The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 49, July 1945 - April, 1946 Page: 343
717 p. : ill., maps, ports. ; 24 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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The Spanish Archives of Laredo
proved more fruitful. In 1934 the clerk's office was remodeled,
and all records and files were moved into temporary quarters.
When the new arrangement was completed, everything was
returned, and a new search produced results. In September,
1934, a bundle of old Spanish documents was found where it
had been thrown up on top of some record cases. These proved
to be a part of the old archives of Laredo, containing many
documents signed by Don T6mas SAnchez, the founder of the
villa. Nothing more was to be found in the clerk's office, and
search in the old basement of the courthouse was hopeless
because discarded papers and old record books were piled up
there indiscriminately, reaching halfway up the wall in each
corner, covered with dust, and in part water-soaked. Whatever
of value there was, was hidden under tons of trash. Then some-
time later one of the janitors, Pancho Ramirez, reported that
he had received orders to clean out the basement and burn all
useless papers. Immediately the fear arose that thus might
be lost forever documents of inestimable value to Texas history.
This janitor was intelligent and had helped in previous searches.
He was induced to watch every paper that went out of the
basement, and in the course of his work he brought to light
some eight bundles of old Spanish documents.
From the appearance of the packages, it is doubtful whether
they had been opened in the past fifty years. The great task
then was to separate the documents, clean them of dirt and
dust, dry out those that were wet and mildewed, assemble
them in chronological order, and group them in folders ac-
cording to years. In this work, most fortunately, a keen and
efficient helper was found in the Reverend Father Florencio An-
dres, O.M.I., a Spanish priest at San Agustin Church of Laredo.
Father Andres was intensely interested in history. He was
an expert at reading old Spanish manuscripts and was particu-
larly anxious to gather data relating to the establishment of
the church at Laredo and the genealogy of his parishioners.
Most of the work of separating the documents and placing
them in chronological order was done by Father Andres. He
became so absorbed in this task that he often forgot the time,
and the early hours of the morning frequently found him with
his light still burning and his enthusiasm undimmed. The lack of
funds caused odd expedients to be adopted. For instance, the
folders were made from discarded election ballots, which a
sympathetic printer cut to the required size. When the papers343
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 49, July 1945 - April, 1946, periodical, 1946; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth146056/m1/398/: accessed April 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.