The Convention of 1832 was the first political gathering of colonists in Mexican Texas.
On August 22, the ayuntiamento (city council) at San Felipe de Austin (the capital of Austin's colony) called for each district to elect five delegates. [1] Sixteen communities chose delegates. [2] The two municipalities with the largest Tejano population, San Antonio de Béxar and Victoria, refused to participate. [3] The majority of the elected delegates were known as relatively even-tempered. Many known agitators, such as James Bowie and William B. Travis, were defeated. [2] Tejanos did not have a large presence at the convention, largely due to the boycott by the Béxar and Victoria municipalities. Convention organizers invited several prominent Tejanos from these towns to attend, but all declined. [3]
On October 1, 1832, 55 delegates met in San Felipe de Austin; [3] attendance may have been diminished due to the short notice. [4] Over the next six days, the delegates adopted a series of resolutions requesting changes in the governance of Texas. [2] Historian Eugene Campbell Barker suggests that the discussions would likely not have concluded so swiftly unless the delegates had done "considerable preparation before the meeting". [5]
After approving the list of resolutions, delegates created a 7-member central committee to convene future meetings. [6] [Note 1] The central committee would be based in San Felipe "for the purpose of circulating information of events of importance to the interest of the people". [7]
The convention adjourned on October 6 after unanimously electing William H. Wharton to deliver the resolutions to the state legislature in Saltillo and to the Mexican Congress in Mexico City. [8] [9] Just before the group dispersed, Rafael Manchola, the alcalde (mayor) of Goliad, arrived. He was the only delegate from Goliad and the only Tejano to appear at the convention. [2] Manchola volunteered to accompany Wharton at his own expense—he and other delegates thought the expedition might have more success if a Tejano was also involved. [10] Days later, Austin wrote that "we have just had a convention of all Texas, native Mexicans and foreign settlers – all united as one man". [8]
Name | District | Committees | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
John Austin | Victoria [11] | Customs (chair) [12] Militia (chair) [13] Native lands [14] Statehood [15] Tariffs [16] | Presided over convention prior to election of president [17] |
Stephen F. Austin | San Felipe de Austin [11] | Finance [9] Surveyor-General [18] | Elected President of the convention [3] Supervised translation of documents [19] Took a short leave of absence due to indisposition [20] Named to Central Committee [21] |
Thomas D. Beauchamp | Snow River [22] | English [14] | |
John M. Bradley | Tenahaw [22] | Native lands [14] Statehood [15] | |
Henry S. Brown | Gonzales [17] | Statehood [15] | |
Samuel Bruff | Alfred [11] | Schools [23] | |
Jesse Burnham | Alfred [11] | Indian affairs [23] Statehood [15] | |
George Butler | Tenahaw [22] | Statehood [15] | |
Nestor Clay | Hidalgo [11] | Customs [23] Indian affairs [23] Militia [14] Statehood [15] | |
John Connell | Mill Creek [17] | Statehood [15] | |
Silas Dinsmore | Mina [11] | Statehood [15] | |
Archelaus Bynum Dodson | San Jacinto [11] | Statehood [15] | [24] |
Samuel C. Douglass | Mill Creek [25] | Statehood [15] | |
William K. English | Tenahaw [22] | Land business [23] | |
Frederick Foy | Tenahaw [22] | Land business [23] | |
Jacob Garrett | Ayish Bayou [22] | Land business [23] | |
Jared E. Groce | Viesca [11] [Note 2] | English [14] Finance [9] Militia [14] Statehood [15] Tariffs (chair) [26] | |
Joshua Hadley | Viesca [11] | ||
Warren DeWitt Clinton Hall | Liberty [22] | Finance [9] | |
Wyatt Hanks | Ayish Bayou [22] | Land business [23] Militia [14] Native lands [14] Statehood [15] | |
Jonas Harrison | Tenahaw [22] | Finance [9] Immigration [16] Land business [23] Native lands [14] Surveyor-General [18] | |
Thomas Hastings | Nacogdoches [27] | Schools [23] | |
William R. Hensley | Alfred [11] | Indian affairs (chair) [18] Statehood [15] | |
Hyman Hertz | Nacogdoches [27] | Statehood [15] | |
Benjamin Holt | Sabine [27] | Finance (chair) [28] Land business [29] Statehood [15] | |
Absalom Hyer | Sabine [27] | Statehood [15] | |
Ira Ingram | Mina [30] | English [14] Central (proposed) (chair) [31] | |
Elijah Isaacs | Snow River [22] | Land business [23] Statehood [15] | |
Patrick Churchill Jack | Liberty [32] | Immigration [16] Land business [23] | |
Frank W. Johnson | San Felipe de Austin [11] | Militia [14] | Elected Secretary [33] Named to Central Committee [21] Recommended as Surveyor-General [18] |
James Kerr | Linnville [11] | Central (proposed) [31] English [14] Finance [9] | |
William D. Lacy | Alfred [11] | ||
Luke Lesassier | San Felipe de Austin [11] | Immigration [16] Schools (chair) [12] Statehood [15] Surveyor-General [18] | Served as temporary chairman while Stephen Austin was indisposed [20] |
James Looney | Snow River [32] | ||
Joseph K. Looney | Lavaca [11] | Central (proposed) [31] Militia [14] Tariffs [16] | |
Samuel Looney | Snow River [32] | Indian affairs [23] Statehood [15] | |
Rafael Manchola | Goliad [10] | Manchola arrived after the convention adjourned. The only Tejano to participate in any way, he volunteered to accompany Wharton to deliver the petitions to Mexico City. [10] | |
Wylie Martin | San Felipe de Austin [11] | Customs [23] Native lands [14] Statehood [15] | Named to Central Committee [21] |
Donald A. McDonald | Ayish Bayou [22] | ||
William McFarland | Ayish Bayou [22] | Customs [23] Land business [23] Militia [14] Native lands [14] Schools [23] Statehood [15] | |
Hugh McGuffin | Lavaca [11] | ||
George B. McKinstry | Victoria [11] | Central (proposed) [31] Tariffs [16] | |
William Menifee | Lavaca [11] | Schools [23] Statehood [15] | |
Eli Mercer | Victoria [11] | Statehood [15] | Granted a leave of absence for "extreme indisposition" [12] |
James Morgan | Liberty [32] | Finance [9] Land business [23] Statehood [15] Tariffs [16] | |
Jesse Parker | Sabine [27] | ||
George F. Richardson | San Jacinto [11] | Statehood [15] | |
William Robinson | Viesca [11] | Statehood [15] | |
Charles Sayre | Victoria [11] | Tariffs (chair) [16] | |
Clay C. Stinett | Gonzales [17] | Indian affairs [23] Statehood [15] | |
Philip A. Sublett | Ayish Bayou [22] | Land business [23] Native lands [14] | |
George Sutherland | Lavaca [11] | Customs [23] Immigration [16] Militia [14] Statehood [15] | |
Charles Stanfield Taylor | Nacogdoches [34] | English [14] Finance [9] Land business [23] Native lands (chair) [31] Statehood [15] Tariffs [16] | Nominated for secretary of the convention (defeated) [33] |
Alexander Thompson | Hidalgo [11] | Statehood [15] | |
Claiborne West | Liberty [32] | Statehood [15] | |
William H. Wharton | Victoria [11] | Immgiration (chair) [16] Statehood [15] | Nominated for president of the convention (defeated) [3] Wrote petition requesting independent statehood [35] Elected to deliver the petition to Mexico City [8] |
Robert Wilson | San Jacinto [11] | Central (proposed) [31] | |
David Wright | Alfred [11] |
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Philip Dimmitt (1801–1841) was an officer in the Texian Army during the Texas Revolution. Born in Kentucky, Dimmitt moved to Texas in 1823 and soon operated a series of trading posts. After learning that Mexican General Martín Perfecto de Cos was en route to Texas in 1835 to quell the unrest, Dimmitt proposed that the general be kidnapped on his arrival at Copano. The plan was shelved when fighting broke out at Gonzales, but by early October, 1835, it had been resuscitated by a group of volunteers at Matamoros. Not knowing that Cos had already departed for San Antonio de Bexar, this group decided to corner Cos at Presidio La Bahia in Goliad. Dimmitt joined them en route, and participated in the battle of Goliad.
Francis White "Frank" Johnson was a leader of the Texian Army from December 1835 through February 1836, during the Texas Revolution. Johnson arrived in Texas in 1826 and worked as a surveyor for several empresarios, including Stephen F. Austin. One of his first activities was to plot the new town of Harrisburg. Johnson unsuccessfully tried to prevent the Fredonian Rebellion and served as a delegate to the Convention of 1832.
Rafael Antonio Manchola was a politician and military officer in Mexican Texas. He twice served as commandant of Presidio La Bahía. He served two terms in the legislature of the state of Coahuila y Tejas. At his behest, the community which had grown outside the fort was renamed Goliad and elevated in status to a villa. During his legislative service, Manchola also negotiated official boundaries for the colony of his father-in-law, Martín De León, and had a commissioner appointed to grant official titles to the settlers in that colony. After returning home, Manchola became the alcade of Goliad and initiated a resolution–then considered illegal– supporting the Constitution of 1824 and Mexican President Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. He briefly attended the Convention of 1832 and volunteered to accompany William H. Wharton in journeying to Mexico City to request separate statehood for Texas. The mission was postponed, and Manchola died of cholera in late 1832 or early 1833.
Juan José María Erasmo de Jesús Seguín y Fuentes was a prominent citizen and politician in San Antonio de Bexar in the 19th century. From 1807 until 1835, Seguín served as head postmaster of San Antonio, Texas. After Mexico achieved independence from Spain, Seguín was named the sole representative from Texas to the constitutional convention. He helped to draft the Constitution of 1824 and was a major influence in the addition of a general colonization provision. Seguín assisted Stephen F. Austin in choosing land for the first colony of American settlers to immigrate to Texas. He later supported the Texas Revolution, providing political as well as material support. He was the father of Tejano revolutionary Juan Seguín.
Salvador Flores served as a volunteer in the Texan Army in 1835–1836. He was instrumental in organizing and commanding Texian volunteers in support of the Texas Revolution. He participated in many battles and would rise through the ranks to reach Captain status during the fight for Texas independence from Mexico. Salvador continued to provide protection for the ranches and settlers of Texas throughout the Republic years.
José Gaspar Flores de Abrego (1781–1836) was a Tejano who served three terms as the mayor of San Antonio, Texas. He was also a land commissioner and associate of Austin's early colonists. Gaspar Flores was a member of a group opposing the dictatorial actions of the President of Mexico, Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, and is known to have attended their first meeting in Bexar as well as the first revolutionary convention ever held in the city on November 15, 1834. He was one of the 35 men who signed the anti-Centrist document which was presented at the convention.
The Goliad Declaration of Independence was signed on December 20, 1835 at Presidio La Bahía in Mexican Texas.