Bishop's Mexican-American Families

Bishop, Nueces County, Texas 1910 - 2010 One Hundred Years of South Texas Heritage!

[This history is part of the written collection from the Bishop Chamber of Com-

merce records, and believed to have been compiled by Mrs. Gail Tubbs in

1960 for Bishop’s Golden Jubilee celebration. Additional information about

Canuto Leal was submitted by his granddaughter, Enedina Infante of Corpus

Christi, Tx.]

It was the early Mexican Americans who did the back-breaking work of grubbing the

mesquite and chaparral to make way for the incoming settlers, and many of those

early laborers remained as Bishop pioneers.

Several of these had thrown up little shacks in the Julia town site even before there

was a Bishop.

Trinidad Lugo, who came in 1909, later had a little cafe near the gins. Senora

Sotera Duarte, who had been a nurse in the household of Dr. A. E. Spohn in

Corpus Christi, was in Julia as early as 1909. In later years, a spritely little figure

in sunbonnet and full-gathered apron, she was greeted as "Grandma" as she

marched down to the Post Office to see if Charlie Jones or Mr. Dube were taking

proper care of her mail. With Senora Duarte came her daughter, Betty Cisneros,

and her husband Carlos Cisneros, who was known to everyone as "Charlie".

Charlie was a highly patriotic citizen during WWI. One night Charlie came in on the

train with an hombre who was making big talk about Pancho Villa and what he was

going to do to these "gringos". When the loud-talking hombre got off the train ahead

of him, Charlie collared him, made as if to stick a knife in his ribs and marched the

scared fellow many blocks, making him shout "Viva the United States", Viva

Presidente Wilson", "Viva Texas", "Viva Bishop".

Canuto Leal, generally greeted as Don Canuto, came here in 1910 from Benavides

and was the first to build a home on the west side. The house was blown to pieces

and landed over in Tom Harrell's field during the 1916 hurricane. He rebuilt his home

on Third St. His children, Candelario, Maria, Lorenzo, Elfego and Reyes, joined him

in 1911. Jose, Jesus and Pedro were born later.

Don Canuto and son Elfego had two successful pool halls and a restaurant. The

West Side Pool Hall was established in the early 1930’s. It was the first pool hall

opened in Bishop, and its popularity was well known during World War II and the

1950’s. Don Canuto and Elfego would hold poker, dice, dominos and pool tourna-

ments. At times they would hire well known conjunto bands and would arrange to

have dances for the Mexican-American people. They also had a boxing ring behind

the West Side Pool Hall which held several boxing matches. The second pool hall

was located on Bishop’s Main Street, which is the site of the present-day South of

the Border Restaurant.

After World War II ended, Don Canuto and Elfego would invite the war veterans of

Bishop and a representative of the Veterans Administration to meet at the West Side

Pool Hall. The meetings would give the veterans the opportunity to ask questions

or share their concerns they had on medical issues and/or the GI rights, etc. The

veterans administration would lease part of the building for a school to train veterans

for radio and television repair. (The West Side Pool Hall and restaurant’s foundation

is still visible today.) Don Canuto’s sons Elfego, Pedro and Reyes served in the U.S.

Army during World War II.

Fortino Longoria and his family came from Benavides by wagon about the same

time in 1910. Children at that time were Leonicio, Susana, Fortunato and Grace.

Francisco Garcia came up in 1911 from San Benito, and next year brought his

father, sisters and brothers. He opened a store in one of Mr. Bishop's little rent

houses, and later built the first "Frank’s Store" which still stands. His sons now

operate Frank's Super Market on Main St.

Romulo Reyna, his wife and daughter, Frances, and son, Isidro, came in 1910

to do farm work, and in 1911 built the little store and cafe next door to the Garcia

house, and the men hauled lumber. Frances Reyna now operates and owns a

grocery store in Corpus Christi.

Senora Celestina Tamez and her daughters, Margarita and Maria, arrived here

by train from Benavides June 12, 1912, and built their home here the next year,

the home in which Maria still lives. Senora Tamez was one of the few who was

badly hurt in the 1916 storm, when the house in which she was visiting on the

Bartlett farm near the present site of Celanese was blown to pieces.

Pedro Alvarado, better known as "Shorty", is one of the best known Mexican

Americans in town. He has been maintenance superintendant for the city water

department since the city bought the water system in 1944. Earlier he worked

with Central Power & Light Co, and strung many of the electric lines in Bishop.

Bishop’s Mexican American Pioneer Families