Inventory of the County Archives of Texas: Number 62, De Witt County (Cuero) Page: 7

7 HJIistorical
Sketch (First
entry, p. 25)
his colony, and by Iiis oewn financial reverses, he went to M1onclova,
Mexico, hoping to secure the lands due him for his other 66 families.
Without h vintg accomplished anything: in this regard, he died in Mexico on
Miay 18, 13. 3LS.
In 1832, the year after the expiration date of De VWitt's contract,
the colony was organized as a municipality and. given control of its own
governmental affairs, which had theretofore been controlled by the authorities
at San Feline de Austin.19 During the period of the municipality,
at least two men from De olitt County proper served in official positions.
In 1333 Charles Loclkhart was elected second regidor, and in 1835 Josep1
Clements served in the sale office.20
When the first signs of open rebellion began to show themselves in
Texas, the De Witt colonists were quick to declare their loyalty to the
Mexican nation. On January 27, 1827, in a meeting held at the Old Station,
they dresw up resolutions condemning the actions of the Edwards
brothers and the movement known as the Fredonian Rebellion. But in 1832
a delegate was sent to the convention which was called to consider the
grievances of the colonists against Mexico;21 and in 1835, when the revolutionary
spirit had become general, Joseph Clemients was sent as a delegate
to the Consultation. In 1836 Clements assisted in the establishment
of the Provisional Goverurment for the Republic of Texas.22
During the Texas Revolution, men from present De Mitt County saw
service in some of the most important engagements. At Gonzales, defending
the now-famous brass cannon, were Simien Bateman, Graves Fulchear,
Valentine Bennet, Joseph D. Clements, Thomas Mliller, and George W. Davis-all
men who owned land in what is now De oitt County.23 Among the 32 men
who entered the Alamo on March 1, 1836, were William Dearduff and Thomas
R. Miller, also owners of land along the Guadalupe River south of
Gonzales.
Although it was centrally located with regard to the historic battlefields
of the Revolution (south of Gonzales, north of Goliad, east of
San Antonio, and west of San Jacinto), the De Witt County region was the
scene of no important battle. It was, however, the highway traveled by
18. Z. T. Zful-more, The History and Geography of Texas as Told in County
NTames (Austin, 1935), 43.
19. Rather, "DeWitt," 124.
20. Ibid., 126.
21. Johnson, History, I, 47-48.
22. Zoe Allison, "Notes on the Journal of the Proceedings of the General
Council of the Republic of Texas Held at San Felipe De Austin
November 14, 1855-March 11, 1836," in Bulletin of The Stephen F.
Austin State Teachers College, 38 (Nacogdoches, 1932), p. 84.
23. Cuero Record, Dec. 31, 1935.
24. Amelia Williams, "A Critical Study of the Siege of the Alamo and of
the Personnel of Its Defenders," in Southwestern Historical Quarterly
(Austin, 1897--), ZDXVII (1933-34), 161.