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

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

and Mexican

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

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 call themselves ''Federalists''. History Europe federation In Europe, proponents of deep ...

ideology, who served as

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

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) for ...

(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, is one of the 31 states of Mexico. The largest city and State Capital is the city of Saltillo; the second largest is Torreón and the thi ...

. 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 municipa ...

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 5 July 1821, 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 4 June 1827 and 4 April 1831. In 1833 he was

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

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 ...

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 Unit ...

, 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, Spain, ...

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 Trinidad Anastasio de Sales Ruiz Bustamante y Oseguera (; 27 July 1780 – 6 February 1853) was a Mexican physician, general, and politician who served as the 4th President of Mexico three times from 1830 to 1832, 1837 to 1839, and 1839 to 1841. ...

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

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