The
Irish
Texans
John Brendan Flannery
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THE TEXIANS AND THE TEXANS
f ' I
A series dealing with the many kinds of people who have contributed to the
history and heritage of Texas.
Now in print:
Pamphlet series: The Indian Texans. The German Texans, The Norwegian
Texans. The Mexican Texans (in English). Los Tejanos
Mexicanos (in Spanish), The Spanish Texans, The Polish
Texans. The Greek Texans. The Jewish Texans, The Syrian
and Lebanese Texans, The Afro-American Texans. The
Anglo-American Texans. The Belgian Texans. The Swiss
Texans. The Czech Texans. The French Texans. The Italian
Texans and The Chinese Texans.
Book Series: The Irish Texans
The Danish Texans
Copyright 1980
The University of Texas Institute of Texan Cultures at San Antonio
Jack R. Maguire. Executive Director
Pat Maguire, Director of Publications and Coordinator of Programs
Design & Illustration by John E. Johnson
Photographic research by Tom F. Shelton
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 79-89957
International Standard Book Number 0-933164-33-5
First Edition
This publication was made possible, in part, by a grant from The
Houston Endowment, Inc., and Mr. and Mrs. E. W. Moran Sr., of
Wichita Falls, Texas.
Printed in the United States of America
THE IRISH TEXANS
by
John Brendan Flannery
The University of Texas
Institute of Texan Cultures
at San Antonio
San Antonio, Texas
John Brendan Flannery, JD, is an instructor in economics and international
relations at St. Mary's University, San Antonio, Texas. A native of Ireland, he
came to the United States at 15 and Texas has been his home since 1966. In
addition to law and economics, his fields of interest include history and socio-economic
problems. ·
His writings include "Economics for the Layman,'' a ·presentation in
simplified form of basic economic concepts; "El Tejano," an account of the
contribution to Texas of the Spanish and Mexican Texan; and Reflections, an
examination of the philosophy of the credit cooperative movement. Reflections
has gained worldwide recognition as a credit union educational text,
appearing in editions for various South American countries, Australia and
Japan. His most recent publication, in calendar form, is 'The Irish-World
Citizens. " a short account of Irish accomplishments in various countries.
Flannery is serving his second term as president of the Irish Cultural Society
of San Antonio, Inc., and The Irish Texans is as natural a consequence of his
involvement with that organization as its publication by The Institute of Texan
Cultures is appropriate.
The Irish Texans
Contents
Foreword.... . . . ................. . ............. . ................ . ... 1
San Jacinto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Why Were They Here . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
An Irish Conquistador and Others . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Irish Mexicans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
The " Non-Irish" Colonies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
The Irish Empresarios . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
The San Patricio Colony . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
The Refugio Colony. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Everyday Life in the Colonies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Two Would-be Towns and
a Texas Frontier Storekeeper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Pro-Mexican Irish? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
The First Skirmishes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
The Santa Anna Campaign . ...... .. ........ . .... . . ... .. . .... ........ .. 75
None Paid a Greater Price . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
The Irish of Victoria. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Disturbances in the Irish Colonies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Texas Irish and the Civil War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
The Irish of San Antonio . ... .. . .. . ................ . ...... . ...... .... .. 103
Irish of the Corpus Christi Area . . ............ .. . .. .. ...... ........ . .... 109
The Liberty-Beaumont Areas ............ . . .. ...... . ...... . ... .. .. ..... 119
Irish Railroaders and Houston-Galveston .. . .. .. . ....................... 123
All of God's Children ..... .. .. ... .... . .......... . .. .... . ... . .... . ..... 129
Honorable Mention .. . . . ........ .. ... .. .............................. 133
Not All Wore White Hats . ......... ... .. .. . .. . .. ............... ...... . 137
In Conclusion . ... . . .. ...... .. ........ . .. ..... .. .. .... . . .. . . ...... . . .. 141
Acknowledgements . .. . ...... .... .... . .... . ................ . ....... .. 145
Sources . . ..... .. ........ . . . ..... .. .... ... ...... ... . . . ............... 146
Unpublished Manuscripts ...... .. .... ......... . .. .. ..... . . . ........ . .. 148
Family Records . ....... .. ............................................ 148
Notes .. . ..... ..... ... .... .. ........ . ....... .. . .. ... . ............ . ... 148
Photographic Credits .............. . .. . . .... .... .. . ........ .. . ........ 166
Index ... . ... . ...... . ..... ..... ...... . ............................. . . 168
Foreword
The history of the Irish in Texas parallels that of the state. Although heavy
concentrations of this Celtic people appear in certain areas of early Texas
such as Staggers Point, west of the Guadalupe River, and in towns like San
Antonio, Corpus Christi, Refugio and Houston, they left their imprint on the
whole state.
Their special contributions have sometimes passed unnoticed because of
their very numbers and the fact they are often classified as Anglo-Saxon or
Anglo-American. Some authors refer to them as English, probably because in
the 18th and early 19th centuries all sailings of the Irish for America
originated at English ports. Another possible explanation may be found in the
English Act of Union of 1800 which declared Ireland, Scotland and Wales to be
one nation with England-a union the Celtic Irish never recognized and
continued to resist until they gained independence in 1921.
While any pure racial strains may have long since ceased to exist, the Irish
can properly claim, with the Highland Scots, Welsh and inhabitants of
Brittany, that they represent the survival of an ethnic group that once
dominated Europe-the Celts. Their language, customs, traditions and history
are Celtic. This heritage has, throughout history, reinforced their identity as a
people. It had done so for over a thousand years before Anglo-Saxonism
originated in England in the melding of those two Germanic peoples with others
already there. ·
1
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The strength and resilience of Celtic culture explain two other points in this
account that may cause controversy: the claiming as Irish of those of Irish birth
with obviously non-Irish names and of those with Irish names who were not
born in Ireland.
The Irish have always absorbed and molded to the Irish image those who
came to live among them. Such newcomers became identified with Ireland, her
history and culture. Ireland had a rich tradition and culture that absorbed
newcomers. Their names became Celticised and, in the complaint of the
English Lord Asquith, "they became more Irish than the Irish themselves."
Jews, for example, were not easily absorbed by most other nations but in
Ireland they became "Irish," identifying with the Irish and their struggle for
political and national freedom. Even Vikings became "Irish." Today's name
Dillon is considered Irish, but dates back to the Viking raiders of the 7th and
8th centuries who established a settlement that later became Dublin. Names
like Power (de Poer), Burke (de Burgo) and Fitzgerald date to Anglo-Norman
times. The speed and thoroughness with which the 12th century Normans were
absorbed and Celticised were amazing. The process of absorption has
continued to modern times-much to the dismay of the conquering English.
Many of Ireland's latter~ay national heroes bear names like Tone, Emmet,
Davis, Parnell and Griffith. Thus, anyone born in Ireland and part of the Irish
experience is considered Irish.
That which gave cohesion and identification to the Irish in Ireland was not a
political system. Their political history is, in fact, one of fragmentation and
disunity. Even so, they recognized a shared culture, language, social and tribal
system, legal system, mythology, literature and even pagan religious roots-all
distinctly Celtic and Irish. Since their commonality was not a national political
system, it bound the Irish throughout the world in a sense of sharing something
unique that transcends nationalism. The bearer of an Irish name or descent
may know nothing of his forebears' history or of his heritage, but he does know
that he is one with a people distinct and apart from others. That "Irish
identity" is preserved wherever the Irish go and the awareness of it is handed
down to later generations. In Texas today, among the descendents of the 1830's
Irish pioneers, one finds that same strong identification with the Irish heritage.
Thus, anyone who bears an ancient Celtic surname can call himself "Irish."
One final reminder to the reader who is not familiar with Texas history:
Texas was settled, revolution was carried out, and the frontiers were explored
by handfuls of determined men. Populations were smaller then. Many ethnic
groups and nationalities were represented and all Texans have reason to be
proud. In 1835 the population of the province was around 30,000-and those
were sharply divided on the issue of independence. Up to and at the Battle of
San Jacinto the Texas army was counted in the hundreds and most were
citizen-soldiers.
3
But there were Irish Mexicans by political adoption before this revolution
and many an Irish settler long after. Small as the early numbers were, this is
only the story of examples of Irish participation in Texas's settlement,
independence and development up to the turn of the present century. Irish
descendents are now legion and a book listing "everyone" or bestowing
contemporary honors is not the purpose here.
McMullen
& McGloin
Colony
au mont
orpus Christi
Power &
Hewetson Colony
Mop of Texas showing the Irish colonies and other locations of Irish settlement.
4
San Jacinto
As battles go, San Jacinto was a small one. There were no massed thousands
on either side; no great artillery duels; and only one mounted charge. The
opposing armies met and the issue was decided on a few acres of ground-and
in 18 minutes. Yet, many historians rank that short, bloody conflict with
Arbela, Tours. Saratoga and Waterloo as one of the decisive battles that
changed history. The land on which the battle was fought was known locally as
the "McCormick League." The very place names, Buffalo Bayou and San
Jacinto River, identify the conflict between a new advancing American frontier
and an established order of earlier European derivation.
Such considerations were far from the thoughts of the men gathered there
that April 21, 1836. Some, oblivious to the heaps of Mexican dead, succumbed
to the post-battle weariness of the soldier-a mixture of relief and thankful­ness
for survival. Others, brandishing the long rifles that had proved so
devastating, were busy herding prisoners. The center of activity, however, was
a large man seated on the ground with his back to a tree. His ankle had been
shattered by a rifleball. An occasional grimace of pain crossed his face as
aides hastily scribbled his dispatches for waiting couriers. General Sam
Houston was anxious to exploit his victory and stem the panicked flight of
Texas families. Subordinates rushed up with reports of casualties, prisoners
and booty; scouts, reporting on the whereabouts of Mexican General Santa
Anna's support columns, came and went.
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Into this hubbub of activity came a rider. galloping onto the battlefield and
heading straight for the group around Houston. Some recognized the intruder
as Mrs. Peggy McCormick. whose teenage son, Michael. served as special
messenger for Houston. Exhibiting the frontiersman's deference for women.
the men cleared a path for her and fell silent at her approach. She reined in
he~ h?rse a few feet from the man on the ground. When she spoke, her
ag1tahon gave emphasis to the Irish brogue.
"Sam Houston, when the blazes are you going to get your dead Mexicans off
my league?"
Houston regarded the distraught woman. The disposal of the dead was the
least of his worries. "Madam,·· he replied placatingly. "do you not know that
your land will be famed in history?"
"To the devil with your glorious history!" answered the impatient
Irishwoman. wheeling her horse and dashing from the scene.1
Peggy McCormick personified that sudden practicality of Irish womanhood
that has always acted as a moderating influence on the rash and impetuous
idealism of the men. She and her husband. an Irish barrister, had left Ireland
in 1822 and had taken up land on the Texas coast near the present city of
Houston. Her husband drowned in the San Jacinto River in 1832 and Peggy
McCormick was left alone to raise two young sons and operate a ranch. She
proved herself a strong-willed woman.
A few days prior to San Jacinto. her son Michael had been dispatched by
General Houston to New Washington to warn the Texas president. David G.
Burnet, and the cabinet of the approach of the Mexican army. On the way he
discovered an advance party of 50 dragoons nnder Colonel Juan N. Almonte
riding hard for the town. Putting spurs to his horse he outdistanced the
Mexican detachment and rode into New Washington minutes ahead of them.
There he found Burnet haggling with the ferry operator about transport. At
McCormick's shouted warning Burnet jumped into the rowboat which
immediately put out from shore. The young messenger spurred his horse into
the brush as the frustrated Mexicans dashed to the river bank. Several leveled
their guns at the receding rowboat but Almonte forb ade their shooting because
a woman. Mrs. Burnet. was in the boaV This was on April 16, 1836.
The McCormir.ks were not the only Irish. nor the first. to be associated with
Texas and its history. Irish have been a part of Texas from Spanish times to the
present. They came as soldiers and statesmen in Spanish service. they came as
colonials under Mexican law; and no group paid a higher price for Texas
independence than did the Irish colonies west of the Guadalupe River. Their
men fought and fell at the Alamo. Goliad. San Patricio. Agua Dulce Creek.
Coleta Creek and Refugio. Their homes. land and livestock were raided and laid
9
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waste by Mexican and Texan armies. What was left was pillaged by
marauding bands of Indians. Mexican brigands and American freebooters. Bu t
the Irish story began long before this.
Survivors of the curlier pngugcrrwnls wern wtlh Ccrwml 1/ou,lrlll "' Son /ru.rnlo 1\mrmg
lhr.m werr. /rif>h·horn Wii/Hrm Mc:Cui/1. Willwm ll r~dmonrl. \-\'niter /.umburl. Dnml'/ /Jrr~r. o/1
unci Murfin O'Toole of the lrrsh co/onir.~ wn~l of tht! (;uurlrr/upt• lli\'l'r rrnd Holwrr IIPnPI.
Edwnnl Mr:Mil/un. Bcntwnin Bryrrnt und Mrrt!lww Dunn nf !hr. Sr.nlr:h ·fn~h of Sloggr.r' Point
ncnr the Brrrzos Hiver. ' In ull. nhoul one hundrf'd lri,h ·born porllC'rpo lt•rl rn tlw llnll/n of Son
Judnlo. Thny mode up ohoul on(! ·~ t·vcnth of rlw Tnxu~ nrmr.
11
Why Were They Here?
The Irish presence in Texas was part of a long stream of emigration that
started with the English defeat of Irish armies at the Battle of Kinsale, Ireland,
in 1602. It slackened only with the attainment of Irish independence 320 years
later. The Irish were robbed of their ancestral lands, denied education,
prohibited from holding office or having political representation. They were
persecuted for their religion and forbidden their ages-old culture and legal
system. They were reduced to that state so aptly described by an English Lord
Chancellor and Lord Chief Justice of the late 18th century: No such person as
an Irish Catholic is presumed to exist under English law. 1
Generation after generation rose in futile. and disunited. opposition to
English rule. After each defeat new bands of emigrants headed for France,
Spain. Austria-any nation that was at war wi th England. Some of these and
their descendants came to New Spain and Texas. They were sometimes listed
on immigration roles as natives of their adopted countries.
When the English king. William of Orange, defeated the Irish at the Boyne
River in 1690, the government appropriated the lands of the northern Celtic
Irish and parceled them out to Scottish Lowlanders of William's army. These
were principally Presbyterians. Those of the dispossessed Irish who were not
shipped to the Carolinas or West Indies were allowed to stay on their ancestral
lands as menials. They provided cheap labor. Thus. by a national policy 300
years ago, England created in Northern Ireland a situation that pi tted "haves"
13
t''
against ''have nots" and religion against religion. Some of the fruits are still
being reaped in Northern Ireland today. The Scottish "planters." while they
sought to preserve their economic advantage, identified with the country like
all who had come to Ireland before and came to be known as "Scotch-Irish."
Initially. as Protestants. the Presbyterian or Scotch-Irish enjoyed certain
economic rights denied to the Catholic Irish. 2 However. during the 18th
century they suffered equally with Catholics from the rapaciousness of
landlords and from England's mercantilist policies. 3 Also, like the Catholics.
they were forced to pay tithes for the support of the Anglican Church to which
they did not belong.
In 1703 England passed the Test Act. This act required oil office holders in
Ireland to conform to the "established," or Anglican. Church. The Presbyte­rian
Irish saw in this an extension to them of the discrimination already
legislated against the Catholic Irish.4 England's ''choking off" the developing
woolen trade and the discriminatory English Corn Laws further alienated that
segment of the Irish. As a consequence. over 250,000 individuals immigrated to
the American colonies between 1717 and the Revolutionary War .5
In Ireland common cause brought Catholic and Protestant together in a
political movement of the late 18th century known as "The United Irishmen."
The goal was an Irish republic and the result was the 1798 Uprising. It was
bloodily put down by the English with the aid of Hessian mercenaries. The
brutal reprisals thereafter visited upon a helpless citizenry increased the
stream of emigration.6
In the 19th century, England's unchanged mercantilist policies continued to
feed that stream. The Irish saw no future in a land where. as in the 1840's,
their livestock and grain was being shipped to England while millions of Irish
died from starvation due to the failure of the potato crop. 7 They continued to be
second-class citizens in their own land. Advancement for even the learned and
professional depended upon their support of a governmental system dedicated
to the abolition of the only thing left to them- their identity as a people. Little
wonder that families scrimped and saved to send their bright young people to
places like Texas where opportunity beckoned.
16
An Irish Conquistador
and Others
While the area of the New World now known as Texas was under Spanish
rule the Irish were here as soldiers. administrators. priests and settlers. They
were to remain when Mexico obtained its independence and some would help
shape Mexican history.
A rigorous dedication to the service of his king and adopted country broke
the health of an 18th century conquistador known to the Indians, because of his
red hair. as "Capitan Colorado." Hugh O'Connor was born in Dublin in 1734
and. later running afoul of the English. fled to Spain. He entered the military
and became an officer in the Volunteer Regiment of Aragon. Service in Cuba
was followed by assignment to New Spain, of which Texas was a part. In
Spanish his name became "Hugo Ocon6r." and his appointments increased in
rank. He came to Texas in 1767 where he served as governor from that year to
1770. · In 1768 he was present at the laying of the cornerstone of the present
church of San Jose Mission in San Antonio.2
From the late 1600's on. the Apache Indians had carried on unrelenting
warfare against Spanish settlements. Their attacks increased in frequency
and ferocity during the 18th century as they were being driven from their
hunting grounds by the more powerful Comanche. Spanish officials estimated
that. between 1748 and 1772, the Apaches killed more than 4.000 persons and
stole or destroyed property valued at over twelve million pesos.3
The estimates were probably high, but the trouble was constant. Spanish
garrisons were undermanned and there was no uniform policy for dealing with
17
the Indians. Some local commanders fought them, while others tried to pacify
them with gifts and treaties. The missionaries tried to teach them peaceful
pursuits, Christianize them and induce them to settle on the land. However,
compared with the little success the padres had with some groups, they had
practically none with the Apache.
Garrison soldiers were poorly armed and poorly mounted. Morale was low in
some presidios. Enlisted men were often even in debt to their commanders who
at times made questionable deductions from their pay. An inspection of Texas
settlements and garrisons in 1767 disclosed glaring weaknesses in defense.
Hugo Oconi5r represents the government at the cornerstone laying for Mission San Jose's chapel.
San Antonio, the most important Spanish settlement in Texas, was manned by
as few as 22 soldiers and some of these spent their time away from town
guarding five nearby missions. Several times even the horses of the presidio
were stolen by Indians. Time and again ranchers were driven from their lands
and, when the Apaches were on the prowl, none dared leave the security of
town or mission except in large groups. Lone horsemen or small groups were
often captured or killed.
These were the conditions facing Colonel Hugo Ocon6r when, in 1772, he
was made com andante inspector, directly responsible to the viceroy and
18
charged with bringing order and security to the northern frontier of New
Spain. That frontier extended from Texas to California.
Abandoning some of the less-defensible positions, he established a line of 22
presidios extending from La Bahia at Goliad in Texas to Santa Gertrudis de
Altar in Sonora near the Gulf of California-a distance of 1,500 miles. These he
Mission San Jose in San Antonio.
manned with 2,300 men and assigned regular patrols. This thin, defensive line
was to put a stop to the Indian raids into Mexico. Meanwhile, he mounted an
offensive campaign that drove back the Apache.
His reorganization of the frontier garrisons involved establishing standards
of arms, dress, mounts and proficiency of the soldier. Commanders were
forbidden to buy and sell supplies to the troops. Salaries were set for all ranks
and a paymaster was made responsible for finances and the procurement of
supplies. The duties and responsibilities of each rank were specified and a
promotional system based on merit was inaugurated.4
19
Within four years this dedicated Irishman had brought relative peace and
security to the frontier of New Spain. However, the responsibilities of his
administration and the rigors of Indian campaigns, which he occasionally
would lead personally, left him broken in health. Ocon6r transferred from his
frontier duty and died at 45 while serving as governor of Yucatan.
Oconor was not the only Irishman to
undergo a name change to adapt to the
pronunciation of a foreign language. In
Spain, O'Donoghue became O'Donoju,
and Murphy became Morphy or Morfi.
One of the latter, Juan Agustfn Morfi,
priest and historian, faithfully recorded
life as he saw it in New Spain. In 1777 he
accompanied Comandante General de
Croix on his tour of the provinces,
~ .;,
making notes for his Viaje de Indios. He visited Texas and later wrote a history
of the area. Not much escaped the good padre's keen eye and he did not
hesitate to record a couple of incidents of some embarrassment to himself.
Father Morfi was apparently an avid fisherman but poor weather and official
business had kept him from this sport when he first came to San Antonio.
Finally, with a break in the weather, he and two of de Croix' officers decided to
try their luck in the San Antonio River. They were crossing the plaza ankle­deep
in mud when startled by a sound from behind. A bull was loose in the
plaza and seemed determined to occupy the area alone. He charged and, self­preservation
taking precedence over sport for the day, the three men ran for
their lives despite the mud. Misfortune seemed to attend Father Morfi 's
attempts at fishing-at least in the Texas area. On the return trip to Mexico he
stopped to fish in the Rio Grande but, through unexplained circumstances, fell
in !5 He was apparently an indifferent angler, but there can be no doubt of his
superior ability as a chronicler. Modern historians owe much to him for his ob­jective
account of life in those times.
There were other Irish in Texas during Spanish times. The censuses of
Nacogdoches, on the eastern border, record many Irish-born as Spanish
subjects. The 1792 census indicates that Philip Nolan of Belfast was one of the
first. Other sources show that James Conilt was there in 1786.6 This may be the
same man listed in the 1801 records as James Maconilt. Other 18th century
listings as Irish-born are: Richard Sims and William Barr in 1793; Francisco
Cornegay, 1794; Thomas Blain, 1796; and James McNulty "of Munster" in
1797. Between the years 1801 and 1806 the census records show seven other
Irishmen as Spanish subjects. One of these is listed as John Ocon6r "native of
the capital of Connaught." The references to Munster and Connaught, Irish
20
The Old Stone Fort at Nocqgdoches in 1885. once used as headquarters for
Williom Barr's troding firm .
provinces, are unusual. An Irishman generally identifies himself by the county
from which he came rather than the province .
Since Louisiana was under Spanish domination during the latter part of the
18th century, entry of foreign settlers to Texas from the east was easy. Once in
Louisiana it was just a step to Texas. Most who came to Nacogdoches entered
from the former French colony.
The Irish had long been interested in settlement in Lousiana. In 1787 a
Virginian, Bryan Browin, requested permission to bring 12 wealthy Irish
families to that area. In that year a William Fitzgerald was allowed a 1,000
peso advance to transport 30 Irish families from New York . An Irishman,
retired French army officer Augustine MacArty (McCarthy), offered to induce
two to three thousand Irish Catholics to settle in Louisiana.7 It is impossible to
ascertain the number of Irish that came to Louisiana as a result of these efforts
but there was considerable Irish emigration from the United States. Some of
these drifted west into Texas.
21
In 1806 plans went forward for the founding in Texas of a town on the
Trinity River west of Nacogdoches. It was to be named Villa de Santfsima
Trinidad de Salcedo. Founders came from Louisiana and Bexar (San Antonio).
Some Irish were already there when, in January of 1807, 16 persons arrived
from Bexar .8
Among the Irish at Villa de Santlsima Trinidad de Salcedo were: Miguel Quinn, Juan Magee
and family, Enrique Seridan {Sheridan), the family of Juan Lunn. Hugo Coyle ." James Fear and
family, and John Mulroney.10 In 1809 new settlers appearing at Salc edo were Pa tricio
Fitzgerald and Timoteo Ba rre tt of Ireland.'' Zebulon Pike, in his journals. mentions rea ching
the Trinity River in Texas {probably at Salcedo), and meeting. among others, a number of
Irishmen.
22
Irish Mexicans
Mexico records many Irish names in its political, religious and intellectual
life. Two such names are Obregon [O'Brien) and Barragan [Berrigan). In the
early 1800's an Ignacio Obregon is listed as one of many large landowners
protesting a Spanish law that threatened the Mexican economy.1 Joaquin
Obregon headed the Finance and Commerce Committee of Agust{n de
Iturbide's cabinet after 1821. Obregons were later prominent in Mexican
politics-one of them a president of the Republic.
General Miguel Barragan served as interim president of Mexico under
Santa Anna. A Captain Marcos Barragan was with Santa Anna's army in
Texas in 1836. Escaping from San Jacinto, he brought news of the defeat to
General Jose Urrea.2
General Juan O'Donoju [O'Donoghue) served as the last viceroy to New Spain
in 1821 and affirmed Mexican independence. His chaplain, Father Miguel
Muldoon, is of special interest to Texas because of his involvement with the
Austin colonists.
Father Muldoon was the son of an Irishman who fled to Spain and there
married a Spanish girl. Muldoon entered the priesthood in Spain but a love of
adventure caused him to ask for assignment in the New World. On arrival in
Mexico he asked to be assigned to the frontier. Eventually he was assigned to
Stephen F. Austin 's colony and seemed to adapt readily to frontier conditions.
Muldoon, apparently of a friendly nature and jovial disposition, got along well
23
General Juan Odonoju. Monument to Father Miguel Muldoon near
La Grange.
with the Anglo colonists, most of whom were Protestants although they had
professed Catholicism in order to enter Spanish Texas. They looked forward to
his scheduled visits for baptisms and weddings. He enlivened such festive
events by his wit and ready humor and had the ability to compose, on the spot,
poetry to fit the occasion. The toast he gave on January 1, 1832, at a banquet
honoring Stephen F. Austin, is one example and conveys something of the
personal philosophy of the man.
Father Muldoon's Toast:
''May plow and harrow, spade and fack
Remain the arms of Anahuac
So that her rich and boundless plains
May yearly yield all sorts of grains.
May all religious discord fall
And friendship be the creed of all.
With tolerance your pastor views
All sects of Christians, Turks and Jews.
We now demand three rousing cheers
Great Austin's health and pioneers.''3
24
I
Father Muldoon offers a toast at Austin's banquet.
Father Muldoon rendered invaluable aid to the early colonists in their
controversies with Mexican officialdom. In 1832 he and Thomas Jefferson
Chambers helped the colonists draft, in Spanish, their protests against the
newly-established customs house at Anahuac. Anahuac, on Trinity Bay east of
the present city of Houston, was a required port of entry for colonists and
supplies. The settlers objected to customs regulations and fees.
There was no question of Muldoon's personal courage. Some colonists had
been imprisoned at Anahuac following their protest and he accompanied their
angry neighbors who marched to their aid. To prevent bloodshed, he attempted
conciliation with the Mexican commander and, failing, offered himself as a
hostage for the prisoners.4 At another time he went alone to an Indian camp
and secured the release of a captive white woman.
In 1834 Stephen F. Austin was in prison in Mexico City suspected of
supporting revolution. Father Muldoon visited him there, bringing food and
books and giving what aid and comfort he could.5 Later, without regard for his
own safety, he aided William H. Wharton to escape from prison at Matamoros,
Mexico. Wharton had been captured at sea by the Mexican navy on his return
to Texas from the United States where he had been lobbying in support of
annexation. Muldoon apparently had great sympathy for the Texas cause.
25
Today one hears the Texas term "Muldoon Catholic" applied to one whose
Catholicism is only a veneer. It was applied in frontier days to those members
of Father Muldoon's flock who, originally Protestant, professed Catholicism
only to secure Mexican lands in Texas. The conditions of frontier life, the
distances to be traveled, and the lack of educational facilities prompted a
rather pragmatic approach on Father Muldoon's part in accepting and
certifying as "Catholic" those whose conversions were superficial. It is not a
criticism of his personal faith.
Father Muldoon earned the love and respect of the Texans who knew him.6
Before he left Texas he received from President Sam Houston, in behalf of the
people of Texas, a letter thanking him for the services he had rendered. A town
in Fayette County was named in memory of him. On Highway 77, south of the
town of La Grange, stands a memorial erected to the memory of this "Forgotten
man of Texas history .''
26
The ''Non-Irish'' Colonies
The Irish in Texas are generally thought of in terms of the so-called "Irish
colonists" of San Patricio and Refugio. They were the most noticeable Texas
Irish. However, there were Irish who had come from the United States to the
Austin, De Leon, Peters, DeWitt and Robertson colonies and to the eastern part
of the state near the Louisiana border. Most of them came to the province of
Texas because of the availability of inexpensive land.
The high purchase price ($2.00 per acre) of public lands in the United States
prior to 1820 forced many homesteaders to finance their purchases through
local state banks using the land as security. In 1818 there were mass failures
of those banks in the West and South. Many individuals lost their lands, put
signs on their property saying "GTT" (Gone to Texas), and headed for Mexico.
A league of land (about 4,428 acres) could be had for just homesteading, or
paying a surveyor's fee, or for at most around $100. The unemployment of the
northern cities in the 1819-1820 depression caused some migration from those
areas. The price of United States public lands dropped to $1.25 per acre after
1820 but payment was to be in cash, and severe depression again struck in
1837. Again, farmers moved on seeking cheaper lands.
Stephen F. Austin's Old Three Hundred, the settlers of his first colony,
contained Irish-born, among them Martin Allen, Arthur and Peggy McCormick,
and Alexander and Humphrey Jackson. Listed also are: Callaghan, Clark,
Cummings, Fitzgerald, Hughes, Kennedy, Kelly, Lynch, another McCormick and
Moore. 1 Yet even before Austin had selected the land for his colony, two Irish
27
families, Garrett and Higgins, were in the area. In December of 1821 they were
said to have built cabins two miles above the mouth of the Little Brazos River.2
Early education in Austin's colony appeared to be in the hands of Irish. M.
M. Kenney, in his "Recollections of Early Schools," notes that, in the years
1835 to 1840, the schoolteachers were Irishmen. One of those teachers was so
well-liked by the community and he in turn so enjoyed his position as a teacher
that plans were made to open an academy. He departed for Ireland to bring his
family to Texas and sailed from New Orleans. However, the vessel was lost
with all aboard. Such peril was common at the time. Another teacher was
named Cummins who, later in 1842, volunteered for the Texas army to repel a
Mexican attack on San Antonio. He was killed at the Battle of Salado Creek.3
The Mexican colonizer, Martin de Leon, had invited Irish into his colony
located in the area of Victoria. Perhaps the most famous arrival was John J.
Linn whose college professor father had to flee Ireland for his part in the 1798
Uprising. Linn went to New Orleans in 1822 where he established a trading
business. An illicit trade between Americans and Mexicans of the Texas river
towns had sprung up in the late 1820's. Linn, dealing in tobacco, was part of
this trade. He became interested in Texas and settled in De Le6n's colony.
Other Irish settlers there included Patrick Mahan, James Quinn and the
Shearn family.
In 1821 eight Irish families came from Ireland to South Carolina. After some
time there, they moved to Alabama. From there, between 1829 and 1834, they
immigrated to Texas, settling in a wooded section west of the present town of
Benchley in Robertson County. The community became known as Staggers
Point, the name deriving from "striver" indicating a determination to succeed.
Some had settled there in 1830 and others as late as 1833.4 Staggers Point was
a "thriving Irish town" by the time of the Texas Revolution.
The Original Irish Settlers of Staggers Point
William Henry. Mary Fullerton, Henry Dixon, James M. Dixon. Ann McMillan. Henry and
Sarah Fullerton. Robert and Elizabeth Henry, George H. Fullerton . John R. and Sarah Payton.
Jimmie H. Rice, William Fullerton, Hugh and Elizabeth Henry, James A. Henry, Bradford and
Mary Henry Seale. and James and Isabella Dunn.5
The settlers lost no time in putting down roots in the land. James Dunn built a
fort to which the colonists repaired when Indians threatened. Devout
Presbyterians, they erected what became known as The Old Irish Church on
Red Top Prairie.
The community was constantly harassed by Indians. New Year's Day of
1839, a time of new beginnings and new hope, was a tragic one for the George
Morgan family. Indians plundered the home killing several members of the
28
"""<~·~ ,.". -f- ..~... ..
Benchley, c. 1892. Staggers Point was relocated here near the railroad and renamed
af(er a freight conductor.
family. Nine days later 70 warriors attacked another settler's home. Mean­while,
after burying the dead of the Morgan massacre, 48 men had organized
under Benjamin Bryant to hunt down the Indians. In a battle, known locally as
Bryant's Defeat, the settlers suffered severe losses.
Confident in their numbers and convinced that their quarry was hidden in
some woods ahead, the settlers advanced across the prairie in an extended
line . Suddenly, with blood-chilling war whoops, a large body of Indians
charged from the cover of the woods . In the din of Indian war cries, Bryant's
shouted commands were lost to the ears of his men. Horses and men went down
in a shower of arrows. Except for a few close enough to fight back-to-hack,
each man was cut off from the others and all fought desperate hand-to-hand
combat. Some escaped, but among the dead was Bryant and ten of the Staggers
Point Irish.
The Peters Colony of the 1840's was located in the northern part of the state,
south of the Red River boundary with Oklahoma and in the general area of the
present city of Dallas. It covered the present Texas counties of Montague,
Cook, Grayson, Wise, Denton and Collin and parts of Parker, Tarrant, Dallas
and Johnson Counties between the Brazos and Trinity Rivers. There were 87
Irish-surnamed colonists among the settlers, although biographical sketches
note that only five were born in Ireland.6
29
OR SALE!
cno:r:o:s OF
300 Half SECTIQNS
P REMIUM
ete1"s' Colony,
O R
Texan Emi~raUon & tan~ Co.
!N T H E
Upper Brazos River
(~Ol.NTUY;
Selected mider an Ex­clusi..-
e Privileg·e (of 3
years, )--and Patented
over Twenty Years Ag·o.
t't: ,-:,. ..\- !> 1-·· •• :. ··~ · -! " rot: ' •• .... ,. ,..,.,,,, ,, .• ·•' 11..,>-! ,11
· . ·)~ ..:\ Hieh, Beautiful
and ll(•althY CounhT, mul
not sm•pu !-<s~·d for lereals
and ~toek of a ll ldnds;
now ht·iug Hnpitlly Sett letl up IJy
l.iood Farnwr,; mo,;tly from the Old
~late><.
P EA(:E, J-nw, Order a.nd Plenty
pt'• \ ad-. Cr. ops ut ··:·,.,._,. k tw l of La1-g~·
Yiold .n.il SnporTor Quality. No Better'"
Safar Purchase t hau tlll'o~.•· L ands, •·ilt'f..!t' l'..r Home ~
tite:ad .. ,. In vcstmCIJt; t1t:$" Xu ht·llvr ti1n•· fur First·
Choicu. at Lowest Prices; x ~n· UIHN.• than tinut t•\
~1-!'\'t l""a rm .... ,nuJ H;mt•ht• ... In &r:r ~•Lnl v.mcllu~ot urth·~· "L:.
tlw ttttw "t• v•· •~•t '\•f ftt•• ~ - S ix &'\.ilron-ds Ohartor ed
t u t•a~.; tl1t " n~l1 r)ttt'> t'»n uhy '\\ill POUI ~ll) ) tbt• i!tiU\' t•lliNil'tlUt
t.ttti•IH.n•-f .w~l l"lt1' "'1·' lr1l~h1 ...-. ~lt·aHHUlt' thu tltiUIIUlll~~t
•• r tl~t \fHhun· 1~ .. \'1,,. \Y.->lt, J,urui~ttllinu. )f initll!~ &(• .. wi!1
.1 ilnnl l t•:l tly t~1;n·h·f !t1 h.1~l1 l11'h:c•-4.
Apply to E. S. GRA.::S:..A..:M,
Or ll.k"'*'· Yon.st~: Ca•aty, T.x--.
or · J. ·A. H. HOSACK, Ag't,
At DALLAS o11d JEFFERSON, 'l':SXAS.
"'' ' ' l'I.MII J. J:, J i!: .~
Advertisement for the Peters Colony.
The present city of Dallas was
founded by John N. Bryan who, in 1841,
came to the area and built a cabin on
the east bank of the Trinity River near
what is now the courthouse square. He
laid out a townsite and apparently pub­licized
it widely since it appears on
early Peters Colony maps and was
known in the United States. It was
visited by a Missourian in 1844 who,
disappointedly, wrote: "We soon
reached the place we had heard of so
often; but the town, where was it? Two
small log cabins-this was the town of
Dallas, and two families of 10 or 12
souls was its population.' '7
30
Irish Surnamed of the Peters Colony
Joseph Boyle, Catherine Brien, John N. Bryan,
Stephen W. Callaghan, Harvey Casey, John
Casey, John Casey Jr., John Casey Sr., Thomas
Casey. Timothy Casey, Thomas Cassidy. Thomas
Cassidy Sr., Elisha C. Clary, Elisha T. Clary,
Albert G. Collin s, John H. Collins, Thomas
Collins, Cornelius Conely, Joseph W. Connor,
William D. Conner, John Conway, Hugh Coween,
Dan Delaney, George W. Dooley, James Dooley,
William Dooley, William Gallagher, Abraham
Hart, Caleb Hart, Jacob Hart. William J. Hart,
Daniel B. Hearn. Martin Hearn, William A.
Hearn, John Higgins. Lewis T. Higgins, Philemon
Higgins. William Higgins, Thomas Keenan,
Calvin W. Kennedy, James Kennedy, John
Kennedy, Mary Kennedy, Samuel Kennedy,
Arthur Kerrigan, James P. Laughlin. Newton C.
Laughlin, William B. Laughlin, James McBride.
Gerard McCarty. Larkin McCarty, William
McCarty Jr.. William McCarty Sr.. Patrick
McCla ry, Joseph B. McDermott, John C.
McElroy, J. McNamara, Thomas Mahan, Perry
Malone, John Maloney, Charles Manihan,
Delilah C. Manning, John Manning, Eli Murphy,
Henderson Murphy, Thomas G. Murphy,
Ambrose R. Murray, Daniel Murray,
Christopher Nolan, John O'Hara, William
O'Ne al. Martin O'Neil , Leonida O'Quinn,
Stephen O'Quinn, William O'Quinn, George W.
Ragan. William M. Roark, James R. Rylie,
Benjamin Shahan, Daniel Shahan. Elizabeth
Shahan, William P. Shahan, Andrew Shannon,
Robert E. Shannon. James Sullivan .•
The Irish Empresarios
Four Irishmen founded the two Texas settlements known as the San Patricio
and the Refugio colonies. Although the settlers were mainly Irish there were
Mexicans and other nationalities in each area. The settlement of John
McMullen and James McGloin was known as the San Patricio Colony; that of
James Power and James Hewetson, the Refugio Colony.
There were earlier arrivals. Three years before the first shipload of
McMullen-McGloin colonists arrived in Texas, two Irishmen came overland by
horseback in 1826 to select sites for settlement in present Bee County.1 They
were Jeremiah O'Toole and James O'Reilly whose families , among others,
arrived three years later aboard two sailing vessels. But the main number of
settlers was brought in by the empresarios .
A "grant" to an empresario (one who contracted to settle colonists) was not
an outright donation of land. It defined the area to which the empresario could
bring the families he had contracted to settle. Each settler could choose his
land from within the defined area-assuming it was not already legally
occupied. It was then surveyed and, if the settler met the Mexican
requirements, he was confirmed in his possession and issued a title by a
Mexican official named for that purpose. Each empresario had a definite time
limit within which to complete his contract. Upon completion he received ex­tensive
lands for himself. Contracts, each for six years, were issued to Power­Hewetson
on June 11, 1828, and to McMullen-McGloin on August 16, 1828.
31
James Power, born near Ballygarrett, County Wexford, Ireland, was ten
years old at the time of the 1798 Uprising in Ireland. Following the battle of
Vinegar Hill, fought near his home, he probably witnessed some of the carnage
that ensued when the Er.glish yeomanry was turned loose on the countryside.
In the years that followed the details of that magnificent stand made by the
men and women of County Wexford, Ireland were recounted around the
evening fireside.
What effect all this may have had on his later life is not known, but Power's
enthusiastic espousal of the Texas cause was probably the reaction of one who
had experienced tyranny.
At 21, Power immigrated to Philadelphia and went from there to New
Orleans where he operated a merchandising business. Some years later he
settled in Saltillo, Mexico, became a Mexican citizen and, at age 33, married
Dolores Portilla of Matamoros. His father-in-law, Don Felipe Roque de la
Portilla, had been in charge of the attempt to organize a settlement on the San
Marcos River in Texas. Power probably got his ideas of colonization from Don
Felipe. But Power was eloquent himself. He induced the Portillas to move to
Texas with him and his bride. They settled on the banks of Nueces Bay near
present-day Corpus Christi,2
Power had teamed up with another Irishman, James Hewetson, in the
colonization venture. An agent employed by them to recruit Irish settlers for
their colony had been unsuccessful and, with the empresario contract due to
expire in one year, Power sailed for Ireland from Port Aransas in April, 1833.3
Power was successful in recruiting, but when many of the colonists were
stricken by cholera in New Orleans, there was much grumbling against having
been induced to come to the New World. Dissatisfaction increased when the
two schooners he hired to convey them from New Orleans to Copano Bay ran
aground at Aransas Pass and tools and supplies were lost. There were reports
that the owners of the vessels had them heavily insured and had bribed the
captains to wreck them. Some had suspicions that Power had a hand in this.
However, the testimony of Mrs. Rosalie Priour should settle that. "Colonel
Power," she said, "ordered the captain of the schooner, in my presence, at the
point of his pistol to change his course and avoid running his vessel
aground . . . " The captain obeyed and anchored for the night but " . .. in the
night . .. ran our schooner ashore. " 4 In spite of the troubles, the Irish finally
made their way to the colony.
James Power took an active part in the Texas Revolution. Although elected to
the General Consultation of November 1835, he was unable to attend because
he was involved in the Texan attack on the Mexican garrison at Lipantitlan on
the Nueces River. He later served on the General Council, withdrawing
December 29 to attend to his petsonal affairs.
32
·- ·~
Dr. James Hewetson, empresario. Abandoned village of Copano, 1911. Ruins of
shelJ~oncrete residence designed for James Power,
but not completed until after his death in 1852.
Power orders the schooner captain to avoid a deliberate wreck.
33
He was elected delegate from Refugio to the Convention of March 1, 1836;
and through his influence, Sam Houston was elected second delegate. Thus, on
March 2, he was one of the signers of the Texas Declaration of Independence.
As a delegate to the Annexation Convention of July 4, 1845, James Power
supported the annexation resolution and when, on December 29, Texas
became the 28th state. his signature was on the first State Constitution.
Power's last years were spent in costly litigation defending his title to his
lands. In 1852 he became seriously ill and died on August 15 at his home on
Copano Bay. He was survived by his second wife and seven children. His body
was buried there at Live Oak Point but his remains were not allowed to rest in
peace. In 1873 his casket was dug up by grave robbers. The remains were
removed by his family to Mount Calvary Cemetery in Refugio where they rest
today under an appropriate monument.
James Hewetson, Power's partner in the colonization project, was born in
County Kilkenny, Ireland, in 1796. Some time before 1818 he emigrated to
Philadelphia. As a medical doctor, he had received what for the day was a
better-than-average education. He was one of the group that, in 1821,
accompanied Stephen F. Austin to Texas. The latter, as an empresario, had
come here to claim the land assigned to his father by the Spanish. The group
stopped in San Antonio and there learned the news of Mexico's independence
from Spain. The 25-year-old Hewetson went on to Monclova, Mexico, eventu­ally
settling in Saltillo where there were a number of Irish. He started a busi­ness
in that city and met James Power there. Although he joined Power in the
colonization plans, Hewetson opposed Texas independence and lived the rest
of his life in Mexico, leaving to his partner the management of the colony. In
1833 he married Josefa Guajardo, a wealthy landowner.
James Hewetson witnessed, in his adopted country, the struggle between
Federalism and Centralism, the loss of Texas, a war with the United States and
U.S. troops as occupiers, and the many military and political power struggles
that convulsed Mexico. He died on September 12, 1870, and was buried beside
his wife in the Campo Santo de la Parroquia de Santiago del Saltillo.5
John McMullen was born in Ireland in 1785 and came with his family to
Baltimore, Maryland. He later moved to Savannah, Georgia, where he married
Esther Cummings in 1810. In 1825 he moved to Matamoros, Mexico, where he
operated a merchandising business. Like others, he tried colonization. He and
his partner and son-in-law, James McGloin, recruited the settlers for their San
Patricio Colony from among Irish-born immigrants in New York and
Philadelphia. They both went there for that purpose and each accompanied
one of the two vessels that brought the first colonists to Texas in 1829.
Six years later McMullen was elected one of the representatives from San
Patricio to the Consultation of November 1835 and on December 11 was
appointed to the General Council. He became deeply involved in the
revolutionary government. On January 1, 1836, he was unanimously elected
34
The grave of James Power in Mount Calvary Cemetery at Refugio.
James McGloin's residence at Round Lake near San Patricio, the only Irish empresario's
home still S'fan ding.
35
temporary president of the council. On returning to San Patricio, he saw the
devastation caused by the invasion of the Mexican army and journeyed to the
United States to procure supplies for the colonists. His election as a delegate to
the Convention of March 1, 1836, was questioned and he lost his seat.
He was living in San Antonio by early 1837. In March of that year, a petition
was forwarded from the Catholics of San Antonio, San Patricio, Refugio and
Victoria to Bishop Blanc of New Orleans asking for English-speaking priests for
Texas. John McMullen signed the petition for San Antonio.6 He was active in
public life there and served as alderman in the years 1840 through 1844. In
1844 he sold most of his San Patricio property to McGloin.
John McMullen came to a tragic end. On January 21, 1853, he was brutally
murdered, in what may have been a robbery attempt, in the two-story house he
had built on the Market Street site where the library building housing the
Hertzberg Collection now stands.
Strange tales are told of the "McMullen ghost." One story has it that James
McGloin, at San Patricio, was talking to some friends when his father-in-law,
John McMullen, appeared. All present saw him. He did not utter a sound but,
with hands to his throat, seemed to be appealing to McGloin. After a few
moments the apparition disappeared. McGloin, convinced that something was
wrong, saddled his horse and headed for San Antonio, a hard two-day ride.
When he arrived the sheriff told him that his father-in-law had been murdered
two days before. A current story holds that the ghost of John McMullen
"walks" the library building that is on the site of his old home. The old
empresario has been reputedly seen on the staircases of the modern
building-and it is said that he will continue to appear until the identity of his
murderer is brought to light.
Texans would never have heard of James McGloin were it not for a missed
embarkation. McGloin, born in County Sligo, Ireland, in 1799, had planned to
emigrate to Australia but, at Liverpool, had missed the boat. That vessel was
lost at sea and, for some time, his family considered him dead. McGloin,
however, had changed his mind about Australia and took ship for the New
World where he went to work for John McMullen in Mexico. Eventually, he
became the older man's partner in the merchandising business at Matamoros
and married Elizabeth Cummings, the daughter of McMullen's wife by her first
marriage. They had six children. His wife died some time prior to 1853 and he
married Mary Murphy of County Kerry, Ireland.
For over 25 years McGloin devoted himself to the development and welfare
of the San Patricio Colony. When, as a result of the Irish Potato Famine of
1846-48, new waves of immigrants found their way to Texas, and McGloin
helped them get a start as settlers. He died June 19, 1856, and is buried in the
old San Patricio Cemetery.7
36
The San Patricio Colony
The sailing ships of the early 1800's were designed primarily for cargo.
Passengers were incidental and limited to the wealthy traveler for whom there
might be a spare cabin. The days of mass emigration did not start until much
later. Ships such as those hired by the Irish empresarios to convey the colonists
from Ireland to New Orleans and from New York to Copano Bay had none of
the conveniences or accommodations of later passenger service. The colonists
occupied the area used for freight-the large unpartitioned hold.
Passengers brought their own bedding and each family was assigned space
for sleeping and cooking. The only privacy was that afforded by a sheet or
curtain slung between sleeping areas. Since the vessel might be becalmed,
fresh water was strictly rationed. Washing had to be done in sea water. This
left an irritating cake of salt on skin and clothing. Consequently, there was
little personal bathing on such a trip which, in the case of a transatlantic
voyage, might be a month or more. Sanitation facilities consisted of slop jars
that were emptied over the side.
On occasion, the ship voyaged idyllically under clear skies with a fair wind
and billowed sails through a silver-flecked sea. At such times the passengers
could escape the crowded conditions of the hold to bask on deck in the
invigorating breeze and clear sunshine. However, when storms threatened, all
passengers had to go below; lights below decks were forbidden; the hatches
were battened down; and sailors swarmed up the shrouds to reef sail far above
the pitching deck.
37
Those in the hold, generally landlubbers all, huddled terrified in the
darkness. Not knowing what was happening topside, their anxiety would be
heightened with every pitch and roll of the vessel. At such times the sea­sickness
of those not yet used to ocean travel added to the distr ess. The
howling of the wind, answered by the protesting creaks of wave-battered
timber s, must have sounded like an Irish banshee's caoine (dirge) announcing a
grave in the deep.
Arriving at their destination was a joyous occasion, even though many who
embarked in the bloom of health were by then physically weakened by the
---,~~~,,~~ --~~~~- ~~~-;:~_::~,'-~~~~~z--- 11\;~~-1c~·-
\II,~Y~~~=-=-~ii~i~~~~~~iJt:_d ; \ I
I
I
Emigrants at a wharf in New York.
rigors of the trip. This lowered physical resistance may help explain the high
mortality rate from disease of the Irish Texas immigrants of the 1830's.
In October 1829 startling news reached the Mexican officials at La Bah{a
(Goliad). A band of Irish settlers from New York, recruited by McMullen­McGloin,
had landed from the Albion at Matagorda and from the New Packet
at Copano Bay. They were, according to the breathless messenger, in bad
shape. No means of transportation had met them to conduct them, their
supplies and implements to the interior. A vicious "norther ," Texas's icy
winter wind, was blowing, whipping the water s of the bay into whitecaps, and
the colonists were huddled on the beach around small bonfires of driftwood.
38
Prospects looked bleak to those marrow-chilled immigrants on that wind­lashed
shore of a strange land. Father Henry Doyle, who had accompanied
them from New York, did his best to raise their spirits as he moved from group
to group with words of encouragement.
At Goliad, Father Miguel Muro, Alcalde Jose Aldrete and Customs Officer
Bonifacio Galan organized aid for the bewildered newcomers. Temporary
housing was found for them at the abandoned Refugio Mission and nearby
Mexican ranchers provided warm food and clothing. 1
Packet ship leaving harbor.
. ·: .. -- ·r.;.
-:;.._y::.•
"'Or-"
A second group arrived on the Albion in December 1829 and a third in
March 1830. All but a few who stayed at Copano were housed at Refugio.
Toward the end of 1830 all the Irish families went westward to the Nueces
River where their lands were to be assigned to them. About 12 men remained in
the vicinity of Refugio to harvest the crops the immigrants had planted there.
On leaving Refugio Mission the colonists had congregated near the Santa
Margarita Crossing on the Nueces River awaiting official confirmation of title
to the lands they had selected. Mexican officialdom moved slowly but, finally,
the government appointed Jose Antonio Saucedo to allot the lands and issue
titles. William O'Docharty, one of the colonists, was named surveyor.
39
Among the famili es that ar rived to the f uture Bee Coun ty area in October 1829 were those
of Jeremiah O'Toole, James Brown, Patrick Hayes, James O'Connor, Patrick O'Boyle, William
Quinn and the widow Ma rio Hart. These ore noted as the original settlers of present-day Bee
County. 2 Other settlers were the John Corrigan family near Aransas Creek: Pot Fadden, John
Sweeney, David Kerr. Pat Carroll and Charles Corter families on Poes to Creek; Pat Quinn. Tim
and Luke Hart. S. D. Callaghan. David Craven and L. Carlisle on Papalote Creek; H. T. Clare.
Henry Ryan and Eliza Clare in the a rea of what is now Clareville; and the Hines. Fox, Driscoll
and Robbins families on low er Media Creek.'
On the American frontier a town often simply grew up around a trading post,
trails juncture or small settlement. On the Spanish and, later, Mexican frontier
a town was often planned for a particular site on vacant lands usually near a
presidio and town lots were sold to settlers of the area. They could elect an
ayuntamiento or town council.
Four leagues square, beginning on the east bank of the Nueces River, were
surveyed as the townsite of San Patricio de Hibernia (St. Patrick of Ireland).
Streets, 20 varas or 55 feet wide, divided blocks that were 120 varas or 330
feet on each side. The central block or square was known as Constitutional
Square. All streets ran north, south, east and west from the borders of this
square. The block fronting Constitutional Square on the east was reserved for
a church and priests' dwelling; that on the west for municipal buildings; and a
block each for a market, jail, school and burial ground.4
Thus, on October 24, 1831, San Patricio de Hibernia came into being. Among
those who were confirmed in their grants at this time were: James, Edward,
John and Patrick McGloin; John McMullen; John McSheany; John Heffernan;
and George O'Docharty.5
In 1833 the schooner Messenger brought more colonists for the San Patricio
Colony but the captain refused to enter Aransas Pass because of bad weather
and returned to New Orleans . Of those aboard, indications are that only the
families of Thomas Pugh and Mark Killely came to Texas , overland from New
Orleans.6 On May 16, 1834, the · Messenger made port at Copano Bay with
additional colonists. Aboard was Pat Carroll whose wife died of cholera and
had been buried at sea. Two other colonists had lost their husbands from the
same cause-Mrs. Ann Burke and Mrs. Mary Carroll,7 Within an hour after
landing, and sheltered on the sun-baked beach at Copano by a sheet raised on
posts, Mrs. Burke gave birth to a son, Patrick Burke, who later lived at Beeville.
The infant was wet-nursed by an Indian woman from one of the local tribes.8
The Burkes , Carrolls, James Heffernans (later changed to Hefferman) and
the Simon Dwyer families traveled by ox-cart to the confluence of Aransas and
Poesta Creeks. Here they found a small settlement of earlier arrivals, County
Mayo and County Tipperary people. The settlement was composed of the
40
'
Ann Burke was among the Irish colonists that
McMullen and McGloin brought to San
Patricio in 1834.
-..-
,......,
.....
=
r J
Bridget Fox McMurray settled in the San
Patricio Colony in 1848 to avoid the great
famine in Ireland.
-····' .
St. Joseph 's School and Convent in San PatriciO.
41
ne"Q\\ews anll nieces ot \.b.~ "'R~~. \~'n.n 1'. Molloy (who had succeeded Father
Do-yle) anll \.\:.\.~ \-um\\\~'2> ot George O'Docharty and John Ryan.9
1\.mong the San Patricio colonists there was much dissatisfaction with the
Mexican government. To them it seemed that the unhurried pace of Mexican
administrative procedure added to the delays occasioned by the political
turmoil within Mexico during the early 1B30's. Many of the settlers (some of
whom had occupied and cultivated their lands since 1829) were not confirmed
in their titles until 1835. A number of settlers , in disgust, joined the Power­Hewetson
Colony where there was no delay in the issuance of titles. Among
these were Robert and James Carlisle; Bridget Quirk; Mary, Felix, Pat and
Timothy Hart; Daniel O'Boyle; Martin, Michael and John O'Toole; and Patrick
and William Quinn. 10
The historic town of San Patricio is today almost abandoned. Shrubbery
overgrows the site that , in 1836, housed a population of 500. At one time the
thriving community was the county seat. Then, one catastrophe after another
brought about its decline. In 1886 the railroad bypassed San Patricio and came
to nearby Sinton. In 1889 the courthouse burned down and many early records
were lost. The county seat was then moved to Sinton. In 1893 the San Patricio
St. Joseph's School and Convent were torn down to build the first Catholic
Church in Sinton. The fin al blow to the struggling community was the damage
of the hurricane of 1919 that devastated the area, destroying historic houses
and the old St. Patrick's Church, the second built on the site, that had served
the community since 1859.
42
The Refugio Colony
The year was 1833. Four years before, the English Parliament had passed
the Catholic Emancipation Act which, after some 135 years, raised most of the
disabilities that had been legislated against the Catholic Irish. However, the
new legal provisions found little reflection in the practicalities of daily life.
Irish tenants were still at the mercy of landlords, English mercantilist policy
still bled Ireland economically, and the Catholic and Presbyterian Irish were
still required by the tithing laws to give financial support to a church to which
they did not belong. 1
At the town of Ballygarrett, County Wexford, a ray of hope as bright as
Texas sunshine appeared in the person of James Power. The Mexican
empresario had returned to his homeland after an absence of 24 years to
recruit settlers for Texas.
Notices and handbills in surrounding villages and counties had announced
the purpose of his visit. Interested Irish crowded into the O'Brien cottage, the
home of Power's sister. Wide-eyed, they listened to Power's description of
grassy plains and rich farmlands, of thousands of acres to be had almost for
the asking, and of a way of life free from the restrictions of their present
condition. Many must have shaken their heads in disbelief but many did believe
his report.
More than 250 families elected to accompany the empresario to Texas.2
Little did they know that, like Moses of old, some would glimpse the promised
land but never enter. Their bones would lie in Louisiana, in Copano Bay, and in
43
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Ballygarrett, County Wexford. Ireland.
the sands of St. Joseph and Mustang Islands . One account states that of the 108
persons who left on the first ship for the New World, only eight reached the
Texas colony.3
In December 1833 the emigrants traveled from their homes in Ireland to
Liverpool, England, where they were to board ship for Texas. Each family had
provided itself with farming implements, seed and enough provisions for one
year. They paid Power about $30.00 per adult for transportation to Copano,
Texas. After an abortive start the first group finally left on January 8, 1834, on
the ship Prudence and disembarked at New Orleans to await the others. The
Prudence brought a second group which disembarked at the Louisiana port on
April 21, 1834. Each crossing took about four weeks.
Meanwhile, with several hundred more colonists, Power had left Liverpool
on a larger ship, The Heroine, on March 12, 1834. Bad weather drove The
Heroine off course and it arrived in New Orleans two and one-half months
after leaving Liverpool.4 Bad news awaited Power at New Orleans. An
epidemic of cholera was sweeping the United States at the time and the
colonists waiting at the Gulf port had been stricken. Some had already died and
others were confined to the hospital.
Eager to leave the pest-ridden city, those of the immigrants who were
apparently healthy boarded two schooners, Sea Lion and Wildcat, for the last
44
leg of the trip . A furious gale was blowing as the vessels approached Aransas
Pass. Both ships got over the bar at the pass entrance, but the Wildcat was
thrown (or steered) onto the shallows and the Sea Lion ended up stuck in a
mudbank. Although no lives were lost at this time, many of the supplies and
implements were.
After the vessels grounded and before the passengers could be taken off,
cholera, contracted in New Orleans, broke out again. The Mexican authorities
would not allow the colonists to land until the epidemic had abated. The
disease took a heavy toll. One colonist reports that, while aboard the ships,
about 250 died and were buried in the waters of the bay. Some were taken by
small boat and buried on St. Joseph Island. Great must have been the despair
and desolation of the survivors seeing their loved ones dying without the
religious rites that were such a comforting part of their lives and then
consigning the bodies to a watery grave so far from their homeland.
When the colonists were allowed to land they had to spend another period in
quarantine at Copano. Power, in his letter and plea of May 23, 1834, for help to
Ramon Musquiz at San Antonio, noted that "they are enduring a great deal of
hardship because the captains abandoned two endangered ships, losing most
of the household goods, farming implements, tools, looms and forges ... " He
also noted that he had " ... left some 70 people in the hospitals of New Orleans
who are to come as soon as they improve ... " 5 It is estimated that one-third of
all those who left Ireland had perished and that the adult Celtic manpower was
reduced by one-hal£.6
Musquiz, the political chief of Bexar, and Power's father-in-law, Don Felipe,
came to the colonists' aid. They made arrangements for the transport of the
survivors to Refugio and provided them with housing and supplies.
The Mexican government appointed Jose Vidaurri y Borrego on June 19,
1834, as commissioner to oversee the surveys and to grant titles to the
colonists. In July of 1834 he set up the Ayuntamiento (town council) of Refugio.
The first alcalde (mayor) was John Dunn. Council members were Josue Davis;
James Brown; and James, John and Martin Power. A local company of militia
was formed with James Power as lieutenant colonel,?
James Bray was named surveyor to lay out the town of Refugio. He was
assisted by Michael Fox, John Kelly and Timothy Hart. The sale of town lots
was held on August 4. That day, lots were purchased by James Brown,
Nicholas Fagan, Robert Patrick Hearne, Edward McDonough, John Malone,
John Dunn, Samuel Blair, Josue Davis and James Bray.8
Titles to land within the colony were also distributed in August 1834, and
among the first grantees were Isabella O'Brien, William Burke and John
Sinnott. At this time Josue Davis, as a native of Ireland but a long-time resident
45
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Early map of Refugio by colonist Walter Lambert.
of Texas, was confirmed in his title to land previously purchased on the San
Antonio River. Within the five-month period. August through December, almost
220 leagues of land had been deeded to 201 grantees.9
The Refugio Colony, like that at San Patricio, was not all Irish. The
empresarios of both colonies were obliged to guarantee rights and property to
the Mexican families already residing within the area. The Power-Hewetson
contract also called for the settlement of 100 Mexican families in addition to
the Irish. Also , a number of land seekers, who were neither Irish nor Mexican,
came through Refugio. Power urged them to remain within the colony and
procured a contract amendment authorizing the issuance of land titles to those
individuals who were not originally eligible.
The composition of the original Irish in the Refugio Colony differed from that
of those in the San Patricio Colony. The Power colony Irish came directly from
the southeastern corner of Ireland for the purpose of colonization in Texas.
Those who came to the San Patricio Colony were more representative of
46
Catholic Church in Refugio before 1900. Statues of the Irish saints, Patrick and Bridget,
are above each end of the main altar .
·.~~ ........ ~ ·-:-
"'*' ... ...._
~~O:.'·i'.;~ .':
·' .... -.~ '!. ~ ... ;~ • ~
.:._.--~•· ...
, ..... ~·· .•· ..
A source of water for the settlers on the prairie. Ruins of underground cistern
in Refugio County once used to collect rain water.
47
r ' I r • I
... .. {f
Joe and Tom Shelly; colonial descendants, 1884. Mary McCabe Whelan and grandson. c. 1859.
Ireland as a whole. Most of them had originally come to New York and
Philadelphia and were recruited there by McMullen and McGloin. They dif­fered
not only in their accents but, among themselves, differed in outlook and
tradition. Some say the San Patricio colonists were better mixers, more
convivial and more contentious than their fellow countrymen at Refugio. The
latter were considered aloof, reserved and even clannish.
Today, in Refugio County, lands of the old Mexican grants are still in the
hands of descendants of the original Power-Hewetson colonists. In some cases
the ranches are smaller because they were divided among children or parts
were sold off. Other holdings are larger because they grew through purchase
or through land warrants-lands given by the Republic of Texas for service in
the Texas Revolution.
Families have intermarried so that the many branches of today's McGuills,
Fagans, O'Briens, Lamberts, O'Connors, Foxes, Heards, Whelans, etc. are all
related. As one Refugian put it-"Down here, you dassent say a bad word
about any of us, cuz chances are you're talking to a relative."
4B
Everyday Life in the Colonies
The colonists, in traveling to their lands, generally hauled their goods by ox­cart.
Where small groups of individual settlers were isolated, they often
established "settlements." This did not mean villages on the European order,
just that the homes were relatively close. Examples are the Poesta and
Papalote Creek settlements of the San Patricio Colony and the Fagan
settlement of the Refugio Colony.
For the Irish, coming from a land of year-round moderate temperature, the
extremes of Texas weather would be particularly harsh and sometimes
unexpected. One pioneer tells of traveling cross-country to his grant in lovely
weather, going into camp under a beautiful starlit sky, and being wakened in
the night by a furious. bone-chilling "norther" blowing across the plains.1
On arrival at their destination the first concern was "making a crop,"
generally corn and potatoes. The settlers also experimented with cabbage and
other crops that had been familiar to them in Ireland. Initially. for mutual
protection against Indians, crop plantings were on a communal basis. They
worked together in the clearing of small plots. then planted and harvested
together, dividing the proceeds.2 In later times. for protection against
marauding bandits, they went back to this system.
Sugar and coffee were obtained from Mexican traders by bartering. Food
did not have much variety but it was substantial and nutritious. Staples were
bacon, jerked beef. coffee and corn cakes when the corn could be milled. Hand
mills were at first used for grinding corn. Before grinding, the corn was thrown
49
on hot embers to drive out the weevils , then husked in lye.3 Flour was
purchased through coastal import traders such as Power who set up
warehouses at places like Copano.
Game was plentiful in Texas and the meals included venison, wild turkey
and squirrel. Soon small vegetable gardens and fruit trees added to the fare.
Water was supplied by wells or from nearby creeks. If the stream dried up a
shallow hole was dug in the stream bed where there were a number of rocks
and spring water was usually found.4 One pioneer noted that " .. . we drank
water from creeks, barrels, ponds and cow tracks ..... and they had few of the
many diseases that afflict modern rnan .5
In rural Ireland, from which most of these Irish carne. houses were built of
collected fieldstone. The roofs were thatched with wheat straw bound down
with willow saplings. The housing construction skills acquired in the homeland
were of no value in early Texas where rock had to be quarried and other
materials were not available.
The first houses were made of upright poles standing side by side, the spaces
between chinked with grass or moss. White sand from a creek bed was a
common floor. The roof was made of split boards. Chimneys were built with
sticks and moss plastered on the inside with clay to make them fireproof. Later.
cabin-style houses were built of logs with floors of smoothed boards.
A pioneer. Mrs. Annie Fagan Teal, tells of her father cutting the logs for the
house with a whipsaw and flooring it with boards taken from a wrecked and
abandoned Spanish ship.6 Those who did not have such a handy source of
planks could purchase boards from the commercial houses on the coast. Still
later . where rocks could be dug from the hillsides. stone houses were built.
When first dug out the rocks were moist and easily cut. They were then left in
the sun to dry and harden before being used in the walls. When the Indians
were still a threat, the settlers often constructed a small brush pen or corral at
the rear of the house with no entrance except that provided by the rear door of
the dwelling. When Indians were known to be in the neighborhood the milch
cows, oxen and saddle horses were driven through the house into this pen/
Herds of mustangs, descendants of strayed or lost Spanish horses, roamed
the plains. These the settlers attempted to tame. They would first capture one,
place a stuffed dummy of a man on his back, then set him loose. The horse
would attempt to rejoin the herd but the others, "spooked" by the "rider,"
would tq to outrun him. "This would start every mustang for miles around to
running." recounted one pioneer. The thunder of thousands of hoofs "sounded
like the roar of a cyclone." After the herd had run itself down, the settlers
would guide it between wide entrance arms of brush into a corral. The adult
mustang was, tired or not, still difficult to tarne.8
50
They had better success with the foals they caught and put to suckle with a
cow. As the foals grew older they were trained and used as the famous "Texas
cow ponies." Transportation was primarily by horseback and, before buggies
or wagons could be built, drag sleds were used. These were flat beds built of
tree limbs and moved on runners made of smoothed logs.9 They were
particularly useful in mud or over prairie grass.
Could the formidable Texas mosquito, coupled with ranch isolation, have
been responsible for the loss in Texas of much of the Irish oral tradition?
Ireland enjoys a long twilight-a half-dark, half-light days-end period­without
mosquitoes! Because of the close proximity of neighbors. this was the
time for visiting. Neighbors would, as they had for centuries, gather around the
firesides; news would be exchanged; stories told; and Irish and European
history, old Irish legends, and even the mythology of ancient Greece and Rome
would be recounted-and with surprising accuracy. The children would sit
listening in silent wonder and absorb the rudiments of a classical education
together with a reaffirmation of pride in the "Irish identity."
In the storytellers' skilled recounting of the ancient legends. young imagina­tions
would people the flickering shadows of the fire-lit room with a procession
of legendary heroes. Cuchullen would appear single-handedly defending his
king and province against Queen Maeve's invading army. Young listeners
would share his anguish as duty requires him to fight and slay his dearest
friend. When the mighty warrior is mortally wounded they join in his final act
of defiance as he binds himself to an upright stone so that, in death, he may
face his enemies on his feet. At another time the deep shadows would give way
to the splendor of the beautiful palaces and sunlit land of Tir na nOg (The Land
of Youth) far over the western sea. To this land of the ever-young Ossian, son of
the great Finn Macool, was transported by his faerie bride. He left it to visit his
native land but, when he involved himself in the concerns of the men of Ireland,
he became an aging mortal and could never return to the enchanted land.
In early Texas there were no regular fireside gatherings. There were no
close neighbors, outside of towns. The workday was from sunup to sundown
and the fast-gathering darkness marked bedtime. With windows and doors
open to take advantage of the cool of evening, lights were discouraged because
of the clouds of mosquitoes and other insects they attracted. Screens did not
come into general use until the beginning of the 2oth century, and the only
defense against the winged bloodsuckers was the rather ineffective and
equally annoying smudge pot.10
The children of the family had the usual chores of those living on a farm or
ranch. The girls learned to cook, sew, embroider and look after the house; and
the boys helped in farming, caring for the livestock, and in hunting and
51
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trapping wild animals. While still in their teens most children had to assume
adult responsibilities.
One of the youngest soldiers of the Texas Revolution was 13-year-old Thomas
O'Brien.' ' Henry Scott, 10 years old, was part of an Indian-hunting party when
captured by Lipans.12 Jimmie Hart. 11 years old. was captured by Indians
while rounding up lives tock. 13 One of the wagon drovers hauling supplies from
Corpus Christi to Fort Merrill was 16-year-old Patrick Burke. 14 The father and
uncles of Merle Kelly of Refugio were driving wagons at 13 and "out on their
own" at 15.15
A father in those days was as concerned as one today in his daughter's
choice of a husband. Nicholas Fagan was no exception. He had some
misgivings about the 1 9-year-old Irish lad who called on his daughter Mary.
The hardworking Fagan had planted crops. raised cattle on his land, and had
built a spacious two-story house for his family. By comparison, his daughter's
suitor who "hatched" wi th another young man spent much of his time hunting
when not serving with the Texas a rmy.
In his musings on the situation, Fagan was aware tha t the youngster had
acquired a Mexican grant of 4,400 a cres and that. for service with the Texas
army. he had added to that acreage. But what was he going to do with all that
land? Oh, he could work when he had a mind to! A Mexican craftsman had
taught him how to make saddletrees and with the proceeds from these he had
purchased his first horse. One thing at least was in his favor. He did not come
to pay formal court to Mary Fagan withou I first outfitting himself in new
apparel. That had meant more saddletrees! ''Still." mused Nicholas Fagan,
''I'm afraid he won't amount to much.";6
Reluctantly. he consented to Mary's marriage to Thomas O'Connor and part
of her dowry included some cattle from the Fagan herds. Those cattle formed
the nucleus of the vast herds that made Thomas O'Connor one of the largest
cattle ranchers in the state as well as one of its biggest land owners.
Wresting a living from the land under trying circumstances did not leave
much time for social life. However. when the colonists did come together,
whether for a wedding or a wake, such occasions were savored as a time of
joyous reunion of families a nd friends. A wedding was a time to celebrate and.
following the ceremonies honoring the bride and groom, the young folks danced
into the night and the elders swapped Texas tales or exchanged news of the old
country. After Texas joined the union. the Fourth of July was a day-long
celebration in some of the small settlements. Families came in from the
surrounding ranches to celebrate Independence Day. One such celebration at
Refugio was described by old-timer E. R. "Scrub" Kelly as" ... a tournament in
the morning . . . a big free barbecue at noon . .. the afternoon devoted to horse
racing and a big dance at night. ..
53
The tournament was a competition in which horsemen vied with each other
in spearing rings from eight posts spaced at 40-foot intervals. Each rider
carried a six to eight foot pike sharpened at the end and, with this under his
arm, rode full tilt for the rings. "He was scored on the number of rings speared
and the elapsed time on the course."17
The Texas of pioneer days was not as shrub-covered as today's acres of
mesquite would indicate. Old-timers tell of seas of waving prairie grass in
areas now covered by mesquite and pin oak. Occasional prairie fires would
sweep across the plains destroying the tall grass and also the slow growing
mesquite shoots. The roads and wagon trails, that came with intercommunity
trading. became barriers that limited the spread of grass fires. Birds and cattle
did the rest. Mexican wagon drovers who fed their mules on mesquite beans
also accounted for the proliferation of the mesquite tree. 18
The pioneers who had extensive lands turned to ranching and stock raising.
This is still the occupation of the families living some distance from the coast.
The Corrigans, Foxes, Fagans, O'Briens and O'Connors are just a few of the
families that still engage in stock raising. Toward the end of the last century
those who held lands closer to the coast turned from stock raising to farming.
The rich loam of that area made it ide al for crops.
In early Texas those who lived on isolated ranches were often spared the
ravHges of cholera. smallpox and yellow fever that devastated the more
populous areas. However. that very isolation made them vulnerable to another
scourge-marauding whites and r aiding Indians. Of the Indians the Comanche
were the worst. Theirs was one of the few Indian tribes that moved at night.
Isol a ted Texas settlers dreaded the bright moonlit nights of spring, summer
and uutumn that became known as "the Comanche moon." On such nights.
when all na lure seemed to peacefully sleep beneath the glow of a golden moon,
the silence was apt to be shattered by the cries of attacking Comanches.
Wild animals occasionally caused concern as indicated by the following
incident recounted by Mrs. Hallie Fagan Snider: "The John Fagans made their
home at what is known as 'The Placeto.' One day while Mr. Fagan was working
cattle and Mrs. Fagan was alone. she parked their small son Peter in a box and
set him out in the yard under a tree. Soon after returning to the house, Mrs.
Fagan looked out a window to see how the baby was doing and saw a wolf
trotting around the baby's box. She rushed out and chased the wolf away."
The small ranch graveyards bear mute testimony to the harsh life. Infant
mortality was high and few family plots are without infant's graves.
Since most of the Irish settlers were Catholic, provision was always made for
a chapel in which Mass could be celebrated when a visiting priest came by.
When Nicholas Fagan built his ranch house he reserved the upper story as a
54
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housn of N1cholus Fogon ,rood 111 lhr! ~orne loculitv
chapel-complete with altar. confessional and priest's room.19 Their own
Catholicism and that of their vaqueros prompted the O'Connors to erect a
chapel on their ranch. The first rude church was replaced, in the 1950's, by the
beautiful St. Dennis Chapel. The religious practices of the "old country" were
often retained and handed down to the descendants. Present-day residents of
the Irish colonies tell of the practice of the nightly family rosary continued in to
their lifetimes and of the "Black Fast. .. The "Black Fast" as observed in
Ireland was a far more rigorous absten tion from food during Lent than that
specified by the Church. Those who engaged in manual labor were exempt
from fasting. However. many of the early settlers did not avail themselves of
this exemption. Joseph Fagan. a blacksmith. was one who observed the fast.
His family records that on a\ least one occasion during the Black Fast. he was
so weak from fasting that he tottered as he walked.20 The consecration of the
family to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is today. as it has been for generations, a
56
in :and upon tho v. s. V &l l steam abtp c:tllcd tltc
Sbipptb1 in g001.J ~rdcr aml wcU..-ollllitioocd, by 6}' /d. .R£/,...,-/t:::::____
"d¥a.,;:;P Q
whcrcor ; . i:s ) f:aidcr for tbe vrc..-cut l'Oj'hgc, a.tHl. nuw lyj! in tho Port of~"
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~ rivera and ste:un na.,;gs.tion, of-wbate, cr n:kluro or ki.OO eoo,·cr, oxeep~. ~d wiU1..1ibert~ogall14n llilh :; O.J ..... f.-.1d;~ ·orw•tboutPiM.a, audtotow:t.udu.~!i.~l \'C.SSCI.!in~ll situntions.) unto ~ ~, ~..::::;?~
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of Ladiog, all of this tenor acd d:1.le • ooe of whic:h being llCCOmpliahed, tho others to a \"oid.
/ ~,._ I '"•tc\U.Ccool. .. u, o-.1 v,... . . ..k ..... -.a - ••• • , .... f« 'l,.o&h~uDi'Hollo,!;O', lUt.ot t r r,...., ., .Stoo.IU ,.,.~J,,t. ..... 'n• . ... ...,. ''"lt•~lp 1lt'IJI
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'~ / . - ·7 c:. -=-\--=-_)
An 1R57 !Jill of luding lislin~ ~ouds ~hippe d from New Or/eons to Refugio County viu
Powder Horn (Jndiunulo).
aft~ ~L~ ~- ~.._/ : o 1 .tt. / /a-Jr
Mtt"a..... /p,J.tu£ I 0 w IU(.. 1S'/3~f 1t#-"- : @ A:- 2!'~
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.Jf'u;t 61-J r--:-c 0 R : . ;Cid ~ /~J.~
. rHptutAh J~ lt.u. I~: 0C' . :...t; 17' ;~-
The Book of Brands in the Refugio County Courthouse contains cattle brands and ear markings
rel-!istnred hy Irish colonis ts.
57
strong devotion in Ireland. Shrines similar to those used in Ireland are still
seen in the south Texas homes of Irish descendants.
Those who settled near the coast or at points that were trail crossings or
wagon trail terminals did so because of employment opportunities or trading
possibilities. Since little money was in circulation, work was exchanged for
clothing, farm animals or farm produce. These were traded for other needed
items. Some grist mills were eventually set up but most flour was imported
from New Orleans as were "bacon hams," blankets and dry goods, coffee,
sugar, building lumber and hardware, whiskey, tobacco and wagon frames.
Continuing the trade begun in Spanish times, mules and horses purchased from
Mexican traders were auctioned off in Louisiana and trade goods purchased
with the proceeds.21 Even though, for the time, the annual license fee for
"vending goods, wares and merchandise" was high-$100-profits were also
high. Some coastal traders made small fortunes .
58
Two Would-be Towns and
a Texas Frontier Storekeeper
In early Texas the ranchers, with their extensive herds, and the import­export
traders, with their bulging warehouses, were few compared to the
number of laborers, professional men and small merchants who provided the
developing economy with the service and small capital investment that gave it
stability and strength.
In some instances the site of a lonely frontier trading post marked the
beginning of a later-flourishing town like Corpus Christi. In others, the trader
provided the necessary goods and services; his store became a business
terminal and social center-the only link between a wild, untamed frontier and
civilization. Then, as other centers developed and the land filled up, the small
community died a-borning leaving only a place name. Such was the fate of
Gussettville, Blanconia, Indianola and others.
The town of Gussettville was founded in the 1850's when a North Carolina
veteran of the Mexican War, Norwick Gussett, established a trading post near
the Nueces River and southeast of the present town of George West. The site
was a coach stop on the San Antonio-Corpus Christi route. Gussett eventually
opened a general store there "carrying everything from coffins to groceries."
Gussettville was in the San Patricio land grant area and served the
surrounding ranchers-many of whom were Irish born. Its most prosperous
period was the 1860's and the town was abandoned when the railroad by­passed
it. Today all that remains is the wooden St. Joseph's Catholic Church
59
St. Joseph's Church at Gussettville, c. 1910.
located in a cemetery that bears mute testimony to the Irish who peopled the
area. Tombstones, bearing dates of death from 1835, record settlers from the
Irish counties of Leitrim, Roscommon, Sligo and Fermanagh, as well as from
"Ireland" generally. On many tombstones the word "Leitrim" is spelled
phonetically as the Irish would pronounce it: "Lathrem."
Blanconia was similar to Gussettville and suffered a similar fate. 1
Irish-born William McGuill had fought at San Jacinto and afterwards retired
to his land grant on Blanco Creek. When he died he left his property to his
nephew, Thomas, and other heirs in Ireland. Thomas came to Texas in 1853 to
claim the land and later bought out the other heirs. In order to bring his wife
and family to Texas, he became a peddler. He bought goods at Old St. Mary's
near Copano, transported the wares on packhorse and sold them at isolated
60
Thomas and Mary McGuill.
ranches. At the same time he took orders for future delivery. In 1857 he
brought his wife, Mary O'Reilly McGuill, and their two children to a log cabin
on Dog Branch Creek. Their third child, Martin, was born here in 1858. Of their
10 children, two died as infants and are buried at Dog Branch. Arrangements
were made with the mission at Refugio, some 15 miles away, for a priest to visit
once a month to conduct religious services at the McGuill home.
Meanwhile, Thomas McGuill was building a more spacious house and a store
on his land on Blanco Creek. He set aside an acre of ground on which he built a
log church in 1875. He furnished it himself. He donated the church and site to
the Catholic Diocese and, in 1890, built a larger church to replace the first log
building. The log church and the later one were on the east side of the Blanco
and known as Our Lady of the Rosary. The second building served until 1926
61
when it was torn down and replaced, on the west side of the Blanco, with the
present St. Catherine's Church. The statue of Our Lady of the Rosary and the
Stations of the Cross from the old church are in St. Catherine's.
With the outbreak of the Civil War, Thomas became a tailor for the
Confederacy leaving the running of the store to his wife and family. Times were
hard. Merchandise was almost unobtainable because of the Federal blockade
of Texas ports. Some goods were obtained through the courage and ingenuity
of a woman named Sally Scull. She owned some land near that of the McGuills
and, with a band of Mexican drovers, smuggled cotton into Mexico and brought
back ammunition for the Confederacy and supplies for her neighbors.2 Sally
Scull dressed like a man, wore two pistols, was a dead shot with either pistol or
rifle, liked a Mexican fandango and was an astute poker player. She was also
described as a "merciless killer when aroused" and "possessor of a vocab­ulary
that would put a trooper to shame. " 2
With Thomas away,life in the prairie store was lonely for Mrs. McGuill. The
days would be busy enough-operating a store and keeping track of a number
of small, active children. However, at night with the children asleep and the
mournful howl of the coyote the only sound, the silent menace of the darkened
prairie caused anxious moments.
On Thomas's return after the war, conditions improved for the store and,
with the help of his son Martin, he could now concentrate on farming and stock
raising. He made Martin a partner in the store in the early 1870's.
In June of 1874 an incident occurred that resulted in Thomas McGuill
becoming a banker of sorts for the community. A nearby rancher, Thad Swift,
had sold a load of wool but had deposited the proceeds for safekeeping in
Refugio. It was thought that Swift took the money home with him. Some thieves
broke into the Swift home, dragged the man and his wife into the yard where
they murdered them, and ransacked the house for the money. Other settlers in
the area did not want to keep sums of money at their isolated ranches and
resolved, after the Swift murders, to let it be known that money was not kept on
their premises. Thomas McGuill bought a safe and the other settlers. trusting
him as a friend and businessman, deposited their money with him at the store.
In the 1880's the McGuills moved their store to the west bank of the Blanco.
A cotton gin, grist mill and blacksmith shop were added. The first telephone
line, put through from Beeville in 1889, ended at the McGuill store. Martin was
a partner in the company and was made manager. He later bought out his
associates and, when the lines were extended to Refugio, sold the company to
Southwestern Bell. He also served as postmaster for the little community now
called Blanconia.
Life at Blanconia was a busy one for Martin McGuill who was postmaster,
banker, cotton ginner, meat and corn grinder, blacksmith, telephone manager
62
A Sunday gathering at the McGuill home. Blanconia.
... ' 1 ;.,., • ... •. ) .. ~ . .;'
The McGuill store at Blanconia. c. 1904.
63
and storekeeper. The daily routine was lightened by the shopping trips of the
settlers and the exchange of news and gossip. Occasionally, an unusual event
would add to the local news. One morning Martin opened the sugar barrel to
fill a customer's order. The barrel was empty. At the bottom was a neatly
drilled hole through which he could see the ground some three feet below the
store flooring. Sugar had been strewn about on the outside and the trail ended
where it had apparently been loaded into a buggy. The thief obviously worked
at night with an exact knowledge of where to drill. How he had done so was a
topic of much discussion.
Changes were coming to the frontier communities and, sometimes, these
were incomprehensible to the older folks . Old-time Blanconia resident "Buck"
Emmert tells of his grandfather who, thoroughly familiar with the steam
engine, was unable to understand the mysteries of the internal-combustion
automobile. He would never ride in one without first checking the "boiler"
(radiator) and was baffled no end by the ability of the machine to move without
first "building up a head of steam."
Until1950, three generations of McGuills were local merchants. In that year
the third McGuill store building was torn down. Blanconia, halfway between
Refugio and Beeville, had served its purpose. The railroad had come to other
towns and bypassed the little trading center. The area is still known as
Blanconia but all that remains of the McGuill settlement is St. Catherine's
church and, across the creek, the cemetery. The half-acre graveyard is
surrounded by a fence to protect it from the cattle that graze nearby and the
deer that browse on surrounding shrubbery. Thomas McGuill had donated this
land and, first to be buried there, his grave and that of his wife are surrounded
by those of the many later McGuills and in-laws.3
64
Pro-Mexican Irish 1
Questions have been raised about the Irish colonists' support of the Texas
cause in the revolt against Mexico. Some Irish, like some of their Anglo-Saxon
neighbors, supported Mexico but the Irish colonists in general wholeheartedly
supported the revolutionary cause. In fact, they demanded independence at a
time when it was unpopular among other Texans.
Texans were far from unanimous in the first and second phases of their
revolt. The first phase did not claim independence but, rather, was the
assertion of rights under the Mexican Constitution of 1824. Leaders were at
first split between a War Party, believing in armed assertion, and a Peace
Party, believing in conciliation. 1 In the second phase, including a declaration
and war for independence, there were yet many who, content with the
prosperity they enjoyed under Mexico, did not support armed resistance.
For purposes of political administration, the Mexican province of Texas was
divided into the three departments of Nacogdoches, Brazos and Bexar. The
Irish colonies were part of Bexar. The DeWitt, Austin and other colonies
farther east were in the other two departments. Texas itself was part of the
combined state of Coahuila y Texas.
In the 1830's Santa Anna came to power in Mexico as a supporter of
Federalism-Mexican "states rights." Once in power. however, he switched to
Centralism and ordered the disarming of the states and the disbanding of
militia units.
65
The Mexican states rose in revolt and Governor Agustfn Viesca of Coahuila y
Texas called on all Texans for armed aid to resist Centralism. The militia of
San Antonio and Victoria responded. He received no aid from the colonies east
of the Guadalupe River nor from the Irish colonies.2 Santa Anna brutally
suppressed the armed opposition in the southern Mexican states. In the state
of Zacatecas, 2,000 citizens were killed opposing Centralism. Texans knew
what was coming. In Jnne of 1835 Texas citizens meeting at San Felipe in the
Austin colony. in a courageous action, issued a strong declaration defending
the federal and state constitutions. Conservative groups there opposed the
strong language of the declaration. A group at Gonzales, at a meeting on July 7,
went so far as to pledge loyalty to the nation, citing as evidence their refusal to
supply Governor Viesca with militiamen.3
Santa Anna was not impressed by pledges of loyalty. He dispatched General
Mart(n Perfecto de C6s to disarm Texas. During this period a Declaration of
Independence was drawn up at Goliad and signed by 91 citizen-soldiers,
including 42 from the Irish colonies. When presented to the provisional Texas
government at San Felipe it was repudiated and suppressed. Texas
independence was not declared until March 2, 1836, two and one-half months
later at Washington-on-the-Brazos.
An armed confrontation in January of 1836 attests to the sharp division
among Texans on "constitutional rights under Mexico" and "independence for
Texas." It was the Texas Irish-some of whom were later accused of
supporting Mexico-who were among those supporting independence.
Some Texans had banded together and attacked San Antonio, held by C6s.
They were successful. Following the capture of San Antonio, a number of men
nnder Colonel James Grant started for Matamoros to link up with Mexican
Federalists. Hoping to obtain supplies at Goliad, they marched by way of that
fort. It was occupied by Captain Philip Dimitt and the Irish colonists. Seeing the
Goliad Flag of Independence flying from the walls, Grant ordered it taken
down, stating they were Federalists and would stand by the Mexican
Constitution of 1824. Dimitt disagreed, arguing that Grant and his men were
acting against Texan interests and at first refused to furnish them with
supplies. Times were indeed confused. The men on each side were drawn up in
battle-ready lines but the matter was finally settled without bloodshed.4
There were many Texans, including Irish, who at first hesitated to take up
arms against Mexico. If nothing else, their economic interests prompted
hesitancy. Later reminiscences of old settlers hark back to those days prior to
the revolution as ones of "peace and plenty. " 5
Additional considerations influenced the Irish- particularly those of San
Patricio. Their descendants say today that many felt a loyalty to a government
that had given them land and freedom and economic opportunity. They had
66
·lf;7.~
. --........ /,.<~ ...
Duty report of Captain Phillip Dimitt's garrison at La Bahfo.
Presidio La Bahia at Goliad. c. 1895. A group of Irish colonists participated in the
Texian capture of this supply bose during the first doys of the revolution.
67
come first to the northeastern United States in the 1820's and 1830's and found
themselves the targets of a violent anti-Irish "nativism." Their coming to Texas
was largely because of the denial of economic opportunity and social
acceptance in the United States. In Mexico, they found a hospitable Mexican
community and economic freedom.
Coming to the Mexican province of Texas in 1829. they had six years to get
acquainted with Mexicans who showed them how to use the resources of this
strange land to meet everyday needs. They had shown them the proper
methods of cultivation for the climate and had introduced them to new feed
crops, cattle and vegetables.6 Their close social and commercial contact with
the Mexican settlers was bound to develop an understanding of Hispanic
values. They traded with the Mexicans south of the Nueces River who. in the
early 1830's, built a road from Matamoros to San Patricio to facilitate trade.
Its completion was the occasion for a four-day fiesta in honor of the San
Patricio Irish.7 The town of Banquete is on the site of this celebration.
Their brother Celts of Refugio, having come directly from Ireland. were
spared the "northern experience" of the United States. Having come as late as
1834, they had little time in which to develop a rapport with the native
nationals of their new country.
The San Patricio Irish would have shown themselves insensitive and
ungrateful had they not hesitated to take up arms on the side of the revolution.
However, with the outbreak of hostilities, they were to discover that the solid
values of their Mexican neighbors were not reflected in the tyrannical
government of Santa Anna. They then threw themselves wholeheartedly
behind the Texan cause and into the conflicts at the Alamo. Goliad, San
Patricio and San Jacinto.
Many later-arriving Americans would not permit them to forget that they
had initially wavered in their support of the Texas revolt. Their ranches were
raided time and again and some of them were driven from the area. Later.
during the Mexican-American War. the formation by the Mexican army of a
"San Patricio Battalion"-although having no connection with the settlement
on the Nueces-revived animosity toward them.
There were Irish in Mexican service, however. Captain Ira Westover's
report of the taking of Lipantitlan in November of 1835, indicates a total of 14
Irishmen from San Patricio in the Mexican command. Five were in the fort
when it was taken. He added that some were there by compulsion and some by
choice.8 John J. Linn's account states that the men of San Patricio were pressed
into service by Captain Nicholas Rodriguez, Mexican commander at
Lipantitlan.9 Whatever the situation, there was apparently no doubt of the San
Patricians' position 10 days later because, on November 14, Captain Philip
68
Captain Rodriguez confronts McGloin over the possession of the cannon at the start of the revolution.
Dimitt at Goliad wrote Stephen F. Austin, then in command of the Texas Army,
advising him that all the citizens at San Patricio had joined the Texas cause.10
As further evidence of their participation, there is the letter written
February 22, 1836, by James McGloin at San Patricio to Colonel James W.
Fannin, then commanding at Goliad, outlining the situation in the Irish
settlement. McGloin pointed out that, as regulars and volunteers, there were
100 San Patricians in the field leaving only 16 men to protect the families then
being threatened by hostile Indians. 11 McGloin himself refused to surrender a
cannon to Mexican forces. Captain Rodriguez finally obtained it, but only after
threatening to lash McGloin on the cannon.
The much-quoted diary of Dr. Joseph Henry Barnard, one of those spared by
the Mexicans at the Goliad Massacre, notes that the San Patricio families
remained at that place and sought the protection of the Mexican army. The
doctor was apparently ignorant of the fact that many of his fellow-prisoners at
Goliad, later executed, were in fact San Patricians.12 Other sources indicate
that during the Goliad campaign most of the San Patricio families had moved
east to Victoria and that the town was burned.
Like the San Patricio Colony, Refugio included a number of Mexican settlers.
Refugio came under suspicion of supporting Mexico because General Cos's
69
army had been able to raise two military units there. These units were
composed of Mexican colonists and were recruited by colonists Carlos de la
Garza and Manuel Sabriego.13
This apparently split the settlement. The Irish colonists of Refugio were
among the fir st Texans for independence. In the ensuing conflict, the town of
Refugfo was burned. colonists' homes and crops were destroyed and their
cattle driven off. Within six months an estimated one-third of the manpower of
this Ir ish colony lay in soldiers' graves. 14 The colonial area had turned into a
bloody battlefield.
Some Irish families may have remained loyal to Mexico, but if any further
evidence of the gener al commitment of the Irish colonies to the Texas cause is
needed, the proceedings of the temporary government of Texas should be
conclusive. Before adjournment on March 17, 1836, a resolution was
introduced to the convention asking that agents and quartermasters be
instructed to furnish rations and supplies to the San Patricio, Refugio and San
Antonio families because the husbands and fathers were in the field and the
families had been driven by the enemy from their homes.15
70
The First Skirmishes
James Power was at his home on Live Oak Point, on Copano Bay, on
September 20, 1835, when he observed a Mexican ship entering the bay. Using
a small boat he and another man followed the Mexican vessel to its landing site
to discover that this was the troopship of Mexican General Martin Perfecto de
Cos and 500 men. They had been sent by Santa Anna to disarm Texas. Walter
Lambert was immediately dispatched to the other colonies with the news.1 By
the next night, while Cos's men were still unloading supplies, the colonies in the
interior had news of the landing.
The Mexican general remained in the vicinity for about 10 days and, during
that time, he and his officers visited Power's home giving rise to the story they
were "entertained" there. He then took up the march for San Antonio. At
Refugio, Captains Carlos de la Garza and Manuel Sabriego raised, from among
the Mexican settlers of the Irish colony, two companies of rancheros for the
Mexican army.
On the day the Mexicans reached Goliad, October 2, a historic confrontation
occurred at Gonzales. Following Santa Anna's order to disarm the colonists,
Captain Francisco Castaneda and 100 cavalrymen were sent from San Antonio
to demand of the Gonzales settlers a cannon that had been given them for
protection against the Indians. The settlers, under John H. Moore, refused with
the defiant "Come and Take It," emphasized by a blast of chain and scrap
metal from the cannon. The settlers then advanced to the attack. Castaneda
71
ordered a retreat to San Antonio leaving one dead cavalryman on the field.
Texas had its Lexington.
Leaving a garrision at Goliad, C6s advanced to San Antonio. He little
realized that the men of the Irish colonies he had just left were moving to cut
his supply route to Copano by capturing Goliad. John J. Linn of Victoria had
sent word to Refugio of a planned expedition to capture Goliad and asked for
help.' Ira Westover, at Refugio, sent messages to the surrounding ranchers
with the call to arms. Next morning, October 10, a detachment of Irish arrived
as reinforcements for the assaulting party. They included Power, Lambert,
O'Brien, Quinn, O'Toole, O'Connor, Day, Dunn, McCafferty of San Patricio,
McDonough, O'Reilly and Blair. On October 11, fifteen more men arrived from
Refugio bringing the number holding the now-captured fort to 183. They were
joined by Colonel James W. Fannin and his volunteers on October 14.3
Immediately after the capture of Goliad two young Irishmen, John O'Toole
and John Williams, were dispatched to San Patricio to enlist the support of that
colony. They were captured by the Mexicans and, in irons, compelled to work
on the Lipantitlan fortifications. When word of this came back to Goliad 35
men under Westover marched to rescue the prisoners. Fourteen of them were
Irish colonists.4 The party had grown to 60 by the time it reached Lipantitlan
and now, in addition to those from Refugio, included Irish and Mexicans from
the De Le6n, or Victoria, colony.
The main body of the garrison was absent from the fort, attempting to
intercept Westover and his men who had reached Lipantitlan undetected.
James Reilly of San Patricio volunteered to go into the fort and persuade the 22
defenders to surrender.5 Through his efforts the fort was captured without a
shot on November 3. There the Texans discovered that the prisoners, O'Toole
and Williams, had already been sent to Mexico. The citizen-soldiers left the
fort on November 4 and, while recrossing the Nueces, were attacked by the
returning garrison members.
In the ensuing 20-minute battle the Mexicans suffered heavy losses before
withdrawing into the fort. One Irishman, William Bracken, was wounded. The
Texans withdrew to the town of San Patricio and then to Goliad.6
Irish in the Lipontit16n Bottle. November 4. 1835
Tames Power; Jeremiah Day; John Dunn; Nicholas and John Fagan: John, James and Wolter
Lambert; Martin Lawlor; John, Michael and Patrick Quinn: Charles Malone; Morgan and
Thomas O'Brien; James and Thomas O'Connor: Michael McDonough; Patrick and Michael
O'Reilly; Daniel O'Driscoll; William Ryan; Jeremiah O'Toole and Peter TeaJ.7
72
Most of the Goliad garrison. including some Irish. went on to the Siege of
Bexur (San Antonio) to drive C:os from that place. The Irish remaining at Goliad
organized under Captain Philip Dimilt to hold that fort.
Dimitl's men rmse the Goliad flog of independence.
Goliad was important to the defense of San Antonio. Whoever held that
frontier bastion controlled the supply route from the port at Copano to San
Antonio. While the Texans held it,
General Cos was unable to receive
supplies or reinforcements. This
capture of his supply route may have
been a reason for his surrender of
San Antonio to a numerically
smaller force.u
After some bitter house-to-house
fighting. Cos surrendered San
Antonio on December 10. 1835. With
the retirement of his forces beyond
the Rio Grande. Texas enjoyed a
brief respite. It was the calm before
the storm.
The Consultation of Texas dele­gales
at San Felipe in the Austin
colony to the east had, on November
73
John (Thomas) O'Brien. nephew of
/umes Power. served under Cuptoin
Phlllip 1Jim1tl ut the uge of l:J.
7. 1835, issued a declaration that Texans were fighting for their liberties as
guaranteed by the Mexican Constitution of 1824. Independence-the second
stage of the revolt-was not declared until March 2, 1836.
The men who had fought at Goliad, at Lipantitlan, and at the siege and taking
of San Antonio had definite feelings about independence. On December 20,
ninety-one men under Captain Dimitt signed what is known as the Goliad
Declaration of Independence. There were 42 signers from the Irish colonies.9
On that same date there was raised at Goliad one of the first flags of Texas
independence. It was made by Dimitt and depicted, against a white field, a red
sinewy arm and hand grasping a red sword. In front of the assembled garrison
it was hoisted to the top of the flagstaff by Nicholas Fagan and Morgan
O'Brien.10 It is interesting to note that the design on the flag was similar to that
which appears on the crests of many Irish families.
74
The Santa Anna Campaign
Convinced that he was the one to bring the Texans to heel, Santa Anna
personally prepared a massive strike early in 1836. He sent General Jose Urrea
to strike along the southern colonies while he marched to San Antonio.
Following the fall of San Antonio to revolutionary forces the previous
December, the foreign volunteers there became restless and a march was
planned on Matamoros to join with Mexican Federalists. General Sam
Houston, now commanding the Texas army, had advised against this division of
forces. However, F. W. Johnson and Dr. James Grant with 60 men and three
cannons left for San Patricio to make that town their headquarters for the
Matamoros expedition. Fannin, at Goliad, prepared that place for the expected
Mexican invasion.
Urrea, informed of the presence of Grant and Johnson at San Patricio set out
from Matamoros to meet them. He and his approximately 700 men arrived at
the Irish town at three o'clock on the morning of February 27.1 Immediately,
and in the midst of a driving rainstorm, he ordered an assault. Johnson and his
men were the only occupants of the town; Grant and his men were absent in a
search for horses. The defenders were overcome. Nine or 10 of the Texans
were killed in the fighting and, except for Johnson and a few that escaped, the
rest were captured. Grant's men were surprised and killed on March 2 at Agua
Dulce Creek. Of the men taken at San Patricio, Father ~.1olloy of San Patricio
was able to save 18 from execution. They were sent as prisoners to Mexico.
75
The seige of the Alamo by Harry A. McArdle.
Santa Anna's advance units had reached San Antonio on February 23 and
the Texans there retired with Colonel William Barret Travis into the Alamo.
From behind its walls approximately 188 defenders hurled defiance at the
massing thousands of the dictator's army. The story of their stand is already
well known. When they refused the demand to surrender, the order of "no
quarter" was given. The Alamo was taken on March 6, 1836. All the defenders
died. Among them were 12 Irish-born and an additional 14 bearing Irish
surnames. Eight or nine of those in the old mission were settlers from the Irish
Known Irish·born Who died at the Alamo
Samuel E. Burns. Andrew Duval!. Robert Evans. Joseph M. Hawkins. William D. Jackson.
Edward McCafferty. James McGee. Robert McKinney. /ames Nowlan . Jackson /. Rusk. Burke
Trammel and William B. Ward. '
colonies to the south.2 Three of the Irish-born were from Gonzales- the only
Texas community to answer Travis's plea for help.
After the fall of the Alamo, Santa Anna continued eastward in search of Sam
Houston's retreating army-and to his defeat at San Jacinto.
Meanwhile, the abandoned property of the San Patricio Irish had been
occupied for almost two weeks by Urrea's men. His troops now numbered an
estimated 1,000.4 On March 13 he began the advance to Goliad but turned
aside to Refugio when he heard it had been occupied by some of Fannin's men.
The greater part of the militia of the Irish colonies was in Frazer's and
Westover's companies with Fannin at Goliad.5 Many of the families had been
76
removed to places of safety but there were still a few in the Refugio area.
Without teams or wagons and with no militia to protect them. the women and
children sought help from Goliad. Fannin dispatched Captain Arnon King and a
detachment that included several Irish volunteers to escort the families and
their possessions to the protection of Refugio Mission. 7he flight of the families
under escort was noted by advance units of Urrea's cavalry. The Mexican
horsemen pursued the lumbering ox-carts but the Texans reached the stout
walls of the mission safely. However, they were in danger of being entrapped
there and King dispatched young Thomas O'Brien to Goliad with news of the
predicament. Fannin then sent William Ward and part of his Georgia battalion
to relieve King.6
Ward arrived at Refugio on March 13. Bickering between him and King and
a misconception of the strength of Urrea's forces meant a division in the
command. King and his men left the mission in one direction while Ward's men
took another. The latter. realizing the strength of Urrea's still-assembling
forces. returned. They alone faced the mounting attacks of the Mexican army.
When, on March 14, Urrea launched his final assault he found the mission
occupied by eight women. five or six children and three wounded men. Ward
and his men had slipped away the previous night. They were captured on
March 22 and marched to Goliad.7
King and his men were captured near Refugio on or about March 15. All but
three were shot within sight of the women and children at the mission and their
bodies were left on the prairie. Nearby lay the body of a messenger from
Oak trees where Captain Amon King and his
men took cover during the battle near Refugio.
77
Monument at the Fannin battlefield in
Goliad County.
Fannin at Goliad, James Murphy, who had attempted to reach the Refugio
Mission through the Mexican lines.8
On March 16, at Urrea's orders, a Mexican detachment under Colonel
Rafael de la Vara occupied Copano. Thus. the Irish colonies were sealed off.9
On March 19 Urrea's advance units were already before Goliad and the
vacillating Fannin finally quitted that place to join Houston's army to the east.
After a few hours he halted his men on the open prairie near Coleta Creek and
was there surrounded and taken by the Mexicans after a bloody battle. Among
10 Texans killed or wounded were John Kelly, Alfred Dorsey and William
Quinn.10 A total of 284 men of Fannin's command were marched back to
Goliad. There they were joined by Ward's 80 men captured near Victoria
-that town had been taken by Urrea on March 21-and by others from
Refugio. In all, the total number of prisoners at Goliad is estimated at 407.
On direct orders from Santa Anna on March 27, the prisoners were marched
out of the fort in three groups and shot down on the open prairie. Some 28
escaped into nearby woods and 20 were spared because of help from Mexican
friends or. as in the case of doctors. because their skills were needed.
Son Patricio nnd Refugio Irish
Who Died ot Coleto Creek and Goliad
Matthew Byrne. George W. Cush. Alfred Dorsey, John Fadden. Lewis Cotes. Edwurd Garner.
John Gleeson. John fumes. fohn Kelly. fohn McGloin, Denni~ McGowon. Patrick Neven. Thomos
Quinn. William Quinn. Thomas Quirk and Edward Rya n."
At least 47 Celtic surnames appear on the list of those killed at Coleta and
Goliad. Many more than those mentioned were probably Irish-born since the
New Orleans Greys were part of Fannin's command and there were Irish-born
volunteers in that unit.
The escape of Nicholas and John Fagan, Edward Perry. Anthony and John
Sidick, and James Byrnes was arranged by Mexican Captain Carlos de la
Garza. These men were all his neighbors, living near him on the San Antonio
River. Nicholas Fagan was in the line of those being herded outside for
execution when some of De la Garza's rancheros laid a quarter side of beef on
his shoulders to hide his identity so he could walk away from the line. He
escaped through a nearby orchard. After the shooting he came back and found
William L. Hunter still alive. He carried him to Manehuila Creek where they
hid out from Mexican patrols combing the area for those who escaped. 12
Andrew Boyle of San Patricio was saved by a Mexican officer who had been
treated hospitably by Boyle's brother and sister.13
78
None Paid A Greater Price
In terms of lives sacrificed, property lost and land despoiled, none gave more
to Texas independence than the Irish colonists of San Patricio. Refugio and
Victoria. When they espoused the Texas cause they knew they would bear the
brunt of the conflict. Their colonial area was a crossroads of battle.
The Texans attempted to hold a western front on a line running generally
southeast from San Antonio to the gulf. The tide of conflict ebbed and flowed
across this line washing over the lands of the Irish colonists. Except for the
Battle of San Jacinto-fought just east of present-day Houston-most of the
military operations were conducted west of the Guadalupe and south of a line
running westward from Gonzales to San Antonio. The towns of San Patricio,
Refugio and Victoria were burned. Property and homes were destroyed and
livestock driven off. The areas were almost depopulated.
The colonists of this area had provisioned and supplied the volunteers who
gathered there in 1835 and 1836. Two gunsmiths of Refugio, Edmund Quirk and
Antoine Sayle, repaired and maintained the guns of the men of Fannin's
command. Merchants Henry Foley, Martin Power and John Dunn furnished
large quantities of dry goods and clothing. Nicholas Fagan placed his whole
corn crop and several hundred head of cattle at the disposal of the Texans.
Foodstuffs were provided and transported by John Fagan, Peter Hynes.
Edward McDonough, John J. Linn and five Mexican colonists of the area. 1
Sending their wi