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July 7, 2023
Today in Texas History
By Bandera Spirits of Texas
The Bandera Prophet
On this day in 1835, the Municipality of Gonzales passed resolutions of loyalty to Mexico, thanks to the influence of the mysterious Edward Gritten.
Gritten, supposedly an Englishman and a long-time resident of Mexico, first visited Texas in 1834 as secretary to Juan N. Almonte. During July and August 1835 he worked to restore confidence between the Texas colonists and the Mexican government. He urged Mexican authorities to adopt conciliatory measures, assuring them that most Texans were law-abiding Mexican citizens.
He was chosen as a commissioner to visit Martín Perfecto de Cos, to explain the pacific attitude of the mass of the colonists. On the way to Matamoros, Gritten met a courier from Domingo de Ugartechea with orders to arrest William B. Travis and other Texans. Gritten hastened to Bexar and attempted to persuade Ugartechea to revoke the orders, but he refused.
Gritten remained at Bexar as mediator between Ugartechea and the colonists and identified himself with the Texas cause. In December 1835, the General Council elected Gritten collector of the port of Copano, but Governor Henry Smith refused to sign the commission because he considered Gritten a spy. The last information found concerning Gritten is a receipt for money paid him by the government in October 1836 for his services as a translator.
Gritten, supposedly an Englishman and a long-time resident of Mexico, first visited Texas in 1834 as secretary to Juan N. Almonte. During July and August 1835 he worked to restore confidence between the Texas colonists and the Mexican government. He urged Mexican authorities to adopt conciliatory measures, assuring them that most Texans were law-abiding Mexican citizens.
He was chosen as a commissioner to visit Martín Perfecto de Cos, to explain the pacific attitude of the mass of the colonists. On the way to Matamoros, Gritten met a courier from Domingo de Ugartechea with orders to arrest William B. Travis and other Texans. Gritten hastened to Bexar and attempted to persuade Ugartechea to revoke the orders, but he refused.
Gritten remained at Bexar as mediator between Ugartechea and the colonists and identified himself with the Texas cause. In December 1835, the General Council elected Gritten collector of the port of Copano, but Governor Henry Smith refused to sign the commission because he considered Gritten a spy. The last information found concerning Gritten is a receipt for money paid him by the government in October 1836 for his services as a translator.