Fernando De León
Encyclopedia
Fernando De León was a co-founder of Victoria, Texas
, and the first commissioner and colonization manager of De León's Colony. He fought against Antonio López de Santa Anna
. De León was an aide-de-camp
to provisional Texas governor James W. Robinson. In the war's confusion about Mexican loyalties, De León was first incarcerated by the Mexican army, only to be released and be incarcerated by the Texas army. When his brother Silvestre was murdered, he adopted Silvestre's sons. After the war, he legally recovered 50000 acre (202.3 km²; 78.1 sq mi) of his land that had been redistributed to Texans. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark
number 6541 placed at Evergreen Cemetery in 1972 acknowledges Fernando De León's contribution to Texas.
), the first-born child of empresario
Martín De León
and his wife Patricia de la Garza De León
.
. Coahuila y Tejas
appointed Fernando the first commissioner and colonization manager of De León's Colony. He employed Plácido Benavides
as his secretary. Martín De León died in the 1833 cholera epidemic, and Fernando took over the role and responsibilities of his father. He established his Rancho Escondido seven miles north of town.
revoked the 1824 Constitution of Mexico
and installed his own political machine in 1833, many Tejano
s were opposed to the regime. When Stephen F. Austin
issued an 1835 appeal for arms to equip the Texans in the war against Santa Anna, Fernando De León, his brother-in-law José María Jesús Carbajal
and Peter Kerr
, began to run livestock to New Orleans to trade for munitions. During a pursuit by the Mexican warship Bravo on the return trip with the purchased equipment, the crew was forced to dump the cargo into the Gulf of Mexico
. The crew of the Bravo boarded the Hannah Elizabeth, taking several prisoners. Carbajal and De León were incarcerated at Brazos Santiago
, but Kerr was set free. Fernando De León was released with payment of a bribe. Carbajal was transferred to Matamoros, Tamaulipas
, with an intended transfer for imprisonment at San Juan de Ulloa. Plácido Benavides bribed the guards at Matamoros to effect an escape for Carbajal, who afterwards returned to Victoria. The three men were never recompensed for their loss.
to provisional Texas governor James W. Robinson. He was put in charge of the local militia. In March, following the Battle of Coleto
, Mexican General José de Urrea
seized Victoria and arrested De León. Urrea forced De León to disclose all hidden supplies and horses. Even though he had the information he wanted, Urrea kept De León imprisoned. De León was freed when Urrea departed Victoria, only to be arrested as a traitor by Texas Brigadier General Thomas Jefferson Rusk
. On July 1836, General Rusk forced the Carbajal, Benavides and De León families to leave Victoria. They evacuated to New Orleans, leaving behind all their possessions.
De León returned about 1844 to reclaim the family property, but did not become head of the De León clan. Leadership of the De León family rested with matriarch Patricia de la Garza De León. Fernando De León did, however, manage to regain 50000 acre (202.3 km²; 78.1 sq mi) of his property.
. He remarried to Luz Escalera. When his brother Silvestre De León
was murdered, he adopted Silvestre's sons Martin and Francisco.
number 6541 placed at Evergreen Cemetery in 1972 acknowledges Fernando De León's contribution to Texas.
Victoria, Texas
Victoria is a city in and the seat of Victoria County, Texas, United States. The population was 60,603 at the 2000 census. The three counties of the Victoria Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 111,163 at the 2000 census,...
, and the first commissioner and colonization manager of De León's Colony. He fought against Antonio López de Santa Anna
Antonio López de Santa Anna
Antonio de Padua María Severino López de Santa Anna y Pérez de Lebrón , often known as Santa Anna or López de Santa Anna, known as "the Napoleon of the West," was a Mexican political leader, general, and president who greatly influenced early Mexican and Spanish politics and government...
. De León was an aide-de-camp
Aide-de-camp
An aide-de-camp is a personal assistant, secretary, or adjutant to a person of high rank, usually a senior military officer or a head of state...
to provisional Texas governor James W. Robinson. In the war's confusion about Mexican loyalties, De León was first incarcerated by the Mexican army, only to be released and be incarcerated by the Texas army. When his brother Silvestre was murdered, he adopted Silvestre's sons. After the war, he legally recovered 50000 acre (202.3 km²; 78.1 sq mi) of his land that had been redistributed to Texans. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark is a designation awarded by the Texas Historical Commission for historically and architecturally significant properties in the state of Texas....
number 6541 placed at Evergreen Cemetery in 1972 acknowledges Fernando De León's contribution to Texas.
Early life
Fernando De León was born in 1798 in Cruillas, Nuevo Santander (TamaulipasTamaulipas
Tamaulipas officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Tamaulipas is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 43 municipalities and its capital city is Ciudad Victoria. The capital city was named after Guadalupe Victoria, the...
), the first-born child of empresario
Empresario
An empresario was a person who, in the early years of the settlement of Texas, had been granted the right to settle on Mexican land in exchange for recruiting and taking responsibility for new settlers. The word is Spanish for entrepreneur.- Background :...
Martín De León
Martín De León
Martín De León was a rancher and wealthy Mexican empresario descended from Spanish aristocracy. He was the patriarch of one of the prominent founding families of early Texas. De León and his wife Patricia de la Garza established De León's Colony, the only predominantly Mexican colony in Texas...
and his wife Patricia de la Garza De León
Patricia de la Garza De León
Patricia de la Garza De León was the matriarch of one of the prominent founding families of early Texas. Doña Patricia raised ten children, some of whom helped change the course of history. At age 49, she uprooted her life in 1824 to help her husband Martín De León establish the predominantly...
.
De León's Colony
On April 13, 1824, the Mexican government approved a contract allowing Martín De León to settle forty-one Mexican families on the lower Guadalupe RiverGuadalupe River (Texas)
The Guadalupe River runs from Kerr County, Texas to San Antonio Bay on the Gulf of Mexico. The river is a popular destination for rafters and canoers. Larger cities along the river include New Braunfels, Kerrville, Seguin, Gonzales, Cuero, and Victoria...
. Coahuila y Tejas
Coahuila y Tejas
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, and then Monclova...
appointed Fernando the first commissioner and colonization manager of De León's Colony. He employed Plácido Benavides
Plácido Benavides
Plácido Benavides was an early Mexican-born settler in De Leon's Colony, Victoria County, Texas. Benavides earned himself the sobriquet of the Paul Revere of Texas for his 1836 journey from San Patricio to Goliad to Victoria, warning residents of the approaching Mexican army. He was twice elected...
as his secretary. Martín De León died in the 1833 cholera epidemic, and Fernando took over the role and responsibilities of his father. He established his Rancho Escondido seven miles north of town.
War against Santa Anna
When Antonio López de Santa AnnaAntonio López de Santa Anna
Antonio de Padua María Severino López de Santa Anna y Pérez de Lebrón , often known as Santa Anna or López de Santa Anna, known as "the Napoleon of the West," was a Mexican political leader, general, and president who greatly influenced early Mexican and Spanish politics and government...
revoked the 1824 Constitution of Mexico
1824 Constitution of Mexico
The Federal Constitution of the United Mexican States of 1824 was enacted on October 4 of 1824, after the overthrow of the Mexican Empire of Agustin de Iturbide. In the new constitution, the republic took the name of United Mexican States, and was defined as a representative federal republic, with...
and installed his own political machine in 1833, many Tejano
Tejano
Tejano or Texano is a term used to identify a Texan of Mexican heritage.Historically, the Spanish term Tejano has been used to identify different groups of people...
s were opposed to the regime. When Stephen F. Austin
Stephen F. Austin
Stephen Fuller Austin was born in Virginia and raised in southeastern Missouri. He was known as the Father of Texas, led the second, but first legal and ultimately successful colonization of the region by bringing 300 families from the United States. The capital of Texas, Austin in Travis County,...
issued an 1835 appeal for arms to equip the Texans in the war against Santa Anna, Fernando De León, his brother-in-law José María Jesús Carbajal
José María Jesús Carbajal
José María Jesús Carbajal was a Mexican freedom fighter, who opposed the Centralist government installed by Antonio López de Santa Anna. Carbajal was a direct descendant of Canary Islands settlers who emigrated to San Antonio, Texas in the 18th Century. As a teenager in San Antonio, he was...
and Peter Kerr
Peter Kerr (Texas settler)
Peter Kerr , also known as Peter Carr, was the founder of Burnet, Texas and a member of the Old Three Hundred, the original settlers in Stephen F...
, began to run livestock to New Orleans to trade for munitions. During a pursuit by the Mexican warship Bravo on the return trip with the purchased equipment, the crew was forced to dump the cargo into the Gulf of Mexico
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...
. The crew of the Bravo boarded the Hannah Elizabeth, taking several prisoners. Carbajal and De León were incarcerated at Brazos Santiago
Brazos Island
Brazos Island is a barrier island on the Gulf Coast of Texas in the United States, south of the town of South Padre Island.-History:The island is also known as Brazos Santiago Island, a reference to the port of Brazos Santiago, the first Spanish settlement on the island. Later it became the Port...
, but Kerr was set free. Fernando De León was released with payment of a bribe. Carbajal was transferred to Matamoros, Tamaulipas
Matamoros, Tamaulipas
Matamoros, officially known as Heroica Matamoros, is a city in the northeastern part of Tamaulipas, in the country of Mexico. It is located on the southern bank of the Rio Grande, directly across the border from Brownsville, Texas, in the United States. Matamoros is the second largest and second...
, with an intended transfer for imprisonment at San Juan de Ulloa. Plácido Benavides bribed the guards at Matamoros to effect an escape for Carbajal, who afterwards returned to Victoria. The three men were never recompensed for their loss.
Aide-de-camp to Governor Robinson
In February 1836, De León was appointed as aide-de-campAide-de-camp
An aide-de-camp is a personal assistant, secretary, or adjutant to a person of high rank, usually a senior military officer or a head of state...
to provisional Texas governor James W. Robinson. He was put in charge of the local militia. In March, following the Battle of Coleto
Battle of Coleto
The Battle of Coleto, also known as the Battle of Coleto Creek, the Battle of the Prairie, and the Batalla del encinal del Perdido, was fought on March 19 and 20, 1836, during the Goliad campaign of the Texas Revolution...
, Mexican General José de Urrea
José de Urrea
José de Urrea was a noted general for Mexico. He fought under General Antonio López de Santa Anna during the Texas Revolution. Urrea's forces were never defeated in battle during the Texas Revolution...
seized Victoria and arrested De León. Urrea forced De León to disclose all hidden supplies and horses. Even though he had the information he wanted, Urrea kept De León imprisoned. De León was freed when Urrea departed Victoria, only to be arrested as a traitor by Texas Brigadier General Thomas Jefferson Rusk
Thomas Jefferson Rusk
Thomas Jefferson Rusk was an early political and military leader of the Republic of Texas, serving as its first Secretary of War as well as a general at the Battle of San Jacinto. He was later a U.S. politician and served as a Senator from Texas from 1846 until his suicide...
. On July 1836, General Rusk forced the Carbajal, Benavides and De León families to leave Victoria. They evacuated to New Orleans, leaving behind all their possessions.
De León returned about 1844 to reclaim the family property, but did not become head of the De León clan. Leadership of the De León family rested with matriarch Patricia de la Garza De León. Fernando De León did, however, manage to regain 50000 acre (202.3 km²; 78.1 sq mi) of his property.
Personal life
De León married María Antonia Galván before the start of the De León Colony. The couple had one son who died in LouisianaLouisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
. He remarried to Luz Escalera. When his brother Silvestre De León
Silvestre De León
Silvestre De León was the second son born to the influential De León family in Victoria, Texas. He became the third alcalde of Victoria. De León joined his brother-in-law Plácido Benavides to fight with Stephen F. Austin at the 1835 Siege of Béxar...
was murdered, he adopted Silvestre's sons Martin and Francisco.
Death
Fernando De León died at his home in Rancho Escondido in 1853. He is buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Victoria, Texas. Recorded Texas Historic LandmarkRecorded Texas Historic Landmark
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark is a designation awarded by the Texas Historical Commission for historically and architecturally significant properties in the state of Texas....
number 6541 placed at Evergreen Cemetery in 1972 acknowledges Fernando De León's contribution to Texas.