by Don Pusch, November 2000
Texas has existed as a part of the United States for a little over a century and a half; however, her archival legacy extends back more than twice that number of years, encompassing, as well, the period of the Republic of the Texas and the periods of Mexican and Spanish domination. Although portions of this legacy have been lost, due either to intentional destruction or to lack of adequate preservation, much of it remains. One such portion is the Béxar1 Archives collection, preserved today at The Center for American History, University of Texas at Austin. In this article, we will describe the Béxar Archives and acquaint the reader with the collection’s principal finding aids, some of which are available at Clayton Library. Microfilm copies of the original documents and a partial collection of the associated English-language translations also exist; however, except as noted below, these are not currently part of the Clayton Library collection.
The Béxar Archives consists of more than 250,000 pages of manuscripts and some 4,000 pages of printed material produced during Spanish and Mexican domination of Texas from 1717 (the year prior to the establishment of the Spanish presidio at San Antonio) to 1836 (the first year of the Republic of Texas).2 The collection constitutes, in effect, the single largest portion of the surviving Spanish colonial and Mexican provincial archives of Texas. Although a large part of the collection deals with governmental activities that took place at San Antonio, it contains many documents dealing with La Bahía, Nacogdoches, and other settlements. Also found in the collection are documents dealing with individuals and families entering Texas from neighboring regions, including Mexican states. Documents in the collection range over a wide variety of different types, including legal proceedings, procurations, writs, affidavits, summonses, administrative correspondence, dispatches, military reports and troop lists, censuses, election announcements, brand licenses, edicts, appointments, proclamations, regulations, receipts, registers, passports, invoices, wills, property inventories, ledger books, contracts, diaries, itineraries, appointments, oaths of allegiance, treaties, slave sales, property conveyances, arrest warrants, and many others too numerous to mention. Because of the breadth of this collection, the likelihood is good that any family living in Texas during the period 1717-1837 will be mentioned somewhere among the component documents.3
The component papers of the Béxar Archives were amassed during the Spanish and Mexican periods, first while the seat of government was at Los Adæs4 and, after 1772, when the seat of government was located at San Antonio. Principal sources for the material include the various governors’ offices (correspondence and judicial records), the treasury (primarily tax related documents), the military establishment (payrolls, rosters, enlistment papers, service records, inspection reports, correspondence, and records of military investigations and inventories), the municipality of San Fernando de Béxar (census records, militia reports, tax lists, judicial records, and city council minutes), and individual citizens (primarily personal letters). With the establishment of the Republic in 1836, the Béxar Archives became, in effect, a relic of the previous era and of significantly less importance with respect to government administration. As a result, documents in this archive remained in San Antonio and were left under the control of Bexar County authorities. The archive remained there until 1899, at which time the Commissioners Court of Bexar County transferred the bulk of the papers to the University of Texas Archives. A small number of documents, those of particular interest to the county-marriage records, deeds, probate files, and Spanish mission records-were retained by Bexar County, becoming part of the Bexar County Archives.5
When received by the University of Texas, the Béxar Archives documents were in general disarray, having been moved, scattered, and reassembled during the periods of revolution, war, and changes in government. Recognizing that the original archival integrity had been irreparably disturbed, University of Texas archivists devised their own structure for organizing the collection. Accordingly, the collection was divided into printed and manuscript material, with the printed material (a comparatively small part of the collection) further divided into four sub-series. Within each segment of the collection, the component documents were then placed in chronological order. For this reason, many documents that at one time had been part of specific record groups-for example, military records-are today scattered throughout the collection.6 In 1967, a project was initiated to microfilm the Béxar Archives in order to protect the original documents and to make the collection more accessible to researchers. This resulted in production of a 172-reel microfilm set7 and, later, a 26-reel set of translations.8 These are, today, the principal sources used by historians and genealogists working with the collection.
The Béxar Archives collection and the corresponding microfilm reels are arranged according to the following structure:9 (Errata is imaged on reel 172.)
University of Texas Translations. In accordance with the original agreement with the Commissioners Court of Bexar County, the University of Texas Archives undertook the project of translating the Béxar Archives into English. To date, approximately one-fourth of the collection (mostly pre-1798) has been translated. For the convenience of researchers, a printed guide was developed and both the translations and the guide were microfilmed.
Robert Bruce Blake Translations. Robert Bruce Blake (1877-1955), one time county clerk of Nacogdoches County, Texas, working over a thirty-year period, prepared transcriptions and translations of many historically significant documents from the Nacogdoches Archives, the General Land Office, and the University of Texas Archives. Included in his translations are a number of Béxar Archives documents. Following Blake’s death, his collection was donated to the University of Texas Archives where it was assembled into a multiple-volume typescript referred to as the Robert Bruce Blake Research Collection. It consists of seventy-five primary volumes and eighteen supplementary volumes. Volumes 20 and 70 through 75 contain Blake’s transcriptions of selected Béxar Archives documents from the period 1749 to 1835. Likewise, supplementary volumes 1 through 9 contain Blake’s translations of selected documents from the period 1745 to 1835. Clayton Library owns a copy of the Blake Collection typescript; this is shelved at the beginning of the Texas section, call number 976.4 B636 TEX. According to the staff at The Center for American History, the University of Texas translations are independent of those made by Blake.10
The Béxar Archives Microfilm Guide. During production of the microfilm publication, the National Historical Publications Commission sponsored preparation of the Guide to the Microfilm Edition of the Bexar Archives.11 This is a compact, three-part work, part one covering the years 1717-1803; part two, 1804-1821; and part three, 1822-1836. Listed in the Guide are single-paragraph descriptions of the contents of each reel of microfilm, providing the researcher with a quick means for surveying the entire collection. The second and third parts of the Guide include indexes to names of persons and places mentioned in the reel descriptions. For the researcher’s convenience, applicable portions of the Guide are imaged on the microfilm.
The Béxar Archives Calendar. A typewritten calendar to manuscripts in the General Manuscript Series of the Béxar Archives exists at The Center for American History. During microfilming, the calendar was imaged directly onto the corresponding reels, with approximately 35 pages of calendar for each 1,000 frames of microfilm. In general, entries in the "Béxar Archives Calendar" contain the date of the manuscript, a brief description, and the microfilm frame number on which the manuscript begins.12 Where possible, the descriptive information in the calendar entries includes the name of the document’s author, the name of the recipient, the place of origin of the document, the number of pages, and the type of instrument (draft, signed original, etc.). According to a source at The Center for American History, the calendar is being prepared for eventual access on the Center’s web site.13
The Béxar Archives Name Guide. In 1989, Adán Benavides, Jr., completed work on a name guide to the typewritten calendar of the General Manuscript Series. Published as The Béxar Archives (1717-1836): A Name Guide, this work provides the researcher with an aid for locating documents whose calendar entries mention specific names. It is important to recognize, however, that the calendar entries themselves do not, in many cases, include all of the names mentioned in the manuscripts. In any given document, for example, a contract, the calendar (and therefore the Name Guide) may contain only the names of the principal parties, omitting those of other individuals mentioned in the contract. Also, in the interest of brevity, Benavides intentionally excludes some types of documents from the Name Guide. Excluded are certain pieces of official correspondence, censuses, and, in general, documents characterized primarily as lists, such as tax rolls, military muster rolls, and lists of voters.14 For these reasons, the Name Guide cannot be used as a comprehensive index to the Béxar Archives.
Entries in the Name Guide are arranged alphabetically by surname and given name. Subentries contain, in date order, a brief description of the documents in which the name appears, a code for each document’s place of origin (if known), the date of the document, and a citation to the reel and frame number of the microfilm on which the document is imaged.15
Benavides’s Name Guide also contains an excellent overview of the Béxar Archives and provides essential information regarding the Name Guide’s scope, content, and limitations. It also contains several appendices that provide the researcher with helpful information, including (in Appendix D) a list of the personal and place name abbreviations used in the work. A six-page glossary gives English translations for many of the Spanish words encountered in the Name Guide. Clayton Library’s copy of the Name Guide is shelved in the Texas section, call number 976.4 B456 TEX.
Index to the Béxar Archives Translations. As the University of Texas translations progressed, individual volume indexes were created. When the translations were later filmed, the volume indexes were imaged onto the respective reels. The index cards used in compiling the volume indexes were then alphabetized to form a single master index. Currently, this index exists only as a card file at The Center for American History.16
Blake Collection Guide and Index. A guide to the Blake Collection volumes has been prepared by the East Texas Research Center, Stephen F. Austin State University, and is available on the Center’s web site at http://libweb.sfasu.edu/etrc/collect/manscrpt/blakmain.htm. Two hardcopies, made from the web site’s electronic version, are available at Clayton and are shelved next to the Blake volumes, call number 976.4 B636 TEX. The East Texas Research Center also has a 36-drawer, card-file index to the Blake Collection.
As mentioned previously, Clayton Library does not currently own the Béxar Archives microfilm. It is, however, one of a number of items library management would like to acquire to enhance the collection of Texas material, especially material of this type, which deals with the very earliest of Texas records. Clayton Library Friends has contacted the publisher and obtained the following pricing information:
Béxar Archives (manuscript images):1717-1803, 31 rolls....... $3,810Béxar Archives Translations:
1804-1821, 38 rolls........$4,670
1822-1836, 103 rolls.....$12,6501717-1812, 26 rolls.......$3,200
Various publisher discounts of up to 25% are available depending upon the number of reels purchased and the date of the order. Individuals or organizations wishing to donate funds for this acquisition are asked to contact CLF President Don Pusch at (281) 326-3278, e-mail: dpusch@ghg.net. Renewing CLF members can support this acquisition directly by including a designated gift when sending in their 2001 dues renewal. Simply mark your donation, "Béxar Archives Microfilm."