Born in San Antonio de Béxar, Texas, José Antonio de la Garza (1776-1851?) was the son of Leonardo de la Garza and Magdalena Martínez. After his first marriage to Josefa Rivas, with whom he had three children, Garza married María Josefa Menchaca in 1824, fathering four more children. Upon receiving permission from the Spanish governor in 1818, he became the first person to coin money in Texas. Garza was granted a Mexican title to two leagues in what would become Bexar County in 1824, and eventually owned vast amounts of land, including the San Francisco de la Espada Mission, which he purchased in 1834. He is also credited with signing articles that led to the Convention of 1832. Garza County is named after his family.
Source:
Orozco, Cynthia.
Composed of legal documents and a plat map, the José Antonio de la Garza Papers, 1808-1857, chronicle the growth of Garza’s estate in what would become Bexar County, Texas. Legal documents consist of land deeds, decrees, certificates, and affidavits concerning Garza’s landholdings. A plat map pertains to the northern part of his estate in San Antonio de Béxar.
This collection is open for research use.
José Antonio de la Garza Papers, 1808-1857, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin.
Basic processing and cataloging of this collection was supported with funds from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) for the Briscoe Center’s