Lorenzo de Zavala Family Papers

Manuscript Collection: MC121

Finding Aid

1867-1882  

Quantity: 7 items

Acquisition

Gift of Mrs. C. S. Murch, May 1972.

Restrictions on Access

None.

Terms Governing Use

Open for research by appointment.

Publication Rights

Copyright has not been assigned to the San Jacinto Museum of History. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Library Director. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the San Jacinto Museum of History as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the researcher.

Citation

[Identification of Item], Lorenzo de Zavala Family Papers, MC121, San Jacinto Museum of History, La Porte, Texas.

Creator Sketch

Lorenzo de Zavala, the first vice president of the Republic of Texas, was born in 1788 near Mérida, Yucatán. His political career began early with his founding and editing of several newspapers where he wrote of his democratic ideas, which eventually led to his imprisonment in 1814. After being released, Zavala served as secretary for the provincial assembly of Yucatán in 1820 and then went to Madrid in 1821 as a deputy to the Spanish Cortes. Zavala spent a couple of years in France and England before he served as governor of the State of Mexico from 1832 to 1833. In 1834, he was appointed by President Antonio López de Santa Anna to serve as the first minister plenipotentiary of the Mexican legation in Paris. However, Zavala returned to Mexico City, then to New York and then to Texas upon learning of the dictatorial powers Santa Anna had assumed. From that day forward he was an active supporter of Texas' independence from Mexico. Zavala served as the representative of Harrisburg in the Consultation and the Convention of 1836 and was elected ad interim vice president of the new republic; however, shortly after Zavala became ill and resigned from his position in October 1836.

Lorenzo de Zavala married Teresa Corea in 1807. Together they had three children, the eldest also named Lorenzo. After the death of his first wife, Zavala married Emily West in 1831 and had three children: Augustine, Richard, and Emily (Emilia). Lorenzo de Zavala, Sr., died November 15, 1836.

After his death, Emily West de Zavala married Baron Von Fock (Folk) sometime after 1837 and had two sons: Edward and Louis. Widowed a second time, she married E. D. Hand in 1851. No children were born of this union. Emily West de Zavala Hand died in 1882 in Houston, Texas. Emilia de Zavala married Thomas Jenkins and had one daughter, Katherine. Katherine Jenkins married William Edwin Hutchinson in 1875 and had a daughter, Bertha Corea, in 1881 in Houston, Texas. Bertha Corea Hutchinson married a Mr. Drake and had a daughter, Dorothy, who as Mrs. C. S. Murch donated the collection.

Bibliography

Zavala, Lorenzo De. The Handbook of Texas Online. https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fza05

Zavala, Emily West De. The Handbook of Texas Online. https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fza08

Scope and Content Note

A collection of memorabilia including correspondence, financial documents, printed materials and creative works belonged to descendants of Lorenzo de Zavala and Emily West de Zavala. The correspondence series contains an 1867 signed letter by a young Kate Jenkins to her dear father Thomas Jenkins. In this series is an envelope that held the letter, but which may not be the actual mailed envelope. A bill for the funeral of Mrs. Hand, Emily West de Zavala, in 1882 comprises the financial documents series. The printed materials section contains a pink card with flower décor and a small card with The golden rule printed upon it with floral and berry décor belonging to Bertha Corea Hutchinson. There is also an acrostic to Kate Jenkins on her death, written by Mrs. D. Stewart, and genealogical information provided by the donor, Mrs. Murch.

Language

 Materials are in English.

Arrangement

Arrangement is chronological.

Processing Information

Processed by Lisa M. Lomas, 2011.