Tejano Land Grant Movement
Public Comments (1,797)
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Jul 1st, 2009Someone from Mission, TX signed.
Jul 1st, 2009Someone from San Antonio, TX signed.
Jul 1st, 2009Someone from La Vernia, TX signed.
Jun 30th, 2009Someone from Houston, TX signed.
Jun 30th, 2009Someone from Grand Rapids, MI signed.
Jun 30th, 2009Someone from Collierville, TN signed.
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No, CancelJun 30th, 2009Someone from Victoria, TX signed.
Jun 30th, 2009Someone from Concepcion, TX signed.
Jun 30th, 2009Someone from San Benito, TX writes:
Seems like Texas is not part of the U .S. A. Constitution for they will not hear our cause in Court by Jury of our peer,and I have plenty of documents to prove it. Below is but a small portion on how they stole our lands. This letter was sent to the Secretary Of Public Relations Manuel Sierra in Mexico by Ignacio Balli on December 13 1932 Claim # 1106 The portion #72 was adjudicated to Jose Maria Balli according to the dates furnished to me by the ?Autos de La general Vista ?when the land grants were donated in 1767. The archives of the county of Hidalgo register Portion #73 to grantee Jose Maria Balli. In the English documents in said archives it reads; Porcion 73 in Hidalgo County, containing two 2 sitos and 12 caballerias granted by the Spanish Government to Jose Maria Balli.? By the dates which have been furnished to me in the archives of Reynosa is the following: Jose Maria wrote his testament which he executed in the year 1788 declares: A portion of land assigned in the ranch ?San José de Arriba ?but no number. The Rio Grande has 5 Leagues facing the north in depth with an area of sitos of grazing cattle and saddle horse mules. It was this portion my paternal grandparents Ignacio Balli and Guadalupe Tijerina lived , and in virtue of which my grandmother was the great-granddaughter of the grantee she recognized her right as an heir and a descendant of the grantee of her great-grandfather Jose Maria Balli. Our grandfather Ygnacio Balli Cavazos born in 1815 died 1864 and grandmother Guadalupe Tijerina called ?mama Lupita ? had formed a ranch near the Rio Grande called ?El Zurron ? and would dedicate themselves attending their camping interest, cultivating and sowing the land ,leading a peaceful life , then something happen in the year 1864 which changed our lives completely . My father was seven 7 years old Ignacio Balli III born 1857 when a party of confederate soldiers entered the ranch and took possession of some cattle by killing it to satisfy their hunger . This abuse irritated my grandfather so much he decided to object and had an altercation with the chief and maybe this party would have resulted in a mournful killing if my grandmother had not interfered pacifying my grandfather, reminding him that if he opposed those people who were armed he was exposed to losing his life and the family also. He gave in to those intruders and observed how his cattle and calves were being sacrificed by the confederacy. My grandfather was very discouraged, he could not live and enjoy living in his own place with his family. Feeling other abuses might occur, he decided to move to Reynosa in a portion of land that belonged to his father, Manuel Balli. He later got sick and hoping to have better assistance was taken to Matamoros, Tamaulipas but he did not get well, and died in 1864. He was buried here. This left my widowed grandmother with 4 young children to attend. It was impossible to dedicate or expose herself to the life of the ranch, principally when all her brothers had already died. Years later when my father Ignacio Balli II came of age and tried to recover the lands of Porcion 72 it was impossible. These lands were in possession of John Closner, tax assessor- collector and sheriff of the County of Hidalgo. My father went to see sheriff Closner. Closner told him he took the lands because no one claimed them. He said, ?He could not give up the land but he could pay ($25.00) twenty five pesos for the signature of all the heirs, ?The offer was very small and the sheriff had a lot of power in the County (he was the authority) and any attempt to sue him was impossible. The claim was left unsettled. Years later in 1905 Albino Cepeda came to Reynosa where we were living. He was commissioned by lawyer Mr. Chapin to buy the signatures of the Balli heirs of porcion 72. His offer? ($25.00 ) pesos for each signature and he said it was in regard to the lands in the state of Texas we had lost and we didn?t know why. The document was very extensive and he referred to different lands granted to the Ballis. The Offer of Mr. Cepeda was not accepted by my grandmother and her sons, but later there was evidence these propositions were a trick of Sheriff Closner to nullify the rights of the Ballis. Some lands in the county of Hidalgo were in his possesion also, and he did not have legal title to the lands. He wanted to pay with an insignificant amount of money the signature of the heirs. On one occasion my father went to register some archives in Edinburg, Texas the county courthouse and found the sales of porcion #72 archived and signed by Guadalupe Tijerina de Balli with a cross. Now I knew my grandmother as she lived till the year 1909 when she died in Mercedes, Texas that year. By the time I was 19 years old and I remember well, even though she was not very illustrious, she knew how to read and write and she could sign her name. What this means, the sale was false with the purpose to form an abstract to sell, proceed and sell further!!! To terminate I shall say that Sheriff Closner sold part of the land and finally sold all the lands and registered them in succession till the porcion #72 was actually divided in the lots of partnership lands . The abstract of this porcion is very voluminous for being so divided. The town of San Juan, Texas, is situated in the northern part of the Rio Grande River I shall wait till this department commands. I gratefully and attentively offer myself. Ignacio Balli III JrREPORT COMMENTS
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No, CancelJun 30th, 2009Someone from Davenport, FL signed.
Jun 30th, 2009Someone from Helotes, TX signed.
Jun 30th, 2009Someone from McAllen, TX writes:
We pray for justice and for our voices to be heard in the courts.REPORT COMMENTS
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No, CancelJun 30th, 2009Someone from Grand Rapids, MI signed.
Jun 30th, 2009Someone from Austin, TX signed.
Jun 30th, 2009Someone from San Antonio, TX signed.
Jun 30th, 2009Someone from Corpus Christi, TX writes:
WE ALL NEED TO SHARE INFORMATION WITH ALL THE GROUP LEADERS, BECAUSE WE DO TIE IN TO SEVERAL OF THE PORCIONES{LANDGRANTS}REPORT COMMENTS
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No, CancelJun 30th, 2009Someone from Katy, TX signed.
Jun 30th, 2009Someone from McAllen, TX writes:
We need to unite and stand up and claim what belongs to our ancestors. They endured many years of hardship during their time. Our elected officials need to step up to the plate and do what is right.REPORT COMMENTS
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No, CancelJun 30th, 2009Someone from Cuero, TX signed.
Jun 30th, 2009Someone from San Antonio, TX writes:
Please be fair and just in our cause. These Spanish land grants in Texas were left to us by our Spanish Ancestors. Please help us all to recover oil and gas royalties that are due to us heirs.REPORT COMMENTS
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No, CancelJun 30th, 2009Someone from San Marcos, TX signed.
Jun 30th, 2009Someone from San Diego, CA writes:
It is time Mexicanos stand up and unite for for what is right and seek justice for the treatment and injustice that was dealt to our ancestors and seems to have been handed down to later generations. We as Mexicanos/Latinos need to stand together as one. As they did in the 60's in Los Angeles during the Walkouts. We have to be proud of who we are and where we come from.REPORT COMMENTS
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No, CancelJun 29th, 2009Someone from Grand Rapids, MI signed.
Jun 29th, 2009Someone from Corpus Christi, TX signed.
Jun 29th, 2009Someone from Devine, TX signed.
Jun 29th, 2009Someone from Brownsville, TX signed.
Jun 29th, 2009Someone from Harlingen, TX signed.
Jun 29th, 2009Someone from Houston, TX signed.
Jun 29th, 2009Someone from Rio Rancho, NM signed.
Jun 29th, 2009Someone from Williamsport, PA signed.
Jun 28th, 2009Someone from Pearsall, TX signed.
Jun 28th, 2009Someone from Pearsall, TX signed.
Jun 28th, 2009Someone from San Antonio, TX signed.
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