Pérez Ranch

This ranch was the oldest ranch in Texas for the better part of two hundred years. The original grantee was Don Juan Ignacio (or Ygnacio) Pérez de Casanova in 1794 from Spain during its control of the area. The ranch operated continuously under a number of names including Rancho de Purisima Conceptión, Stone Rancho, Perez Ranch, Linn Ranch, Rancho de Leon and Walsh Ranch until about 22 years ago. Some of the ranch names come from family names of spouses in marriage.

Juan Ignacio Pérez de Casanova was a member of a group of fifteen Canary Island families who came to the area to establish Villa de San Fernando which became San Antonio. Pérez is usually described as a rancher, Indian fighter and soldier. He was known as a royalist supporter of Spain and was granted a league of land (roughly 4,000 acres) by the Spanish king. The area is located about nine miles south of the Alamo between Leon Creek and the Medina River. Both water sources were spring fed. Leon Creek flows into the Medina River. Now it would roughly be on the southwest side of Bexar County

Online genealogy databases usually show Pérez to have been born in or around 1758 and having died in 1823 in what is now Bexar County. Pérez was the third of thirteen children of Domingo and Maria Concepcion de Carvajal Pérez. The family of Pérez had resided in the area before Juan Ignacio was born. The father Domingo was the first Cabo in the Presidio of San Antonio in 1779. They were some of the earliest Spanish residents in the area. It is likely that Pérez already owned land prior to the time that he received the Spanish Colonial land grant. The family property benefited from being situated near early trade routes, including El Camino Real de los Tejas (the Camino Real). It was also not far from Mission Espada and Mission San José. These factors helped travelers and settlers to counter the threats from Lipan Apache and Comanche tribes. Pérez was said to have fought against these Indians and in 1809 he served as commissioner of all ranches in the area. He married the former Maria Marcela Clemencia Montes de Oca Hernandez in 1781 and the couple had at least nine children. Maria Marcela Hernandez was from one of the first families in the area to privately own their own ranch.

The War of 1812 dovetailed with a rebellion of a faction of the local residents against Spanish Colonial rule. The Battle of Medina in the late summer of 1813 likely took place on or very near to the Pérez property. Pérez, the royalist, served as a lieutenant colonel under General Joaquin de Arredondo as the Spanish fought against and defeated the the Republican Army of the North (a reference to Northern Mexico) which had at the very least tacit United States approval. Some of the Anglos who served included former U. S. Army leaders who had just served in the War of 1812. The Republicans were in support of self government by Mexico. There was also an undercurrent of desire on the part of Anglo settlers to neither be under the rule of Spain nor of Mexico. It is worth nothing that also serving under Arredondo was Antonio López de Santa Anna, who was then a lieutenant. The Spanish forces had the upper hand and somewhat superior numbers (around 1,800 versus around 1,400) by the time the conflict commenced on the field. After a battle that lasted about four hours, the Spanish had only lost several dozen men while most of the Republicans were either killed or captured, although some escaped. The defeat of the Republicans at Medina allowed Pérez to return to his ranch.

Despite this and other successes, Spain would eventually lose its holdings to Mexico and Mexico would in turn later lose its control of the area to the Anglos. During the relatively short time after Mexico gained control, Pérez served the Mexican Army in its effort to oppose American insurgents.

Pérez died in 1823 and was initially interred in Campos Santo in San Antonio. His wife survived him about two years and was also buried there. At the time of his death, his land holdings greatly exceeded that of the 1794 Spanish Colonial grant, and amounted to to more than ten leagues. Over time, however, much of the land holdings were later sold or in their absence occupied by others. Pérez is thought to have personally resided on the property until 1808. The Pérez family was also in the chain of ownership of the Governor’s Palace in San Antonio. Ignacio Pérez acquired it around 1804. This structure was initially completed around 1750, although it has been modified over the years. Though it is called the Governor’s Palace, some of the time it housed the top ranking Spanish military authority. It likely takes its name from the period it was owned by Pérez, who for a few years served as interim governor under Spain.

Pérez descendants lived on the ranch property, though these families also had permanent residences in San Antonio, considerably safer from Indian attacks. After the death of Pérez, his son José Ygnacio Pérez managed the property until after the Texas Revolution. For some time, the family relocated to Mexico for their safety. Upon their return a few years later, much of their former holdings had been claimed by others, though they retained approximately 4,000 acres which remained in the family for decades.

José Ygnacio married Maria Josefa Magdalena de La Zerda Y Cortinas in 1812. The couple are believed to have had four sons and three daughters. Upon the death of José Ygnacio Pérez in , that acreage was divided amount the three daughters: Maria Trinidad, Maria Joséfa and Maria Concepción. Maria Joséfa married Jacob Linn of German descent, Maria Concepción married Frank T. Walsh of Irish descent and Maria Trinidad is believed to have married Santiago Herrera.

Though divided into separate parcels for the daughters and their descendants, the ranch remained in the hands of Pérez descendants until 2003 when Toyota acquired some 2,600 acres to build an vehicle assembly plant.

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