Josepha Rodríguez, known as "Chipita," was hanged in 1863 for the murder of John Savage and remained the last woman legally executed in Texas until 1998. Little is known of her life, though she is believed to have been the daughter of Pedro Rodríguez, and they moved to San Patricio de Hibernia when she was young. She earned money by hosting travelers on the Cotton Road, a section of the Camino Real that ran through Texas and crossed the Aransas River near her house. In August 1863, John Savage, a horse trader, stayed at the Rodríguez homestead, and soon afterward he was found dead in the Aransas River. Sheriff William B. Means arrested Rodríguez, believing she had murdered Savage for $600 in gold he was carrying, and also arrested Juan Silvera as an accomplice. A grand jury indicted both of them, and although the missing gold was recovered before trial, Rodríguez was found guilty of murder. The jury recommended leniency because of the circumstantial evidence, but Judge Benjamin Neal sentenced her to hang. She was executed on November 13, 1863, and although her exact age was unknown, she was likely at least sixty years old. The fairness of the trial was later questioned because of the jurists' problematic personal histories, her weak defense counsel, and the lack of a motion for retrial, among other issues. Most court records were lost, and discrepancies remain in accounts of the trial. Her hanging became part of local lore and inspired numerous writings and other works, and in 1985 the Texas Legislature absolved Josepha "Chipita" Rodríguez of murder in a resolution signed by the Governor.