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 in historical records as José Ángel Navarro. An 1850 graduate of

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

, Navarro later served in the Texas Instrument. Although Texas legislative records list him as José Ángel Navarro III, some historical references show him as José Ángel Navarro (younger) to distinguish him from his uncle José Ángel Navarro (elder). Navarro served as an elected representative in the Seventh, Eighth and

Ninth In music, a ninth is a compound interval consisting of an octave plus a second. Like the second, the interval of a ninth is classified as a dissonance in common practice tonality. Since a ninth is an octave larger than a second, its ...

Texas legislatures. During his service, he was a member of the committees on Education, Indian Affairs, Public Debt, Judiciary, Military Affairs, Private Land Claims and State Affairs. Navarro was also the chair of a committee charged with translating Spanish language documents into English. Navarro's public service coincided with

Sam Houston Samuel Houston (, ; March 2, 1793 – July 26, 1863) was an American general and statesman who played a prominent role in the Texas Revolution. He served as the first and third president of the Republic of Texas and was one of the first two indi ...

's term as Governor of Texas, during which Houston sent Navarro and state Senator Robert H. Taylor to conduct an investigation of the

Cortina Troubles The Cortina Troubles is the generic name for the First Cortina War, from 1859 to 1860, and the Second Cortina War, in 1861, in which paramilitary forces led by the Mexican rancher and local leader Juan Cortina, confronted elements of the Un ...

in the Rio Grande area. It was during the Eighth Texas Legislature that Texas joined with other Southern states in signing the

Ordinance of Secession An Ordinance of Secession was the name given to multiple resolutions drafted and ratified in 1860 and 1861, at or near the beginning of the American Civil War, by which each seceding slave-holding Southern state or territory formally Secession in ...

, and during which Houston was dismissed from office for his refusal to swear an allegiance to the

Confederate States of America The Confederate States of America (CSA), also known as the Confederate States (C.S.), the Confederacy, or Dixieland, was an List of historical unrecognized states and dependencies, unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United State ...

. Navarro, however, signed the ordinance for the House, and went on to serve in the Ninth legislature.

Personal life

Navarro and his wife Concepción Ramón Callaghan were the parents of three children. He died in 1876.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Navarro III, Jose Angel 1828 births 1876 deaths American politicians of Mexican descent American people of Spanish descent Hispanic and Latino American Confederates Hispanic and Latino American state legislators in Texas Members of the Confederate House of Representatives from Texas Members of the Texas House of Representatives Mexican people of Spanish descent Harvard Law School alumni 19th-century members of the Texas Legislature