A Mission Indian Connection: The Reyes Family of Von Ormy

Maria Rita de los Reyes (married to Miguel Flores) had three siblings all baptized at the San Fernando Cathedral.  Her sister, Gertrudis married Vicente Vara and also settled in Von Ormy around 1870.  The Reyes sisters were the daughters of Jose Policarpo de los Reyes who was baptized on 28 Jan 1801 at San Fernando Cathedral.  His father was Jose Santiago de la Trinidad de los Reyes who was baptized at San Fernando Cathedral on 17 Jul 1757.  His father was Juan de los Reyes who died on 01 Jun 1801 at Mission San Jose and was born circa 1721.  Juan de los Reyes was a Mission Indian.  The records fail to record from which tribe he was, but his last wife was noted to be from the Borrado tribe.

Flores Family of Von Ormy

Many of the Flores family of Von Ormy, live along Benton City Road (aka Floresville) and in Von Ormy Heights.  The earliest known Flores was Gregorio Flores who was born around 1790 and was married to Maria Josefa Garcia. It is not known where they were from, but on 19 Feb 1809 they baptized their son Jose Antonio Flores in Nadadores, Coahuila, Mexico.  Jose Antonio was married to Maria Marta Baltasar also from Nadadores on 09 Jan 1825.  They were the parents of Francisco Flores, who was born on 11 Mar 1828 in Nadadores and married Antonia Munos on 05 Mar 1844. She was also from Nadadores. They came to Texas following the American Civil War in 1867 or 1868.  They had six children: Miguel, Presciliano, Ponciano, Felipe, Refugia, and Juliana who was born in Texas.  The Flores’ originally settled in Atascosa County and can be found there in the1880 census. Miguel Flores married Maria Rita de los Reyes on 19 Apr 1880 and settled in Von Ormy.  Francisco, Miguel, Maria Rita, and many other Flores are buried in San Patricio cemetery in Bexar, Texas.

Casillas/Casias Family of Bexar County

This family came to spell its name two ways, Casillas and Casias. But this is the same family and the name change occurred in the early 1800’s when they moved away from Mission Espada. The first Casillas in the New World was Martin Casillas who was born in Almendralejo, Spain in 1556.  He was an architect and was commissioned to design the Cathedral in Guadalajara, Mexico.  He married his wife on 18 Sep 1582 in Puebla, Mexico and had several children including Domingo Casillas, born 1595 in Guadalajara.  Three generations later his namesake Domingo Casillas was born in Tonala, near Guadalajara.  He was married to Juana Ana de la Rosa also from Tonala.  Their son Juan Casillas was born in 1716 and married Maria de Luna from Guadalajara.  They moved north to Mission Lampasos, Coahuila.  Juan was not a soldier; he was one of the very few who moved north as a businessman.  Juan and Maria had a son, Carlos Casillas, who was born on the Mission in 1731.  He married a girl from the Mission named Maria del Carmen Vasques, whose background is Basque and Jewish.  They moved to San Antonio as private citizens, again at a time where nearly all other settlers were soldiers around 1790.  They originally moved into La Villita, but in 1792 when Mission Espada was secularized Carlos and his son Juan purchased homes at the Mission.  Today these rooms are still in use and are part of the convento where the current Franciscan Friars live.  Juan served in the Spanish Army and was posted at the Alamo and several other missions.  He was also a mail currier between San Antonio and Nacogdoches. Later Juan served in the Texas Revolution with his nephews Pablo and Mateo under Juan Seguin at the siege of Bexar, when the Texas Army first took the Alamo from Mexico.  At this point many of the Casillas/Casias family moved off the mission to San Antonio, Losoya, Somerset and Von Ormy.  Juan’s son Santiago settled in Von Ormy where he married a local girl Matiana Orosco and baptized nine children at the old Santisima Trinidad Church.  Nearly all the Casillas/Casias families from South Bexar County descend from Carlos Casillas.