Tlie Beginnings of Civili:;ed Life in Texas, 1731-1745
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C abi!do, and Captain of the Presidio became convinced that there was no hope of obtaining more. they would find the church could be completed and its ornaments purchased with the twelve thousand pesos granted." Although it has been affirmed that the church was completed by 1749, the statement is doubtful. since the grant of royal aid to make this possible was not made until the spring of 1748. With sufficient funds now available. the work must have been carried out more rapidly and the church dedicated two or three years later. Thus the oldest parish church in Texas was finally built. thanks to the munificence of the king of Spain." The civil settlement not only needed a church but appropriate goYernment buildings as well, where the Cabildo could assemble and the captain of the presidio, who was the chief justice, could hold court. On January 12, 1742, the Cabildo held a special meeting to discuss means to provide Casas Rcales. It declared that eleven years had elapsed since the establishment of the Villa and still there were no Casas Reales. It was unanimously agreed, therefore, that steps be taken to erect a hall, where the C abildo and other officers could hold their meetings and keep their records. There was urgent need also for a jail. The chamber should be twelve varas long, four and one-half varas wide, and five vnras high. The resolution adopted was ordered sent to Toribio de Urrutia, captain of the presidio and chief justice of the Villa. \·Vhen the matter was presented to him on January 15, he immediately approved it. 50 Casas Rudes. Bids for the proposed building were called. On January 19. the C abildo met to consider them. Antonio Rodriguez Mederos offered to haul all the rock needed for the proposed building for two hundred and seventy pesos. The specifications ca1led for a hall with dimensions as stated above, the walls of which were to be one vara thick. The jail was to be five varas long, four and one-half varas wide, and five varas high. The hall or meeting place was to have a portal (gallery) tweh·e varas long. the same ·"Opinion del Fiscal y autos concernientes. 1748. Bexar A re/rives. 49 A careful search in the Bexar Archives and all the other documentary sources available to the writer has failed to reveal the date of the formal dedication of the church. Chabot in Sa11 A11to11io a11d Its Begi1111ings, and Torrente in San Fernando Cathedral Old a11d New, both declare it was in 1749. As to the first four priests to serve the parish they were Fathers Jose de la Garza, 1731-1734, Juan Recio de Leon, 1734-1743; Juan Francisco de Espronceda, 1743-1746; and Francisco t.lanuel Polanco, who began his services on December 3, 1746. Bexar A rchi?,es. 50 Au~os de Cabildo, January 12-15, 1742. Nacogdoches Archives, vol. 1, pp. 90-91. fhe Casas Rea/es constitute the present governor's palace in San Antonio.
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