Ángel Navarro (1748–1808) was a leading early Spanish settler and patriarch of

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= U.S. state, State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , s ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. The Navarro family played a prominent role in the Mexican and Texas revolutions. He was born in

Corsica Corsica ( , Upper , Southern ; it, Corsica; ; french: Corse ; lij, Còrsega; sc, Còssiga) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France. It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of ...

in 1748 and settled in

Spanish Texas Spanish Texas was one of the interior provinces of the colonial Viceroyalty of New Spain from 1690 until 1821. The term "interior provinces" first appeared in 1712, as an expression meaning "far away" provinces. It was only in 1776 that a lega ...

in 1769. Navarro was the seventy-second

alcalde Alcalde (; ) is the traditional Spanish municipal magistrate, who had both judicial and administrative functions. An ''alcalde'' was, in the absence of a corregidor, the presiding officer of the Castilian '' cabildo'' (the municipal council) a ...

(mayor) of San Antonio under Spanish Texas. He was the father of Texas statesman

José Antonio Navarro José Antonio Navarro (February 27, 1795 – January 13, 1871) was a Texas statesman, revolutionary, rancher, and merchant. The son of Ángel Navarro and Josefa María Ruiz y Peña, he was born into a distinguished noble family at Sa ...

, San Antonio alcalde

José Ángel Navarro (elder) José Ángel Navarro (1784–1836), known as José Ángel Navarro (the elder), was born in San Antonio de Béxar and became a soldier under Spanish Texas. He was the son of Ángel Navarro, a brother to Texas statesman José Antonio Navarro, and an ...

, and the grandfather of Texas state legislator

José Ángel Navarro III José Ángel Navarro III (1828–1876), also known as José Ángel Navarro (the younger), was born in San Antonio de Béxar to José Antonio Navarro and his wife Margarita de la Garza. He was a grandson of Ángel Navarro, who is sometimes found i ...

. Ángel Navarro's daughter María Josefa Navarro married

Juan Martín de Veramendi Juan Martin de Veramendi (December 17, 1778–1833) was a Spanish (1778-1821, Mexican independence) and Mexican (1821–1833) politician who served as governor of the Mexican state of Coahuila y Tejas from 1832 until 1833. Veramendi was also c ...

, the Governor of

Coahuila y Tejas Coahuila y Tejas, officially the Estado Libre y Soberano de Coahuila y Tejas (), was one of the constituent states of the newly established United Mexican States under its 1824 Constitution. It had two capitals: first Saltillo (1822–1825) for ...

from 1832 to 1833. This couple's eldest daughter, Maria Ursula de Veramendi, was the wife of Texas revolutionary

Jim Bowie James Bowie ( ) ( – March 6, 1836) was a 19th-century American pioneer, slave smuggler and trader, and soldier who played a prominent role in the Texas Revolution. He was among the Americans who died at the Battle of the Alamo. Stories of h ...

. According to census records, Navarro was an active participant in the slave trade. One of Navarro's slaves was Maria Gertrudis de la Peña, an Indigenous woman who sued for her freedom in 1785 in San Fernando de Béxar (San Antonio) on the basis that she could not be enslaved because Indigenous peoples were granted some of the same rights as Spanish people in New Spain where slavery was also illegal. During her ownership by Ángel Navarro she was known as "Escalava" (slave) and accused Navarro and his family of "many ill-treatments". Upon purchasing her, Navarro promised la Peña that she would be freed within three years, but la Peña sought her freedom before that due to "the temper and style of the household." She petitioned Texas Governor

Domingo Cabello y Robles Domingo Cabello y Robles (1725 -?) was a Spanish military officer who served as the governor of Nicaragua (1764–1776), Texas (1778 and 1786) and Cuba (1789–1790). His legislation in Texas was widely criticized. Early years Domingo Cabello y Ro ...

and was granted freedom after the Governor ruled that Spanish law "greatly favors the freedom of Indians".

References

External links

* 1748 births 1808 deaths Mexican people of Spanish descent Mexican people of French descent Tejano slave owners People from Corsica People of Spanish Texas Slavery of Native Americans {{Mexico-bio-stub