Santa Fe Cathedral
Parish of St. Francis of Assisi
and the
Military Chapel of
Our Lady of Light (La Castrense)

Baptisms: 4 volumes - A16, A17, A18, and A19.
                      More than a century of baptisms at this important New Mexico parish.

     Vol I: 1747 to 1791
               Santa Fe Baptisms,1747-1766, from AASF Roll #15
               Santa Fe Baptisms,1770-1777, from AASF Roll #15
               Santa Fe Baptisms,1777-1791, from AASF Roll #15
                      NMGS Press Item #A16, 463 pages, $48.00.

     Vol II: 1796 to 1822
               Santa Fe Baptisms, 1796-1814, AASF Roll #15
               Santa Fe Baptisms, 1814-1822, AASF Roll #16
                      NMGS Press Item #A17, 397 pages, $42.00.

      Vol III: 1823 to 1839
               Santa Fe Baptisms, all from AASF Roll #16:
               Baptisms, Castrense Register, 6 June 1798 to 16 June 1833
               Baptisms, 1 January 1823 to 26 June 1839
                      NMGS Press Item #A18, 433 pages, $45.00.

       Vol IV: 1839 to 1851
                Santa Fe Baptisms, all from AASF Roll #17:
                Baptisms, 18 Feb 1839 to 31 July 1841
                Baptisms, 2 Aug 1841 to 23 March 1848
                Baptisms, 6 June 1848 to 17 July 1851
                       NMGS Press Item #A19, 354 pages, $38.00.

Preface to Vol IV  This section is online.)

Each book has three indexes which list, in alphabetical order, the names of:
1) Persons being baptized, 2) parents, 3) godparents, grandparents, and witnesses.

Each book is spiral bound.

There are some terms that, I feel, need explaining. Among these are rescatado, criado/ criada, familiar, escalavo / escalava, serviente / servienta. When the priest presiding at a baptism or wedding knew or meant that a person was a servant or slave, he wrote esclavo /a or serviente /a. A criado /a was someone who might be Indian and/or a relative of the family who had been taken in by the family and was being raised as part of that family. A familiar is one who was part of a household; who might be a servant or a relative but is considered part of the extended family.

Someone who is rescatado is one who is redeemed. In some of the entries a person is said to be redeemed or rescatado, brought to the church, then baptized and placed (espuesto) in someone's home. A private unpublished manuscript by Dorothy M. Mazon, conversations with her, as well as my work on these records, has led me to explore these terms and find out something about them.

People were brought and redeemed from some Indian tribes, primarily Yndios gentiles. Yndios gentiles were those Indians not normally called Yndios gentiles because most had been Christianized. There was a definite legal status of the redeemed, enslaved, and servants and their acculturation into Spanish society.

"The New Laws of 1542 spelled out the naive hope of the Spanish Crown that the 'Indians should not be made slaves, but that they should be treated as vassals of the Crown of Castile.' The ideals expressed in this document remained a utopian hope never fully implemented." [Archibald, Robert, "Acculturation" p.207]

"The colonial legal code known as the Recopilación of 1681 spelled out a Christian obligation to ransom captive Indians enslaved by other Indian tribes. Ransomed Indians were assigned to an owner who was responsible for Hispanicizing and Christianizing them. Ransomed Indians had incurred a debt; they were to work out their debts by services to their creditors." [ibid., 207]

An atrocity drove the Spanish crown to redeem captives from the Indians.

"In 1694 some Navajos returned to the Spanish from an expedition to the east with captive children whom they beheaded after the Spanish refused to pay ransom. This atrocity so shocked the Spanish King that he ordered use of royal funds to save such unfortunates." (3)

And so, donativos

"were assessed by the provincial government in Santa Fe for voluntary contributions, usually in kind . . . Specifically, this often involved support in the form of food and clothing to Indian Pueblos or Spanish hamlets where the threat of war, famine, or other disaster wrought human misery. The Zuñis, beleaguered by enemies, decimated by smallpox, and faced with starvation in the late eighteenth century, no doubt were spared from extinction by the timely aid provided by such contributions." [Simmons, Marc, Spanish Government in New Mexico, Albuquerque, 1968, p. 92.]

The donitavos might help Indian tribes or Spanish villages in times of need, but also

"Money in the forms of alms was collected for the purpose of ransoming captives held by enemy Indians." [Simmons, p. 93.]

Indian captives and servants had legal protection.

"The Papal Bull, Sublimus Deus, issued in 1537 . . . declared . . . these captives were not chattel. . . In all cases servitude was temporary, however long, and servant or slave status was not inherited, as it came to be in the English colonies." [Archibald, Acculturation p. 209.]

Another interesting aspect of this life of servant and slave in Hispanic America was that of the Hispanization of the Indian or black servant.

"A transition from Indian servant to free citizen took place frequently." [Archibald, Acculturation, p. 210.]

So that . . . "within two generations the offspring of detribalized (Genizaros) could be Spanish for social purposes." [Ibid., 214.]

Two other words need to be brought to your attention. The word "bought" (comprado /a) is used when captives were bought, but the word "brought" (traido /a) is used when someone was brought into the community. Both words are found in the records, comprado /a more than traido /a, but as you can see, in Spanish the two words are very different and more distinct than in English.

Evelyn L. Baca
Alburquerque
May 2002

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Errata

Transcription accuracy is dependent upon the condition of the materials being studied, and opinions of transcribers sometimes differ. Because the records often are in extremely deteriorated condition, transcription often remains subjective. As always, we encourage feedback and dialogue in order to help future researchers. The NMGS is fortunate to have the support of the Archives of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe to study the original books if necessary.

2) Regarding Dates in Book A16, Santa Fe Baptisms Vol I:
Page 2, Maria Rosalia Sandobal - baptismal date is 13 Dec 1747.
Page 234, Maria Rosalia Sandobal -baptismal date is 11 Feb 1781.
Pages 267-268: From Frame 575 through Leiba (gp), Maria Trinidad in Frame 576, the month should be May (1785). Our thanks to Armando Sandoval for bringing these corrected dates to our attention.