LOT Old Heritage Auctions  /  2007 December Signature Texana Auction #661  / 

56057

Juan Martin de Veramendi Decree Signed; 1833

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles Start Price:575.00 USD Estimated At:1,000.00 - 1,500.00 USD
Juan Martin de Veramendi Decree Signed; 1833
<B>Juan Martin de Veramendi Decree Signed</B></I> with his rubric, one page, 7.5" x 11.5". Monclava, April 16, 1833. Also signed with rubric by Santiago del Valle as secretary. First printing. Not in Streeter. Upon the death of Gov. Jose Maria Letona on September 18, 1832, Vice Governor Juan Martin de Veramendi assumed the office of governor of Coahuila and Texas. Del Valle served as president of the Congreso Constituyente of the state of Coahuila and Texas in 1825 and as counselor to the governor. By this document, Veramendi informs the people that the Congress has decreed that "<I>Citizen Jose Francisco Madero, is granted the exclusive right to introduce in the Trinity River, Steam, Power, Sail or Row Boats, for a period of eighteen years, if this can be performed at his expense.</B></I>" The decree also stated that the privilege would begin on the day the law was published, that there would be no special tax levied against Madero, and that he may transfer the right, all or in part, to anyone as long as that individual was not the subject of a nation at war with Mexico. Madero would lose his exclusive right if he did not navigate the Trinity River within three years from the date of this decree. The Trinity River flows 423 miles from the confluence of the Elm and West forks in present-day Dallas to the Gulf of Mexico. It is not clear why Madero received this privilege but it upset many Texians. The War Party cited it as one the reasons to separate Texas from Mexico. The enterprise never came to fruition as Madero died during a cholera epidemic five months later which also claimed the lives of Governor Veramendi and his daughter (Mrs. Jim Bowie) and the Bowie's two infant children. This document incorrectly identifies Veramendi as "<I>el vice gobernador</B></I>" even though he had succeeded Letona seven months earlier and decrees published since then called him "el gobernador." The upper left edge is mouse-eaten and there is light soiling on the right. There are tape stains in the wide blank left margin and light water stains and minor nicks at the right edge. The document, in apparent fine condition, is matted and framed to 15.5" x 27". <I>From the collection of Darrel Brown. </B></I><BR><BR><b>Shipping:</b> Framed - with Glass, Medium (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.heritageauctions.com/common/shipping.php">view shipping information</a>)
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