| Notes |
- The Handbook of Texas On-line notes:
". . . christened William John Smith and also known as El Colorado, the last messenger from the Alamo and the first mayor of San Antonio, was born in Virginia on March 4, 1792, the son of John and Isabel Smith. As a youth he moved to Ralls County, Missouri, where he served as tax collector and sheriff and married Harriet Stone in 1821. They had three children. In 1826 Smith followed the empresario Green DeWitt to Texas. When his wife refused to join him, he parted from his family, after extracting a promise for a divorce. He lived in Gonzales, then in La Bah?a, and by 1827 had moved to San Antonio, where he changed his name to John William Smith because it was easier for Spanish speakers to pronounce. .... In 1830 he married Mar?a de Jes?s Delgado Curbelo, a descendant of Canary Islanders, and they had six children, whose descendants remained prominent citizens of San Antonio. Between 1827 and 1836 Smith served as military storekeeper, developed mercantile interests, and received a sizable Mexican land grant. He also worked as a civil engineer and surveyor. In December 1835 he escaped the occupying Mexican army of Gen. Mart?n Perfecto de Cos and joined Gen. Edward Burleson and the Texas army in besieging San Antonio. Smith used his familiarity with the town and his surveying skills to draw the detailed plat that made possible the successful house-to-house attack; he also acted as a guide for one of the assaulting parties. In early 1836 he joined William B. Travis in defense of the Alamo; he was sent by Travis as the final messenger to the Convention of 1836. Subsequently Smith continued as an army scout and participated in the battle of San Jacinto."
He was sent out from the Alamo as a courier shortly after the Mexican Army arrived. He returned as a guide with the Gonzales Ranging Company. He was sent out again on March 3. He was organizing a group of 25 men to return with him when the fort fell. After the war he was mayor of San Antonio several times and was an opponent of Juan Seguin.
"After Texas independence was gained, he and his family returned to San Antonio, where Smith became an influential citizen and held a number of offices. He was mayor of San Antonio for three one-year terms during the 1830s and 1840s. He was also alderman, Bexar County tax assessor, clerk of the Bexar County Court, clerk of the Board of Land Commissioners of Bexar County, clerk of the Bexar County Probate Court, treasurer of Bexar County, postmaster of San Antonio, Indian commissioner of the Republic of Texas, and senator from 1842 to January 12, 1845. At one time he held as many as eleven different commissions under presidents Sam Houston and Mirabeau B. Lamar. The bilingual Smith also began a law practice and formed a real estate company that acted as a middleman between Spanish-speaking owners of land headrights and English-speaking land speculators. He also speculated in land. The combined tax lists of Bexar County for 1842, 1843, and 1844 indicate that he owned eleven town lots and 51,113 acres of undeveloped land, of which 4,428 acres was from his Mexican grant, 320 acres from his bounty grant, and 640 acres from his donation grant. During these years he participated in a real estate partnership with Enoch Jones, which held an additional 41,129 acres. Much of this property was sold to pay Smith's debts and support his family after his death. He died on January 12, 1845, after a brief illness, possibly pneumonia, at Washington-on-the-Brazos and was buried there. The exact site of his grave is not known."
============
Obituary: JOHN W. SMITH; Texas National Register, January 18. 1845, p. 55, Col. 1
Departed this life in the town of Washington, on Sunday the 12th instant, the Honorable John W. Smith, Senator from the County of Bexar. The deceased emigrated from the United States to San Antonio in the year 1826, and lived several years in the retirement of private life, engaged in the pursuits of his avocation with untiring industry. When, the Texan. forces encamped in the vicinity of San Antonio in the fall of 1835, he, with one or two other Americans, was placed under arrest by the Mexican authorities; but, notwithstanding their confinement, they contrived to communicate important information to the besieging troops. Having succeeded in escaping, the deceased drew up a most accurate plan of the town in which almost every object of sufficient magnitude to attract the vision was delineated with great minuteness and exactness. With the benefit of the information thus obtained, and with the deceased acting as one of the guides, the strong Town of San Antonio, defended by seventeen hundred troops and twenty pieces of artillery, was on the night of the 5th of December, 1835, assaulted by a devoted band of less than three hundred men. The history of the ensuing fierce and desperate struggle for five days and nights is well known. In the annals of our military achievements, it stands unparalleled, as well for the boldness of the enterprise, as for the exhibition of an inflexible obstinacy of resolution and determined valor, which no danger could appall-nor continuance of the deadly grapple, however prolonged, could exhaust. The deceased was ever found among the foremost in the storm, and accompanied the party which had succeeded in penetrating to the square, when the capitulation was proposed.
After the battle of San Jacinto and the retreat of the Mexican troops from the Republic, the deceased returned to San Antonio -- where, as clerk of several courts, from his extraordinary capacity for business, and his knowledge of farms, he rendered essential services to the community-discharging the duties of his various offices with the indefatigable perseverance, and with a skill and correctness which elicited frequent expressions of approbation from high judicial officers. He narrowly escaped from the troops under the command of General Woll, in 1842; and distinguished himself at the Salado, as well by his bravery, as by entering the hostile lines and procuring information of the enemy's situation and movements. He was of a most benevolent disposition, a devoted patriot, and an affectionate husband and father. His intelligence, correctness and promptness of judgment; his acquaintance with the laws of the country, both ancient and modern; his business habits and talents, and the assiduity of his application, rendered him a valuable member of the Senate and of the community.
A wife and five children survive to grieve for this afflicting dispensation of Providence. They have the sympathies of a numerous body of friends, who console themselves with the recollection of his virtues and merits, for which he was honored in life and will be remembered in death.
TRIBUTE OF THE SENATE TO SMITH
Monday, January 13, 1845, 10 A. M. Senate met; roll called; a quorum present; prayer by the Chaplain; Journals of the preceding day read and adopted. Senator Wright presented the petition of Syreno Guest, which, on motion, was referred to the committee on the Judiciary. Senator Kaufman announced the death of the Honorable John W. Smith, the Senator from the District of Bexar, and offered the following resolutions:
1. Resolved by the Senate, That they have heard with deep and sincere regret of the death of their late colleague, the Honorable John W. Smith, Senator from Bexar County, and that in his demise the country has lost a patriot and an honest man.
2. Resolved, That we sympathize with the family of the deceased in this irreparable bereavement, and that the Secretary of the Senate furnish them with a copy of these resolutions.
3. Resolved, further, That as a mark of our deep regard for the memory of the late Honorable John W. Smith, the members and officers of this body will wear crape on their left arm for the space of thirty days.
Resolutions adopted. Senator Greer offered the following resolutions, which were adopted:
Resolved by the Senate, that the House of Representatives be, and they are hereby respectfully requested to meet the Senate, in the Senate Chamber, to join in procession to attend the interment of Senator John W. Smith, deceased, at half past 10 o'clock. Resolved by the Senate, That the President and heads of departments be, and they are hereby respectfully invited to meet the Senate, in the Senate Chamber, to join in the procession to attend the interment of Senator John W. Smith, deceased, at half past 10 o'clock. On motion of Senator Kaufman, a committee was appointed to wait on the House of Representatives, and inform them of the resolution adopted by the Senate. Senators Kaufman, Caldwell and Pillsbury were appointed said committee. Committee retired. Senator Kaufman, Chairman of the Committee, reported duty performed. Senator Kaufman moved that Senator Kinney act as Marshal to regulate the funeral procession. A message was received from the House of Representatives, by James H. Raymond, Chief Clerk, informing the Senate that the House had accepted their invitation to attend at the Senate Chamber at half past ten o'clock and :join in the procession. Senator Kinney, as Marshal, announced the following order for the funeral procession and interment: Pall bearers: Members of the House: W. G. Cook, D. C. Ogden, W. L. Cazneau. Pall bearers: Members of the Senate: John Caldwell, Richard Roman, T. Pillsbury, Vice-President of the Republic and Chaplain Senators; Officers of the Senate, President of the Republic; Heads of departments and officers; Speaker of the House of Representatives & Chaplain; Members of the House of Representatives; Officers of the House of Representatives; Foreign Ministers; Chief Justice of the Republic; Judges of the District Courts; Officers of the Army and Navy; Citizens. Prayer by the Chaplain at the Grave. Benediction. On motion of Senator Greer, the Senate adjourned until tomorrow at 10 o'clock A.M. (Source: Senate Journal, 9th Congress, 135-137.)
|
1792 - 1845 (52 years)
