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San Antonio, Texas
March 9, 1731
Photo Gallery
The marker reads:
Earliest Civilian Colonist of San Antonio. This nucleus of pioneers from the Canary Islands formed the first organized civil government in Texas and founded the Village of San Fernando de Bexar in 1731.
Following a sea and land voyage of over a year. These weary travelers arrived at the Presidio (fort) of San Antonio early on March 9, 1731. Totaling 55 persons, they had emigrated to Texas from the Spanish Canary Islands near Africa, by order of King Philip V.
On July 2 they began to lay out a villa (village, choosing a site on the west side of the Plaza de Las Yslas (Present main Plaza) for the church and a site on the east side of the Casa Real (Government Building). On July 19 the Captain of the Presidio Juan Antonio De Almazan, read to the Islanders the Decree of the Viceroy naming them and their descendants “Hijos Dalgo” - persons of nobility.
The heads of the 16 families who settled in San Antonio were: Juan Leal Goraz, Juan Curbelo, Juan Leal, Antonio Santos, Jose Padron, Manuel de Nis, Vicente Alvarez Travieso, Salvador Rodriguez, Jose Leal, Juan Delgado, Jose Cabrera, Juan Rodriguez Granadillo, Francisco Arocha, Antonio Rodriguez, Lorenzo and Martin de Armas, and Felipe and Jose Antonio Perez.
The Canary Islanders Marker
Marker located on Main Plaza in front of the Bexar County Courthouse.
Marker #702, erected in 1971 by the State Historical Survey Committee
Main Plaza was originally called
Plaza De Las Yslas
Corrections to the Marker:
The heads of the sixteen families are misstated on this marker. Lorenzo and Martin de Armas and Felipe and Jose Antonio Perez were four single men listed as the sixteenth family. Omitted from the marker are Maria Rodriguez-Provayna, widow of Juan Rodriguez Granadillo, head of the fourteenth family and Mariana Meleano, widow of Lucas Delgado, head of the fifteenth family. Juan Rodriguez Granadillo and Lucas Delgado died in Vera Cruz, shortly after their arrival in New Spain.
Canary Islands Descendants Association
San Antonio, Texas
We the descendants are very proud of the accomplishments of our ancestors. Their lives and contributions are woven into the fabric of the story of Texas.
In February 1729, his majesty, King Felipe V of Spain called for the recruitment of up to 400 families from the Canary Islands to settle in Texas. The Spanish Crown’s intentions were to colonize Texas against the incursion of the French from the Texas frontier. In the end only sixteen families, our ancestors were sent to Texas. They arrived at the Presidio de Béjar on March 9, 1731. Our Ancestors founded the first civil settlement in Texas, the Villa de San Fernando, which is present day San Antonio, Texas, the seventh largest city in the United States.
The Canary Islands are an archipelago of seven major islands off the coast of northern Sahara Africa, which are part of Spain. The islands are Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura, La Gomera, El Hierro, Lanzarote and La Palma.
The Canary Islanders were responsible for founding the city council form of government that is in existence today. It was brought from Spain in the form of the first “cabildo”.
The Canary Islands Descendants Association celebrates the arrival of the sixteen Canary Islands families in March of each year with a mass at San Fernando Cathedral. In August the Descendants commemorate the establishment of the first civil government in Texas with an annual banquet. The public is welcomed to attend.
Today, the descendants of these hardy pioneers of Texas number in the hundreds of thousands. We welcome you to apply for membership if you believe that you are a descendant of the original sixteen families and join us in keeping the story of our ancestors alive.
Again, we welcome you to the Canary Islands Descendants Association website and we hope you enjoy our ancestors' history.
Gene Arocha Chapa
President
Canary Islands Descendants Association
