Indian Wars and Pioneers of Texas Page: 140 of 894
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INDIAN WARS AND PIONEERS OF TEXAS.
127
be a free and independent nation, March 2d,
1836, Zavala was a member and signed the document.
When the convention of independence formed a
government ad interim for the Republic, on the
17th of March, 1836, David G. Burnet was elected
President and Lorenzo de Zavala, Vice-president.
Both held office until the formation of the constitutional
government, on the 22d of October,
1836.
Zavala's home was at Zavala's Point, on Buffalo
bayou. In crossing the bayou early in November,
just after yielding up the vice-presidency, in a
canoe, and with his son, Augustin, then only three
years old, the canoe capsized. It was a cold,
windy day. Securing his child on the bottom of
the capsized boat, he swam and guided it to the
opposite shore. In saving his child he became
chilled; pneumonia followed, and on the 16th of
November, 1836, the pure and noble soul of
Lorenzo de Zavala went to God.
Consider where and when this man was born;
where and under what conditions he lived, how he
demeaned himself, and your judgment must be that
he was an honor to his race. His memory will be
hallowed while that of his apostate enemy and persecutor,
Santa Anna, will be hissed as something
detestable between the teeth of freemen. Blessed
is the memory of one -detested that of the other.
In such a sketch I am compelled to epitomize
rather than enlarge on the subject-matter. Yet I
cannot withhold an expression of the opinion entertained
of the exalted and spotless character of this
noble man. That this is not a recent opinion is
shown by the fact that in the legislature of 1857-8,
while a member from Galveston, I introduced and
carried through the legislature a bill creating and
naming the county of Zavala. My visit to Yucatan,
in 1865-6
being then " a man of sorrow and
acquainted with grief" -intensified the original
pleasure I had enjoyed in accomplishing that tribute
to his memory. Donna Joaquina Peon, of AMerida,
made famous in Stephens' work on Central America,
being made sensible of the fact by the gentleman
who presented me, was profuse in expressions of
thankfulness, because, as she said, Don Lorenzo
was one of God's noblemen.
By his marriage with Toresa Correa, GovernorZavala had three children, viz.: Lorenzo, Jr., who,
in 1881, lived in Merida. He was on the battle
field of San Jacinto, and part of the time acted as
interpreter between Santa Anna and Gen. Houston.
He left Texas in 1841 and went to his native city
of Merida, where he still resided in 1881, though
he was absent during my visit there in 1865-6.
There was a daughter named Manuela, and a
daughter who died in infancy.
By his second marriage, late in 1831, to Miss
Emily West, of New York, he had three children,
viz.: 1.
Augustin de Zavala, born in New York, January
1, 1833, married Julia Tyrrell, and now lives in
San Antonio, Texas. Their children are Adina, an
educated and accomplished young lady (as I know
from correspondence with her), Florence, Mary,
Zita, Thomas J., and Augustin P.
2. Emily de Zavala, born in February, 1834, married
Capt. Thomas Jenkins, a lawyer, and died in
Galveston, April 20, 1858, leaving a child named
Catherine.
3. Ricardo de Zavala, born in New York in 1835,
twice married and both wives dead. He still lives,
having two sons and two daughters.
In all my meditations on the men and history of
Texas
with an involuntary reverence for the characters
of Milam,Travis, Bonham, Bowie, and numerous
others
I dwell with fascinating delight on
the character of Lorenzo de Zavala. He must not
be judged and weighed in tile same scale that we
apply to native born Americans, but by the times,
country, institutions and surroundings attending his
birth and growth into manhood. Tried by the test,
he presents one of the most spotless and exalted
characters of modern times, and his memory should
be cherished by the children of Texas as one of the
purest patriots of this or any other age.
He was one of the proscribed citizens of Texas,
and Santa Anna sought both through the civil
authorities and his military minions sent to overawe
Texas in 1835, to have him arrested and sent to
Mexico for trial. The civil authorities spurned the
infamous request, and the military at San Antonio
were impotent to effect it. Through his granddaughter,
Adina, I have recently come into possession
of the only picture of him ever in Texas, a
painting executed in Havana, about 1831.
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Brown, John Henry. Indian Wars and Pioneers of Texas, book, 1880~; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth6725/m1/140/?rotate=270: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.