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| Replica
of the 1872 San Patricio County Courthouse in San Patricio, TX. The
original courthouse burned in 1889. This replica was constructed in
1985 by the San Patricio Restoration Society. See San
Patricio County Courthouses. Photo and research by Terry
Jeanson, December 2006 |
History in
a Pecan Shell
San Patricio was an Irish settlement founded by empresarios James
McGloin and John McMullen in 1829. They had been granted permission
to settle 200 Catholic families which were mainly recruited from New
York. First residents were lodged at the old mission at Refugio in
the fall of 1829 before choosing a site on the Goliad to Laredo Road
where the Atascosito Road forded the Nueces River.
The move was completed by 1830 but conditions at the settlement were
extremely primitive. An official townsite four leagues square was
granted by Mexican Land commissioner José Antonio Saucedo in late
1831 and was declared Villa de San Patricio de Hibernia to honor St.
Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. In 1834 the town dropped the
extra Spanish baggage and the town took on the simplified name of
San Patricio.
In 1836 the Matamoros Expedition led by Col. Francis W. Johnson began
to march on Mexico, but were met by Gen. José Urrea's troops and defeated
before they could get started. The dead from the battle of San Patricio
were interred in what is now known as "the Old Cemetery on the Hill."
Families fled the threat of future attack and retreated to Victoria,
leaving behind their livestock and property. The town became a ghost
town for the first time and remained as such until the arrival of
Gen. Zachary Taylor in 1845. Troops were stationed in San Patricio
and it slowly returned to normal.
San Patricio was designated the county seat by the Texas Legislature
on March 17, 1836. A post office was granted in 1848. The town was
on the Cotton Road and the valuable cotton trade and the open country
attracted bandits who gave the area an unsavory reputation. In the
1880s the town had a population of 200 which had doubled by 1890.
In 1876 two schools were established: St. Paul's Academy for boys
and St. Joseph's Convent for girls.
In 1894 Sinton was declared to be the
new county seat and San Patricio declined accordingly. The town was
disincorporated in 1901 and the town was virtually abandoned - becoming
a ghost for the second time.
In 1872 the City of Corpus
Christi
was seeking to annex land on the Nueces River which included the former
town. This land-grab rallied area residents and they reincorporated
San Patricio in August of 1972. The fight rekindled interest in the
town's history and the San Patricio Restoration Society has since
built replicas of the towns early buildings - including the 1872 courthouse.
The population has declined in recent years from 369 in 1990 to 318
for the 2000 census. |
San Patricio
Chronicles
Hanging
preceded death of a town by Delbert Trew
Chipita Rodriquez died on Friday, Nov. 13th, 1863. She is believed
to be the only woman ever legally hanged by the state of Texas. Though
guilty by circumstantial evidence only, her death seemed to place
a curse on the town of San Patricio, Texas, as it signaled the beginning
of the end of the small settlement... more
People
Sarge
Cummings Master of the Long Loop Linda-Kirkpatrick
Robert H. “Sarge” Cummings was known as a master of the long loop,
a cowboy term for rustler. This old coot was loved by all, except
for maybe the Texas Rangers. Children were ecstatic whenever he came
to visit a spell. Some would crawl under his chair just to spin the
rowels on his spurs as he spun tales of the wild west.
Sarge was born in Texas around 1852. His parents, Mary Elizabeth Torrence
and Lawrence Cummings, struggled to keep the family going in the small
Irish community of San Patricio, Texas... more |
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