The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 8, July 1904 - April, 1905 Page: 123
xiii, 358 p. : ill., maps ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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De Witt's Colony.
upon "out" lots.1 All deeds to lots in the inner and outer town that
were made before the Revolution were made during the years 1833,
1834, and 1835, by the alcaldes James B. Patrick, James C. Davis,
and Andrew Ponton.2
By the second week in November, 1832, the colonists were all in
possession of their lands, the town had been laid out, and Navarro
had sent reports of his work to the government. As 'commis-
sioner, there remained for him only one duty to perform--the es-
tablishment of the first constitutional ayuntamiento. The con-
stitution of Coahuila and Texas provided that "in towns wherein
ayuntamientos can not be established, and which are so distant
from the other municipalities that the latter can not attend to the
internal administration thereof, the electoral juntas of that to
which they belong shall choose a commissary of police and a
sindico procurador to discharge the duties assigned them in the
regulations for the political administrations of the towns." 3
In 1826, while the majority of De Witt's colonists were on the
Lavaca, James Norton had been named alcalde of the colony by
De Witt.' Of course, the place was too small for the appointment
of an alcalde to have been constitutional. But inasmuch as the
governor objected to it only upon the ground that the appointment
should have been made by the people instead of De Witt, and, in
spite of this fact, approved of the appointment of Norton as
alcalde for the rest of the year, it may be inferred that the colony
was at that time too far removed to be included in the jurisdic-
tion of any organized ayuntamiento. At any rate, after their re-
moval to Gonzales, and until 1828, the colonists were subject to
the authorities of Bejar, and therefore had no local alcalde. But
the distance from B6jar and the difficulty with which the people
carried on correspondence in the Spanish language made such an
arrangement undesirable. In October, 1828, therefore, on their
petition, the colonists were made subject in civil and criminal
matters to the jurisdiction of the authorities of San Felipe.5
1 Minutes of the Ayuntamiento of Gonzales, 1834 article 11 (MS. in
office of Harwood and Walsh, Gonzales, Texas). See appendix VI.
2 For a complete schedule showing lots in the inner and outer town
sold before the Revolution, their value, to whom sold, when and by whom
deeded, see appendix II.
s Constitution of Coahuila and Texas, article 158 (Gammel, Laws of
Texas, 1 336).
'See above, page 106.
5 Musquiz to alcalde of B6jar quoting the governor's letter of October123
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Texas State Historical Association. The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 8, July 1904 - April, 1905, periodical, 1905; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101033/m1/125/: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.