The Life, Times, & Ancestors of Juan Bautista Chapa; Aug. 1, 2 p.m.
On August 1 at 2 p.m., Amancio J. Chapa Jr. will discuss the life and times of Juan Bautista Chapa (1627-1695), his significance to this region’s history, and his line of descendants who still reside in South Texas. His presentation will focus on Juan Bautista Chapa’s life as reflected in the history of Nuevo León, Mexico, and Texas. Born in Albisola (which is now part of Italy), Chapa is now recognized as the anonymous historian of Nuevo León, where he arrived in the mid-seventeenth century and subsequently served and traveled with the governors of the region for more than 40 years. He captured his observations of the region’s development in Historia del Nuevo Reino de León de 1650 a 1690, the authorship of which was unknown until 1961. He is also recognized as the first-generation Chapa in this region and the ancestral “father” of the numerous Chapa families of northeastern Mexico and South Texas.