Chipita Rodriguez

Josefa Rodriguez
Born	December 30, 1799(1799-12-30) Mexico
Died	November 13, 1863(1863-11-13) (aged 63) San Patricio, Texas
Alias(es)	Chipita
Conviction(s)	Murder
Penalty	Death by hanging
Status	Deceased

Josefa "Chipita" Rodriguez (December 30, 1799? - November 13, 1863) was convicted of murder and hanged in San Patricio County, Texas at the age of 63. A century later, on June 13, 1985, the Texas Legislature passed a resolution noting that Rodriguez did not receive a fair trial. She has been the subject of two operas, numerous books, newspaper articles, and magazine accounts.^[1]

Trial and execution

Rodriguez was reportedly born December 30, 1799 in Mexico. She was a Mexican-American woman from the South Texas town of San Patricio who furnished travelers with meals and a cot on the porch of her lean-to on the Aransas River. She was accused of robbing and murdering a trader named John Savage with an axe. However, the $600 of gold stolen from him was found down river, where Savage's body was discovered in a burlap bag. She and Juan Silvera (who was possibly her illegitimate son) were indicted on circumstantial evidence and tried before 14th District Court judge Benjamin F. Neal at San Patricio. Although Rodriguez maintained her innocence, she refused to testify in her defense and remained silent throughout the trial, perhaps, some have speculated, to protect her guilty son. Although the jury recommended mercy, Neal ordered her executed. She was hanged from a mesquite tree on Friday, November 13, 1863. She was 63 at the time of her death.^[1][2] Her last words were quoted with being, "No soy culpable" (I am not guilty). At least one witness to the hanging claimed to have heard a moan from the coffin, which was placed in an unmarked grave. Her ghost is said to haunt San Patricio, especially when a woman is to be executed. Rodriguez is depicted as a specter with a noose around her neck, riding through the mesquite trees or wailing from the riverbottoms.^[1]

Cultural references

Chipita Rodriguez has become a folk legend, and since the 1930s, there have been numerous alleged sightings of her ghost along the Aransas River where she was hanged.

Rodriguez has been the subject of numerous books and newspaper articles. Rachel Bluntzer Hebert’s epic-length poem “Shadows on the Nueces” and Teresa Palomo Acosta’s poem “Chipita” both portray Rodriguez as a heroine. In 1993, the University of Texas music department performed the opera, "Chipita Rodriguez", composed by Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi professor Lawrence Weiner. In 2010 a screenplay was written by Del Mar College and Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi student screenwriter Cary Cadena.

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} "Handbook of Texas Online - Rodriguez, Josefa #93". Tshaonline.org. http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/RR/fro50.html. Retrieved 2008-11-26. 
2. ^ "Chipita's execution haunts local memory". Corpus Christi Caller-Times. http://www.caller2.com/newsarch/news10471.html. Retrieved 2008-11-26. 

Persondata
Name	Rodriguez, Chipita
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	December 30, 1799?
Place of birth	Mexico
Date of death	November 13, 1863
Place of death	San Patricio County, Texas