Historians Among Us: Mr John A. Garza

It was my great pleasure to meet with Mr John A. Garza at the Vermillion to talk about era of the Crixell Brothers of 100 years ago when the city police and sheriff's deputies had shootouts in the saloons and streets of Brownsville and Republicans (Reds) and Democrats (Blues) fought for control of politics at a local and county level. Mr Garza has compiled a history of mostly newspaper accounts and shared a copy of his research with the Brownsville Historical Association.


***from email 2017 0206 ***

Javier, long time no contact. After my family research project of a couple of years ago, I have not kept up with Brownsville, but I see that there is a bit of misinformation here and there in the e-mail below from Bronsbil Estación.

Where your blog says: 

“Jose' L. Crixell was born in 1871 on a ship in the Gulf of Mexico traveling from New Orleans to Bagdad...”

and:

“Jose' arrived in 1906 and opened a restaurant.” ---------

I have attached Joseph’s Death Certificate with its information provided by my grandfather/V.L., which says that Joseph was born in “Mexico” (meaning Matamoros), not on a ship in the Gulf.  Teofilo was born in New Orleans in 1867 and V.L. was born in 1869.  Since the big hurricane happened in 1867, which caused Vicente pere, Eliza, and those two sons to relocate from Baghdad to Matamoros, they weren’t on a ship in the Gulf by the time Joseph was born in 1871.

And the Brownsville Herald clippings in my research say that Teofilo and Joseph were in Brownsville in 1903, when Teofilo had “received the fixtures and furnishings for the saloon which he will open in the Barreda building on Elizabeth street and expect to be ready for business by May 1” of 1903 (not 1906).  On June 9 1903, Joe is named as the “manager of the Crixell Saloon,” such that he did not arrive in 1906 for a restaurant.

I’m sure that I will be corrected by whomever, maybe they arrived by 1903 and opened a restaurant in 1906, but my project of Herald clippings allows me to say that all I know is what I see in the newspaper
John A. Garza