Chapter 1

The Founding of Rancho El Fresnillo

The land of El Fresnillo

Rancho El Fresnillo was founded in the early 1860s by Eleuterio Sáenz and his wife, Andrea Bravo. Eleuterio and Andrea were married in Roma, Texas, on January 29, 1862. Eleuterio's parents were José Manuel Sáenz Aldape and María de San Juan Martínez, the second of José Manuel's three wives. Eleuterio's maternal grandparents were Esteban Martínez and Francisca Arévalo. Eleuterio's wife, Andrea, was the daughter of Leonardo Bravo andJosefa Vela from China, Nuevo León, Mexico¹.

On June 28, 1850, the annual census of Guardado de Arriba in Tamaulipas, Mexico, recorded Eleuterio as being ten years old; his brother, Agapito, fourteen years old. Their father, José Manuel, was fifty-five years old, and José's third wife, María Villarreal, was twenty-five. Thus, Eleuterio must have been born in 1840².

Standing, left to right: Josefa, Santos, and Placida Sáenz; sitting, left to right: Eleuterio Sáenz; wife, Andrea Bravo; and Brigida Sáenz-five of the nine children of Eleuterio and Andrea.

In the early 1850s, Eleuterio, Agapito, and their younger brother, Cecilio, came north to visit some relatives in South Texas. The relatives owned a ranch named Rancho Concepción, where the three boys stayed for a while, later finding work as shepherds and farm hands. Eleuterio's younger brother, Cecilio, eventually returned to Mexico. It may have been soon after their father, Manuel, died on March 18, 1855, in Mier that Eleuterio and Agapito decided to stay at the ranches near Concepción and Santa Cruz to make their living.

Agapitoeventually married Agustina Martínez, the daughter of José María Martínezand María Julia González. The González family had purchased land from the Elizondo family and later held large tracts of land in Santa Cruz. The Martínez, Villarreal, and González families both inherited and purchased land from the descendants of Dionicio Elizondo, who was the original grantee of El Señor de la Carrera Grant in Nueces County. The grant, at first called La Elizondeña, covered approximately 10,096 acres of land.

Within several years of their arrival in Texas, Eleuterio and Agapito had greatly increased their assets. In the early 1860s, the county tax assessment rolls listed each of the three brothers as paying a poll tax of 25 cents each. They owned no property at the time. By 1868, however, the tax assessment records in Nueces County, Precinct 3, listed Eleuterio as owning 100 acres valued at $50, two horses valued at $50, and 700 sheep valued at $700. Later, in 1872, the records showed that Eleuterio owned 160 acres of land, and he continued to buy land. On November 26, 1883, Eleuterio bought land for 175 pesos from Mrs. Virginia Fierros, according to a document from Camargo, Tamaulipas, Mexico³.

Eleuterio accumulated this property within six years of his marriage to Andrea. Considering the bare economy of those years, he and his wife worked hard to save money to expand their holdings in land and livestock. It was necessary to depend on other family members for help. Older people of the area say that families helped each other by providing young families with livestock and sometimes land to help them get started. The stock consisted mainly of sheep and occasionally a horse for transportation. Eleuterio probably got started this way.

His success in buying land and cattle is admirable. He was evidently unable to read and write: in the documents, tax assessment records, and warranty deeds, witnesses signed for Eleuterio because he could not write his name.

1. Andrea's parents were listed as deceased (difuntos) on her marriage certificate.
2.Eleuterio also had a half-brother, Policarpio Sáenz, whose wife was named Paula Leal. He also had a half-sister named María del Refugio, who married Antonio María Palacios from Concepción, on May 3rd, 1839, in Camargo, Tamaulipas. Policarpio and María del Refugio were twins, born January 25, 1823, and baptized five days later in Sabinas Hidalgo, Nuevo León. Their parents were José Manuel Sáenz Aldape, and first wife, Rita Sánchez, who were married on October 30, 1816, in Vallecillo, Nuevo León. Rita was the daughter of José Encarnación Sánchez and María Tecla Serna.
3.Duval County Land Records, San Diego, Duval County, Texas, June 5, 1886.