Juan Santiago LONGORIA was born about 1815 in Camargo, Tamaulipas, New Spain. The 1860 Census showed his age to be 52 (could be 62), which would make his birth year 1808. However, Juan Longoria registered with the Mexican Consul in Brownsville on February 13, 1875, and that document lists his age as 60 years, which would make his birth year 1815. This would have been the year before he was baptized. I believe the registration document is more accurate than the 1860 Census when it comes to age. Thus, I am assuming he was born in 1815. He was baptized on Dec 5 1816 in Camargo, Tamaulipas, New Spain. The baptism records of Camargo (in Ancestry.com) show his name to be Juan Santiago Longoria, that he was baptized on Dec. 5, 1816, and that the parents were Pedro Longoria and Nicolasa Flores. He died on Feb 21 1892 in La Grulla, Starr County, TX, USA. He was a Rancher in La Grulla, Starr County, TX, USA. He was buried in La Grulla, Starr County, TX, USA. He is buried in the same vault as his son Eugenio Longoria, his mother Maria Nicolasa Flores, his wife Yrinea Villarreal Longoria and his daughter Yrinea Longoria Garcia.
In 1891, Juan Longoria paid $500 to Octaviana Villarreal de Pena and her husband, Andres Pena, for her interests in 500 acres in "La Encantada" and "Encino del Pozo". Octaviana Villarreal was the sister of Juan's daughter-in-law, Maria Rita Villarreal.
Parents: Pedro Jose LONGORIA and Maria Nicolasa FLORES.
He was married to Yrinea VILLARREAL on Nov 27 1833 in Camargo, Tamaulipas, Mexico. This marriage date means that they might have had a child, Maria Sostenes, before they married, if Maria Sostenes was indeed born in 1832. However, there is some evidence (the Last Will and Testament of Maria Sostenes) that she was not born until 1834.
Juan Longoria was probably the first Longoria to actually reside in La Grulla. Josefina Vera writes "In the year 1836, Juan Longoria Flores, his wife Yrinea Villarreal, and their small children moved across the Rio Grande to settle in that part of their Porcion 94, and called the settlement "Los Mesquititos"...The portales and jacales were hidden by dense mesquite and retama. Thick log fences were built around the yards. Armed men guarded the place day and night. Through a small peep hole in the fence, they could see anyone approaching."

The timing of Juan's move across the river is very interesting. It was on March 2, 1836, that Texas declared its independence from Mexico. The Alamo fell on March 6, 1836, and Santa Anna was defeated in the Battle of San Jacinto on April 21, 1836. With Texas now a republic, many "gringos" started forcing Mexican landowners of their lands and confiscating them as their own. To maintain possession of their lands, the Mexican citizens had to live on them and fight to keep them. I believe this is what prompted Juan Longoria to relocate his family from Camargo to the future La Grulla in 1836.

It is also very interesting to note that Juan Longoria lived under "five flags of Texas": the Spanish, Mexican, Republic of Texas, Confederate, and United States flags.

Upon their deaths in 1892, the estate of Juan Longoria and Yrinea Villarreal consisted of the following:
4415 acres in Porciones 93 and 94 (Starr County)
70 acres in Porcion 95 (Starr County)
930 acres in the Rucias concession of Guadalupe Sanches ( Hidalgo County)
1280 acres in Julian (Starr County)
5178 acres in La Encantada (Brooks and Hidalgo Counties)
2214 acres in L. Tomas de la Blanca de Gil Zarate ( Hidalgo County)
Four labores in Porciones 93 and 94
One house of brick, with lot and kitchen
Two lots with jacales
Two "arados americanos"
One carreta
872 head of cattle ("vacas paridas, vacas jorras, vaquillas, bueyes, novillo, toros")
164 head of horses and mules ("caballos manos, caballos viejos, yeguas, mulas")
3081 head of sheep and goats ("ganado menor")
Cash in the amount of $1209.48
The livestock was valued according to age. The lands were divided equally among the eight surviving heirs. Children were: Maria Sostenes LONGORIA, Eugenio LONGORIA, Guadalupe LONGORIA, Maria Antonia LONGORIA, Barbara LONGORIA, Maria Leonor LONGORIA, Teofila LONGORIA, Yrinea LONGORIA, Ponciano LONGORIA, Jose Maria LONGORIA.

The league purchased by Juan Longoria, who was to become a compadre of Gregorio Villarreal three years later, was adjacent to the Perez league. The league purchased by Juan Longoria encompasses lands known today as “Santirenea” or “Santa Yrinea”, after a ranch named after Juan Longoria's wife Yrinea Villarreal. Sometime later, Gregorio apparently sold the fourth league of land from the La Encantada grant to his brother Sabas Villarreal, the husband of Isabel Ramirez, the first cousin of Gregorio’s wife Maria Ysidora Ramirez, giving rise to a ranch named "Santa Isabel".