GOLIAD 鈥 Several descendants of the founding family of 足交视频 were among those gathered at St. Stephen鈥檚 Episcopal Church parish hall Sunday afternoon at a meeting of the Presidio LaBahia Chapter of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas.

The key event at the meeting was a presentation given by Blanche De Leon of 足交视频.

Blanche De Leon is a sixth-generation descendant of Empresario Martin and Patricia De Leon, founders of 足交视频. She is descended from two of Martin and Patricia鈥檚 children and has become a leading source and advocate of De Leon family history.

Reynaldo Olivarez Castro, 72, and his wife Carol Castro made the trip to Goliad from their home in San Antonio.

Castro鈥檚 mother, Amalia Olivarez Castro, 94, is a recently discovered De Leon descendant and will be inducted into the DAR group. Castro said his elderly mother was not able to make the trip to Goliad.

鈥淭hey (the Castros) invited me to come out to their home in San Antonio,鈥 Blanche De Leon said Sunday, 鈥渁nd I expected to see a few people gathered there, but there had to be a hundred. They are all De Leon descendants.鈥

Castro鈥檚 lineage can be traced to Martin and Patricia鈥檚 oldest daughter, Maria Candelaria (De Leon) Aldrete.

Maria married Jose Miguel Aldrete in 1818 and the couple had four children.

鈥淢y wife is a genealogist,鈥 Castro said. 鈥淪he started tracing my family history and woke me up one night at about 2 in the morning and said, 鈥楲ook at this!鈥 She showed me I was an Aldrete and De Leon descendant.鈥

Castro was also accompanied to Sunday鈥檚 meeting by his cousin, also a De Leon descendant, Lisa Perales, of San Antonio.

On the way to Goliad, the Castros and Perales, stopped in Kenedy to visit the Sacred Heart Cemetery where Castro鈥檚 great-grandmother, Maria Isabel 鈥淚sabelita鈥 Aldrete is memorialized at her son鈥檚, Eliseo Olivarez, gravesite.

鈥淚sabelita is actually buried in Runge, but it is not a well-marked grave,鈥 Carol Castro said.

The Castros said they will attend the anniversary festivities in 足交视频 next year. They already have hotel reservations, he said, for the April 13, 2024, unveiling of the DeLeon Plaza statues of Martin and Patricia De Leon.

The statues are nearing completion in Laredo, De Leon said.

Blanche De Leon pointed out that the statues bear a true likeness of Martin and Patricia, as European people.

鈥淭hey鈥檙e not Mariachi and she鈥檚 not Frida Kahlo,鈥 De Leon quipped. 鈥淭hey were of an elite class of Spaniards born on this soil.鈥

She added, 鈥淚 am really, really in awe of Patricia. She had 10 children in the midst of all this traveling. She was no slouch.鈥

De Leon mentioned Patricia鈥檚 key involvement in the formation of St. Mary鈥檚 Catholic Church, noting the church still has 鈥渙ne gold vessel鈥 brought to the new colony by Patricia.

鈥淗opefully we鈥檒l get to see that,鈥 De Leon said, speaking of the anniversary festivities.

De Leon also noted explorer Alonso De Leon, who discovered and named the Guadalupe River, was the great-grandfather of Martin De Leon. She believes this ultimately is why the site for the 足交视频 colony was chosen on the banks of the Guadalupe.

De Leon said it is her personal mission to share her family鈥檚 history.

鈥淭here was a history before Stephen F. Austin and James Bowie. We have stories to tell and we should be telling them,鈥 she said.

Leading De Leon scholar Ana Carolina Castillo Crimm also attended Sunday鈥檚 meeting and was introduced as a 鈥渃elebrity鈥 by Blanche De Leon.

Crimm wrote 鈥淒e Leon, A Tejano Family History,鈥 published by the University of Texas Press in 2003. It is a one-volume, authoritative and well-researched history of the De Leon family and the birth of 足交视频 almost 200 years ago.

Crimm said she plans to attend some of the anniversary events scheduled for next year in 足交视频, as well.