1864 Corporation Licen San Antonio Tx Menger Hotel Barroom Buquor CSA Slessinger

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1864 Corporation License San Antonio Tx Menger Hotel Barroom Buquor CSA Slessinger.
These 2 1864 Civil War era Corporation Licenses are made to W. A. Menger, the owner of the Menger Hotel and the Western Brewery. They allow him to keep a hotel and a bar room. P. L. Buquor was the San Antonio Mayor and Edward Slessinger was the City Secretary. The Menger Hotel and the Western Brewery were very important businesses during the war. We had thought the hotel wasn’t very busy, but have now learned that they did a lot of business and were only closed for renovations towards the ending months of the war.
Mayor Pasquale Leo Buquor (1821-1901) led a colorful life. He was born in New Orleans to a family tracing back to the early 1700s in that area. He came to Texas in 1838. He joined the Republic of Texas Army, fighting in Indian campaigns under General Thomas Jefferson Rusk. He joined the Texas Rangers, serving Captain Jack Coffee Hays. He achieved the rank of captain and joined Captain Hays in a skirmish north of Laredo with Mexican renegades who had been attacking wagons and settlers. For this service, Buquor was awarded land on Calaveras Creek, eight miles east of San Jose Mission.
Buquor married Maria Delgado, whose parents were descendants of Canary Islanders who settled San Antonio in 1721. He served in the Confederate Army after organizing a militia unit in San Antonio. He was Captain of the 3rd Infantry 1st Company A. He was ordered to serve at Camp Verde, then was sent to Brownsville. Buquor was a friend of a young Robert E. Lee when he was serving in the San Antonio area.
In 1862, Captain Buquor ran for mayor against the popular Sam Maverick and he beat him by 75 votes. One of his campaign promises was “to rid the city of vermin.” He did this by offering five cents for every rat’s tail brought to his office! In 1881, he was appointed the Interpreter to the Federal Court because “he was the finest Spanish scholar in all of Texas.”Mayor Buquor retired to Floresville. He and his wife are buried in the Canary Islanders Cemetery there.
Besides being the San Antonio City Secretary, Edward Slessinger also served as a magistrate.
4 1/2 X 6 inches, pale blue color. Condition is used. Shipping by USPS First Class Mail. To combine purchases and save shipping costs you may wait until the end of the auctions for the week and we will invoice you. Thanks.