Don Rafael Antonio Manchola
Goliad, Goliad County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Early Goliad leader Rafael Antonio Manchola was born to a Spanish aristocratic family circa 1800. In 1822, he arrived in La Bahía, and two years later he wed María de Jesús de León, daughter of empresario Martín de León and Patricia de la Garza. Manchola served as attorney and business agent for de León and became one of the region's principal advocates for its citizens. He became commander of the Presidio of Nuestra Señora de Loreto and in 1828 became state deputy in the Coahuila and Texas legislature. He also served as alcalde in Goliad. During the 1829 legislative session, Manchola helped establish the municipality of Guadalupe Victoria. He also corresponded with Stephen F. Austin about Texas' welfare, and he declared his support for the separate statehood of Coahuila and Texas. That year he petitioned the state to change La Bahía's name to Goliad, an anagram of the name of Father Miguel Hidalgo, hero of the Mexican Revolution. Throughout his career, Manchola's work included strong advocacy for democracy and for increasing Anglo settlement. In 1832, he planned to accompany William Wharton to Mexico City to petition for statehood for Coahuila and Texas, but the trip was cancelled. The following July, he died of cholera during an epidemic, leaving behind his wife and seven-year old daughter Francisca. Although his widow received several land grants, she and the de Leóns fled Texas due to anti-Mexican sentiment during the Texas Revolution, despite their connection to early support of settlement and independence. (2006)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Born around 1800 to a Spanish family, Rafael Antonio Manchola came to La Bahía in 1822 and married into the powerful de León family, empresarios of the region. He rose to command the presidio, served as alcalde, and sat in the legislature of Coahuila and Texas, where he championed separate statehood, corresponded with Stephen F. Austin, and even secured the town's renaming from La Bahía to Goliad. He died of cholera in 1833, and years later his de León kin were driven from Texas by anti-Mexican sentiment during the Revolution.
Why it matters
Manchola's career—and his family's later exile—reveals the Tejano leaders who helped build and open Texas to settlement, only to be pushed aside amid the very independence movement they had supported.
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Related people
- · Rafael Antonio Manchola
- · Martín de León
- · María de Jesús de León
- · Stephen F. Austin
Themes & tags
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