Nov 17, 2016 - Sale 2432

Sale 2432 - Lot 299

Price Realized: $ 4,000
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 3,000 - $ 4,000
(TEXAS.) An early legal file from the Villa de San Fernando (now San Antonio, Texas). [25] manuscript pages. Folio, 12 1/2 x 8 1/2 inches, stitched; final two leaves smaller, minimal worming. In an early limp calf folder bearing an unrelated title. [San Antonio, TX], September 1758
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Villa de San Fernando de Béxar (now San Antonio) was the first civil settlement what is now in Texas (following a handful of presidios and missions), established in 1731. Offered here is a lengthy case file relating to a resident named Pedro Conitrillo (or Oconitrillo), who had been separated from a wife in Saltillo for seven or eight years and sought a divorce. The first 6 pages are testimony signed by José Manuel de Santa Maria, the civil authority at Villa de San Fernando, on 25 August 1758. This is followed by a long response signed by Father José Guadalupe at the nearby Mission de San Juan Capistrano, and shorter responses by 4 other priests at nearby missions in September 1758, all debating whether this was a civil or religious case, and whether divorce or any criminal proceedings were in order. One of the opinions is offered by Fray Francisco Aparicio of Misión San Antonio, later famous as the Alamo. Appended are two documents signed crudely by alcalde Joseph Curbelo, Alberto Lopez and other civil authorities.