| José Gaspar María Flores de Abrego | |
|---|---|
| Mayor of San Antonio | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | January 5, 1781 San Antonio de Béjar, Texas |
| Died | September 6, 1836 Villa de San Fernando, San Antonio, Texas |
| Nationality | Spanish |
| Spouse(s) | Petra Zambrano |
| Profession | land commissioner and mayor of San Antonio |
José Gaspar Flores de Abrego (1781–1836) was a political figure of Texas, Tejano land commissioner and associate of the colonists of Austin and a mayor of San Antonio, Texas.
Contents |
José Gaspar María Flores de Abrego was born in San Antonio de Béjar on January 5, 1781. He was the son of Vicente Flores and Maria Antonia de las Fuentes Fernandes, who were descendants of first settlers of Texas, from the Canary Islands. He was great-grandson of the first alguacil (mayor) (1731–1779) of San Antonio, Vicente Álvarez Travieso. In 1827, he was acting land commissioner for the Austin colony, issuing 35 land titles. Between 1819, 1824, 1829, and 1834 José Gaspar was elected mayor of San Antonio, Texas.
On October 13, 1834, a meeting was held in Bexar, by a group opposing a Centralist government and concerned about the dictatorial actions being taken by the President of Mexico, Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. They asked all Texans to join them in a convention to be held on November, 15 that year (1834). This was the first revolutionary convention held in the city. Gaspar Flores and his son Nicholas were among the thirty-five signatories of the anti-Centralist document.
In 1835 Santa Anna dissolved the Congress and was enforcing his political power in all the state governments of Mexico, including that of Coahuila and Texas. The crisis came to Bexar with the arrival of troops under Colonel Domingo Ugartechea. Flores, who at that time acted as administrator of the Treasury, refused to obey the demand of the colonel and relinquish its official documents, since, according to him, "the military has no right to interfere".
Accordingly, Santa Anna sent General Martin Perfecto de Cos with additional troops to control Texas, but in December 1835, a group of Texian volunteers drove them out of San Antonio de Bexar and Texas at the siege of Bexar. After the Mexican forces had departed Texas, most thought it was safe and only a small group of local and a few other volunteers decided to stay in Bexar, based in the Alamo, even though they no longer had money or supplies. Gaspar Flores went to their aid and supplied the group with goods, food and cattle. The following year, when the soldiers met with the citizens of the city in January 1836, Flores worked on a committee, that included people like James Bonham, James Bowie, and Juan Seguin, to draft resolutions for consideration by the committee.
February 1, of that year was election day for cities in Texas. Each city should select four delegates to the convention of March 1, 1836 and this election would decide the future of Texas. Gaspar Flores was one of the delegates chosen in Bexar, the others were: José Antonio Navarro, José Francisco Ruiz and Erasmo Seguin.
Two weeks later, Texas received the information, that Santa Anna had crossed the Rio Grande with thousands of troops intent on capturing Bexar. The younger men in Texas joined the army or acted as messengers. After the fall of the Alamo, Flores and Seguin were collecting both their own families and others. With ox carts loaded and 3,000 sheep they moved into east Texas, all the while quick to protect the other fleeing families.
Flores died on September 6, 1836, after the battle of San Jacinto, having managed to go so far as the home of George Huff, a few miles east of San Felipe. He probably died of a fever that struck the area, which also killed settlers in Nacogdoches and many others in the region. He had been married twice. His second wife Petra Zambrano, his son Nicholas and two sons-in-law were the receivers of his inventory of goods on February 11, 1837.[1]