Heritage, 2011, Volume 2 Page: 10
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Several generations of descendants of signer George Washington Barnett were present in
Washington-on-the Brazos.ifty-nine delegates repre-
senting 22 municipalities,
gathered at Washington in
March 1836 to draft the
document that established
Texas as an independent nation. As
secretary to the Convention of 1836,
Henry S. Kimble added his signa-
ture as well. Now, 175 years later,
descendants of the signers would
gather to honor the memory of these
men and the extraordinary feat that
they accomplished.
Who were these men? For the most
part, they were not native Texans. Only
two, Jose Antonio Navarro and Jose
Francisco Ruiz, were residents of Coa-
huila y Tejas. The remainder came from
11 other states and five countries. Sev-
enteen of the men arrived in 1835, just
prior to the Texas Revolution. Though
the professions of many are unknown,
there were 12 lawyers, five physicians,
four surveyors, three each of planters,
empresarios (a land agent contracted
to facilitate colonization), merchants,
and two stockraisers among this group.
The remainder included a clergyman,
druggist, farmer, ferry operator, land
agent, printer, saddle maker, soldier,
and trader. Only five of the signers had
never been married. An astonishing 14
delegates were twice-married, two werewed three times, and one was married
four times; records suggest that anoth-
er, Martin Parmer, may have taken five
brides. As large families were custom-
ary in the 19th century, the number of
descendants of these men is, to say the
least, not easily calculated.
RESEARCHING THE LINEAGES
In the early stages of the project,
documents were found in the Star of
the Republic Museum collection cit-
ing an organization known as, "The
Descendants of the Signers of the
Texas Declaration." This discovery led
to more archival materials about the
group being uncovered in other reposi-
tories, principally The Daughters of the
Republic of Texas Library in San An-
tonio. Organized after the 1936 Texas
Centennial celebration at Washington-
on-the-Brazos, the Descendants group
was incorporated and met regularly
during the annual Texas Independence
Day celebration at Washington and
then again in September at the State
Fair in Dallas. However, by the end of
the 1940s, the organization seems to
have dissolved, but its records provided
names of descendants who were living
in the 1930s and 1940s.
Using the documentation from this
earlier group as a resource, the next stepwas to seek out volunteer researchers
from local lineal societies. The La Vil-
lita Chapter of the Daughters of the
American Revolution in College Sta-
tion was approached first. Not only
were members interested in the proj-
ect, they also sought and received
the endorsement of the Texas State
DAR Regent and Historian. With
this backing, the project began in
full force. Fliers seeking volunteers
were distributed at the annual meet-
ing of the Texas State DAR, as well
as the Texas State Sons of the Ameri-
can Revolution, the Daughters of the
Republic of Texas, and the Sons of the
Republic of Texas. Respondents will-
ing to donate their time and service
submitted applications to the Museum
stating which signer they wanted to re-
search and, in return, received a set of
guidelines. At the peak of the project,
46 volunteers representing 12 DAR
chapters, seven DRT chapters, one
SRT chapter, and the Texas Re-
search Ramblers of College Stationi
were helping track descendants.
For more than a year, these volunteers
researched the lineages of the signers
of the Texas Declaration. Employ-
ing standard genealogical guidelines,
which involve using public records,
such as birth, death, and marriage cer-
tificates as preferred resources, they
documented each member in the dele-
gates' lineages up to the present genera-
tion. When researchers submitted their
genealogical findings to the Star of the
Republic Museum, they also provided
a contact list for living descendants.
These profiles were uploaded to the
Star of the Republic Museum's web-
site where visitors can now view the
family tree for each signer. To pro-
tect the privacy of individuals, no
living descendants are named in the
online database, but their names and
contact information were used pri-
vately to invite them to the 175th
anniversary celebration of Texas In-
dependence at Washington-on-the-
Brazos, a two-day event that was held
February 26-27, 2011.10 TEXASHERITAGE I Volume 2 2011
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Texas Historical Foundation. Heritage, 2011, Volume 2, periodical, 2011; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth254221/m1/12/: accessed May 1, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas Historical Foundation.