Friend of Stephen F. Austin (1797-1867) and Governor of Texas from 1831-30 and in 1835; he was present at the fall of the Alamo and assisted in identifying the bodies of the defenders, including David Bowie, Davy Crockett, and William Barret Travis. Four LSs in Spanish, each ending "Dios y Libertad," ("God and Freedom") and signed "Ramon Musquiz"; letters forward communications from the Governor of Coahuila and Texas to the Mayor of Goliad. In very good to fine overall condition, with scattered toning and soiling.
(1) LS, one page, both sides, 6.25 x 8, February 26, 1831. In part (translated): "[The] declaration dated 3 December 1829, addressed to this Government by the Spaniard Francisco García, resident of Goliad…relative to his desired exoneration from the forced loan imposed by article 1 of decree no. 105, has seen fit to resolve to comply, in virtue of the reasons expressed by the interested party in his declaration and evidenced by the documents that accompany the said declaration, so that the said Spaniard Francisco García be exonerated from the above mentioned loan…"
(2) LS, one page, both sides, 7.75 x 12.5. Light soiling. In Spanish, February 27, 1831. In part (translated): "The Most Excellent Governor of the State has seen fit to send me the following decree: 'Through the Secretariat of War and Navy it was communicated to me the following decree:…The Vice-President of the United States of Mexico, in exercise of the supreme executive power, to the inhabitants of the republic, be it known: That the General Congress has decreed the following: The sentence of the accomplices in the trial to which the decree of extraordinary faculties dated 14 September 1829 applies, who were not sentenced to death by two agreeing sentences, shall not be longer than four years in prison, counted from the day on which they were sentenced…"
(3) LS, one page, both sides, 8 x 10, March 1, 1831. Musquiz is reappointed by the Governor. In part (translated): "I have seen fit to reassign Your Lordship as head of this county…I inform Your Lordship for your knowledge and understanding that this Government expects that Your Lordship will not make use of the right that is incumbent upon you by article 152 of the said constitution, but that as a gift to your homeland, you will serve the new term in which it assigns you, not only for being such the will of the majority of the said Town Halls, but also because the government considers necessary the permanence of Your Lordship in the position you are heading…" Nine days later, on March 10, 1831, the newly reappointed political chief of Texas, Ramon Musquiz, gave James Tumlinson, a DeWitt colonist at Bexar, a six-pound bronze cannon to be given to Green DeWitt at Gonzales. It was given with the stipulation that it would be returned upon request.
(4) LS, one page, 8 x 13, September 8, 1831. In part (translated): "Because several federal judges have manifested that on the correspondence they have received from other federal judges or state judges regarding judicial matters it has been omitted the certification and oath that must be included on the cover…the Most Excellent Mr. Vice-President has seen fit to resolve that all judicial authorities and corporations be reminded of the exact compliance to the said article so that the requisite it prescribes is never omitted, avoiding thus the inconveniences that would otherwise result for a most prompt and expedite administration of Justice…"
By decree of the Governor of Coahuila and Texas, the town of La Bahia was renamed Goliad on February 4, 1829. One of the most significant engagements of the Texas Revolution-the Battle of Coleto-occurred in Goliad County on March 19-20, 1836, resulting in the surrender of Colonel James W. Fannin, Jr. and his men. The Texans were imprisoned and subsequently murdered by order of General Santa Anna, bolstering support for the cause against Mexico both within Texas and in the United States and contributing greatly to the Texan victory at the Battle of San Jacinto on April 21.
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