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The earliest example I have is Jose Antonio Bolcof of Russia, who became a Mexican about 1833. Who beat him?

cf. Who was the first foreigner to be naturalized as a Mexican citizen in Alta California? -- a similar question in more specific scope.

2 Answers 2

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I cant for sure say the first person to be made a citizen, but I do know that Benjamin Milam was made a citizen in 1824.

"...Trespalacios, now prominent in the new government also, made overtures to Milam to renew their friendship, and Milam accepted. He was granted Mexican citizenship and commissioned a colonel in the Mexican army in 1824." Texas State Historical Association

James Powers was made a citizen sometime before 1828 (probably with Hewetson in 1827)

"...He subsequently moved to Saltillo and became a citizen of Mexico. There he dealt in mining equipment and formed a partnership with James Hewetson. In 1828 Power and Hewetson received an empresario contract to settle 200 Catholic families, half Irish and half Mexican citizens, on the coast of Texas between the Lavaca and Guadalupe rivers." Ibid

James Hewetson in 1827:

"...Hewetson became a Mexican citizen on August 11, 1827, but in later years seems to have considered himself a British subject. He fortified his position in Coahuila by marrying a wealthy widow, Josefa Guajardo, on April 29, 1833." Ibid

Others off the top of my head are DeWitt, Sterling Robertson,Robert Leftwich, Stephen Austin, and anyone that was part of the original Texas land grants.

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  • Excellent answer - this is the answer I wish I could have offered.
    – MCW
    Nov 29, 2016 at 14:38
  • 1
    Thank you for the compliment, I read history.stack all the time so its nice to contribute some. They really drilled that Texas history into us in middle school =)
    – ed.hank
    Nov 29, 2016 at 22:44
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Piecing together some thin threads, I can argue that someone was naturalized prior to that date.

All colonists were expected to become naturalized Mexican citizens, and they were also supposed to follow the state religion. Wikipedia:Mexican_Texans

Further down in the same article: (emphasis added)

Approximately 3420 land grant applications were submitted by immigrants and naturalized citizens, many of them Anglo-Americans. The first group of colonists, known as the Old Three Hundred, arrived in 1822 to settle an empresarial grant that had been given to Stephen F. Austin by the Spanish. [Ibid]

This argues that there were naturalized citizens in 1822

A third quote reinforces that impression:

In 1829, Mier y Teran issued his report, which concluded that most Anglo Americans refused to be naturalized and tried to isolate themselves from Mexicans. [Ibid]

"most Anglo-Americans refused to be naturalized..." implies that some complied with the provisions.

I can't give you the name of the individuals, but these quotes from 1822 and 1829 suggest to me that the individual in 1833 was not the first.

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