Genealogists, Historians and Historical Sources

Oakah L. Jones, Ph.D.
Author of Los Paisanos: Spanish Settlers on the Northern Frontier

For more about Dr. Jones, click here.

From the New Mexico Genealogist 36:1, March 1997.
"As to the social habits and customs of the people, there is nothing worth recording." ¹

So wrote a distinguished historian of New Mexico, Ralph Emerson Twitchell in 1911, concerning the people of Spanish New Mexico in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. He could not have been more mistaken, as genealogists and historians (as well as others) have revealed in the eighty-six years since that statement.

Contrary to Twitchell's belief, genealogists and some historians of New Mexico's colonial period (1598-1821) have focused upon the people, individually and collectively, who were the paisanos or pobladores (everyday people) who settled and resided in the province during this Spanish period. However, other historians have been more interested in studying other subjects, such as institutions, determining universal laws, and depersonalizing and denigrating the people who explored, conquered, Christianized, colonized, and inhabited New Mexico over the course of nearly two and one-half centuries. Critics of genealogists and those historians who do study these people often maintain that they are wasting their time on minutia and unimportant details.

Yet concerned genealogists and historians have the same human goal: the study of people in the Spanish years. Although their approaches may differ, genealogists and historians are not pursuing competitive disciplines, but complementary ones. While genealogists investigate ancestry, family history, and descent of persons or families, often to determine the roots of their names or families, historians study people and institutions across time and in relation to other regions and other topics such as government, religion, economy, and society. Frederick Jackson Turner, a distinguished historian of the frontier in the history of the United States, once wrote in 1891 that "history is all the remains that have come down to us from the past, studied with all the critical and interpretive power that the present can bring to the task." Continuing, Turner observed that "the historian strives to show the present to itself by revealing its origin from the past" and history itself is "the self-consciousness of humanity- humanity's effort to understand itself through the study of the past." Furthermore, Turner noted that "history has a unity and continuity; the present needs the past to explain it; and local history must be read as a part of world history." ²

Turner's perceptive comments are not outdated. They apply to genealogists and historians in their investigations and publications. Both are interested in using primary sources in many forms, "bolas de plata" or silver nuggets. As a result of their investigations and published works, they learn about people and society from each other.

The purpose and focus of this essay is to introduce certain historical sources, both published and unpublished, to genealogists and historians that may be helpful in their researches. These sources pertain to the study of the every-day people who inhabited frontier New Mexico in the Spanish period. Special emphasis is placed upon what genealogists may learn from consulting historical sources in addition to the principal ones with which they may be more familiar.

What are historical sources? First, they are unpublished and published primary sources, such as wills, legal documents, church records, military hojas de servicio (service records), personal memoirs, diaries, correspondence, newspapers, and family collections. Examples of these may be found in the Spanish Archives of New Mexico and the Archives of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe. Other archival collections of such sources exist in the Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley, and the Huntington Library and Art Gallery in San Marino, California, as well as the Juárez Archives at the University of Texas at El Paso, for example.

Second, these sources include compilations of names and family histories, such as that of Fray Angélico Chavez, Origins of New Mexico Families: In The Spanish Colonial Period³ and the Documentary Relations of the Southwest Collection at the Arizona State Museum of the University of Arizona in Tucson.

Third, there are the collections of the Genealogical Society of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Salt Lake City, and the publications of genealogists by the New Mexico Genealogical Society, Los Bexareños Genealogical Society in San Antonio, Texas, and the Genealogical Society of Hispanic America in Denver, Colorado, as well as state and local genealogical societies.

Fourth, historical sources specifically which are sometimes neglected by genealogists include the published works of historians, both those of primary sources and secondary works based upon original research. Often they contain information about people, their names and their families, that can be of great use for genealogists in their researches.

It is upon these "historical sources" that the rest of this essay now focuses. The reader is referred to the "Research Sources for Spanish Colonial New Mexico" at the rear of this essay for full citations of the works mentioned. Again, readers are reminded that these works pertain to the Hispano settlers and inhabitants of the Spanish period on the northern frontier of New Spain (the Southwest of the United States and northern Mexico of today), specifically for New Mexico.

In addition to the more normal sources consulted by genealogists, they may want to become acquainted with the following:

1. ARCHIVES:
Indias, the Archivo Histórico Nacional, and the Archivo de Simancas, all in Spain; the Archivo General de la Nación and Biblioteca Nacional de México, both in Mexico City; and the Spanish Archives of New Mexico, Archives of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, the Juárez Archives at the University of Texas at El Paso, the William G. Ritch Collection at the Huntington Library in San Marino, California, and the Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley. Collections of Spanish documents may also be found in the Center for Southwest Research, Zimmerman Library, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque.

2. Finding Aids and Research Guides:
In addition to the files of the Documentary Relations of the Southwest at the Arizona State Museum, the published works of scholars, such as Barnes, Naylor, and Polzer, and those of Beers and Haggard (all noted in "Research Sources for Spanish Colonial New Mexico" at the rear of this essay) are helpful in many ways for researchers.

3. Published Scholarly Studies:
These arehistorical works that pertain to Spanish documents, translations into English, and studies based upon research in primary sources. They include those of George P. Hammond and Agapito Rey; John Kessell, Rick Hendricks, and Meredith Dodge; Fray Angélico Chavez; John B. Colligan; Clevy L. Strout; Rick Hendricks and John P. Wilson; and José Antonio Esquibel. All of these sources, again cited more fully in "Research Sources for Spanish Colonial New Mexico," contain information about Hispano people, their names and families, of interest to and use by genealogists and historians.

What can genealogists learn from these historical sources? Before answering that question, it will be helpful to examine some selected examples of historical sources and the information they contain of use to genealogists.

1. From the Muster Roll of the Oñate expedition drawn up by Juan Frías Salazar, Todos Santos, Nueva Vizcaya, 8 January 1598:

"Maese de Campo Don Juan de Zaldívar, son of Vicente de Zaldívar, a native of the city of Zacatecas, well built, chestnut- colored beard, 28 years of age, appeared with his arms and with all the rest he declared, except an harquebus, which he said he had given to a soldier." ⁴

"Alférez [sub-lieutenant] Pedro Robledo, native of Maqueda [Spain], son of Alejo Robledo, of good stature, 60 years of age, with his arms." ⁵

Pedro Robledo died in New Mexico and his name was applied to the campsite on the Camino Real. His four sons, Diego, Pedro, Alonso, and Francisco, are listed after their father.

"Cristóbal López, son of Diego López de Aviles, native of Aviles [Spain], of good stature, heavy set, swarthy, black bearded, a cut over his left eye, 40 years old, with arms. He declared that he was a mulatto."⁶ [mixture of Spanish and Negro]

2. From the Declaration of the Soldiers drawn by Juan Frías Salazar, Todos Santos, Nueva Vizcaya, 10 January 1598:

"Hernán Martín: Statement of the articles being taken on the expedition to New Mexico by Hernán Martín Serrano, a sergeant in the company of Captain Juan Ruiz de Cabrera, and who is taking his wife, Juana Rodríguez." ⁷

"I, Juan Pérez de Donís, a resident of the city of México in New Spain . . . I am going with the following . . . [and] I would bring my wife, Doña Anna de Herrera, and my son, Fray Gonzalo de Herrera, preacher and teacher in the order of St. Augustine . . . " ⁸

"I, Francisco de Peñalosa, captain and Alférez of his army [Oñate's] which is going to New Mexico, state that I left the mines of Chalchuetes to serve his majesty on this expedition with my wife and children, servants, arms, horses, mules, mares, carts, one hundred oxen, four hundred quintals of flour, two pipes of wine, and other provisions . . . My declaration is as follows: First, myself and my wife, Doña Euphemia; my daughter, Doña Juana de Trejo, married to Diego de Zubía, captain and purveyor of this army; my son, Francisco de Sosa Peñalosa, 24 years old; my son, Estevan Illán de Sosa, 21 years of age, married to Doña Juana de Arguello. " ⁹

I, Alférez Bartolomé Romero, married to Doña Lucía López, am bringing her and my household and family on this expedition . . . " ¹⁰

3. From the Padrón General de ésta Jurisdicción de la Alcaldía de San Phelipe de Alburquerque, Provincia del Nuevo México [General Census of This Jurisdiction of the Alcaldía of San Felipe de Albuquerque, Province of New Mexico], Fray Cayetano José Ignacio Bernal, Ministro de San Agustín de la Ysleta, and Manuel de Arteaga, Alcalde, 22 October 1790, Spanish Archives of New Mexico, microcopy, Roll 12, frames 319-353. ¹¹

"Lieutenant commandant [of the first plaza of Albuquerque] Don Vicente López, Spaniard, farmer, 47 years old, married to María Antonia Cháves, female Spaniard, 30 years old, two manly sons, one age 6, another age 1 year, two daughters, one 14 years old, another 4 years old."

"Pedro Griego [of the third plaza of Albuquerque], mestizo, day laborer, 28 years old, married to Rosa López, female Indian, 25 years old, one manly son, 5 years old."

Tomás Candelaria [of the plaza of Tomé], mestizo, farmer, 40 years old, married to Juana Varela, female Spaniard, 30 years old, 4 manly sons -- ages 16, 13, 11, 4 -- two daughters, one age 7, another 1 year old. Her mother Rosalía Varela, widow, 50 years old."

"Salvador Baca [of the place of San Ysidro de Paxarito], Indian of the Apache Nation, 39 years old, day laborer, married to María del Carmen Herrera, female Spaniard, 39 years old, two manly sons, 17 years old and another 7 years old, three daughters, one 15 years old, another 9 years old, another 6 years old."

"Mathías Montaño [of the third plaza of Belén de Nuestra Señora de los Dolores de genízaros or detribalized Indians], Indian of the Navajo Nation, weaver, 49 years old, married to María Silva, genízara, 50 years old, one manly son 8 years old."

While the above are examples of the 909 families listed for the Albuquerque jurisdiction in 1790, they show the names of persons, sometimes their origins, and their ages, occupations, marital status, and unmarried children and relatives. More detailed information may be found in Fray Angélico Chavez, Origins of New Mexico Families and published works of historians. For example, George P. Hammond and Agapito Rey, Don Juan de Oñate, contains lists of soldiers and their declarations as mentioned earlier.

Hammond's articles in the New Mexico Historical Review for July, 1926, and April, 1927, on "Don Juan de Oñate and the Founding of New Mexico" include a list of people (soldiers primarily) with Oñate (Appendix A) and a list of soldiers, women, and children who went to New Mexico with the reenforcements of 1600 (Appendix B).¹² John B. Colligan's The Juan Páez Hurtado Expedition of 1695 contains in Chapters 3 and 4 the names of persons on the muster roll of reenforcements sent to New Mexico in 1695 to support and colonize the province following its reconquest by Diego de Vargas.¹³

Another useful list of the settlers on the Páez Hurtado expedition is contained in Clevy Lloyd Strout's article in the New Mexico Historical Review for July, 1978.¹⁴ José Antonio Esquibel, Remembrance/ Recordación, provides names of Spanish colonists who arrived in Santa Fe on 23 June 1693, and Esquibel's articles on "New Mexico's Ten Common Ancestors" and "Mexico City to Santa Fe: Spanish Pioneers on the Camino Real, 1693-94" both focus upon the names and families of Spanish New Mexico.¹⁵ Rick Hendricks and John P. Wilson, The Navajos in 1705, contains a useful section of "Biographical Sketches" of persons involved in the Roque de Madrid campaign against the Navajos in northwestern New Mexico.¹⁶

Finally, genealogists will benefit from consulting the two volumes of the De Vargas Project at the University of New Mexico. John Kessell, Rick Hendricks, and Meredith Dodge include extensive detailed notes of persons in the reconquest and resettlement of New Mexico in their By Force of Arms and To the Royal Crown Restored.¹⁷

Use of such historical sources by genealogists in their researches will assist them in determining the roots, ancestry, and origins of their families

Specific information derived from such sources includes names of people, family composition and sizes, origins of the people, occupations, ages, marital status, children, where people lived, relatives, orphans, slaves, servants, and even the presence of Indians in Spanish communities where they are married to Hispano men and women and often lived as independent, recognized vecinos or citizens. If one takes a name, for example Aragón, it will be discovered that there were seventeen of them in the Albuquerque and Alameda jurisdictions in 1790 (there were none listed for Santa Fe). One female Spaniard¹⁸ resided at Alameda; three in the plazas of Albuquerque itself; nine in Valencia; three in the plazas of Belén; and one in the Plaza de los Cháves. Most of these were farmers, stockraisers, and married or single women as well as men.¹⁹ This approach shows the concentrations of Aragones in specific communities, and can be extended to other names, such as Chávez, Baca, Ortiz, Montoya, Padilla and countless others.

Furthermore, in addition to the more widely used sources by genealogists, examination of historical sources by them will enrich their understanding of their family origins and the relationship of families to New Mexico's history and society. Perhaps historical sources will also enable genealogists to locate missing data for their investigations and complete family information from such "bolas de plata" (silver nuggets). Finally, they will find information about a society and its everyday people (paisanos) that were the foundation of New Mexico and its praiseworthy miscegenation and multiculturalism.

Research sources for Spanish Colonial New Mexico

¹Ralph Emerson Twitchell, The Leading Facts of New Mexican History, 2 vols. (Cedar Rapids, Iowa: Torch Press, 1911-1912, and Albuquerque: Horn and Wallace, 1963), l:475; Oakah L. Jones, Jr., Los Paisanos: Spanish Settlers on the Northern Frontier of New Spain (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1979, and reprint with new preface, 1996), p. 163. Twitchell was more concerned with government, religion, economy, and statistics of the population than he was with individual people and customs.

²Frederick Jackson Turner, "The Significance of History," Wisconsin Journal of Education 21 (October and November, 1891), pp. 230-234, 253-256.

³Santa Fe, New Mexico, 1954, and later edition.

⁴George P. Hammond and Agapito Rey, Don Juan de Oñate: Colonizer of New Mexico, 1595-1628 , Coronado Cuarto Centennial Publications, 1540-1940, Vols. 5 and 6 (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1953), Vol. 5, p. 289. The entire muster roll of 129 men is translated and contained on pp. 289-300.

⁵Ibid., Vol. 5, p. 290.

⁶Ibid., Vol 5, p. 292.

⁷Ibid., Vol. 5, p. 237. The entire list of declarations by soldiers of the Oñate expedition is translated and contained on pp. 229-86.

⁸Ibid., Vol. 5, p. 241.

⁹Ibid., Vol. 5, p. 246.

¹⁰Ibid., Vol. 5, p. 264.

¹¹This padrón of the Albuquerque jurisdiction is part of the 1790 census of New Mexico. The manuscript is in the Spanish Archives of New Mexico and is in the microfilm of that collection, Roll 12, frames 319-353.

¹²George P. Hammond, "Don Juan de Oñate and the Founding of New Mexico," New Mexico Historical Review l:3 (July, 1926), pp. 292-323, and 2:2 (April, 1927), pp. 134-174.

¹³John B. Colligan, The Juan Páez Hurtado Expedition of 1695: Fraud in Recruiting Colonists for New Mexico (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1995), pp. 21-117.

¹⁴. Clevy Lloyd Strout, "The Resettlement of Santa Fe, 1695: The Newly Found Muster Roll," New Mexico Historical Review 53:3 (July, 1978), pp. 261-270. The Muster Roll was discovered in the Thomas Gilcrease Institute of American History and Art, Document No. 215, Tulsa, Oklahoma.

¹⁵. Jose' Antonio Esquibel, Remembrance/Recordacíón: The Spanish Colonists That Arrived in Santa Fe, 23 June 1693 (Denver: Genealogical Society of Spanish America, 1994): Esquibel, "New Mexico's Ten Common Ancestors," La Herencia del Norte, Vol. 11 (Fall, 1996), p. 23, and "Mexico City to Santa Fe: Spanish Pioneers on the Camino Real, 1693-1694," forthcoming in Vol. 2 of the Camino Real Project.

¹⁶Rick Hendricks and John P. Wilson, eds. and trans., The Navajos in 1705: Roque Madrid's Campaign Journal (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1996), pp. 101-128.

¹⁷John L. Kessell and Rick Hendricks, eds., By Force of Arms: The Journals of Don Diego de Vargas, 1691-93 (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1992), and Kessell and Meredith Dodge, eds., To the Royal Crown Restored: The Journals of Don Diego de Vargas, 1692-1694 (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1995).

¹⁸The Spanish terms "español" for a male and "española" for a female in colonial New Mexico, as on the northern frontiers of New Spain, were used to designate people living the life style of a "Spaniard" even though most of them were not natives of Spain but places in New Spain.

¹⁹Padrón General, Correspondiente a mi Jurisdición, unsigned, San Carlos de la Alameda ayuda de Parroquía de la Villa de San Phelipe de Albuquerque de este año de 1790 [General Census, corresponding to my jurisdiction, San Carlos de la Alameda with the help of the Parish of the Villa of San Felipe de Albuquerque in this year of 1790], Spanish Archives of New Mexico, microcopy, Roll 12, frames 501-502; Padron General de esta Jurisdicción de la Alcaldía de San Phelipe de Albuquerque, Provincia del Nuevo México, 22 de Octubre de 1790, Spanish Archives of New Mexico, microcopy, Roll 12, frames 319-353. The Alameda census is incomplete, ending abruptly. The one Aragón living there was Juana María, female Spaniard, 22 years old, married to Juan Miguel Santillanes.

Click on the cover to order the book for your own library.