• History of Juan Seguin

    Photo of Juan Seguin  

    Juan Nepomuceno Seguin was born on October 27, 1806. He was 14 years old in 1821, when his father, the Alcalde of San Antonio, welcomed Stephen F. Austin to Texas. The Seguin family, and others of the upper class in Mexican Texas, supported Mexico’s colonization policy of allowing foreigners to settle the area in the early 1820’s.

    Like his father, Seguin entered politics, and in 1834 was appointed as the chief administrator of the San Antonio district. He was an outspoken champion of the Texas’ demand for more self-government, and was very critical of the dictatorial policies of President Santa Anna.

    In September 1835, with the advance of the Mexican General Cos against the rebellions Texas, Seguin recruited a company of Mexican ranchers and joined the Texan forces at the battle of Bexar. His conduct in the resulting victory was so distinguished that he was granted a commission as a captain of cavalry in the regular Texas Army.

    On February 3, 1836, he was among the twenty-five men who accompanied Colonel William Travis into the Alamo. Then on the night of February 25, after the Alamo was surrounded, he was chosen to carry an urgent plea for reinforcements to the Texan commander at Gonzales.

    He served bravely at the Battle of San Jacinto, was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel, and returned to San Antonio, where he was able to give an honorable burial to the ashes of the Alamo dead. He later served three terms in the Texas Senate as well as Mayor of Bexar. He died at Nuevo Laredo in 1889.