Our Catlzolic Heritage in T e::ta.s
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and means of obtaining funds, materials, and labor for its immediate reconstruction. By December 31, 1828, more than two hundred persons had signed pledges to contribute either money, materials, or labor. Many agreed to work from two to eight days a month until the new building was completed. Dozens pledged their teams and carts to haul sand, lime, and rock from the quarry near Concepcion. The leading families not only offered to lend their carts and oxen, but also to furnish from five to fifty cartloads of lime or sand at their own expense. The town stone- mason promised to charge only half-time for his work. A master car- penter volunteered his labor to make either the main portal or the side doors. Residents from the missions came to help. A ranchman made a cash contribution and agreed to furnish a laborer for one month. The largest cash donation, $100, was made by George H. Bobbs; Jose Angel Navarro contributed $50; Musquiz furnished 500 pounds of lime, which he bought and delivered free of cost. The total cash collected amounted to $378. 103 Work was begun immediately after the new year, but progress was slow because most of the labor was on a voluntary, part-time basis. It was supplemented occasionally by the work of prisoners from the town jail. A report on the number of prisoner workdays for the year 1829 shows that their assistance was negligible. Contributions continued, and work went on for another year. 1 °' San Fernando Church was almost completed by September, 1830. It was decided to celebrate both the rapid progress of the reconstruction and the twentieth anniversary of Grito de Dowre.r ( Mexican Independ- ence Day). A preliminary meeting was held on September 10; com- mittees on program, decorations, and dances were appointed, and plans for the celebration were drawn. The program began the night of September I 5 at eleven o'clock with a mass meeting in the Military Plaza to give the "grito" (call) for independence, as Hidalgo had done in Dolores. Immediately after dawn, all civil, military, and' ecclesiastical officials gathered in the Military Plaza and, followed by the populace, marched with blare of bugles and beat of druips from the Government Palace to San Fernando Church. They attended the Solemn High Mass, sung by de la Garza, and a mili- 1 03List of contributions and donations to rebuild the church, December 3 I, I 828, Be:rar Archives. 1 °'Record of work of convicts at private houses and on the church, December 31, 1829; Receipts for contributions made to the church, signed by Ramon Musquiz, Jose Antonio Navarro, and Jose Ignacio Ruiz, January-December, 1830, Bh:ar .drcl,ives.
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