Decreto Numero 119

Single leaf (8 x 6 inches) printed on recto only, annotated and signed by local officials on both sides. Decree number 119, including two articles related to the rules governing the resignation of officials from the congress. Issued by Jose Maria Viesca. The Spanish provinces of Coahuila and Texas were governed as a unit intermittently during the late 17th- and early 18th-centuries until about 1726 when the two provinces were separated. In 1785 Saltillo and Parras with their surrounding territory were detached from Nuevo Viscaya and added to Coahuila. Under the Mexican Constitution of 1824 the provinces of Coahuila and Texas were rejoined with the capital at Saltillo. On August 15, 1824 the Congreso Constituyente of the new state convened to draft a constitution which was adopted on March 11, 1827. "By May 21, 1835 that Congreso had adopted 325 decrees covering a great variety of subjects including the ordinances of the various towns of the state, amendments to existing laws, and some repeals of prior laws" (McKnight, pages iv and v). José María Viesca, Mexican governor of Coahuila and Texas, was a native of Saltillo, Coahuila. He represented Coahuila as a member of the deputation of the Estado Interno de Oriente at the National Constitutional Convention of 1823-24. He was a member of the legislature of Coahuila and Texas in 1824 and was the first governor to be elected under the state Constitution of 1827; he served in that capacity from his election on July 4, 1827, until April 4, 1831. He was the brother of Agustín Viesca. Kimball page 141.…