John William and María Jesusa Curbelo-Delgado Smith

John William and María Jesusa Curbelo-Delgado Smith. . , From the 1840s-1880s Kingsbury Street near San Pedro Creek was affiliated with the family of John William (1792-1845) and María Jesusa Curbelo-Delgado (1815-1890 Smith. the couple married in 1830 when he was a 38-year-old Green DeWitt’s colony member, and she was the 15-year-old daughter of one of San Antonio’s elite families. The Curbelos had made their fortune when the Spanish colonized the Canary Islands in the 15th century. In no small part due to María and her family’s influence, John Smith became a prominent San Antonio citizen the city's first Mayor, and a Senator in the Republic of Texas representing Bexar County. The couple also amassed tens of thousands of acres in land holdings. including an 1840 house at this site near San Pedro Creek, when John died in 1845, María was left as executrix of his estate, which experienced significant litigation issues. , In 1848, María married James B. Lee (1809-1886). After their marriage, Lee bought land directly northeast of the 1840 home, and the 1840 home and the surrounding 14 acres were sold to Dr. William Kingsbury. During the 1850s María regularly sold property to pay the debts of the Smith estate. In 1860, her land holdings were still worth $10,000, and Lee’s were $4,000. In 1883, James and María sold their home and moved away from the neighborhood, and three years later, Kingsbury subdivided and sold his property. María died in 1894. The 1840 house was owned by history activist Mary de Zavala from 1919-1921, but in the mid-twentieth century, the house was demolished. By the 1980s, the area had been redeveloped as athletic fields by the San Antonio School District. The history of San Antonio can be witnessed through Marías story, as she saw the city transform from Spanish colony to Mexico to the Republic of Texas, to the United States, to the Confederacy, and back to the United States. Through it all María lived the unusual life of an elite businesswoman.