Charli/Losoya House

[edward]

Oct 4, 2013 14:51:58 GMT -5 Rich Curilla said:

Here is the Charli home which was just south of the southwest corner of the fort. It is the darker stone building in Mike's lower-right photo. My model represents its probable 1836 condition when Col. Morales used it as a stepping-stone in his attack on the morning of March 6.

To the Govenor:
I, Francisco Amangual, Captain of the Presidial of La Bahia del Espiritu Santo and Commander of the Flying Company de Parras, appear before your Highness with the utmost humility and due respect and declare:
That, since December, 1805, he has been lodged in a dilapidated one-room jacal which was situated in the outer walls of Valero and the said jacal was the property of the King. His own room was occupied as a military hospital. The dilapidated jacal aforesaid consisted of one room of eight varas and a porch and both were used as a kitchen as the roof still clearly show, the land was 15 varas deep, not counting a narrow strip of public land which adjoins this jacal. This jacal and porch, formerly occupied by an Indian woman named Dolores, was one of those still standing when the mission was demolished.
He (Amangual) has done much personal work and has expended a large sum to repair the jacal, an appears in a detailed account which he maintained; and, considering the expense which he has incurred, and realizing that if he leaves the said jacal for any station to which he may be assigned, no purchaser will be found who would care to reimburse him for the said expense because it would be very heavy, but your petitioner considered it most necessary in order to provide a suitable home for himself and his baby girl.
Wherefore he prays your Highness, in the name of justice, to sell him the land and jacal, after appraisement is made by the best experts in valuation obtainable, so that from its gross value may be deducted the expenses incurred by your petitioner and the balance paid to the person entitled thereto.
San Antonio de Valero February 8, 1808
Francisco Amangual
(Rubric)

-------------------Snip---------------
...
After I had notified the adjoining property owners, and in the presence of all, the measurements of the land were made.
The frontage, from north to south, was 14 ½ varas; from East to West, the depth, 45 ½ varas and from North to South, at the rear there are not 14 ½ varas as in the frontage, because it adjoins the labor and threrefore it contains only 10 varas according to the measurements. The said land is within the measurements claimed and is bounded as follows:
On the North by the house of Bentura Losoya; on the West by land of the labor; on the South by the alley that Leads from the Plaza to the river and on the East by the said Plaza.
And there being no objection by any one or on the part of the adjoin property owners, I placed him in quiet and peaceful possession, in the name of His Majesty…
-----------Snip----------

November 4, 1808
Cordero,
(Rubric)

[Rich Curilla]

Wonderful, Edward!!! What is the source for this? The Bexar Archives? Alamo de Parras correspondence? Thanks.

[Rich Curilla]

Nov 12, 2013 19:48:34 GMT -5 edward said:

Nov 9, 2013 5:40:54 GMT -5 Rich Curilla said:

A less-than-18-pounder on the Charli room in my virtual model.

Nice virtual models.

Thanks, Edward. I have done all of Bexar including a 3-mile-square ground plane with all waterways except the acequia laterals.

[edward]

Nov 13, 2013 4:47:14 GMT -5 Rich Curilla said:

Wonderful, Edward!!! What is the source for this? The Bexar Archives? Alamo de Parras correspondence? Thanks.

This is from the Bexar Archives LG#34 'Grant of a Solar and Sale of a House to Francisco Amangual 1808'.

[edward]

Wow Rich that is great work on those models!

[Rich Curilla]

Nov 13, 2013 19:34:47 GMT -5 edward said:

Wow Rich that is great work on those models!

Everything is laid out over satellite imagery of San Antonio and adapted to 1836 from period maps, plats, descriptions, photos, drawings and a sprinkle of conjecture where all else fails. It's all 3D and navigable -- even into some of the rooms like the Alamo sacristy and Jim Bowie's room. My favorite roost is San Fernando bell tower -- quite a view. ; )

Attachments:

[Rich Curilla]

Back to the Charli house. I have designed mine after the concept that it was another of the three-roomed Indian houses of the mission with the southern-most room gone (clearer in the last two photos). The jacal in the document you presented must have been in that little lot where the third room would have been with the alley (later Crockett Street) bounding it on the south. If the Charli house was indeed of the original mission housing construction, inventories present each apartment as have a door facing east and a window facing west. The jacal of course could be of any design. Looks like I'm gonna have to add a jacal.

[Rich Curilla]

The Dolores Jacal next to the Charli house. Trouble is, with a 14-1/2 vara frontage, as per the document, it would go all the way past the first door on the Charli house. On the other hand, if the directions were reversed -- the frontage being the backage and vice-versa, then it would come out to exactly 22 feet from the partition wall of the Charli to the alley. That would also fit the footprint on the plat (above) with the Giraud Alamo on it better. That shows this end lot as being narrower on the east end and wider on the west end, where it indeed does join the labores. Hmmmmmm.

Attachments:

[edward]

Nov 14, 2013 6:07:48 GMT -5 Rich Curilla said:

The Dolores Jacal next to the Charli house. Trouble is, with a 14-1/2 vara frontage, as per the document, it would go all the way past the first door on the Charli house. On the other hand, if the directions were reversed -- the frontage being the backage and vice-versa, then it would come out to exactly 22 feet from the partition wall of the Charli to the alley. That would also fit the footprint on the plat (above) with the Giraud Alamo on it better. That shows this end lot as being narrower on the east end and wider on the west end, where it indeed does join the labores. Hmmmmmm.

I was thinking the house Francisco fixed up was what was left of the 3 unit dwelling. The foundation was probably used multiple times to the new configurations of the structures being built. The Size of the lot does not match with the 1881 survey as you noticed. Also, in the deed of Concepcion Charli and Jesus Cantu they claim the property in the plaza up to the main gate (south) entrance. See attached corner sketch.


.

[edward]

Putting in the old 3 place units in my model.

[Rich Curilla]

We are not far off from each other.


My line running perpendicular from the east wall of the Charli building was to indicate where the vara measurement of the north corner of the east face of the property "front" would be -- almost half way across the face of the stone building. That seems to be what your plat indicates.

However, I had not heard that the properties went all the way to the Alamo gate. I wonder how that came about, with the effects of the plaza already in place. It interlopes. My measurement, though, does agree with your 52.75 varas for or the west to east centerline between the properties. My measure from the acequia to the middle of the western gatepost is 145 feet, and your varas come out to 145.0625 feet at 2.75 feet per vara. Speaks well.

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[Rich Curilla]

From The Handbook of Texas Online:

AMANGUAL, FRANCISCO (c. 1739–1812). Francisco Amangual, soldier, was born on Majorca about 1739. He entered the Spanish army in 1762 and served two years in the Batavian Regiment of Dragoons and fourteen years in the Spanish Regiment of Dragoons. After distinguishing himself in a cavalry company in the Sonora expedition of 1767–71, he was stationed at San Antonio de Béxar Presidio, Texas, where he became paymaster in 1784. In 1797 he commanded an unsuccessful pursuit of Comanche Indians who had raided the cattle ranch at Nuestra Señora del Refugio Mission. Later he was elected alferez of his company at La Bahía. He was ordered to guard the coast against invasion at the time of the Philip Nolan expedition of 1800 and escorted Nolan's captured companions to Saltillo. In 1804–05 Amangual captained the Company of San Carlos de Parras at La Bahía. He had charge of the finances of the military hospital in Bexar for a brief period before his resignation in March 1808. Between March 30 and December 23, 1808, he led an expedition of 200 men from San Antonio to Santa Fe, through the Comanche country, and back by way of El Paso. After his return he retired with the rank of captain. He was married three times. He died on May 19, 1812.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Bexar Archives, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, University of Texas at Austin. Carlos E. Castañeda, Our Catholic Heritage in Texas (7 vols., Austin: Von Boeckmann-Jones, 1936–58; rpt., New York: Arno, 1976).

[Rich Curilla]

Well, I measured out the Amangual lot as per the transfer authorization and come up with exactly the same footprint that you do, except for the bearing of the west face. I assumed the measured line was parallel to the plaza frontage rather than perpendicular to the line of the alley. I also indicate the 15 vara original jacal lot as per Delores, if that's what is meant in Amangual's request letter. On my plat, the alley lines are laid down over the present Crockett Street boundaries, which in turn correspond (as closely as I can tell by eye)to early San Antonio maps, and precisely to the Sanborn Map. My acequia at this point is replicated from the Maverick-Giraud-Friesleben (?) map with the land boundary that doesn't match the deed.

Thus, other than the odd variance in the footprint, the Amangual-Delores jacal seems a perfect fit for having been built on or within the ruined walls of the southern room of the stone building, if in fact it had such a configuration.

And I should probably show the jacal as having been torched or torn down for firewood by the Texians. "I wouldn't mind stretchin' my legs."

[edward]

Nov 18, 2013 16:05:16 GMT -5 Rich Curilla said:

From The Handbook of Texas Online:

AMANGUAL, FRANCISCO (c. 1739–1812). Francisco Amangual, soldier, was born on Majorca about 1739. He entered the Spanish army in 1762 and served two years in the Batavian Regiment of Dragoons and fourteen years in the Spanish Regiment of Dragoons. After distinguishing himself in a cavalry company in the Sonora expedition of 1767–71, he was stationed at San Antonio de Béxar Presidio, Texas, where he became paymaster in 1784. In 1797 he commanded an unsuccessful pursuit of Comanche Indians who had raided the cattle ranch at Nuestra Señora del Refugio Mission. Later he was elected alferez of his company at La Bahía. He was ordered to guard the coast against invasion at the time of the Philip Nolan expedition of 1800 and escorted Nolan's captured companions to Saltillo. In 1804–05 Amangual captained the Company of San Carlos de Parras at La Bahía. He had charge of the finances of the military hospital in Bexar for a brief period before his resignation in March 1808. Between March 30 and December 23, 1808, he led an expedition of 200 men from San Antonio to Santa Fe, through the Comanche country, and back by way of El Paso. After his return he retired with the rank of captain. He was married three times. He died on May 19, 1812.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Bexar Archives, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, University of Texas at Austin. Carlos E. Castañeda, Our Catholic Heritage in Texas (7 vols., Austin: Von Boeckmann-Jones, 1936–58; rpt., New York: Arno, 1976).

Francisco Amangual had other properties, one in particular was a portion of a larger lot owned by Marcos de Castro. Also from this larger Castro lot, Fernando de Veramendi purchased a portion for his property. Francisco’s portion was on the North side. Fernando’s lot was later owned by his son Juan Martin Vermendi. The Veramendi House is were Ben Milam was killed during the Siege of Bexar (1835) and where General Twiggs surrendered Federal authority to the Southern Confederacy’s Commissioners, Thomas Devine, Samuel Maverick and Philip Luckett (1861). In November of 1909 the city council declared the Veramendi house unsafe and was demolished shortly thereafter. Francisco Amangual was buried at Campo Santo on the 21 May 1812 (now Santa Rosa Hospital). Ben Milam was buried adjacent to Campo Santo in the city cemetery (now Milam Park).

[Rich Curilla]

The Veramendi house during the Battle of Bexar. The trench was dug by the Texians to provide communication between Milam's men in the Antonio de la Garza house and Johnson's men in the Veramendi. One of Cos' street batteries is seen at the far end. Easy to see why a little canister could do a lot on Calle Soledad.


Looking S.S.E. over the Veramendi house.


Looking S.W. over the Veramendi house and the Antonio de la Garza house, lower right. This was early in the model, before I added the Mexican street batteries.