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Doña Patricia de la Garza de Leon
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Works Cited
Doña Patricia de la Garza de Leon
Why her life and work is inspiring to me
Significant Contribution
By: Lidia Rubio
Interesting Facts
Brief Biography
Doña Patricia was born in Sota la Marina, Nuevo Santander (what is now Tamaulipas, Mexico), in 1775.
In 1795, at 20 years of age, Doña Patricia married Spaniard Martin De Leon, who was a captain in the Mexican miltary.
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After a few years of being married, Don Martin returned from exploring Texas, which abunded in grasslands, free roaming cattle and buffalo. With this exciting news, he informed his wife of the great oportunity of land and ranching that he visioned in Texas. Doña Patricia became excited and decided to move north with her husband and 1st born child.
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Don Martin and Doña Patricia settled from place to place with their growing family, until in 1824 they received an empresario grant from the Mexican government which allowed them to found a colony. The De Leons called this colony Victoria, after the Mexican president, and built it from scratch with the livestock and $10,000 inheritance Doña Patricia had received from her father.
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Sadly, her husband Don Martin died of Cholera in 1833 and Doña Patricia took over the family buisness. Around the same time, the Texas Revolution broke out and Doña Patricia had to flee to New Orleans with her family because of Mexican allegiance speculations.
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Doña Patricia returned to Victoria a few years later to find her belongings and possessions scattered among the new Anglo-American settlers. She lived out her days in poverty, working and worshiping in the church she founded, until her death in 1849 in Victoria,TX. Although she was poor, in her Will, written September 24, 1849, she left her son two cows, some cattle, oxen, a town lot, and $1,200.
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Photograph
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3 Interesting Facts
1) Doña Patricia had a total of 10 children
2) She donated a hand-made handbag with $500 worth in gold to Saint Mary's Church in Victoria.
3) In New Orleans, she lived off sowing fine embroidery.
Doña Patricia's Significant Contribution's
Doña Patricia built a school, a church, and made sure that the community grew rich in art, music, education and pride. She made huge donations to the church and adorned it with fine furnishings of sliver and gold. She also held cultural celebrations to educate and unite the community. Patricia's work and dedication towards her community also allowed Victoria to be an important cattle marketing center. From the church she built, others flourished, as well as a catholic girls academy and a college. Today, the region of Southeast Texas, where Victoria is located, is a huge buisness and educational area; fruit of Doña Patricia's hardwork.
Doña Patricia's life and work is inspiring to me because even though she came from a very wealthy family, she was humble, hardworking, dedicated and caring towards others. She left her life of commodity, traveled north to Texas, and suffered dangers all because she visioned a great colony. Also, even though she lost her husband, one of her children, and all of her possesions, she kept the faith and remained strong through it all. She is an amazing example of how strong woman are and what they can accomplish no matter how tough life may be.
“Doña Patricia De La Garza De Leon.” Women in Texas History,
www.womenintexashistory.org/biographies/dona-patricia-de-la-garza-de-leon/.
Doña Patricia De La Garza De Leon. 1900. Print. Folder 1 of 2, Doña Patricia's files,
Twu Woman’s Collection – Vault Archive, Blagg-Huey Library, Denton
Campus, Texas Woman's University.
Doña Patricia De La Garza De Leon, "Will and Testament," Sep. 24, 1849, Folder 2 of
2, Doña Patricia's files, Twu Woman's Collection - Vault Archive, Blagg-Huey
Library, Denton Campus, Texas Woman's University.
Ruthsdotter, Mary. "See History in a New Way -- with WOMEN in it!" Hera, Mar 31,
1996, pp. 5. ProQuest, https://ezp.twu.edu/login?url=https://search-
proquest-com.ezp.twu.edu/docview/224681237?accountid=7102.
Stewart, Paula. “DE LEON, PATRICIA DE LA GARZA.” The Handbook of Texas
Online Texas State Historical Association (TSHA), 12 June 2010,
tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fde66.
Photographs:
Dona Patricia De La Garza De Leon - Texas Historical Markers on Waymarking.com,
www.waymarking.com/waymarks/
WMRJN5_Dona_Patricia_De_La_Garza_De_Leon.