José María Viesca y Montes (1787–1856) was a

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

and Mexican

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

aligned with

federalist The term ''federalist'' describes several political beliefs around the world. It may also refer to the concept of parties, whose members or supporters called themselves ''Federalists''. History Europe federation In Europe, proponents of de ...

ideology, who served as Governor of

Coahuila and Texas 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) fo ...

(1827–1830). His brother,

Agustín Viesca Agustín Viesca (1790–1845) was a governor of the Mexican state of Coahuila y Tejas in 1835. He was the brother of José María Viesca, also a governor of Coahuila y Tejas during 1827-1831. Administration in Texas As Mexican President Antoni ...

, took over the role of governor in 1835.

Early life

Viesca y Montes was born in Villa de Santa María de las Parras,

Coahuila Coahuila (), formally Coahuila de Zaragoza (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Coahuila de Zaragoza ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Coahuila de Zaragoza), is one of the 32 states of Mexico. Coahuila borders the Mexican states of N ...

. He had at least one brother,

. He was the uncle of former governor of Coahuila Andrés S. Viesca Bagües and was

Regidor A regidor (plural: ''regidores'') is a member of a council of municipalities in Spain and Latin America. Portugal also used to have the same office of ''regedor''. Mexico In Mexico, an ayuntamiento (municipal council) is composed of a municipal ...

of the City of Parras.

Career

Like his brother, Agustín, he joined

Plan of Iguala The Plan of Iguala, also known as The Plan of the Three Guarantees ("Plan Trigarante") or Act of Independence of North America, was a revolutionary proclamation promulgated on 24 February 1821, in the final stage of the Mexican War of Independenc ...

on , but his signature was not recorded in the minutes because of his absence. He was a member of the delegation of the Internal State East during the Constitutional Convention from 1823 to 1824 and a member of the legislature of

in 1824. Later, he was elected governor of Coahuila and Texas, which he held between and . In 1833 he was

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

in the same state. In 1835, he opposed the centralist regime of

Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language-speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 400 most popular male ...

and

Texas Independence Texas secession movements, also known as the Texas independence movement or Texit, refers to both the secession of Texas during the American Civil War as well as activities of modern organizations supporting such efforts to secede from the Unite ...

, but he found little support for his federalist ideology. He was elected

deputy Deputy or depute may refer to: * Steward (office) * Khalifa, an Arabic title that can signify "deputy" * Deputy (legislator), a legislator in many countries and regions, including: ** A member of a Chamber of Deputies, for example in Italy, Spai ...

for the state of

until the Constituent Congress of 1856. However, sickness prevented him from attending the conference, and he died the same year.

Legacy

To commemorate both Viesca and Mexican President

Anastasio Bustamante Anastasio Bustamante y Oseguera (; 27 July 1780 – 6 February 1853) was a Mexican physician, general, and politician who served as president of Mexico three times. He participated in the Mexican War of Independence initially as a royalist befo ...

, the town of Alamo de Parras, in Coahuila, was named San José de Viesca and Bustamante. The town is now known as

Viesca Viesca () is a town and seat of the surrounding municipality of the same name, located in the northern Mexican state of Coahuila. Named after the third governor of Coahuila and Texas, José María Viesca, Viesca had a population of 19,328 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Viesca, Jose Maria 1787 births 1856 deaths 19th-century Mexican politicians Governors of Coahuila Governors of Mexican Texas People from Parras, Coahuila Senators of Mexico