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Tlte Beginnings of Civilized Life in Texas, 1731-1745
corner stone of the church was actually laid on May 13, 1734. 31 If the corner stone was laid that early, no mention of the fact is made in the detailed accounts of the efforts of the governor and the Canary Islanders to build a church in 1738. The room in the barracks, where divine services had been held, was far from being adequate to serve as a parish church. The space was too small, it was adjacent to.the soldiers quarters, filthy and unsightly, with an improvised altar set upon a pile of clods of dirt, with no ornaments of any kind, with no baptismal font, and not even a lock to the place. It was not safe, declared Father Recio de Leon, to keep there any orna- ments, for which reason there were none. "With great compunction of conscience," he says, "I have been obliged to administer the sacred sacraments in a place so indecent." 39 Pursuant to the orders of the governor, the Cabildo, composed of Manuel de Cruz and Ignacio Lorenzo de Armas, alcaldes, Juan Leal Goraz, Juan Curbelo, Antonio de los Santos, Juan Leal Alvarez, Vicente Alvarez Travieso, and Antonio Rodriguez, councilmen, met on February 18, and appointed Vicente Alvarez Travieso and Francisco Joseph de Arocha as overseers and collectors of the funds for the construction of the church. The Council further agreed that the new structure should be dedicated and should be under the patronage of Our Lady of Candlemas and Our Lady of Guadalupe. The building was to be erected in the place chosen, was to be thirty varas long (a vara is equivalent to thirty-three inches) and six varas wide, and was designed to have a sacristy and a baptistry, the church being similar in plan to that of the chapel of the Mission of San Antonio de Valero (the Alamo). The principal door was to face east upon the main square of the Villa and the back door to the west upon the square of the Presidio de Bejar. The appointees were immediately notified and given a. copy of the resolutions adopted by the council for their information. They accepted their tasks and duties most willingly and agreed to use every exertion to collect funds and apply them to the construction of the church as instructed.' 0 How active and efficient the two appointees were, may be judged from the fact that seven days after their selection they had collected six 11 Chabot, San Antonio antt Its B,K;,,,,;,,g,, 7 5. The writer has been unable to confirm this statement. 19 Auto of Bachlller Juan Recio de Leon, June 6, 1738. Naeogdocll,s ArcAiv,s, vol. 1, pp. 75-78. • 0 Auto de Cablldo, February 18, 1738; Acceptance of Travieso and Arocha. NacoKdoc/141 .A,-clliv,s, vol. 1, pp. 69-71.
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