The Texas Almanac for 1870, and Emigrant's Guide to Texas Page: 57
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SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF HENRY' CASTRO, 57
sisters and placed, with its Southern associates, in the new constellation
composing the Confederate States of America. liHe saw that constalation go
down in blood, and lihe was fated never to see the star of Texas rise again.
He had thus beheld his beloved State a Republic, then a sovereign State of
the American Union, next a sovereign State of the Southern Confederacy,
and, lastly, a conquered Province, ruled by strangers to her interests, at the
point of the bayonet, having no single attribute of sovereignty left in her.
Judge Ochiltree's public career in Texas extended over a period -of nearly
thirty years, and, during his connection with public matters, he is conceded
by all to have been wise and liberal ,in his manner of dealing with public
questions.
He was exceedingly kind and social in his nature, and, in the family circle,
was dearly beloved. By his neighbors and fellow-citizens he was honored
and esteemed.
He was of that class of -public men in Texas who are rapidly passing
away, and are now almost unknown to the present generation, and will be
entire strangers to the next.
To rescue.such worthy names from utter oblivion, we, who were in some
sort their cotemporaries, should esteem a public duty, and with this view this
brief memoir has been prepared. C. S. W.
[NOTE.-The finest efforts of Judge Ochiltree known to the writer, were:
his defence, in Travis District, of Boyd and Polly, for forgery; his speech in
behalf of his friend, the Hon. James Durst, before the Waco convention ; and
his imhpromnpte effort on the Swartwout Bill, before the Legislature of 1856.
\Ilis speeches on these occasions were fiery and impassioned-his eloquence
was " like the lava flood that boils in Etna's breast of flame," and, in its
resistless might, bore down every obstacle before it.]
SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF HENRY CASTRO.
HENTRY CASTRO, the pioneer of that portion of Western Texas situated
west of'the city of San Antonio, was born in France, in July, 1786, of rich
parents, and descended of one of the oldest Portuguese families, one of his
ancestors, Zoao of Castro, having been fourth Viceroy of the Indies for the
King 'of Portugal. In 1805, at the age of nineteen, he was selected by the
Prefect of his department (Landes) to welcome the Emperor Napoleon, on the
occasion of his visit to that department. In 1806, he was one of the guard of
honor that accompanied Napoleon to Spain. In 1814, being an officer in the
first legion of the National Guards of Paris, he fought with Marshal Moncey
at the gate of Clichy. Having emigrated to the United States, after the fall
of Napoleon, in May, 1827, he was Consul at the port of Providence for the
King of Naples, having become an American citizen, by choice, the same
year. He returned to France in 1838; was the partner of Mr. Lafitte, and
took an active part in trying to negotiate a loan for the Republic of Texas.
In 1842 he was appointed, in consideration of the services he had rendered to
the Republic of Texas, Consul Gendral of Texas at Paris. Having received
large grants of lands under certain conditions of colonization, he immediately
proceeded to comply with his contract, and, after great expense and labor,
succeeded in bringing to this State four hundred and eighty-five families and
four hundred and fifty-seven single men, in twenty-seven ships, from the
year 1843 to 1846. He encountered much opposition from the French Gov-
ernment, who 'was trying to procure emigrants for the colony of Algiers, and
much expense on account of the Mexican war. His first settlement was
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The Texas Almanac for 1870, and Emigrant's Guide to Texas, book, January 1870; Galveston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth123775/m1/59/: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.