The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 8, July 1904 - April, 1905 Page: 304
xiii, 358 p. : ill., maps ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Texas Historical Association Quarterly.
early 50's, however, some twenty years having elapsed, the num-
ber of the original cabildo had become thinned by death and in-
capacity.1 It became necessary then, in some cases, to select other
men to fill the vacancies, and the policy was adopted of regularly
electing a few of the younger members of the Islefios, or even the
vecinos agregados.
Although, at first, the law providing for the annual election of
officers was disregarded except in the case of alcaldes,2 toward the
end of the century, it was strictly enforced. In 1794 Manuel
Mufioz, who was then governor of Texas, wrote to the cabildo in
regard to the election report sent him for approval, as follows:
This government is not unmindful of the irregularities in the
elections you report. In most cases you have left to those re-
elected the same offices they had previously held. I cannot believe
that there is a scarcity of individuals in the settlement to fill these
places."3 The same question had arisen the year before. The
governor had written to the cabildo saying that before Don Clem-
ente Delgado could be legally re-elected, at least two years in-
terval after the expiration of his term of office was absolutely
necessary.4 As to the time for holding elections, and for install-
ing the officers of a new cabildo nothing has been found previous
to 1778. In this year, however, the time for holding the elections,
the time for sending the report of these elections to the governor
for approval, and the time for installing the officers was fixed.
The election report for 17916 states that elections had been held
on the 20th of the month of December in accordance with an order
of Don Theodoe de Croix, general co.mandanat of the Provincias
Internas which had been issued on January 13, 1778, and that re-
'Several of the officers were over forty years of age at the time of their
appointment.
2The only way of determining the persons who served as alcaldes for
any given year, previous to 1750, is to examine the lawsuits brought
before these officers. From the evidence in hand no complete list can be
formed, but no case has been found in which any person served two con-
secutive years.
8December 29, 1794, B6xar Archives.
'Manuel Mufnoz to cabildo, December 21, 1793, B6xar Archives.
'BCxar Archives.304
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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/m1/311/: accessed March 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.