| |
| |
|
|
R E S O L U T I O N
|
|
|
WHEREAS, Residents of San Antonio for more than 200 years, |
|
|
the Arciniega family has long made important contributions to the |
|
|
Alamo City and the State of Texas; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, In 1803, a company of 100 Spanish lancers, the |
|
|
Second Flying Company of San Carlos de Parras, was sent from |
|
|
Coahuila to reinforce the presidio of San Antonio de Béxar; among |
|
|
the company was Gregorio Arciniega, who arrived in San Antonio with |
|
|
his wife, María Josefa Flores de Abrego, his son, José Miguel, and |
|
|
his daughter, Dolores; in November 1811, Gregorio Arciniega was |
|
|
granted a tract of land in San Antonio on Alamo Street, and he |
|
|
subsequently built a home on Arciniega and South Presa Streets; he |
|
|
died in San Antonio in 1822, and the property was inherited by José |
|
|
Miguel, his only son; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Born in Coahuila on September 20, 1793, José Miguel |
|
|
Arciniega was a man of broad ability and experience; fluent in |
|
|
Spanish, English, French, and nine Native American dialects, he |
|
|
held at least 18 positions under three different flags; in the |
|
|
1810s, he made trips to gather information about the presence of |
|
|
Americans and foreigners in Northeast Texas, along the Trinity |
|
|
River, and at Galveston, and in 1823, he served as a member of the |
|
|
Texas provincial deputation to the Constituent Congress in Mexico |
|
|
City; three years later, he was sent to East Texas to ascertain the |
|
|
mood of the Cherokees, who had been trying to secure a land grant |
|
|
from the Mexican government, and he met with Richard Fields, |
|
|
diplomatic chief of the Cherokees, as well as with leaders of |
|
|
several other tribes; he was appointed captain of the militia in |
|
|
December 1826, and he was elected the following spring as one of two |
|
|
deputies from the District of Béxar to the legislature of the State |
|
|
of Coahuila and Texas; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Named land commissioner for Stephen F. Austin's |
|
|
colonies in 1830, José Miguel Arciniega signed a four-league grant |
|
|
for the town of Bastrop, which he helped to plat; the people of San |
|
|
Antonio elected him twice as their alcalde, or mayor, during the |
|
|
1830s; Mexican general Martín Perfecto de Cos relied upon his skill |
|
|
as an interpreter in negotiations for the surrender of Béxar in |
|
|
1835, and that year, Arciniega was appointed second judge of Béxar; |
|
|
although he was selected as the Béxar delegate for the |
|
|
revolutionary Convention of 1836, his responsibilities at home kept |
|
|
him from attending; a man of substance, he held, in addition to |
|
|
property in San Antonio, a land grant of nearly 50,000 acres in what |
|
|
is now Hunt, Grayson, and Harrison Counties; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, This dynamic leader was united in marriage with |
|
|
María Alexandra S. Losoya in 1825, and they became the parents of 10 |
|
|
children; after his passing in 1849, his descendants remained in |
|
|
San Antonio and the surrounding vicinity, and some 400 reside in the |
|
|
area today; they have united to preserve the rich oral tradition |
|
|
that tells of their illustrious ancestor, and they have followed in |
|
|
his footsteps, recording notable achievements of their own; fields |
|
|
of professional endeavor represented in the modern Arciniega family |
|
|
include the arts, education, finance, medicine, public service, the |
|
|
military, real estate, law, and the ministry; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, José Miguel Arciniega demonstrated a profound |
|
|
commitment to the community he helped shape, and some two centuries |
|
|
later, his descendants continue to bring honor to the family name; |
|
|
now, therefore, be it |
|
|
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 84th Texas |
|
|
Legislature hereby pay tribute to José Miguel Arciniega and commend |
|
|
his descendants for their efforts to raise awareness of his role in |
|
|
the history of our state; and, be it further |
|
|
RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be |
|
|
prepared for the family as an expression of high regard by the Texas |
|
|
House of Representatives. |