IV

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. RES. 186

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the United States

Postal Service should issue a postage stamp commemorating Juan

Nepomuceno Seguin.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JUNE 28, 2001

Mr. GREEN of Texas (for himself, Mr. FROST, Mr. GONZALEZ, Mr. HALL of

Texas, Mr. RODRIGUEZ, Mr. LAMPSON, Mr. HINOJOSA, Mr. BENTSEN,

Mr. EDWARDS, Mr. ORTIZ, Mr. REYES, Mr. TURNER, Mr. STENHOLM,

Mr. SANDLIN, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. BACA, Ms. SOLIS, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. DOGGETT, Mr.

BONILLA, and Mr. BRADY of Texas) submitted the following resolution;

which was referred to the Committee on Government Reform

RESOLUTION

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that

the United States Postal Service should issue a postage

stamp commemorating Juan Nepomuceno Seguin.

Whereas Juan Nepomuceno Seguin was born October 27,

1806, in San Fernando de Bejar, New Spain (known

today as San Antonio, Texas), and died on August 27,

1889;

Whereas Juan Nepomuceno Seguin fought for the rights of

all native Texans, despite constant threat of death, by opposing General Antonio Lopez de Santa Ana’s blatant

disregard of the Mexican Constitution of 1824, which
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granted all citizens and subjects of Mexico their basic

human rights;

Whereas in 1835 Juan Nepomuceno Seguin sought to convene the first revolutionary meeting in protest of the devastating demands and actions of the government of General Antonio Lopez de Santa Ana;

Whereas on October 24, 1835, Juan Nepomuceno Seguin was

commended for his interception of vital documents sent

to General Martin Perfecto de Cos, commander of the

Mexican Army in Texas, and was appointed by the Commander in Chief of the Texas volunteer army, Stephen F.

Austin, as the captain of a volunteer company of Hispanic farmers and ranchers;

Whereas the Seguin family supplied the Texas volunteer

army with cattle and crops from their ranch without compensation, and encouraged other Hispanic ranchers to do

the same;

Whereas Juan Nepomuceno Seguin fought in the Battle of

Concepcion, which led to the occupation of the Mission

San Antonio de Valero (commonly known as the Alamo);

Whereas on December 9, 1835, Juan Nepomuceno Seguin

was an active participant in the liberation of San Antonio, during which General Martin Perfecto de Cos surrendered and paroled his army by withdrawing it south of

the Rio Grande;

Whereas Juan Nepomuceno Seguin and the other volunteers

in his company were among the 189 brave and heroic

men who, on February 22, 1836, fell back to the reinforced battlements of the Alamo to which the Mexican

Army under the command of General Antonio Lopez de

Santa Ana laid siege;
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Whereas Juan Nepomuceno Seguin escaped the fate of the

other defenders of the Alamo because Colonel William B.

Travis sent him on an urgent mission to the town of

Goliad to seek reinforcements from Colonel James W.

Fannin on March 5, 1836, the day before the fall of the

Alamo;

Whereas Juan Nepomuceno Seguin, upon hearing of the fall

of the Alamo, promptly raised a new company for the defense of Texas, and joined forces with General Sam

Houston, commander of the remaining Texas volunteer

army;

Whereas Juan Nepomuceno Seguin was among the 750 Texans who defeated 1,500 soldiers of the Mexican Army

near the confluence of Buffalo Bayou and the San

Jacinto River, which led to the establishment of the Republic of Texas and, later, statehood for Texas;

Whereas Juan Nepomuceno Seguin was an important political figure in both the Republic and the State of Texas,

serving as mayor of San Antonio, senator in the Congress

of the Republic of Texas, and judge of Wilson County,

Texas;

Whereas Juan Nepomuceno Seguin has been recognized by

the State of Texas as a hero of its war for independence,

and has been honored by the citizens of Walnut Spring,

Texas, who renamed their town Seguin, Texas;

Whereas all children in the United States, regardless of

where they live, currently learn about Juan Nepomuceno

Seguin, a historically significant Hispanic figure; and

Whereas Juan Nepomuceno Seguin fought for freedom, justice, and dignity for all peoples: Now, therefore, be it
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1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep2 resentatives that—

3 (1) the United States Postal Service should

4 issue a postage stamp commemorating Juan

5 Nepomuceno Seguin; and

6 (2) the Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee

7 should recommend to the Postmaster General that

8 such a postage stamp be issued.

Æ