.) 14 Leagues to Celaya, a Town of about 4000 inhabitants. The public square is surrounded by arches, as is the case in most of the towns of the Bajio. It contains some very good buildings of hewn stone. The church of the convent of the Carmelite monks is exceedingly magnificent, of modern construction. The interior is adorned with Ionic columns, ¬ so loaded with ornaments and statues as the gothic churches, but much more handsome &agreeable to the eye. The architect was an Indian, a native of the place, who died in August of the cholera. He studied architecture by himself, and made his own models of wood. He had great natural talent, &his death is a loss to his country.
How many other Indians would there be of as much or even more talent, if their education were cultivated? The convent is large, very well built, 160 years old, rich in estates &rents, it has two monks!
There is also a very large convent of San Francisco. We went in &walked all over the building, without seeing a single soul. It contains two or three friars. There are accommodations for more than 200.
There is also a large convent of San Augustine well constructed. The Indian architect who built the church in the convent of the Carmen, was erecting a new steeple for the church of this convent, of a new or mixed architecture, different from any that I have seen before, after his own ideas. He had it half finished when he died.
Besides these convents, there is several chapels &a parochial church. If all this money had been employed in opening a carriage Road from Queretaro to the river Panuco, how different would have been the situation of the Bajio with respect to its commerce &improvements.—What a pity that Rome did not set down as a dogma, that the man who should leave his property to open roads, canals, to establish schools, foment agriculture &the arts, should go straight to heaven as soon as dead.—The Mahometans were conquerors & desolators by a paragraph of the Koran. Rome could have made the Catholics the civilizers and patrons of the arts with the same facility.—All that was wanting, was an edict of the Council of Trent, or of any other Council, or a bull of the Pope.
At dusk, Don Migual suddenly entered the room, &told us that the Robbers were scheming with the coachman to rob us on the following day. All the company became alarmed, and Don Luis determined to go to the political chief, and ask him for an escort. I was opposed to it. I did not believe the story about the robbers. They replied that I was not acquainted with the country or the people, that it was full of robbers. I said that it appeared impossible that there should be so many robbers, in a country that abounded so much in churches. Ah my friend said D— these churches have only served to demoralize the people!!!! And for this parents have broken the ties of nature, &trampled on the most amiable &delicate sentiments of humanity &civilization, disinheriting their children, in order to construct convents &churches, that only served to demoralize and corrupt the people. And with all this, there are Mexicans who desire to perpetuate this monster, the influence and power of the clergy.—Even the late administration of Bustamente was desirous of governing the nation by the mitre &monastic superstition, credulity, &ignorance, instead of governing by intelligence &common sense.
Don Luis went to see the political chief, &agreed with him for an escort of one sergeant &five militia, at .... 2 rials a day for each man, &on the following day we set out in great state; coach, &six soldiers on horseback, as an escort with their lances &red flags.
(18th Decr. 1833) 12 Leagues to Salamanca.—We arrived early &went to visit the convent of the Augustinos, a very large building of very solid construction of stone &mortar. It occupies a whole block on the public square, &has behind it the river Salamanca at 200 paces distant. The building including the church, has 156 varas in length, &135 in width, &has two court yards. The first has portals on the four sides, sustained by very solid pillars of stone well cut, joined together by arches, under each one of which there is a large painting or picture representing some miracle or passage in the life of San Augustine. The edifice is two stories high. The other court yard is very large &gives light to the cells of the friars that surround it. This enormous building is abandoned, for there are only two monks who occupy a room in the large court-yard in the first story—in the second there is not a single soul.—The whole republic is full of these edifices, &many of the best plantation lands, &an innumerable quantity of houses, &even palaces in the cities, belong to these monuments of ignorance of the past generation, &of the cunning &avarice of Rome.—It appears incredible that it is possible for mankind to have been so deceived to such a pitch, as to make them believe that they could purge themselves of the sins of this life, by giving their wealth &property to maintain a set of monks in idleness, &every kind of immorality, &even of crime, which was committed under the cloak of religion. Parents have left their children in want and misery, in order to give their riches to friars to fatten on in their wickedness, while the sons being thus robbed of their inheritance, have given themselves up to vice, &probably to robbery, in order to live, receiving absolution from the same monks, that enjoyed their inheritance.—Rome! Rome! until the Mexican people shake off thy superstitions &wicked sects, they can neither be a republican, nor a moral people.
(19th Dec.) To Silao 14 Leagues.
(20“ “.) “ Leon 15 “.
The Bajio. A great valley which extends from Queretaro to Lagos, about 100 Leagues long &from 10 to 12 wide. It contains the towns of Celaya, Salamanca, Silao, Leon, Lagos, &several villages. The city of Guanaxuato is on the mountain 5 Leagues from Silao.—This valley is excessively fertile, and sufficiently populated. It has a dull aspect, because its natural beauty &fertility is not attested by industry &art. It abounds in churches &convents, &in times gone by, in friars, the most of whom have disappeared in the political revolutions, leaving the people heirs to their idle superstitions &corrupt habits.—There are a great many robbers.—
In the Bajio, the labours of the fields &factories are done principally by the Indians. The character &natural disposition of this people appear to be very good. They are industrious, humble, patient, &docile. They speak in their native, or original language, &still preserve some of their ancient customs. They also speak in Spanish, (badly however) &have acquired some modern habits. But not of the best kind. They are very fanatical &superstitious. As regards this subject, perhaps the only change that they have undergone, is from the adoration of coarse &ugly images of stone, to that of pretty, well made images of wood richly clad.—It is difficult to say whether they belong to the past or present times, they may be called shades of antiquity, with some modern spots. They are naturally well disposed, &talented, &if their education were cultivated, they would undoubtedly be equal to the whites, more docile &very good citizens.—The great mass of the Mexican Republic is composed of this class.—They are not at this time capable of governing themselves, &consequently badly prepared to become republicans.—In fine, most of their customs and ideas are repugnant to the principles of the sistem adopted by the nation. This is a very great evil which has to be remedied before the republic may be said to be solidly established.—because this form of governments has to be ...... 3 &sustained by the general good will &opinion. But if there be no will or opinion permanent &established, how is the evil to be cured? By education &example, the first by well regulated schools, &the 2nd by means of foreign population engrafted, thus combining everything which is most essential to instruct; (viz.) Theory &example.—The substantial and palpable practice of virtues, of industry, &of habits, civilized, useful &republican.—Schools might be established, by appropriating the property of the clergy &example might be obtained by the emigration of foreigners, increasing at the same time the population &wealth &wealth of the Republic. Therefore the two cardinal points on which the Government should fix their attention, are, education &emigration.—Already stages &taverns have been established between Vera Cruz &Mexico by foreigners.—This has been a kind of school, inasmuch as the Mexicans have learned by example the manner &the advantages.—The result is, that they are going to run stages by Mexicans, from Mexico to Zacatecas &San Luis, &so progressing throughout the whole country where the roads are passable, establishing also Taverns at convenient points.—This is a very great step towards civilizing the country, &uniting the states with each other, because when transportation is easy there will be frequent comunication, &intercourse of interests &friendship between remote points, which will be so many other links to cement the Union. — There is a very great obstacle to any sistem of education, or of emigration, which has to be removed before much progress can be made by this means — which is religious intolerance.—This restricts the sphere of education, &tends to perpetuate superstitious customs &ideas on one side, &prevents foreign emigration on the other, and it has to be, during the existence of an insurmountable counterpoise which debilitates the march of the nation in improvements, if it does not entirely ..... 4 it.
In this town (Leon) there are factories of saddlery &tanneries, there are also some of cotton cloth of a coarse kind. Whence comes the cotton? Will it be credited that it comes from Coahuila, &even from Texas, by way of San Luis Potosi &Tampico? Nevertheless thus it is.—There is no part of the republic, nor can there be of the world, more adapted to the cultivation of cotton than the Bajio.—The planters could raise it for $3 00 $00 per cwt, free from seed, &of a superior quality. But in place of this, it is purchased in distant countries from $7 to $10 a hundred. Texas which ten years since was a wilderness, inhabited only by Savages, now supplies the Bajio with cotton, (about 400 Leagues distant,) a country naturally more fertile, and a better climate for cotton than Texas.—Where it has been possible to expend innumerable millions of dollars in the fabrication of wonderful edifices for the clergy, but not a dollar for public education, or for the fomentation of agriculture, arts &manufactures.—There is a school or college recently established here which promises well. There is a castle or tower constructed by Augustin de Iturbide in the year 1815, at that time commander General under the government of the King.—The object of the castle was to defend the town from the insurgents. It appears to me that it is entirely useless as a defense for the town from attacks from outside. But it is sufficient to hold the town in awe &subjection.
There are many rumours of robbers. So that Don Luis is determined to have as far as Lagos the same escort that we brought from Celaya. This escort is composed of militia who are paid 13 rials for each man daily. What a sad &pitiable condition of the most fertile, lovely &populated part of the republic, where travellers may not Journey with safety without an escort of armed men.—The people of Leon appear very bigoted, no cheerfulness, or sociability, every house appears to be a convent. Their extreme devotion caused me to remark to Don Luis, is it possible that robbers can exist in the midst of so much piety? Ah! my friend, he replied, this piety is one of the cloaks tainted with corruption, that we have inherited from the Spaniards, this manifest superstition is a cloak that we have to shake off before we can make any rapid progress in improvement.
(21st Decr. 1833) To Lagos 12 Leagues. This town is situated upon a rivulet, near which are some lakes from which it derives its name. It is near the foot of the mountain, &here terminates the Bajio.—The lands in the vicinity are very fertile. The church is the highest I have seen, of arabic gothic architecture. It contains a convent of Capuchin nuns, an order more rigid than any other.— Don Luis related to me a sad story of a pretty girl that took the veil when very young.—It appears to me that man must cease to be man, to approve of these prisons, where the most precious part of the works of the Almighty are incarcerated.—All the Bajio has just suffered two great calamities, civil war &the cholera morbus. In some places one half of the population are said to have died.—The road from Queretaro is excellent, very level &but few stones except on a hill this side of Leon.
The fort called Sombrero so renowned in the revolutionary war, is situated between Leon &Lagos, on a little round hill on the left of the road.—The fort of San Gregorio may also be seen from Leon on the left of the road, more distant than the other.
The great obstacle to the improvement of the interior of the republic, is the want of roads to transport produce to the coast for exportation. But it appears to me that this obstacle may in a great measure, be removed, at least so far as regards the Bajio.—I have already said that the country is level as far as Queretaro, and I understand that from Queretaro it is not difficult to open a carriage road to the last navigable point of the river Panuco, which disembogues at Tampico. If this be true, it is clear that the obstacle is not insurmountable; with capitalists &enterprising men this obstacle would in a very little time, be removed.—And then the Bajio, instead of receiving cotton from Texas, would export large quantities to Europe, as also sugar, &would supply the coast with wheat, &other grain. A country without any other exports than gold &silver, can never be anything else than dependent on other nations, without advancing in agriculture any more than what may be necessary for home consumption. Such a country in fine is nothing but a nation of miners, getting out gold to enrich foreign nations.—At Lagos, Don Luis met his friends who had brought a coach for him from Aguas Calientes; &on the 22nd I took leave of this good friend &virtuous, intelligent patriot.—He is one of the most philanthropical men, &the greatest enthusiast for the welfare &felicity of his country that I have known, &the most disinterested and industrious. 22nd Decr. 15 Leagues to Matanzas.—Alone with my servant, I took the road to San Luis Potosi, &expected to overtake there Genl. Pedro Lemus, commander general of the internal States of the East, who was going to Monterey. It was my intention to go by Cienaga de Matapara in order to purchase a good horse of those raised at that place, which are said to be of the best kind in the republic. But on arriving at the Hacienda, called Instancias Grande, I abandoned the idea, as it was so much out of the way, &having remained a short time at Instancias, I passed the night at Matanzas, very fatigued as it was the first day since the month of May that I had been on horseback.—The general aspect of the country today was mountainous &sterile—nothing of much interest.
23rd. I slept at Gallina, 16 Leagues, a Hacienda belonging to the Marquis del Jaral. It did not appear to me very fertile—more adapted to raising stock than for farming purposes.
Decr. 24th 1833 I arrived at San Luis (15 Leagues from ..... 5 of Gallina) a little after sunset, &stoped at the tavern de San Antonio, where I met Mr. Maurice Hebenstricke, a merchant from Matamoros. I arrived very tired but less than the former day, rather worse for a bad headache.—
25th. I remained in San Luis Potosi. Mr. Oregis a partner of Dall's came to see me, also Mr. Cayetana Rubio from whom I received the $100 on the draft from W. S. Parrott. I bought a horse for $20, in order to put part of the load, that was on the mule, my servant Jerman was riding, so as to travel faster that I might overtake Genl. Lemus, who had left the day previous. I bought a blanket for 20 rials.—I went to the house of the commandant Genl to enquire for Genl Lemus, &in the office a person told me that he had left for Monterey on the 23rd.
All the streets leading to the public square were still fortified with bulwarks, constructed during the siege.
The city appeared to be growing. It could be, &some day will be the depot for the produce of the neighboring country, for the commerce which will extend itself from Tampico by way of the river Panuco, &by a road from the highest navigable point on the river. A work which in a more civilized &favored country, would be concluded in a year; But here it will be a work of many years, &perhaps of half a century. Texas cotton is here worth $30 a hundred, in N. Orleans $10.
Dec 26th 1833 B 6 Leagues.
“ 27th “ Laborcilla (near to Charcas) 20 “.
“ 28th “ Guadalupe Carnizero 16 “.
“ 29th “ Vanegas 15 “.
“ 30th “ Salado 14 “.
“ 31th “ Rancho Jesus Maria 15 “.
January 1st 1834 Agua Nueva 12 “.
“ 2nd “ Saltillo at 3 in the afternoon. 9 “.
On “ 3rd “ I was arrested by Genl Lemus by orders from the Secretary of War dated in Mexico 21st December.
The Genl treated me with the greatest attention &delicacy for which I am, &always will be grateful.
On the 4th we left Saltillo.—I traveled in the coach with the Genl and his family.—We slept at Los Muertos.—The weather was very cold, the wind being very strong from the north.—
On the 5th we arrived at la Rinconada.
“ “ 6 “ Monterey.—I was put in a very convenient &clean room, with a guard at the door.—My servant went out &came in when he pleased, &thus everything was furnished me, nothing was wanted but liberty.—On the 7th Horatio Alsberry came to see me.—I wrote to don Luis de la Rosa, to senator Raphael Llanos, to the governor of the State of Coahuila &Texas, to José Maria Viesca, to the chief of the department of Bexar, to Francisco Ruiz, to the Ayuntamiento of Austin, sending them, &to the governor &to the chief of the department a copy of the answer of the minister concerning the petition of Texas to be a state.—
I sent a copy of my letter to the Ayuntamiento of Austin, to the governor &to the Chief of Department.
I wrote to Williams &to Perry &to D. W. Smith Matamoros. I sent him a demand against the commisariat to collect 796.6 that Williams paid to the troops of Ugartechea &57.3 belonging to James Ross, also a letter to D. J. Toler concerning the draft of Reynolds against Hebenstricke, instructing Smith to collect the whole of it, &to send the first to Williams, &the draft to W. S. Parrott in Mexico.
Monterey 20th January 1834. I drew on D. W. Smith for $100 (of Matamoros) which I received from V.... 7 for my expenses to Mexico, &left on this day. We slept at Santa Catarina.—21st at los muertos, the weather bad, with rain &hail.
22nd at Saltillo
23rd Tanque de la Vaca
24th Ventasa
25th Salado
26th Vanegas
27th Guadalupe Carra
28th Charcas
29th Hidionda
30th Garrabatya
31st San Luis
February 1st 1834 Remained at San Luis
2nd Rodriguez
3rd San Bartola
4 Francas—It rained the whole day
5 Atotoxilco. (S...... 8 a river)
6 Cerritos—a rancho
7 Queretaro
8 Id
9 San Juan del Rio
10 Arroyo Sarco
11 Tula
12 Gua[n]titlan
13 Mexico, where I was put in the inquisition, shut up in the dark dungeon No. 15 ¬ allowed communication with any one.
14th Feb. 1834.—I heard cannon which were fired at intervals all day as funeral honors to Guerrero who was shot on the 14th Feb 1831.—
15th The visit of the prison today.—I was permited to walk with a centinel in a yard, alone, to take exercise.—I asked for books, but was not permited to have any.—
In the dungeon No 15 Ex-inquisition 18th Feb 1834.
Lieutenant Col José Maria Bermuda notified me that my judge &attorney general were appointed. He lives in Santa Ines Street No. 1.
19th the attorney came for me to sign an act.
20th.—In order to understand the affairs of Texas, &to explain them perfectly, it is only necessary to ascertain some very simple points.
1st What means are most resorted to, to move &influence the actions of mankind.—It is interest.
2nd Is it, or not, the interest of Texas to seperate herself, even if she were at liberty to do so? No, certainly it is not.
Is it, or not, the interest of the U. States of the North to acquire Texas? It is not, because she would extend her territory too much, &what is worse, she would annex a large district, which would have no interest in common with the rest of the republic. All the rivers of Texas take their rise in Texas, at but little distance from each other, and do not enter the Territories of the north, so as to form bonds of union, as does the river Mississippi with Louisiana &other states adjacent. There is no market in the North for the produce of Texas, &there is in Mexico. Texas is more distant from the city of Washington than from the city of Mexico.—As regards the commerce with Europe, the Mexican flag is equal to that of the North.—What then is the true interest of Texas? It is to have a local government to cement &strengthen its union with Mexico instead of weakening or breaking it. What Texas wants, is an organization of a local government, &it is of little consequence whether it be part of Coahuila or as a separate state or Territory, provided the organization be a suitable one.—
She is at this time suffering in the departments of, 1st Justice, 2nd colonization, 3rd Indian, 4th Police, &internal improvements, in fine in every department.
22nd Feb 1834 Nothing more of the attorney since the 19th. What a horrible punishment is solitary confinement, shut up in a dungeon with scarcely light enough to distinguish anything.—If I were a criminal it would be another thing, but I am not one.—I have been ensnared &precipitated, but my intentions were pure and correct.—I desired to cement the Union of Texas with Mexico, &to promote the welfare &advancement of my adopted country, by populating the Northern &Eastern frontier. I have been impatient, and have allowed myself to be compromised and ensnared by the political events of last year, &by the excitement caused by them in Texas.—I do not see how I could have avoided what has passed in Texas; my conscience acquits me of anything wrong, except impatience &imprudence, I am in no sense criminal. A public agent should sacrifice himself, life &property, should it become necessary in order to carry out the views of his constituents. I perhaps have followed this rule to an extreme.
Sunday 23rd Feb. 1838. 9
Philanthrophy is but another name for trouble. I have laboured with pure intentions to benefit others, &especially to advance &improve my adopted country; &what have I gained? Enemies, persecution, imprisonment, accused of ingratitude to Mexico, which is the most unjust of all accusations that can possibly be brought against me.—If I have been ungrateful to any one, it is to myself &family, for I have neglected my &their interests &happiness to labor for others.—My poor sister who removed to the wilderness of Texas with her large family owing to my solicitations, &left a comfortable home &a large circle of warm &kind friends.—My poor sister, how much is she now suffering on my account.—How happy I could have been on a farm alongside of my brother-in-law far from all the cares &difficulties that now surround me.—But I thought it was my duty to obey the call of the people, &go to Mexico as their agent.—I have sacrificed myself to serve them, &in all probability the only return I shall receive, will be abuse &ingratitude.
It is horrible that I should have lived to find myself on the verge of misanthropy, soured &disgusted with mankind. My difficulties have proceeded from an excess of zeal to serve others, but I shall be calumniated by them, Although I have loved the whole human family with the most unbounded enthusiasm &confidence.—I have been impatient, and consequently imprudent, but not criminal in anything. My conscience is clear, but that will not save me from calumny &misconstruction. Nature gave me too much sensibility &too yealding a disposition, too ready to listen to, &be influenced by those who I believed were friends &honest men, and too sensible &tender at their censure or discontent.—The heart of a public man should be made of cold &hard materials, ¬ of the fine &delicate chords of sensibility.—He should be impervious to momentary impulse passion or impatience.—I am naturally impatient, &irritable.
23rd Feb. Mr. Bermudor came to notify me that my cause was taken from him, &that he was no longer my attorney.
I was visited by Padre Muldoon, who had with great difficulty obtained this privilege. He was alllowed to speak to me only in Spanish in presence of the Commandant of the prison, manifesting his friendship &c. I permitted him to make a bargain with some Tavern keeper for my meals, which he did, &sent me wine &cheese, he promised to send me books.
24th I received my food according to Muldoon's promise, but no books. I supposed he has not been permitted to send them.—Time drags on heavily.
25th The new attorney general came to notify me of his appointment. He did not leave his name or residence.
27th Feb.—Theory &practice have clearly demonstrated that the Mexican Republic will not make rapid progress, until she has other exports than gold &silver, because these metals disappear immediately to pay for the imports, and what is worse, agriculture &the arts do not flourish, &very many useful laborers without employment deliver themselves up to vices &to idleness.—It is necessary to stimulate agriculture &the exportation of its products.—On the coast where the transportation to the ports is not distant or costly, nothing more is wanted but labor, population, &capital well directed in the cultivation of the land.—In the interior there is a sufficient population, but without being well directed—&transportation is difficult &costly, as it always must be, on backs of beasts of burthen, and untill they improve &open roads for wagons, instead of roads for mules.—Nature has pointed out the ports for exportation, Vera Cruz, Tampico &Matamoros are the most important.—
There are but few navigable rivers, but up to this time no use or profit has been derived from those which are navigable.—The river Alvarado is navigable for a considerable distance in the interier, and may be very useful for the exports of an extensive &fertile country.—From the head of navigation on this river, wagon roads might be opened to the States of Puebla &Oaxaca, &the produce could be exported at a trifling expense, to that which is paid at this time.—Thus Alvarado would be a depot, &thence the produce would be carried to Vera Cruz by steamboats &schooners.—The capability of this river for navigation is not yet known, &it is worthy the attention of government to send experienced engineers to examine &explore it, also the best routes for carriage roads to the interior.
The river Panuco is another which will one day be very important to the most interesting part of the republic.—It is I say worthy the earliest attention of the government to examine the capability of this river for navigation, and the practicability of roads from the head of navigation to Queretaro, San Luis Potosi, &Mexico through the plains of Apam.
With a good road to Queretaro all the Bajio of the rich State of Guanaxuato would have great facilities to export the products of agriculture.
The Rio Grande is another important channel, &in time of high water, would serve to export the produce as far as Chihuahua.
In the South there is the river of Guaracualco &of Tabasco navigable.—Also on the coast of the Pacific there are some rivers which are navigable, or susceptible of important improvements.
The idea that the interior of Mexico is without resources for transportation to the coast, is erroneous, as experience will one day demonstrate. They ought to dedicate themselves to opening roads on McAdam's plan, from Mexico to Vera-Cruz—from the same to Acapulco, to San Luis Potosi through Queretaro to the head of navigation on Panuco river, &from that point to Queretaro &San Luis, extending the former to as far as Guadalaxara, &the latter to Zacatecas.
Roads from the head of navigation on Alvarado river as far as Puebla &Oaxaca. All these roads should be carriage roads, &when finished, they should proceed to open lateral roads to intersect the principal ones.
A road from the ports of Texas to the paso del Norte &New Mexico with the object of attracting the commerce of $2000000 annually, to the ports &territory of the republic, which now comes from Missouri. This commerce would be a very strong chain to bind Texas to the federation, &all the expenses &c erogated by the merchants for the transportation of merchandize would be made in the Mexican territory, &would result to the benefit of the Mexicans.
March 2nd 1834.—I obtained today a book—a tale called yes &no—Muldoon failed in his promise to send me books—I prefer bread &water with books, to the best of eating without them.—In a dungeon, the mind &thoughts require aliment more than the body.
March 4th. Four dollars were paid to me for my support, the only money I have received since my entrance.—
13th At half past ten at night there was a very severe earth quake.
March 15th At six in the morning an earth quake more severe than the other.
March 16th Sunday.
I received “l'histoire de Philippe 2nd roi d'Espagne” an unnaturalized brute—a devil—a monster—in fine as much as can be expressed or imagined of evil, of hypocrisy, &of cruelty.—He was a blind, obedient and faithful servant of Rome—that mother of executioners, assasins, robbers &tyrants who have desolated the civilized world, filling it with mourning, terror, &ruin, °rading mankind far below the level of brutes.
A Lion protects its offspring, but Philip the 2nd, Catholic King of Spain is the executioner of his own son, the unfortunate Don Carlos; who was delivered by his most Christian father's own hands to the Inquisitors, and by these Holy agents of Rome, condemned to death.
The brute of a father said to the Inquisitors—`Have no regard to the rank which the prince holds in the State; do your duty, &know that zeal for religion has stifled all paternal love in me.'
At the moment of signing the sentence of death against his son, he said, directing himself to God, `You know Lord I have no other motive than sustaining your interests, &the glory of your Holy name.'
Is it possible to believe that mankind have been able to look upon such beasts, as the representatives of God on the earth! Kings &rulers—executioners of innocent children—Robbers, all by divine providence, &to sustain the interests &Glory of God! The massacre at Saint Bartholomy on the 24th August 1572 in France, in which more than 70,000 Frenchmen perished, treacherously assassinated by order of the King, Charles IX, was an act very worthy of Rome &very characteristic of the kind of piety which governed the councils of the conclave of Saint Peter.
People of Mexico! can you throw a glance at the history of Rome, without feeling a pity for your ancestors, &without shaking off at once that religious yoke which has held, &to this day holds you enslaved? Can ye contemplate this edifice—this Inquisition—and call to your memories what has passed within its walls under the name of religion, without shuddering at the past, and making an effort in favour of religious toleration, so that ye may secure your liberties &safety for the future?
The Inquisition was established in Mexico &in Lima by Philip 2nd in 1573, and the first auto da fe in Mexico was in 1574.
March 17th I walked for half an hour in the court where they tell me the autos-da-fe were held—that is, where they burned the unfortunate, whom policy or robbery assassinated under the name of religion.—Fanaticism furnishes a cloak for everything, and is the same with all nations &religions.—Elizabeth, protestant queen of England, sacrificed her relation, Mary of Scotland, to prevent a catholic sovereign ascending the throne, and at the time of the unhappy queen's head being taken off they shouted, “Thus perish the enemies of the religion of Christ.” All this was a cloak, & nothing more, because the crime of Mary consisted in being beautiful, &beloved by every one, and Elizabeth made use of the cloak of religion &policy to cover her own envy, &to gratify it.—At the same time Philip 2nd was kindling the fires of the Autos-da-fe under the pretext of religion, in order to rob, &to sustain his despotic power.
March 19th For the national aggrandizement of the Mexican Republic, are required
1st Religious toleration
2nd Foreign emigration
3rd Protection of agriculture, in order to have a surplus of agricultural products, so as to pay for importations &thus avoid the export of the entire products of the mines, which at this time is leaving the country for the purchase of foreign merchandize.
4th The improvement of the navigation of all the rivers, and the opening of carriage roads from the last navigable point on them, to the interior.
5th The establishment of manufactories—but this ought to be the last step in the national progress.—Manufactories ought to be established after agriculture, &with a dense population.—Without these bases they can neither be useful nor profitable, except by force of restrictions, privileges &monopolies, which are always prejudicial to the people or the great mass of the nation.
March 20th. This day I was notified by a person from the commandant general that I must return the $20 that I had received, because I ought to receive my daily allowance from another quarter—but he did not say from what quarter or authority.
I returned the $20.—Recd. March 4th $4.
“. “ 9th $4
“. “ 12th $4
“. “ 16 $4
“. “ 20th $4
$20
This day I also sent away my servant, Medina &ceased to receive my meals from Offutt's
22nd Sergeant Augustin Gonzalez presented himself in my dungeon on the part of the commandant of the place, Don Domingo Sarmiento, requested the loan of thirty dollars, which I lent to the said commandant.
I also lent ten to the said Sergeant Gonzalez.
Expenses
'To Medina $4.
Book 1
Barber (chili) 0.3½
13th March Medina 6.
Washerwoman .3
20 Medina 5.
22 Lent to the Commandant 30
“ “ Sergeant 10
Bro't forward from daily expenses, to 26th March 17.9½
Table &chair 2.
From 26th March to 3rd April 6.00
4th April. I returned to the person who has paid me, the $20 which I had received from him. He awoke me from a profound sleep.
April 4th 1834.—I received $18 dollars from Don Victor Blanco lent.—Expenses from 3rd to 11th April...... $4.7
11th April I commenced receiving my breakfast &dinner from Mr Offutt No 7 Tiburcio Street.
12th April—It would be an injury to the U. States of the north, to unite Texas to themselves, or to see it made a state of the Mexican federation.
1st Because it would be extending too much territory of that Republic, receiving within its limits a country which is entirely isolated from all the other states, by its geographical situation, &by all the interests of agriculture, manufactures &commerce.
2nd Because Texas as a state, would flourish with rapidity, &would extend the planting of cotton throughout that country, &thence along the whole coast of the Mexican Gulf to so great a degree, that it would tend to reduce the price of that product in the European markets. It would also extend the manufacture of cotton cloth.—The evident result of this would be to injure all the states south of Virginia, whose chief produce &almost the only one which is valuable, is cotton.—The Sugar &Rice of the Mexican States on the Gulf of Mexico, would also compete with the Sugar of Louisiana, &the Rice of Georgia &Carolina.—
On the other hand, the progress of Texas would promote the power of the Mexican Nation to a great degree, by the increase of their physical force, their agriculture, their manufactures, &of which is of more importance than all, their exports of produce, avoiding thereby the extraction of metals from the mines.—The erection of Texas to a State of the Mexican Republic in very few years would cause a moral change of the greatest importance in favour of the Mexican States, &to the prejudice of the U. States of the north, &would even have an influence in the markets of Europe by reducing the price of cotton, and by the gradual increase of manufactories in the Mexican Territory.—
April 13th—In my first exploring trip in Texas in 1821 I had a very good old man with me, who had been raised on the frontiers, and was a first rate hunter.—We had not been many days in the wilderness before he told me “you are too impatient to make a hunter.” Scarcely a day passed that he did not say to me “You are too impatient—you wish to go too fast. I was so once but fifty years experience has learnt me that there is nothing in this world like patience.” Before my trip was ended I saw the benefit of his maxim and I determined to adopt it as a rule in settling the colony which I was then about to commence in Texas. Some have accused me of adhering to this rule and to a system of conciliation and mildness, with too much obstinacy—I do not think I have, tho' perhaps I am not a competent judge—I can however say, that I believe the greatest error I ever committed was in departing from that rule as I did in the city of Mexico in October 1833—I lost patience at the delays in getting the business of the people of Texas despatched and in a moment of impatience wrote an imprudent and perhaps an intemperate letter to the Ayuntamiento of Bexar dated 2nd of October 1833—I can say with truth that a combination of circumstances occurred about that time to make me impatient &my intentions were pure &patriotic as a Mexican citizen, for I had every reason to believe that the people of Texas would not suffer the month of November to pass without organizing a local government, and in that event, it is very evident that it would have been much better to organize by a harmonious consultation of the respective local civil authorities of the municipalities called Ayuntamientos, than by a popular commotion, without the intervention of any recognised legal existing authority.
The circumstances of the case, and the purity of my motives are certainly worthy of consideration—
Texas when I left in 1833 was almost in a state of nature as to its local government—it was in danger of anarchy on the one hand, and of being destroyed by the uncivilized and hostile Indians on the other—these things oppressed me and I may have lost patience—
“The inestimable value of the liberty of the press would not be known, if it were not evident, that with it nothing is to be feared from any arbitrary power.”
Political evils of society are like bad habits in individuals easy to cure in their birth or origin, but very difficult when they have taken deep root.—The political evils of Texas are in their birth, and easy to cure by a proper organization of the local government—
“People in office do more wrong by the foolish things they say, than by the foolish acts they commit.”—So said Terray, minister of Louis 15th, on the accession of Louis 16th
The fable of Prometheus, whose heart was devoured every day by a vulture, being renewed at night for the horrible feast of the day following, represents the imaginary sufferings of mankind— We arise in the morning filled with projects, desires and occupations which destroy our felicity, like the vulture eating the heart of Prometheus—
At night we throw ourselves into bed tired out and miserable, solely that our natures may recover strength to sustain the miseries of the following day—What madness! what folly it is, to permit our thoughts to be converted into the vulture of Prometheus! how to avoid it? Limiting ourselves to what is necessary, to what is substantial, and enjoying life as it comes, without thinking or troubling ourselves about that which we do not possess, or which does not concern us, nor about what may happen hereafter—Very well, according to this man would become a being mentally torpid, that would only exist to breathe, eat and sleep—an animal. Well, what remedy is there then? The remedy is found in conducting ourselves justly, prudently and rationally between an extreme of cares, and an extreme of torpidity—What rule is there to ascertain this? When we find ourselves restless and the head or passions excited for any project or idea, to analize it, applying to it these questions. Is it just, is it practicable, is it necessary—what benefit will result to our fellow men or to ourselves—what may be the immediate or future consequences of it? Well, according to this we should never act mentally or physically unless justice, reason and judgement, previous examination and mature analysis should qualify as just, practicable, necessary &c whatever we think of doing—and we should never act with impatience, impulse or passion—Yes, so it is. And how many men act thus? very few—perhaps none. Unfortunately the duty &the acts of mankind in general are like the religion of Rome, in theory divine, in practice infernal. How can this be said of a religion whose foundation is perfect harmony, a union of principles, &of action? Because the history and conduct of Rome demonstrate it, from the time her first Bishop usurped from the other Bishops the right of governing their respective dioceses as to spiritual matters. The power of the pope originated from usurpation, and not from divine creation &in order not to deviate from the principles of its origin the pontiffs have gone on usurping and robbing from that time to the present, adding temporal or regal powers, as if it were possible that God, or divine and spiritual things, could be divine, perfect, pure &immortal; and at the same time human, imperfect, corrupt, tangible, sensual &mortal, thus uniting a contradiction which is palpable, monstrous and subversive of the foundation of the religion of Christ—which foundation is purity. How can purity exist in unity with the passions, interests &corruptions of temporal or human things? That which is pure, perfect, &immortal, cannot be united with that which is impure, imperfect, &mortal, &form a compound body, thing, or essence, without changing its nature or original principles; as for example, white can not be mixed with black, &always remain white; nevertheless mankind have seen the pure white of the religion of Christ mixed by Rome with the black passions, &human things without being aware that in this union the white has disappeared &the black has predominated.—What blindness, what prejudice, what ignorance! Those who are in favour of religious intolerance, and of the temporal power of the clergy, have not analized their thoughts by the rule before mentioned, nor by any other rule, except by that of their private interest, of despotism, injustice, robbery &usurpation, or by ignorance unworthy of civilized men.
In the dungeon 20th April 1834 10
April 26th 1834 I obtained two volumes of the “Oeuvres de Platon traduites par Victor Cousin”.
27th April. Political philosophy—
The people, or I should say the patriots of Mexico conceived, put in execution, &are perfecting the most difficult, grand &noble work, which has been known &seen in the world since the days of Adam—the establishment of a sistem of government popular, liberal, &free, in a country where the customs &opinions of the people are diametrically opposed &repugnant to such a sistem, a work more worthy divine power, than of human debility. Political writers have set it down as a dogma or axiom that in the formation of Governments a natural course of things should be followed—what they call the natural course of things, is that Government, should be constructed, according to the customs prejudices and existing ideas of the great mass of the people, &that it would be unnatural, forcible &dangerous to attempt to regulate or accomodate these customs, prejudices &ideas to a system to which the people were repugnant &opposed. Up to this time we have seen mankind, who had to organize themselves, follow the natural course spoken of by the political writers or philosophers, and Mexico alone has the glory of having demonstrated the contrary, and of proving that the genuine principles of liberty &of truth are of divine origin, and as such are stronger than the customs and erroneous ideas which are of human origin, &therefore that the first principles are of more value, even in the abstract, than the second, notwithstanding the last are rooted and fortified by the practice of centuries. The United States of the North have the glory of having demonstrated, the practicability &advantage of a popular system for a people whose customs &opinions were prepared beforehand, for that system. This was a grand step which excited the admiration of the civilized world, &caused the thrones &gothic institutions of Europe to tremble. Mexico has the glory of having done much more &has gone beyond the people of the north in having demonstrated that the principles of truth &liberty in the abstract, or of themselves are essentially more strong than the prejudices &erroneous customs, &that the latter may be destroyed notwithstanding the force which they derive, from the practice of centuries, or from the veneration which their great antiquity may attract for them.
What a flattering lesson is this for oppressed nations, &how fearful a one for the tyrants of Europe: they, with the Pope (falsely called the most holy) at their head sustain that their power is of divine origin &that it is necessary to exercise it on the people because they cannot govern themselves, it may be, as some say, because they are naturally degraded &cannot pass above the level of slaves; or it may be, as others say, because their manners &customs are so bad that they cannot enjoy freedom without injury to themselves, like children with a penknife. Mexico answers this, denying that despotism &usurpation have such a divine origin, on the contrary, that their origin is human &therefore must yield to that which is truly divine or to principles of Liberty &truth.
These principles find a sympathy, a reception and a natural &instinctive or spontaneous protection in that part of man which has equally a divine origin, that is to say in the soul; because both spring from the same source, which is divine &consequently stronger than human inventions &things &must prevail.
If this power of kings &of other despots is of divine origin it should not perish or be weakened because otherwise we must admit that the works of providence are mortal &perishable.
April 29. Today padre Muldoon came to visit me by permission of President Santana, &so I knew that the president had returned to Mexico six days ago—I did not know it before— I know nothing of what passes outside, no one is allowed to speak to me, nor am I with anybody I am incomunicadisimo. What a system of jurisprudence is this of confining those accused or suspected without permitting them to take any steps to make manifest their innocence or to procure proofs for their trial, they can neither consult with counsel, lawyer, friend or anybody— I do not know of what I am accused how can I prepare my defence? perhaps, I will have to send to Texas for proofs of my innocence, how can I do so, being shut up—&incommunicated. This system may be in conformity with law, but I am ignorant of which law—or of what rights the party accused has, but it is very certain that such a system is in no wise in conformity with justice, reason or common sense.
Mail from Nacogdoches to river Sabine at Gains ferry every two weeks, 20 leagues distant.
This mail ought to arrive from the Sabine at Nacogdoches the day before the mail leaves that place for Bexar. I recommend James Gains as postmaster on the Sabine. He is a Mexican citizen since the year 1820 married to a Mexican &understands the English and Spanish languages, &has a house &property on the river Sabine sufficient to live with comfort.
The mail from the U. S. of the North arrives at the Sabine in front of Gains house, so that it will be very easy to change the correspondence at that point, and so establish a communication by mail from all places in Mexico with every place in the United States of the North. For the said exchange all that is necessary is that the government of the north should be advised through their charge here, of the desire of this Govt to change the correspondence on the Sabine.
The postage on letters &papers on each side should be paid to the line, &after passing should pay such postage as is required by the laws of the respective republics.
[I have written this sketch mainly from one personal conversation with Mr. Charles Adolphus Sterne, from letters, written in compliance with my request, by him and his sister, Mrs. Rosine Ryan 11; and from the subject's general reputation; but partly from works on Texas history.—W. P. Z.]
Adolphus Sterne was born in Cologne, Germany, in January, 1800. In 1824 he came from Germany, by way of New Orleans, Louisiana, to Nacogdoches, Texas, and settled there as a merchant. He purchased his supplies in New Orleans, shipped them on steamboats up the Mississippi and Red rivers to Natchitoches, and had them hauled thence on wagons to Nacogdoches. He resided at Nacogdoches during the remainder of his life.
Here, in spite of his German antecedents, Mr. Sterne was regarded as an American. The Mexican population so regarded all white people, except those speaking the Spanish language. Mr. Sterne had a good English education and spoke the English language plainly, and he was not easily distinguishable from nativeborn Americans. His instinctive preference was for his own race; and hence, when differences arose between the Americans and the Mexicans, his sympathies were with the former.
In 1826 Mr. Sterne became identified with the local political party known as the “Fredonians.” His service was to purchase munitions of war in New Orleans, and smuggle them to his friends in Texas. He packed gun-flints, powder, and lead, into bales of dry-goods and barrels of coffee, and thus sent them to Nacogdoches, where he afterwards delivered them to Benjamin Edwards and Martin Palmer. But he was watched by the secret agents of the Mexican consul at New Orleans. They discovered his device, and reported it to the consul, and he reported it to his Government and to Norris, the Anti-Fredonian alcalde at Nacogdoches.
He was one of the twenty Fredonians captured by Ahumada's troops in January, 1827; and, on account of his smuggling munitions of war to the enemy, Ahumada excepted him from his compliance with Austin's request to release his prisoners. He was tried by a military court, convicted of treason, and condemned to be shot; but his execution was necessarily delayed till his sentence could be sent to Saltillo, approved by the military department commander, General Teran, and returned. While awaiting Teran's reply, he was chained and confined in the cuartel. But the charge against him had not been positively proven, and he entertained a bright hope of being pardoned, which was realized.
It has often been said that no Free Mason can be lawfully punished for crime if the power of conviction or pardon rests in one or more members of the fraternity. All intelligent Free Masons know this to be false; but, in cases of purely political offenses, Masonry has frequently been the means of saving life. Mr. Sterne being a Mason of high degree, his Masonic friends in New Orleans interceded for him through the agency of General Teran, who was also a Mason of high rank, and Teran procured his pardon. But his liberation was on parole not again to bear arms against the Mexican government, nor to aid its enemies.
Aware of the efforts of his friends in New Orleans to procure his pardon, and confident of their success, Mr. Sterne endured his imprisonment, not only patiently, but also cheerfully. An interesting incident illustrates his confidence of final release. Being a man of pleasant manners, he enjoyed the friendship of his guards; and his cheerful deportment satisfied them that he would not try to escape, but that he preferred patiently to await the approval or disapproval of his sentence. Hence they gave to him as much liberty as they could, and became, in fact, careless. He purposely wore loose boots, which he could easily draw off and on his feet, and his chain was locked around one of them. One evening his guards locked the doors of his room, and went to a fandango. Left alone, he drew the boot off his chained leg, and the chain with it. Then he raised a sash, went out through a window, proceeded to his store, dressed himself properly, and made his way also to the fandango. There he found his guards, who were much startled by his arrival; but he and they promised not to inform against each other, and all were easy. One of his friends, in surprise, said to him, “Why, Sterne, how came you here?” “I walked,” was his reply. “But why are you here?” “To dance, of course.”
And dance he did. In good time, he returned to his store, resumed his prison garb, went back to his prison, reëntered it through the window, and drew on his boot and the chain with it. When his guards returned, they found him as they had left him.
If the Mexican officers ever learned of this adventure, they apparently never noticed it.
In 1832 Mr. Sterne was with the Texians 12 in the battle of Nacogdoches, and in pursuit of the Mexicans to and across the Angelina river; but, being under parole, he did not use a gun. Yet he piloted the troops, informed them concerning the places of Mexican rendezvous, and carried water to them. Fortunately for him, the Texians were victorious.
In 1835, in New Orleans, Mr. Sterne raised the company called the “New Orleans Grays,” which assisted Colonels Milam and Johnson in capturing Bexar. Among the men of that company were Thomas F. Lubbock, Henry S. Fisher, Thomas William Ward, John D. McLeod, and other men distinguished in Texas history. 13
In 1839 Adolphus Sterne was captain of a company of volunteers in the command of General Douglass, in the Cherokee war, which company he commanded in the battle of Neches, on July 16th, 1839. In that battle, which continued during an hour and a half or two hours, the Cherokees were defeated with a loss of about one hundred men, killed and wounded. The forces of the Texians were estimated at 500, and those of the Indians at 800, the latter not all Cherokees. Among the slain of the Cherokees was their grand chief Bowls. The loss of the Texians was only five killed, and twenty-seven wounded. 14 In this battle Captain Sterne was slightly wounded. It virtually closed our war with the Cherokees, as they no longer occupied Texas soil, and their subsequent hostilities were perpetrated only on incursions into our country.
Mr. Sterne at different times filled the civil offices of justice of the peace, county commissioner, post master, and state senator. He also held a commission (yet in possession of his family) signed by Sam Houston, President of the Republic of Texas, appointing him on the presidential staff, with the rank of major. He was an original member of the Grand Lodge of Texas, A. F. &A. M. He helped to organize it, on December 20th, 1837, and was then elected deputy grand master. 15
As to Mr. Sterne's religion, he was identified with the Roman Catholic Church, his mother and his wife both being devoted members thereof.
My father, Abraham Zuber, became acquainted with Adolphus Sterne in 1827, and was ever afterward his warm personal friend. I myself never saw him; but I have gathered the substance of the following description of his character from what I have heard my father and other friends say of him.
In address and conversation, he was courteous, social, cheerful, and refined. In temper, he was mild; in principle, pure; in purpose, firm; in patriotism, devoted; in statement, candid; in business, honorable; in friendship, faithful. Of course, he was beloved and honored by those who were so fortunate as to know him personally.
Captain Sterne died in New Orleans, in March, 1852, at the age of fifty-two years, and about two months. In April of the same year, his remains were removed to his home at Nacogdoches, and there buried.
Captain Sterne was blessed with a model wife. Mrs. Eva Catherine Rosine Sterne, née Ruff, was born at Eslenger, kingdom of Wurtemberg, Germany, July 23d, 1809. Of the date of her immigration to America, I have no account. Her marriage to Adolphus Sterne occurred at Natchitoches, Louisiana, June 2d, 1828, when she was not quite nineteen years old. Thenceforth her home was in Nacogdoches, till 1859. Mrs. Sterne was a Christian lady, a devoted Catholic, and distinguished for her plainness, sociability, conscientiousness, discretion, and firmness; for devotion to her husband and children, and to their friends; also for her hospitality, charity, and other Christian virtues. Like her husband, she was an American and a patriot. Her home in Nacogdoches was the rendezvous of the women and children of the surrounding country, during the perilous times when the men were on duty and under arms.
The published report of the unveiling of the Burnet-Sherman monument, at Lake View Cemetery, Galveston Island, on March 2, 1894, in a tribute to Mrs. Rosine Ryan, says of Mrs. Sterne,—
“Mrs. Ryan's mother was god-mother to General Houston, who presented her with a valuable set of jewelry, which she afterward wore at the fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.”
In compliance with my request, Mrs. Ryan kindly explained this statement to me as follows: Recognizing the requirement of the constitution and laws of Mexico, that a prerequisite to citizenship and to holding office was to support the Roman Catholic Church, General Sam Houston was baptized into that church; and had Mrs. Sterne for his sponsor. Afterward, as is well known, General Houston, with the other members of the Convention, signed the Declaration of Independence, at Washington-on-the-Brazos, on the second day of March, 1836, which was his own birthday. Later he sent to Mrs. Sterne a handsome set of jewelry, with the request that she would wear it on each succeeding anniversary of that day. She did so till bereavement and sorrow came, when she laid the jewels aside. But, at the laying of the corner-stone of the capitol at Austin, at which she was present, on March 2, 1886, that being the fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration, her regard for the two events, occurring just fifty years apart, induced her again to wear them on that day.
In 1859 Mrs. Sterne left Nacogdoches, where she had resided during about thirty-one years, and settled in Austin. Thence, in 1874 or 1875, she removed with her daughter, Mrs. Ryan, to Houston, which was her last earthly home.
Mrs. Sterne's daughter, Mrs. Ryan, on May 4th, 1895, wrote of her: “Mrs. Sterne is, at this date, living in Houston, Texas, and, at the good old age of eighty-six years, is well—as bright as when a young woman, fleeing on horseback with her babies from the Mexicans, in the troublous days of the thirties.”
The minutes of the Texas Veteran Association for 1896 shewed that this worthy widow of a worthy Texas veteran yet lived, but the minutes for 1897 shewed that she was dead.
Captain and Mrs. Sterne had seven children, whose names, with the addresses of those yet alive, are as follows:
1.Mrs. Eva Helena Eugenia Barrett, widow of the late Thomas C. Barrett, Austin, Texas.
2.Charles Adolphus Sterne, Palestine, Texas.
3.Joseph Amador Sterne, deceased.
4.William Logan Sterne, deceased.
5.Placide Rusk Sterne, New York City.
6.Mrs. Laura Theresa Cave, deceased. Her husband, Major E. W. Cave, resides in Houston, Texas.
7.Mrs. Rosine Ryan, widow of the late William Aurelius Ryan, Houston, Texas.
[In the preparation of this article three original manuscripts have been consulted and these will be referred to by appropriate abbreviations, as follows: (1) “Historia del Descubrimiento y Poblacion de Texas hasta el año de 1730. Escrita por el Padre J. Melchor y Talamantes,” will be referred to as “Talamantes.” The original of this is found in the Archivo General de Mexico, Seccion de Historia, Tomo 43. (2) The collection of the various decrees relating to the transportation of settlers from the Canary Islands to Texas is found in Volume 84 of the same section, under the title “Colonos para Texas.” Reference will be made to the separate decrees and reports. (3) “Representacion de la Villa de Sn.. Fernando al Sr.. Gobernador de Texas, Varon de Ripperda,” is found in Volume 28 of the same section. The manuscript will be referred to simply as “Representacion.”—I. J. C.]
Previous to 1730, Spanish operations in Texas were either of a military or religious character, and were only temporary in effect. The object of the Spanish authorities, to prevent the encroachments of the French upon Texas territory, was but imperfectly realized. After three successive attempts, the missions of Eastern Texas were abandoned. The only result of four costly entradas by the governors of Coahuila was the extension of the frontier line of Spanish occupation from the Rio Grande to the San Antonio river, where five struggling missions and a presidial garrison of forty-three men remained as the only outposts of Spanish civilization in Texas.
The method of reducing the province by the combined efforts of missionary and soldier had resulted in utter failure. The reasons for this are not hard to find. In the first place, the frairs were working with hopeless material. The Texas Indians had neither the aptitude nor the desire for civilization. Then the scanty returns of the friars' labor were wholly lost by lack of support, at critical times, from the home government. This may have been due, in a measure, to some possible dissension between the rival Franciscan colleges of Querétaro and Zacatecas. 16 But even on the field of their labors, their task was a vain one, because of the brutal and licentious conduct of the presidial soldiers toward the Indians. Those who should have been the support of the mission movement proved to be its greatest enemies, and contributed not a little to its ultimate failure.
With the lack of success of missionary and presidial effort, there remained but one resource known to Spanish colonization—the creation of a municipality. The Marquis of Aguayo had already recommended this. 17 The Padre Espinosa, at the same time, had represented to the Viceroy, Riviera, the importance of a chosen population, well supplied with farming implements and domestic animals, as an object lesson to the neophytes. He asked that married men, with their families, should form the guards for the missions; that they should enjoy the pay of soldiers for two years, meanwhile cultivating lands assigned to them, and, at the end of that time, receive a title to the lands they were cultivating. Some poor families of the City of Mexico volunteered for this service, but the great distance precluded the possibility of using them. Levies were made in cities nearer Texas, and among the drafted colonists were many released from the prisons. With such helpers, Aguayo began the work of re-establishing the missions in his famous entrada of 1721. 18
Upon the recommendation of the Viceroy, the King determined to people Texas as a more effectual protection against the French. Accordingly, in 1722, he gave orders for the transportation of 400 families from the Canary Islands to that province. 19 Little attention seems to have been paid to this order, but a later cedula of February 14, 1729, bids every vessel clearing for Havana to carry ten or twelve families, destined for Texas. This seems to have been more successful, for we learn the next year that a company of colonists from the Canary Islands are at the little pueblo of Guantitlan, near Mexico, ready to engage in the arduous task of subduing the wild domain of Texas. 20
On the banks of the San Antonio river, near the spot selected for the new settlement, there were already located the presidio of San Antonio de Bexar and five missions. Three of these had recently been transplanted from Eastern Texas. 21 Only one of them, San José de Aguayo, had been founded originally on this river. The remaining mission, San Antonio de Valero, had been removed from the banks of the Rio Grande. This mission, with the presidio, formed the nucleus of the modern city of San Antonio. Talamantes mentions the sending, in 1718, of a company of soldiers to the banks of the San Antonio river. The Viceroy, Marquis de Valero, had ordered Governor Alarcon of Coahuila to send fifty soldiers of good character to that river. He sent forward a less number of questionable character. At the same time the mission of San Antonio was removed from the Rio Grande. 22 In a report of 1794 Governor Munoz says that San Antonio was garrisoned in 1715. But as this was before the expedition of St. Denis and Ramon, his statement is more than doubtful. Father Talamantes had access to the best of authorities, the records of the Franciscan colleges of Zacatecas and Querétaro, and his statement that both presidio and mission were founded in 1718 may be taken as determining the date of the founding of San Antonio. All that remained, then, was to add the third element of Spanish colonization—a fully equipped municipality, and the settlement on the San Antonio would complete the full course of Spanish development.
We first hear of the families from the Canary Islands on the 9th of September, 1730. On that day the notary public of the pueblo of Guantitlan formed a list of the various families comprising the new colonists, with a full description of each individual. From this list we learn that the early settlers-to-be of the new villa were as follows: Juan Leal Gonzal, wife, three sons, and one daughter; Juan Carbelo, wife, two sons, and three daughters; Juan Leal y Moso (son of the first man), wife, four sons, and one daughter; Antonio Santio [Santos?], wife, one son, and four daughters; José Padron, and wife; Manuel de la Nis [Niz?], wife, and daughter; Salvador Rodriguez, wife and son; Maria Rodriguez (widow of Juan Cabrara, who died near Vera Cruz), two sons, and one daughter; Maria Rodriguez (widow of Juan Rodriguez Granadillo), and two sons; Maria Melian (widow of Luca Delgado), three sons, and one daughter; five single men: Antonio Rodriguez, Phelipe Perez, José Antonio Perez, Martin Lorenzo de Armas, and Ignacio Lorenzo de Armas—a total of 52 persons. In addition to the names, there was given a full description of each person, comprising the place of his birth, the names of his parents, his station in life, his occupation, and his physical characteristics. The latter were also given for each child. From this description we learn that the colonists came from the islands of Teneriffe, Palma, and Lanzarote. 23
We next take up the report of the auditor-general, and from it we learn that Francisco Dubal had acted as the conductor of the party from Vera Cruz. The auditor-general says that Dubal shall continue to act in the same capacity and proceeds to map out the daily journeys between Guantitlan and Saltillo. The list contained twenty-five journeys and added four extra days for necessary stops, thus allowing them twenty-nine days to complete the distance (150 to 170 leagues) between Guantitlan and Saltillo.
Since September 6th each person had enjoyed a grant from the royal treasury of four reales per day. In making the estimates for the journey to Saltillo, the auditor-general mentions the number of colonists as fifty-six, although the list of the notary public contains only fifty-two names. As the former number is mentioned in all succeeding dispatches, we may take this as the actual number and leave all surmises for the more curious. The auditor-general still mentions the number of families as ten. He estimates the probable expense of the journey at 852 pesos, with 145 more for the conductor. The latter must have a list of the families to present to the alcaldes mayores of the various districts through which they pass, together with a list of the beasts of burden and baggage, to serve as bases for providing for the needs of the company. These lists the conductor must deliver to Colonel Aguirre, the governor of Coahuila. The alcaldes mayores must also send to Aguirre an account of the provisions they have furnished. These officers would be duly notified to fulfill their part. The conductor was empowered to ask for additional aid, if his march should be delayed beyond the twenty-nine days assigned for its completion. 24
Having the reports of the notary public and of the auditor-general before him, the Marquis de Casa Fuerte, at that time the viceroy of New Spain, proceeded to issue the necessary decrees for conveying the colonists to San Antonio de Bexar. First he ordered the alcalde mayor of Guantitlan to deliver the persons mentioned in the list of the notary public to Francisco Dubal, after noting any change in the number on account of births or deaths. He was also to make an inventory of the various belongings of the families and send it to the viceroy to be forwarded to Colonel Aguirre. The march is to begin on the 15th of November. 25 The marquis next issued a decree to the governors of Nueva Leon and Coahuila, to the alcaldes mayores, and to the justizias along the route of march, to render such aid as the colonists might need. 26 In this decree he mentions the number of families as fifteen. This number appears in all the following decrees.
With the colonists safely on the road to Saltillo the viceroy sends orders to Colonel Aguirre to provide for the next stage of the route. Aguirre is to send an escort of ten soldiers from Saltillo to the Rio Grande (which in this decree is called both the “Rio Grande” and the “Rio del Norte”). The viceroy gives the list of twenty-three daily journeys, and advises a two days' rest at the Presidio del Norte. This, with certain provisions for saints' days, results in an estimate of thirty-three days for the completion of the journey. The daily allowance for colonists and conductor will make the cost of provisions to be furnished for this part of the journey amount to 1089 pesos. The captain of the Presidio del Norte will provide the escort from that point to San Antonio. Aguirre, in addition to the allowance for provisions, is to furnish each family with a yoke of oxen and necessary implements for cultivating the soil, as well as a metate for grinding corn. The total expense of food for these colonists from Guantitlan to San Antonio de Bexar was estimated at about $2000. If one considers all the expense necessary to provide each family with oxen and farming implements, and adds this to the probable cost of the voyage from the Canary Islands to Guantitlan, he wonders where later writers get their authority for the statement that the total cost of transportation of these colonists was between seventy and eighty thousand dollars. 27
Governor Aguirre was also to take an inventory of the possessions of the colonists, to see if any of the articles entrusted to them at Guantitlan were missing. The conductor must give a detailed account of his journey, together with all vouchers for provisions and goods furnished. These vouchers, reports, and inventories are to be sent to the royal treasury at Mexico for payment. 28 By this system of mutual checks the accounts of the expedition were to be kept straight and the opportunities for peculation minimized.
Having thus arranged for the safe conduct of the families to San Antonio de Bexar, the viceroy next had to send orders to the governor of Texas, or in his absence to the captain of the presidio of San Antonio de Bexar, to prepare for their coming. In the first place, the governor is to aid the colonists with provisions to the extent of four reales per day, and to continue this aid for one year after their arrival, at the same prices that provisions are furnished to the soldiers. It is interesting to note how different this course was from that pursued by the English government toward its colonists. In addition, at the proper season, the governor is to provide seeds for planting, and to see that the families attend to the planting at the proper time, in order to have provisions for the second year. Perhaps this second paternalistic requirement was made necessary by the first, and from what we know of the character of these colonists, as shown later, was not needless. The governor is to take the advice of such experienced persons as may be necessary, and is to send an account to the royal treasury. 29
The next decree may have been necessary from a Spanish standpoint, but to us it seems almost useless. The governor was to make a new list of the persons composing the fifteen families, in order to confer upon them, as the first settlers, and upon their descendants, the title of “Hijos Dalgos,” or, as we more commonly term it, “Hidalgos.” This was a regular honor bestowed upon the first settlers of a new city in the colonies, 30 and seems to have been the survival of a similar custom in Spain during the period of the Moorish wars. The subsequent history of the villa seems to show that this unaccustomed honor did not sit well upon the new recipients. The governor was to select from the heads of these families, six men for the more substantial honor of regidores, as well as an alguacil, a secretary of the concejo, and a major domo to care for the goods and possessions of this “republic.” 31 The above officers should select two alcaldes for the administration of justice. The governor was to attend the first meeting, to administer oaths and inaugurate the new government. As this was the first political population of Texas, it should be given the title of city and should be the capital of the province. The viceroy reserves to His Majesty, however, the privilege of confirming this decree and of giving the illustrious municipality a coat of arms, should that be his royal pleasure. 32 Evidently the viceroy intended that his new municipality should have a system of paper government as complete, in its way, as the “Fundamental Constitutions” of John Locke. His carefully wrought plans were to apply with even less success to the mesquite plains of Texas, than those of the British philosopher to the pine forests of the Carolinas. With reference to making the new settlement the capital of the province, the exertions of the governor do not seem to have been especially vigorous, for it was not until 1734, under the rule of his successor, that the capital was removed from the presidio of Pilar to San Antonio. 33
In the next decree the governor is to provide temporary lodgings for the colonists and pasturage for their animals, taking care to keep the latter separated from those of the soldiers. He is to instruct the new arrivals how to look after their own animals, to prevent them from straying off, or from being stolen by the Indians. The governor is to continue his paternal care in making sure that no one takes undue advantage of the newcomers. He is to take notice that the colonists have left Guantitlan on the 15th of November, that it will take them about thirty-six days to reach Saltillo and about thirty-three more to reach San Antonio de Bexar, and, accordingly, he has no time to lose in making due provision for them. The governor is also to check up the lists of the conductor, as Colonel Aguirre has done at Saltillo. 34
At this point it may be well to note, with reference to the time consumed on the journey, that a document quoted by Mr. William Corner in his book, “San Antonio de Bexar,” 35 says that the colonists appeared before a notary public of Saltillo January 31, 1731, to certify to the new lists and inventories made out by Colonel Aguirre. Evidently the conductor had found it necessary to make use of his privilege to extend the time of the march from Guantitlan to Saltillo. At this rate the colonists could not have reached San Antonio de Bexar before the middle of March, 1731. In this document the number of families is mentioned as sixteen.
The next duty of the governor is to “lay out” the new city. In company with the necessary number of men of discretion, he is to select a site on the western bank of the San Antonio, within a musket shot of the presidio and to the northeast of it, on a slightly elevated plot of ground, large enough to sustain a considerable population. He is to select a spot with a certain supply of pure air and water. The western bank of the river is to be chosen, because the colonists can use temporarily the missions of San José and San Antonio, without fording the river. After selecting the spot, the governor and his associates shall proceed to lay out the streets, squares, plaza, and sites for the church, house of the curate, the public or royal house, and the remaining houses which appear on the accompanying map. 36 When one reads that the governor was to lay out the streets “straight, according to the map,” he wonders, in considering the present state of the older portion of the city, what happened to that map on its journey from the viceroy to the governor. Perhaps it is only another case of the discrepancy between plan and execution common to Spanish America.
The territory of the new municipality is to be divided as follows: The residence portion, with the church as a center, is to consist of a square of 1093 varas. 37 This square is to be divided into 144 blocks, each 240 feet square, and separated from its neighbors by a street forty feet wide. Each family is to be given a block for a residence lot. It is supposed that the above number of blocks will be sufficient for the probable population of the new municipality for several years to come. Each family is to line the borders of its building lot with trees, and to erect as commodious a house as possible, with a patio, corral, and all necessary buildings. The leading families were to be assigned lands about the plaza, but in other respects the assignments and buildings erected were to be as nearly equal as possible. Care should be taken to provide for the cleanliness of the premises, and that the directions of houses and streets should coincide.
Outside the residence portion came the common pasture lands, extending on every side 1093 varas. A fifth part of this land was to be set aside “para proprios de la Republica.” From the limits of this pasture land another measurement of 2186 varas in every direction, included the land destined for labors. In the later colonization law of the Mexican Republic, 38 a labor consisted of a tract of land one thousand varas square, and it is probable that the labors mentioned above were about the same size. Each family was to receive a labor, together with equal privileges of using the water from the arroyo, 39 or from the San Antonio. A fifth portion of this land was also to be reserved for public use, and the remainder to be given to future colonists. The different families were to be given a title for their lands in the name of His Majesty, in accordance with a “law of the Indies.” 40 This decree was to be deposited in the house of the concejo, as part of the record for land titles.
The governor was to furnish sheep, goats and cattle for each family and render account of these, together with everything else provided for the colonists. He was to attend to the matter with the zeal and energy that its great importance warranted, with the certainty that a favorable beginning would largely determine the subsequent ease and well-being of the colonists. 41
Having made due provision for a reasonable amount of this world's goods for the colonists, the viceroy finally turns his attention to the spiritual needs of his new municipality. He issues a decree to the Bishop of Guadalajara, to send a resident of the oratory of San Carlos, a zealous person, to administer the sacraments and perform the other religious duties for the inhabitants of Texas' new capital. The person selected is to act both as curate and as ecclesiastic vicar judge. He is to be given a salary of 400 pesos, and his pay is to begin on the day he departs for his new field. He is also to hasten the erection of the parish church. 42 It is interesting to note that the corner-stone of this edifice was not laid until 1744.
With this decree the viceroy ended his hard day's work. It certainly seemed that he had taken every caution that human ingenuity could devise for the successful founding and the steady growth of this distant outpost of Spanish civilization. But the viceroy lived in the days when the Spanish monarchy had degenerated, and was working against an almost insuperable obstacle to rapid growth, in the person of the fierce Texas Indian, and with most inefficient means in “the fifteen families, consisting of fifty-six persons, come from the Canary Islands, for the purpose of colonizing the Presidio of San Antonio de Bexar.” One has but to read the later criticisms of Father Morfi 43 to realize the futility of all paternal legislation, and especially of this experiment on the frontier of Texas. But the experiment, unsuccessful as it was in its realization, resulted in the founding of the first Texas municipality.
[This narrative has been prepared for publication in The Quarterly by Rudolph Kleberg, Jr. See Quarterly for April, 1898, p. 297, and for October, 1898, p. 170.—Editor Quarterly.]
When my father came to Texas, I was a child of eleven or twelve years. My father's name was Friedrich Ernst. He was by profession a book-keeper, and emigrated from the duchy of Oldenburg. Shortly after landing in New York he fell in with Mr. Fordtran, a tanner and a countryman of his. A book by a Mr. Duhde, setting forth the advantages of the new State of Missouri, had come into their hands, and they determined to settle in that State. While in New Orleans, they heard that every settler who came to Texas with his family would receive a league and labor of land from the Mexican government. This information induced them to abandon their first intention.
We set sail for Texas in the schooner Saltillo, Captain Haskins. Just as we were ready to start, a flatboat with a party of Kentuckians and their dogs was hitched on to our vessel, the Kentuckians coming aboard and leaving their dogs behind on the flatboat. The poor animals met a grievous fate. Whenever the wind arose and the waves swept over the boat, they would howl and whine most piteously. One night the line parted, and we never saw them again.
We were almost as uncomfortable as the dogs. The boat was jammed with passengers and their luggage so that you could hardly find a place on the floor to lie down at night. I firmly believe that a strong wind would have drowned us all. In the bayou, the schooner often grounded, and the men had to take the anchor on shore and pull her off. We landed at Harrisburg, which consisted at that time of about five or six log houses, on the 3d of April, 1831. Captain Harris had a sawmill, and there was a store or two, I believe. Here we remained five weeks, while Fordtran went ahead of us and entered a league, where now stands the town of Industry. While on our way to our new home, we stayed in San Felipe for several days at Whiteside Tavern. The courthouse was about a mile out of town, and here R. M. Williamson, who was the alcalde, had his office. I saw him several times while I was here, and remember how I wondered at his crutch and wooden leg. S. F. Austin was in Mexico at the time, and Sam Williams, his private secretary, gave my father a title to land which he had originally picked out for himself. My father had to kiss the Bible and promise, as soon as the priest should arrive, to become a Catholic. People were married by the alcalde, also, on the promise that they would have themselves reunited on the arrival of the priest. But no one ever became Catholic, though the priest, Father Muldoon, arrived promptly. The people of San Felipe made him drunk and sent him back home.
My father was the first German to come to Texas with his family. Hertzner, a tailor, and Grossmeyer, a young German, at Matagorda, both unmarried, were in Texas when my father came. There was also a Pennsylvanian, whom they called Dutch Henry, and a Dr. Adolph v. Zornow, had traveled through Texas, but did not stay long. My father wrote a letter to a friend, a Mr. Schwarz, in Oldenburg, which was published in the local newspaper. This brought a number of Oldenburgers and Münsterländers, with their families, to Texas in 1834. 44
After we had lived on Fordtran's place for six months, we moved into our own house. This was a miserable little hut, covered with straw and having six sides, which were made out of moss. The roof was by no means water-proof, and we often held an umbrella over our bed when it rained at night, while the cows came and ate the moss. Of course, we suffered a great deal in the winter. My father had tried to build a chimney and fireplace out of logs and clay, but we were afraid to light a fire because of the extreme combustibility of our dwelling. So we had to shiver. Our shoes gave out, and we had to go barefoot in winter, for we did not know how to make moccasins. Our supply of clothes was also insufficient, and we had no spinning wheel, nor did we know how to spin and weave like the Americans. It was twenty-eight miles to San Felipe, and, besides, we had no money. When we could buy things, my first calico dress cost 50 cents per yard. No one can imagine what a degree of want there was of the merest necessities of life, and it is difficult for me now to understand how we managed to live and get along under the circumstances. Yet we did so in some way. We were really better supplied than our neighbors with household and farm utensils, but they knew better how to help themselves. Sutherland 45 used his razor for cutting kindling, killing pigs, and cutting leather for moccasins. My mother was once called to a neighbor's house, five miles from us, because one of the little children was very sick. My mother slept on a deer skin, without a pillow, on the floor. In the morning, the lady of the house poured water over my mother's hands and told her to dry her face on her bonnet. At first we had very little to eat. We ate nothing but corn bread at first. Later, we began to raise cow peas, and afterwards my father made a fine vegetable garden. My father always was a poor huntsman. At first, we grated our corn until my father hollowed out a log and we ground it, as in a mortar. We had no cooking-stove, of course, and baked our bread in the only skillet we possessed. The ripe corn was boiled until it was soft, then grated and baked. The nearest mill was thirty miles off.
As I have already said, the country was very thinly settled. Our three neighbors, Burnett, Dougherty, and Sutherland, lived in a radius of seven miles. San Felipe was twenty-eight miles off, and there were about two houses on the road thither. In consequence, there was no market for anything you could raise, except for cigars and tobacco, which my father was the first in Texas to put on the market. He sold them in San Felipe to a Frenchman, D'Orvanne, 46 who had a store there, but this was several years afterwards.
We raised barely what we needed, and we kept it. Around San Felipe certainly it was different, and there were some beautiful farms in the vicinity.
Before the war, there was a school in Washington, taught by a Miss Trest, where the Daughertys sent their daughter, boarding her in the city. Of course, we did not patronize it.
We lived in our doorless and windowless six-cornered pavilion about three years.
When the war broke out, my father at first intended quietly to remain at his home. But the Mexicans had induced the Kickapoo Indians to revolt, and he was warned by Captains Lester, York, and Pettus against the savages. We then set out with the intention of crossing the Sabine and seeking safety in the States. When we arrived at the Brazos, we found so many people assembled at the ferry that it would have been three days before the one small ferry-boat could have carried us over the stream. The roads were almost impassable. So my father pitched his camp in the middle of the Brazos bottom near Brenham. Here we remained until after the Battle of San Jacinto.
Thirteen men with their families, mostly Münsterländers and Oldenburgers from Cummins Creek, were in our party. They were Amsler, Weppler, Captain Vrels, Bartels, Damke, Wolters, Piefer, Boehmen, Schneider, Kleekemp, Kasper, Heimann, Gründer, and Witte.
Some of the Germans fared ill on account of their tardy flight. Mrs. Goegens and her children were captured by the Indians and taken to the border of Texas, where American traders ransomed the lady, but had not sufficient money to purchase the children. These remained with the Indians. The Mexicans captured Stoehlke and intended to hang him. Upon his using the name of Jesus Christ, they released him. Kaspar Simon was also made a prisoner, but released upon exhibiting his ignorance of the whereabouts of the Texan army.
After the war, times were hard. However, my father had buried a good many things and had in this way succeeded in keeping them from the Mexicans. He had placed two posts a considerable distance apart, and had buried his treasures just midway between them. The posts had both been pulled out and holes dug near them, but our things had not been found. Our house and garden had been left unharmed, though those of our neighbors had been destroyed. The explanation of this is probably to be found in the fact that the Münsterländers, who were Catholics, had brought all their holy relics to our place and had set up several crosses in our garden.
Just as we had returned from the “runaway scrape,” and had scarcely unhitched our horses, Vrels came running up and told us that a party of Mexicans had taken his horse. Ellison, York, and John Pettus, who had just returned from the army, galloped after the robbers, and, after York had killed one of them, recovered the horse.
We had plenty of corn and bacon. My brother and John Pettus brought back a few of our cattle from Gonzales. Before the war, there had been very little trouble; but afterwards, there was a good deal of fighting in our neighborhood, especially about election time.
A short time afterwards, my father began keeping a boarding-house and had a large building constructed for that purpose. He tore down the six-cornered pavilion, over the protest of my mother, who wanted to keep it as a sort of memento of former days. Many German immigrants accordingly came to our house. Nearly all managed very badly at first, using all their money before they had learned to accommodate themselves to their new surroundings.
Industry was founded about this time and named by Benninghoffer after a lively dispute. My father was justice of the peace for quite a time, and later was engaged in general merchandising.
I remember very well the coming of the German colonists who founded New Braunfels and Fredericksburg. My brother Fritz accompanied Solms in the capacity of interpreter and guide. The prince had a considerable retinue of horsemen, dressed mostly like himself, after the fashion of German officers. Among the company were an architect, a cook, and a professional hunter (jaeger). Whenever they came to a good piece of road, the prince would say, “Now let us gallop,” and then the whole party would charge down the prairie. The hunter was commanded to kill a deer, but did not succeed, and my brother rode out and killed one, causing much pleasure to the prince.
While on the same journey, the party stopped at a farmer's, who brought out watermelons and told them to help themselves. My brother cut a waterm