Don Nereo Navarro and family members
15 negatives, 1 folder
A2004-011
1890-1945 (unknown)
The Navarro family history is one very closely associated with the early history of South Texas. Don Nereo Navarro’s great grandfather was Angel Navarro, a native of the island of Corsica, who served as an officer under the King of Spain, and later settled in San Antonio, where he married Miss Maria Josefa Ruiz. Of this marriage six children were born, among them being Jose Antonio Navarro, the grandfather of Don Nero Navarro. Jose Antonio Navarro was born in San Antonio de Bexar, February 27, 1795 and was educated in the profession of the law. He served as Land Commissioner for DeWitt’s County on the Guadalupe River and assisted Stephen F. Austin the colonizer of Texas. Later he was a member of the Legislature of Coahuila and Texas, and in 1835 was elected to the National Congress of Mexico. He had become dismayed with Santa Anna and his despotism and declined to take his seat in the Mexican Congress and became more affiliated with the Texans. Jose Antonio and his uncle, Francisco Ruiz served as delegates from Bexar to the Convention of 1836 and represented Bexar County in the House of the Third Congress of the Republic of Texas. Jose Antonio was appointed by President Mirabeu B. Lamar to accompany the Santa Fe Expedition. He was captured and imprisoned in Mexico, where he was condemned to life imprisonment by Santa Anna. He was later released from prison by Santa Anna’s successor in 1845, and returned to his native state. He continued to serve Texas at the Annexation Convention and in the Senate of the First and Second Legislatures of Texas. He died at his home in San Antonio on January 14, 1871. In 1846 the Legislature of the State of Texas created the County of Navarro, named in honor of Don Jose Antonio Navarro. One of Jose Antonio’s sons was Sixto Navarro, who followed the patriotic spirit of his father, served his state and native city, and at the outbreak of the Civil War entered the service of the Confederacy, serving as an officer. He became a successful planter and stockman, owning large landed interests. Sixto Navarro and his wife, Genoveva Cortinas Navarro had five sons, and six daughters, Nereo G. Navarro was the oldest. He and several other siblings became teachers and professors. Don Nereo Navarro married Miss Felicidad Uribe of San Ygnacio, Texas. Later in his career Nereo worked as a bookkeeper. He died in 1944 and was buried at Calvary Catholic Cemetery, Laredo, Webb County, Texas. (Taken from papers in collection, author unknown)
The collection is small but holds a wealth of early Texas history. A biography of Jose Antonio Navarro, his last handwritten will and fifteen negatives illustrate the commitment the family had to the welfare of Texas.
The photographs are numbered and there is one folder containing all documents.
South Texas Archives, James C. Jernigan Library, Texas A&M University-Kingsville
Open for Research
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Don Nereo Navarro Collection, A2004-011.XXXX-South Texas Archives, James C. Jernigan Library, Texas A&M University-Kingsville
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A2004-011 was a gift from Marie A. Garza, a member of the Navarro family.
A2004-011 was processed in 2004 by the staff of South Texas Archives. Harsh Dholakia digitized the negatives in 2018. Lori Atkins wrote the finding aid, uploaded all records, and created the EAD the same year.