CCross, In the villa-of San Fernando, on the seventh day of the. SeYior Second-ranking Alcalde: Petition of o Don Bern.

Transcription

1 1 S CCross, In the villa-of San Fernando, on the seventh day of the month of April of this year of one thousand seven hundred fif ty-two, before SePior Don Fran. Delgado, ordinary alcalde of the said villa, the following petition, with the power acmpanying it, was presented by Don Bernardo Miranda as attorney for Captain Senor Don Thoribio de Vrrutia' etc.: SeYior Send-ranking Alcalde: Petition of o Don Bern. I, Don Bernardo de Miranda, a resident._. 11Ilranda of this royal presidio of San Antonio de against Don V6xar in the jurisdiction of this province 1 1 of the Texast and a native of the Kingdoms Crist, ae los a. 6antos uoy of Castile, in the name of and with a uover from Sefior Don Thoribio de Vrrutia, the captain of this said royal presidio by order of His Majesty, appear before your honor in the best form acrding to law and in the interest of the said client, to state that' in the past year of one thousand seven hundred fifty, my said client gave to Don Chist6bal sic, de los Santos, in order to help him and to do him a good turn, a draft payable by his cvrrutia's, attorney, Don Joseph Gonzales Calder6n, in the amount of three hundred pesos; and the said Don Chist6bal endorsed it to Alberto L6pez, who received it and llected it in Mexi City from my client's said attorney. The pact between my

2 client:,and the said Don Chist6bal was that he ^my client,.was to receive one. hundred fifty fanegas of rn from the crop l: of.. the,said year,of ne thousand seven thundred;..fifty. Notwithstanding the fact that my client has demanded payment'.of the said Don.Ghist6bal, he has not.received it neither:has any means been found for obtaining payment of the amount due. Because;of this defect my 6lient,has : suffered and is still suff.ering a.loss.; In view of the foregoing,: I.am nstrained to^::;implore for. justice and,. by virtue thereof, I ask and -beg your,^:honor to summon before-you the.aforesaid:.don.xpt6bal de los:'santos. Wkien he shall have appeared, he shall.declare whether it is:true that the above-said draft payble to him lv was issued, whether orrnot it was for^the said amournt //of three--hundred. pesos, if he knows whether the said draft was llected or.endorsed, and whether he endorsed it to thesaid Alberto L6pe.z.. And if:all the foregoing, is.true, andcalso the-:ntract to pay with rn at two.pesos a fanega, I asl^. and ;.beg,, acrding to law, that the : said Don. CPiist6bal be notified to.deliver at once the rn which he promised; that in case of unwillingness or defect on his part, he be held acuntable by his person and assets..for the amount.due; and that this cause be tried by executory proceedings because it is just. In view of all the foregoing, I ask and beg your honor to grant my petition and to admit this petition on the pres-

3 ent mmon paper because no stamped ^paper, is sold in this province, without detriment to the royal treasury. I swear in the name of my client that this petition, is without malice, I protest sts, and whatever is necessary, etc. do Bern. de Miranda j.rubric, ca. D. S., April 7,1752, pp. 1-lv,

4 t,the foregoing petition, was admitted as presented. And by virtue thereof, the said seylor alcalde summoned before him Don Christ6val de los Santos Coi. He made known to him the ntents of the foregoing petition, which was read to.him verbo ad berbun-by me, the present notary. In order that the execut3.on of this might be of rerd, the said sefior judge signed it before me, the notary. I certify. Fran. Delgado crubric, Before me: Fran. Joseph de Arocha,Rubric, Notary Public and cnotary, of the Cabildo 7 D. S. with A. D. S., April w, 1752, p. lv,

5 When he had understood the entire petition, Don Chixt6- val Santos said, before the said sefior judge, that with reference to the three hundred pesos stated as the amount of, the 2 draft is//sued payable to him, the said attorney for the sefior captain should not enter a claim against him for more than two hundred fifty pesos because the other fifty ^pesos, were given to Don Alberto L6pez for a guitar which he sold to Captain SePior Don Thoribio de Vrrutia. And he'said, that it was true that the draft had been issuedpayable to him by virtue_ of the fact that Captain Seftor Don '.'.:-T-oribio de Vrrutia had requested him to go to M6xi as attorney for the mmunity; but that when, at the time of departure, the said sefior captain called him and asked him whether it was possible for him to go along with the urier, he replied that he uld not, he the said captain, then asked him to endorse the draft to Don Alberto L6pez' who was going with the power of attorney from the mmunity. And since he L6pez,, as attorney, took the draft for the indispensable expenses he might incur, the claim for the llection of the draft, should be made against him, also because, as the legal attorney, he L6pez; probably knew who had signed and were obligated to pay the amount due by each of those who gave their power. InT-view of the foregoing, he said that he entreated the said seflor judge that, in view of the fact that the present charges should not be entered against hiffi, he should not be molested by being

6 s summoned for this case because he needed his time for, the indispensable work in which he was engaged. And in view of the foregoing reply and of the fact that charges uld.not Pe entered against him without further proof, the said sepior judge ordered, that it the.petition, be returned to Don Bernardo Miranda or that he, as attorney for the sepir.cs.ptain, be notified of this said reply and that-he should give the proof he had promised if he nsidered it advisable. And, because by virtue of this rep'ly': he Crist6bal de los Santos, uld not be mpelled tq make payment, in order.that this might be of rerd' the said sefior judge and Don Chrixt6val de los Santos signed it before me, the notary, I cer-' ) tify. Frn. Delgado Xpt6bal de los Santos Coi,Rubric, crubric, Before me: Fran. Joseph de Arocha rrubric, Notary Public and cnotary, of the Cabildo cd. S. with A. D. S., April , pp. lv-2, 0,On back, : N. 22

7 ccross, We,the Cabildo, Justicial and Regimiento of this villa of San Fernando, the province of Texas and New Philippines,, etc. Whereas great irregularity is being practiced in this villa in the weights and measures which each individual uses willfully, without heeding the orders given in the past to the effect that nothing should be sold by anyone ^using, measures that had not been marked and stamped by this Cabildo, therefore, we hereby order all the vecinos residing permanently or temporarily without exception who use the vara, scales, and measure to report on next Thursday, the fourth of May, each one bringing the measures that he uses: varas, scales') cuartillo, medio cuartillo, cuartal almud, medio almud, cuartilla, and media cuartilla,, in order to have them checked and stamped as is, usual and customary in the capital of Mexi. Whoever shall not bring them,the measures, to have them checked and stamped, shall be punished by having them broken; and from this time forward, violators of the foregoing order shall be fined twenty-five pesos in mmon gold to be applied to public works. In order that all may be notified thereof and that none may allege ignorance, this delv cree shall be published tomorrow after //high mass, before the greatest gathering of people. The present notary shall certify to the publication. The said sefiores did so decree,

8 order9 and sign this, in the said villa, on the twenty-ninth day of the month of April of the year one thousand seven hundred fifty-two. I, the notary, certify, Fran. Delgado,Rubr3.c, 0 Luis Antt. Menchaca,Rubric,,D. S., April 29, 1752,

9 9 CCross,. Don Fran. Delgado, send-ranking alcalde of this villa of San Fernando, the capital of the province of Texas and New Philippines, etc. Whereas I have received repeated mplaints of the,lawlessness with which the stock owners use water from the Acequia Madre, unmindful of the grave damage to the cultivated fields borne by the.owners and farmers; whereas the mayordomo or nrocurador, of this villa has been unable to..restrain them.. or make them nform to the provisions of the law; and Cwhereas,, on the ntrary, they have ingnored him and have attempted to maltreat him with insults, I have decided by these. presents to give sufficient authority to the said mayordomo to prevent anyone except those with hereditary rights to get any water from the Acequia Madre except on the day when he is legally entitled to it. And in order to have the water used in nformity with royal laws and to prevent its waste, the said maxordomo shall also.take care that the irrigation gaps are kept clear and clean in order in order sic, that they. shall not form dams in the said Acequia Madre because.of the serious damage caused to those with hereditary rights and to the streets. For every violation of this order, the said mayordomo shall have the right to fine and to llect-from the violators four pesos valued at eight reales each. Those.guilty of disorderly nduct shall be punished by imprisonment

10 10 and double.fine. In order that everybody may know this and lv that none may allege ignorance //the present notary shall publish this tomorrow after high mass before the greatest gathering of people; and he shall give this decree to the said mayordomo for his guidance. Thus did the said sefior alcalde decree, order, and.sign this before me,the notary. I certify. In this vi11a, on the twenty-ninth day of the month of April, one thousand seven hundred fifty-two. Fran. Delgado I certify. rrubric, By order of the alcalde: Fran. Joseph de Arocha CRubric, Notary Public and Notary,`of the Gabildo D. S.^ April 29, 1752.