The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 48, July 1944 - April, 1945 Page: 436

Southwestern Historical Quarterly

of the document which he reproduces as the original Declaration
of Independence; explains how a previous reproduction by
Scarff in A Comprehensive History of Texas omitted the name
of one signer; and establishes the fact that fifty members signed
the document on the third of March, not the second, and that
the last two of the fifty-nine signatures were affixed on March 11.
Francisco Ruiz and Jos6 Antonio Navarro were the only natives
of Texas who signed the declaration. Lorenzo de Zavala, another
signer, was born in Mexico. The remaining fifty-six were natives
of the United States. Fifteen of the signers came to Texas as
late as 1835, and two did not arrive until 1836; one of these
two was George C. Childress, the reputed draftsman of the
declaration, and the other was Sam P. Carson, who was seated
in the Convention as a delegate from Pecan Point on March 10.
Though the General Council of the Provisional Government
which issued the call for the Convention apportioned representa-
tion among the various municipalities, or districts, it laid down
no qualification for the voting franchise, with the practical
result that anybody who happened to be present at a polling
place assumed the right to vote. In the election at Velasco
eighty-eight votes were cast, and forty-seven of the voters
had been landed in Texas only five days before the election. The
book is documented minutely and most satisfactorily indexed.
The index is of special importance because of the great number
of contemporary names associated with the principal characters.
In many instances, Mr. Kemp has been able to list names and
recent addresses of descendants of the signers. It is an in-
teresting book to read and is a permanent contribution to
every library's reference list of Texana.
One further study connected with the Texas Declaration of
Independence needs to be made: namely, an impartial analysis
of the causes set forth in justification of the breach with
Mexico. Such a study, however, was in no way pertinent to
Mr. Kemp's purpose in this important book.
EUGENE C. BARKER
The University of Texas
Our Lady Comes to Refugio. By William H. Oberste. Corpus
Christi (Jones Publishing Company), 1944. Pp. xiii+-150.
This is a sequel to Father Oberste's History of the Refugio
Mission; and is much more than the "Story of Parish Activities,"

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