José Antonio Mexía Hernández (Spanish pronunciation: [xoˈse anˈtonjo meˈxi.a eɾˈnandes]; c. 31 December 1800 – 3 May 1839) was a 19th-century Mexican general and politician.

[2] Although details of his early life are scant, he lost his father and brother sometime in the Mexican War of Independence and fled to the United States where he became fluent in the English language.

[3] By 1822, Mexía was back living in Mexico and working as an official interpreter for the Cherokee Nation, by appointment of Coahuila y Tejas president José Félix Trespalacios.

[3] He traveled to New Orleans, Louisiana, where he encouraged American filibusters to invade Mexico, recruiting Anglo settlers under the guise of brokering land for them.

[3] The town of Mexia, Texas, in Limestone County is part of multiple large land tracts granted to the Mexía family in 1833 by the government of Coahuila y Tejas.