Carvajal y de la Cueva
La Sociedad Genealogica del Norte de Mexico
Of the persons who embarked with Carvajal, crew and passengers, we have been able to locate more than one hundred of them in our sources; we believe that there are only a few left to locate.
Of the crew of the "Santa Catalina" we have the pilot and master Pedro Sánchez, the steward Alonso Méndez, the sailors Lázaro García, Alonso Hidalgo, Juan Álvarez, inhabitant of the town of Moguer, Alonso Domínguez, Martín Fonte, husband of María de Luxuana (sic), inhabitants of Triana in Seville and Francisco Romero, husband of Luisa de Ribera, inhabitants of Seville in the collection of el Salvador and the cabin boys Alvaro Beltrán, inhabitant of Moguer, and Juan de Vargas, inhabitant of Cádiz. All of them returned to Spain.59
Among the passengers are many members of the family group of the Carvajales which have already been studied in the paragraph above and, for that reason, we shall only give an alphabetical list of their names here: Andrés del Aguila, Leonor de Andrada, Ana de Carvajal, Luis de Carvajal el Mozo, Alonso García Mendoza, (?) Juan Jiménez Mendoza, (?) Francisco Jorge, Catalina de León, Duarte de León, el Mozo, Ginebra de León, Jorge de León, Francisco López, Pedro López de Mendoza, (?) Diego Márquez, Andrés Núñez, Francisca Núñez de Carvajal, Francisca Núñez Viciosa, Gonzalo Pérez Ferro, Gonzalo Pérez Ferro, el Mozo, Gregorio Pérez, (?) Luis Pimentel, Alonso Rodríguez, (?) Baltasar Rodríguez, Diego Rodríguez, Francisco Rodríguez, Francisco Rodríguez de Matos, Hernan Rodríguez de Carvajal, Miguel Rodríguez de Carvajal, Diego Ruiz (sic) de Rivera, (?) and two female Negro slaves of Doña Francisca Núñez de Carvajal, Catalina who accompanied the family in Pánuco, Mexico and Tasco and who, possibly, was sold there to Felipe de Fonseca in whose home she lived in 1589; and Clara who by 1589 already lived in Huaxutla (sic) with Juanes de Urríbarri.60 These slaves, according to the customs of the epoch, we should count within the family group. Of the 103 passengers - without counting the ten members of the crew - of the "Santa Catalina" 36 of them belonged to the family group of the Carvajales, that is to say 35% and it is very probable that others also were [did].
Of the 67 left over we have been able to prove in documents that the following belong to the Portuguese crypto-Jews or [are] of Portuguese origin:
Francisco Álvarez,61 husband of Inés Hernández, sister of the honored Manuel de Morales.
Vicente Correa & Gaspar Delgado, of whom Luis el Mozo says in his process: "Likewise, my brother Baltasar Rodríguez told me that, my being in el Nuevo Reino, next to Saltillo, declaring themselves were Gaspar Delgado and Vicente Correa, Portuguese, who were servants of the governor Luis de Carvajal, since they were Jews ..."62
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Beatriz Enríquez la Paiva, native of Fundao in Portugal, wife of Simón de Paiva and mother of Diego, Pedro and Catalina Enríquez.63
Catalina Enríquez stated on January 12, 1595, being "wife of Manuel de Lucena, trader, inhabitants of the mines of Pachuca and that (she) is a native of Portugal where her parents are, although she does not know of which town (Fundao) and that she grew up in the city of Seville and that she is thirty years of age."64
Diego Enríquez, in 1596, was still a bachelor, he had been born in Seville for which we believe [him to be] younger than his sister, Catalina, he says that he Luis de Carvajal el Mozo: "... although younger, the greatest Jew there was in la Nueva Expaña," was released from oath in person in 1596.65 Luis Carvajal y de la Cueva, in the list of the people who came with him from Spain, includes a "Don Diego Enríquez, son of the viceroy of Mexico Don Martín Enríquez and two of his servants whose names he cannot remember."66 Might it not be another of Carvajal's many lies? Might he not be transforming, with his spell of mythomania, the son of Simón de Paiva into the son of the viceroy?
Pedro Enríquez, native of Seville who, in 1588, was a barefoot friar in the convent of el Carmen in Mexico City and "was the cook and they lauded his cooking."67
Inés Fernández or Hernández, sister of Manuel de Morales and wife of Francisco Álvarez, all Portuguese and Jews.68
Pedro
Fernández of Hernández, also Portuguese and Jew, husband of Blanca de
Morales, sister of the honored Manuel de Morales.69 In the
year of 1600 there lived, in the town of Alvarado (Ver.), a Pedro
Hernández, Portuguese and Jew, native of the town of Prado, near the
city of Braga.70 Might he be the same one?
Susana Galván, native of the city of Braga in Portugal, fifty years of age in 1595, wife of Martín Pérez, inhabitant of Mexico and parents of Ana de Sosa.71
Diego Hernández or Morales, son of Francisco Hernández and Isabel Clara, nephew of the honored Morales.72
Francisco Hernández, Portuguese and Jew, brother of the honored Morales, husband of Isabel Clara.73
Manuel de Herrera, secretary of war for Carvajal74 of whom Luis de Carvajal , the Younger says: "Likewise, I know that a Manuel de Herrera, Portuguese, relative of Captain Castaño is a Jew and keeps and believes the say law, because as I was passing on the road a ranch of his which is called "Los Ojos," which is in the government of said governor Luis de Carvajal, I saw him, upon my arrival, behead a rooster of the land ... (and) he (came) to tell me how his father, in Portugal, had taught him how, and how also one of his uncles, called somebody de Paiva, was a Jew, of which said Paiva I know no more than this, which occurred some ten years ago (1586) more or less and, about these, they will talk about in Saltillo."75
Isabel Clara, Portuguese, wife of Francisco Hernández, brother of the honored Morales, she was released from oath in stature in 1601.76
Diego López, son of the honored Morales and of Isabel López.
Isabel López, wife of the honored Morales.77
Juan Lucero, "... bricklayer, (sic misspelled) who lives in this city (Mexico)."78
Teresa Lucero. In the Seville notary office of Juan Rodriguez de la Torre, February 5, 1580, a writing was registered in which is written that "... Gonzalo Manzano, oil dealer, inhabitant of Seville in the collection of Omnium Sanctorum, receives from the gentleman, Martín López de Aguilar, inhabitant of this city in the collection of Santa María, a license to go to the Indies, dispatched in favor of Teresa Lucero, wife of Juan Jaramillo, extant in la Nueva España, his daughter and a maid, plus sixty-one reals which he returns to them due to His Majesty not having wanted to expedite another license in favor of the brother of the cited Teresa, named Juan Lucero."79 The datum turns out to be very interesting, the license to go to the Indies was denied to Juan Lucero and, nonetheless, he came in Carvajal's hooker; we believe that most of them, so as not to say all of these people, were of those "prohibited" or "stowaways," as was said at that time.
Daughter of Teresa Lucero.
Maid of Teresa Lucero.
Somebody Mata, "... a Portuguese woman who called herself Mata, Jew."80
Ana Morales, daughter of the honored Morales and of Isabel López.81
Andrés de Morales, brother of the honored Morales.82
Antonio de Morales, Portuguese, nephew of the honored Morales, released from oath in stature in 1596.83
Blanca de Morales, Portuguese, sister of the honored Morales and wife of Pedro Hernández.84
Manuel de Morales, also called Antonio in some sources, he is one of the most highlighted personages within this group of crypto-Jews; the honored Morales, as he is generally mentioned in the consulted documents, was a doctor and a great rabbi, very erudite in the Sacred Scripture, and in everything related with the Jewish religion; a large part of the prayers and canticles that appear collected in the processes, were part of the cultural inheritance which he left among the Sephardic novo-Hispanics. The honorable Antonio or Manuel de Morales and his large family, went to live in Mexico City almost immediately after disembarking in Tampico, there they remained until the year of 1584 in which all left for Spain; April 15, 1589, Juan de Mesina said "that (in 1584) he left this land (la Nueva España) in a vessel with Alejandro Testanera ... in route to Spain and that, having arrived in Havana, the declarer became ill and (Testanera) took him to the home of the honorable Morales, who was traveling in another vessel of the same fleet and was leaving for his home in Spain, and said honorable one cured him; that in 1587 he saw Testanera in Cádiz and told him that, in passing through Venice, he had seen the honorable Morales who lived in the Jewery, dressed as a Jew with his yellow pointed cap, and there he had spoken to him and recognized him." In 1595 it is said that he was in the Jewry of Thessalonica and that he was called Abraham. The honorable Morales was released from oath in stature in 1593, his father-in-law "great doctor in the Law of Moses and inspired poet, died burned at the Inquisition of Lisbon.85
Ana Muñoz, wife of Juan de Nava, tailor, inhabitants of Mexico, was present at the death of Francisco Rodríguez de Matos.
Juan de Nava, husband of Ana Muñoz.
Sister of Juan de Nava.86
Somebody Núñez, sister in law of the honorable Morales, came to Mexico already a widow.
Somón de Paiva, his sanbenito[1] stated that he was a native of Lisbon, we believe him to be a native of Fundao in Portugal; he used the alias of Sinón Rodríguez, he was the husband of Beatriz Enríquez and relative of Manuel de Herrera who, at his time, war a relative of Gaspar Castaño de Sosa; by 1596 he had already died in the mines of Pachuca; he was released from oath in stature in 1601.87 It is doubtless that he was a very close relative of Melchor de Paiva, who, on June 14, 1583, accompanied Carvajal in the town of Tancolol, this one must be the Paiva of Saltillo, uncle of Manuel de Herrera. In 1580 a Pablo de Paiva was an inhabitant of the Isle of Tenerife. The Paiva River, affluent from el Duero, runs not far from Magadouro, in front of the land of Sáyago in the bishopric of Lamego in Portugal and at its banks there are three small settlements: Castelo de Paiva, Sobrado de Paiva and Vila Nova de Paiva.88
Isabel Pérez, wife of the honorable Morales, Portuguese daughter of "a great doctor in the Law of Moses (sic [misspelled]) ... who died burned in the Inquisition of Lisbon," inspired poet. Isabel was released from oath in stature in 1596.89
Martín Pérez, cutler, husband of Susana Galván, inhabitants of Mexico and parents of Ana de Sosa.90
Agustín Rodríguez, young bachelor, who in 1580 or 1581 "was around Mexico City."[i]91 Alonso Rodríguez, was an agent of Carvajal in the contracting of married laborers as settlers in el Nuevo Reino de León92
Antonio Rodríguez, "Galician laborer," native of the town of San Vicente de Abeira in Portugal, in the bishopric of la Guardia, brother of Francisco and Sebastián Rodríguez; Antonio died from drowning before 1596 when he was released from oath in stature.
[1] Sambenito is described as an inscription in churches, containing the name, punishment, and signs of the chastisement of those doing penance in Velázquez's Spanish and English Dictionary.
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Francisco Rodríguez, brother of the anterior and, like him, native of San Vicente de Abeira and he is also called "Galician laborer;" he was the husband of María Rodríguez, by which she came to be related, if she was not before, to the Carvajales; in 1589, they lived on a ranch at five leagues from Tula, on the road to los Zacatecas and with them lived Francisca Núñez Viciosa, already widowed.
Pedro Rodríguez, brother of Antonio and Francisco, native of Fundao in the bishopric of la Guardia in Portugal, he was [word illegible, possibly "reconciled"] in 1596. In the process of Carvalal el Mozo they mention a Pedro Rodríguez, brother of an Antonio Rodríguez, inhabitants of Madrid in 1590 and, therefore, different from those registered here, a clear example of the dangerous trap the synonyms constitute for the investigator.93
Diego Ruiz de Rivera, town councillor and loyal executor of the town of Jimena (of the frontier?)" whom Carvajal named captain in Spain on February 22 and empowered him to contract "married settlers" for el Nuevo Reino de León. We believe him related very closely with Guiomar de Rivera.94
Juan Salado entered into the Nuevo Reino as a servant of Carvajal and was one of his most loyal men in the disgrace; in 1589 he was the servant of Jorge de Almeida.95
Ana de Sosa, daughter of Martín Pérez and Susana Galván; wife of Francisco Tinoco "who now live in the ranches of Agustín Guerrero in Pánuco."96
That there are a total of forty-one persons related to the crypto-Jew group which, added to the 36 that form the familial group of the Carvajales, gives us a total of 77 persons, or be it that of the 103 passengers of the "Santa Catalina," 75% were of the Saphardics. It is not an extravagance to suppose that the rest also might be although the documents consulted might not have mentioned it.
The passengers left to list here are:
Francisco de Aguilar, (or)[1] Aguilarejo, "whom (around March of 1579) they brought in the galleys for a crime that was committed near Sombrerete of cutting a man's hand." On November 12, 1580, Alonso Gutiérrez said "that it must be 20 days (October 21 or 22) of the coming of this witness of Zacatecas, he encountered in the sale of Juan Rico, 36 leagues from here (Mexico), the said Somebody Aguilar, the husband of the said Petrona (accused of being married twice), who came from Spain and was going in search of said Petrona ... the one who told him how he had come now by way of Pánuco, from Spain, with Governor Carvajal, and by favors and money that he found in a mother of his, he had liberated himself of the galleys..." Petronila Ruiz was married by force to Francisco de Aguilar her owners Francisco de Sosa and his wife Inés de Tapia, states Petronila in 1578 that "it could be five years that, being in the valley of Súchil in the home of Francisco de Sosa, the Elder, by force and against my will, Doña Inés de Tapia and the said Francisco de Sosa compelled and obliged me to marry Francisco de Aguilar ... and they had me locked up in a room and they shackled me and made other oral fearful things, by which due to fear and to relieve the vexation and bad treatments done to me in said house, against my will I married the said Francisco de Aguilar, the one who, after fifteen days of being married, without any cause ... because I did not want to consent to the said matrimony, he took me to a river which is next to the ranch of Juan Pérez de Piña, and he tried to kill me by drowning, and he would have done it had it not been for the resistance I found in my person, and other persons who deterred him, and besides this, he has treated me very badly, wounding my face and other parts of my body, beating me, not giving me food, selling my clothes, being as he is, an incorrigible and wicked man..."97 The case of this wicked one is very well known; we have another example of a passenger of the "Santa Catalina" who came without permission and who was a fugitive from justice, besides, we found him in league with the group of Portuguese of la Nueva Vizcaya who were going to help Carvajal in his conquest through Francisco de Sosa, the Elder. The most probable is that Francisco de Aguilar might have also been a Sephardic.
[1] [It is written as "a" (to) rather than "o" (or) but one must assume that it is in error.
Pascual de Alcedo, son of Sebastián de Alcedo, deceased (in 1580), and of Catalina de Capetillo, native of the vassalage of Vizcaya at present in Seville, departed for Pánuco in the province of Nueva España ..."98
Somebody Ballesteros, smith.
Rodrigo de la Barreda, "teacher of stone cutting, inhabitant of the place of Cermyno (sic) in the diocese of Burgos. He contracts himself as settler of el Nuevo Reino."99 On September 20, 1596, an Alonso de la Barreda attended the foundation of the metropolitan city of Nuestra Señora de Monterrey and he was the first mayor of said city.100
Braba (sic), "... carpenter who also lives in the said Reino (de León)."
Old man, "married, of whom he does not remember."
Wife of the old man.
Iñigo (Pedro?), "carpenter who lives in the said Reino (de León)." We believe he is Pedro de Iñigo, companion of Gaspar Castaño de Sosa in his expedition to New Mexico, founder of the city of Monterrey and mayor in its first city council.101
Juan Izquierdo, "... smith, and his wife, that he lives in the said Reino de León."
Wife of Juan Izquierdo.
Diego de Madrid, husband of Ana de los Reyes, inhabitant of Seville in the collection of San Juan de la Palma, "they bargains with the illustrious gentleman Luis de Carvajal y de la Cueva, governor and captain general of el Nuevo Reino de León in the provinces of Nueva España to go to populated the said kingdom."102
Domingo Martínez de Cearreta. May 24, 1590, the Royal Audience of Mexico informed His Majesty: "Domingo Martínez de Learreta (sic), in case, and Don Pedro de Learreta Buitrón, his son, has [sic] given information in this Royal Audience, of the services which he has done in this land for His Majesty, having come to it nine years ago in company of Luis de Carvajal, to whom was committed, by His Majesty, the conquest and pacification of el Nuevo Reino de León and of the towns of Tamapache, Tamotela, Tamholen, and the in it, father and son have served at their own cost and mission (sic), with their arms and horses, without salary, nor any other allowance whatsoever, and that the Domingo Martínez has performed the office of major constable and agent of the Royal Treasury and given a good accounting of himself in all, and the same way appears to be the information which officially has been made, His Majesty having been served to occupy him in things of His royal service, it seems to us that he has quality, ability, sufficient to do him favor, and the same his said son. The lawyer Eugenio de Salazar said that he understands that the person of the said Domingo Martínez parts concur so that Your Majesty do him favor, although by processes that he has followed as agent in this Audience against Carvajal, governor of el Nuevo Reino de León, it seems that the said Carvajal, nor [sic] the ones who have been in his company, have no obligation to Your Majesty for the services which they did for him there."103 Also Don Luis de Velasco II recommends him to the king: "... a soldier who had performed the office of treasurer (sic for agent) of Your Majesty in that land with the governor, Luis de Carvajal, that his name is Domingo Martínez de Cearreta, nobleman and of good intentions and known by the people that travel that area..."104
On April 27, 1589, Carvajal states in his process that Domingo lived in Mexico City at this date.
Pedro Martínez de Cearreta, son of the previous one; in April of 1589, he resided in el Nuevo Reino de León.
Cousin of Domingo Martínez de Dearreta, "cleric who went from here to Peru."
Diego Martínez de Valladares, "official for making bells, inhabitant of the place of Yola (sic), diocese of Burgos ...works with the illustrious gentleman Luis de Carvajal y de la Cueva and governor and captain general of el Nuevo Reino de León, of the provinces of la Nueva España, to populate the said kingdom."105
Ana de Reyes, wife of Diego de Madrid.106
Alonso de los Reyes, native of Espinosa de los Monteros, connected with Carvajal to populate the Nuevo Reino de León February 9, 1580, together with Pedro López de Mendoza, Alonso García Mendoza, Juan Jiménez Mendoza and Pedro Rodríguez.107
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Pedro Rodríguez, native of Espinosa de los Monteros, simple homonym of the other Pedro Rodríguez, native of Fundao in Portugal.108
Juan de Saucedo Espinosa, carpenter, native of la Puebla de Guadalupe (Cáceres), "in his own name and in that of his wife, he is connects with ... Carvajal ... to go to populate the said kingdom (of León)."
Wife of Juan de Saucedo Espinosa.
Son of Juan de Saucedo Espinosa, whose names he does not know moreover that they live (April of 1589) in this Mexico City."109
Somebody de Vardales.
Wife of Somebody de Vardales.
Children of Somebody de Vardales, "who live (April of 1589) in Mexico City."
d. Settlers of el Nuevo Reino de León in the epoch of Carvajal (1582-1590).
We anticipate the reader that this important section we offer to him only as an unfinished writing which needs to be carefully elaborated again, deepening the investigation as far as possible, seeking zealously new sources which permit the enlargement of the list of settlers as well as the data regarding each one of them. The list, which up to now we have been able to form, is very incomplete and, what is more important, we do not have sufficient data to group them in a clear and convenient form; but, with everything and that, we believe it useful to present here our defective unfinished writing.
1. Passengers of the "Santa Catalina." We shall begin with a simple list of the passengers, of the vessel "Santa Catalina," who entered with Carvajal into the Nuevo Reino de León, since the data, which we have of them, were consigned to the previous section .
Andrés del Aguila, Pascual de Alcedo, Rodrigo de la Barreda, the carpenter Braba, Luis de Carvajal, the Younger, Vicente Correa, Gaspar Delgado,Alonso García Mendoza - in 1631 an Alonso García was major constable of the city of Monterrey - Manuel de Herrera, the carpenter Iñigo, Juan Izquierdo, Juan Jiménez Mendoza, Diego de Madrid, Domingo Martínez de Cearreta, Pedro Martínez de Cearreta Buitrón, Diego Martínez de Valladares, Felipe Núñez de Rivera, Francissca Núñez Viciosa, Luis Pimentel, Ana de los Reyes, Alonso del Río, Alonso Rodríguez, Antonio Rodríguez de Paiva, Baltasar Rodríguez, Francisco Rodríguez de Matos, Pedro Rodríguez, Diego Ruiz de Rivera, Juan Salado, Juan de Saucedo Espinosa, wife of Juan de Saucedo Espinosa.
We have serious doubts that some of those mentioned in this list would have entered into the Nuevo Reino de León although they contracted it in Spain as settlers of it, these are: Pascual de Alcedo, Juan Jiménez Mendoza, Pedro López de Mendoza, Diego de Madrid, Diego Martínez de Valladares, Ana de los Reyes, Alonso del Río, Pedro Rodríguez, Juan de Saucedo Espinosa, and his wife.
This results in a total of thirty-two persons of which ten are doubtful; we are left, with certainty, twenty-two passengers of the "Santa Catalina" who entered into el Nuevo Reino de León, a greater number than we had always imagined. It is interesting to note that ten persons, who seem doubtful to us, are precisely of those about whom we have no data to affirm their Judeo-Portuguese origin, of which we are certain of the other twenty-two that they were Sephardics.
2. That entered through Pánuco. It is obvious that all these person entered into el Nuevo Reino de León from the province of Pánuco; let us say now, about others who, without having been passengers in the "Santa Catalina," also came from Pánuco with Carvajal.
Pedro de Alvear, soldier of Carvajal in la Huasteca; October 20, 1580, he was in Mexico City accompanying the governor.110
Someone Alonso, "... who lives near here (the jails of the Inquisition in Mexico City), served me two years (in el Nuevo Reino de León)," states Carvajal in his "Autodefensa."111 In our extensive list of settlers of the north of Mexico we have registered several persons of the surname Alonso who are Portuguese, like: "Juan Alono [sic], Portuguese, inhabitant of Saltillo in 1589"112 or "Pedro Alonso Falcón, inhabitant of Coimbra in Portugal, father of Gonzalo Hernández, soldier of Juan de Oñate."113
Luis Álvarez, Portuguese, soldier of Carvajal.114
Alonso de Avila, soldier of Carvajal, he was the natural son of Gonzalo de Avila, processed by the Inquisition as renegade and blasphemer; in 1571, he was 21 years old115 and lived in the city of Zacatecas.116 In 1624, there lived in the city of Monterrey, a man of 36 years of age (born in 1588) named Francisco de Avila, very related to the descendants of Montemayor, of Del Canto, of Lucas García, etc.117 Might he have been a son of Alonso?
Diego de Barbosa, soldier of Carvajal in 1586 was 30 years old; in January of 1584 he accompanied Carvajal to the war of Tamapache.118
Alonso de Barrionuevo. On May 2, 1588, Carvajal named him perpetual town councillor of the town of Almadén (Monclova, Coah).119
Francisco de Belver, agent of the Royal Treasury of el Nuevo Reino de León.120
Luis de Cabrera, soldier of Carvajal.121
Juan de Carvajal, soldier of Luis Carvajal y de la Cueva and his interpreter of the Mexican language. We believe that it is Juan de Victoria Carvajal who entered with Castaño de Sosa into New Mexico in 1590 and that he might be one of the most distinguished captains of Don Juan de Oñate, whom he also accompanied to New Mexico in 1597 and in 1600.122
Martín Flores, soldier of Carvajal, he was an inhabitant of the town of Tampico and in 1584, he was 27 years of age.123
Pedro Flores, Negro, from the expedition of Gaspar Castaño de Sosa to New Mexico; we believe that he is the Pedro Flores, inhabitant of Monterrey and head of the family of the Flores de Abrego.124 In 1612, Rodrigo Flores Carvallo, Portuguese of origin, was a notary public in the city of Monterrey.125
Francisco García, soldier of Carvajal.126 There is a remote possibility that he might be the Francisco García of the expedition of Oñate to New Mexico, "... native of Mexico City, son of Martin Garcia, of good stature red bearded, 35 years of age..."127
Pedro García de Belver, soldier of Carvajal, cousin of Francisco de Belver, the one who was an agent in el Nuevo Reino de León. In 1584 Pedro was 35 years of age and stated , in the mines of Zimapán, that "he has knowledge of the town of Oxitipa from ten years to this time, [or] a little more."128
Juan González, Portuguese, soldier of Carvajal;129 perhaps he might be the 2nd lieutenant Juan González who, in 1597 entered in New Mexico with Don Juan de Oñate, "native of Islas de las Terceras, son of Andrés González."130
Luis González, soldier of Carvajal, whom he accompanied in the war of Tamapache, and before that, he was with him as guard during eight months in the town of Tamaholipa. In November of 1584, he stated being 33 years of age.131
Juan de Illescas, in 1604 he was an inhabitant of Saltillo and was the son of Baltasar de Illescas, who was a witness in the Inquisitorial process against Gonzalo de Avila, both of them being inhabitants of Tampico.132 In 1594 María de Illescas, wife of Juan Martínez de la Barrera, lived in Mazapil.133
Pedro Infante, cleric, of more than 41 years in 1586, "curate of the town and party of Tamasuchal (sic)." In 1589 he was an inhabitant of Mexico City and stated "that he was in the said conquest (of Tamapache) with Luis de Carvajal y de la Cueva, and that he had been with him in el Nuevo Reino de León."134
García de Luna, war clerk for Luis Carvajal y de la Cueva; on June 14, 1583, he was with him in the town of Tancolol in la Huasteca.135
Diego Maldonado was an inhabitant of Tampico in 1571 and was a
notary in the process against Gonzalo de Avila.136
In 1562 we found a Diego Maldonado, owner of an hacienda for
metal works in Zacatecas.137 On September 20,
1596, Diego Maldonado accompanied a Diego de Montemayor in the
foundation of Monterrey and he was named town councillor of
its first city council.138 In 1604 we found
another - might it be the same one? - Diego Maldonado,
inhabitant of Saltillo, owner of a planting field.139
Luis de Mantini, "who was known by the other name, Pedro de Mantini," accompanied Carvajal in his entries into el Nuevo Reino de León.140
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Gaspar de Meneses, soldier of Carvajal whom he accompanied to the war of Tamapache at the end of 1583.141
Alonso Montaño, inhabitant of the town of los Valles, was a soldier of Carvajal142 and we believe that he remained in the lands of Coahuila or of la Nueva Vizcaya because, in 1604 a young bachelor named Alonso Montaño was an inhabitant of Cuencamé143 and in 1627 Catalina Montaño was the wife of Mateo de Villafranca, one of the oldest and most important inhabitants of the city of Monterrey.144
Pedro Morán, investigating official in el Nuevo Reino de León; he was the one who took the "information of one hundred witnesses" of which Carvajal speaks.145
Diego Núñez de Mendoza, who was captain and junior judge in the city of Monterrey.146
Luis Olid de Biedma, priest and vicar of the town of los Valles, who accompanied Carvajal in one of his entries into el Nuevo Reino de León. On March 14, 1584, he stated being of the age of 46 years (born in 1538) and having come to la Huasteca 16 years before (1568).147
Martín Ortiz, cleric and vicar of we know not where, who traveled with Carvajal.148
Melchor de Paiva, soldier of Carvajal, with whom he was on June 14, 1583, in the town of Tancolol;149 we believe that he is the Paiva mentioned by Luis de Carvajal, the Younger; "Likewise, that to a Paiva of el Saltillo, to an Herrera, and to a Correa, he said of them that they were Jews, with fear and because they would leave him."150 As we were saying earlier, we believe this Melchor de Paiva, to be a very close relative of Simon de Paiva.
Andrés Palomo, Alonso de León tells us: "They helped very much in the discovery of this kingdom and everything else that the governor did, the captains Palomo and Agustín de Zarza, to whom Governor Luis de Carvajal owed the greater part of the fortune he enjoyed..."151 On August 24, 1589, the vicar of the town of Saltillo and Captain Juan Marlete accused an Andrés Palomo: "He gave notice as well, how an Andrés Palomo, soldier, being with other soldiers in the church, hearing major mass, the said vicar returning to celebrate the feast for the public, he reprimanded the said soldiers because they made entries and took the natives and took away their freedom, without having a commission for it, that they should see that it was a great offence to God, and that he should not absolve those said ones, nor could he do it; the said Andrés Palomo said to the soldiers who were next to him, do not give it a thought, that if the vicar does not want to absolve us, there is Chimamal who would absolve us, and Chimamal was a Chichimecan Indian who was hanged; witnesses of it are Juan Navarro and Pedro de San Juan Pérez Chocallo, inhabitants of this town and many other persons."152
Andrés Pérez,on May 2, 1588, signed, as scribe of the government of el Nuevo Reino de León, the document of the arrival of the royal treasury to the town of Almadén and on the previous April 5 he had signed, with the same character, the title of lieutenant given by Carvajal to Diego de Montemayor.153 In 1590 he accompanied Gaspar Castaño de Sosa in his expedition to New Mexico, also as secretary of the government.154 In 1549 there was an Andrés Pérez , inhabitant of Pánuco, who declared having come to la Nueva España 22 years ago (1527) and that "he was in the conquests of Motín & Jalisco and in many entries in the province of Pánuco ..."155 Might he be the father of Carvajal's secretary?
Juan Pinto, Portuguese, native of Tavira in the 'Algarves' of Portugal, inhabitant of Pánuco since 1568 and one of Carvajal's soldiers.156 On December 3, 1569, a certain Arias Pinto, Portuguese, lived in the town of los Valles.157
Pedro
Pinto, Negro, native of Portugal who, in 1590, entered into New Mexico
with Castaño de Sosa.158 At some time might he have been a
slave of Juan Pinto?
Juan de Portes was a scrivener of Carvajal in the war of Jalpa and in other entries. In 1591 he lived in Mexico city as "scrivener ... before the officials of His Majesty."159
Diego Ramírez Barrionuevo, on June 14, 1583, was one of the captains who accompanied Carvajal in the town of Tancolol; on March 11, 1584, he figures as Luis Carvajal de la Cueva's camp grandmaster in the war of Tamapache.160 In 1588 he was an agent of the royal treasury in the town of Almadén.161
Sebastián Rodríguez, associate of Luis Carvajal y de la Cueva in the cattle ranch that they bought from Don Lope de Sosa in la Huasteca.162 In reality we have no datumthat allows us to affirm that he entered with his associate into el Nuevo Reino.
Diego de Salas, agent of Tampuxi (sic) in la Huasteca, accompanied Carvajal as a soldier on his trip from Pánuco to Mazapil in 1573 and on other entries. Salas was "a native of this land (la Huasteca)" and inhabitant of the town of los Valles.163
Francisco de Solís, soldier of Carvajal; on August 27, 1584, he declared, in the mines of Zimapán, being 28 years of age.164
Francisco de Sosa. Alonso de León says that the major justice Diego Rodríguez, in 1611, tried to rebuild the city of León (Cerralvo, N.L.) and work the mines there; for which some people came, that their not being able to withstand the hunger and too many Indians, the interest in the silver being so small, they went back; there remaining a mulatto called Francisco de Sosa - who came with Governor Luis de Carvajal - in that post, alone, with his wife and children. The impudences of the Indians grew, what with the little resistance they found; and one night, Sosa being outside of his hut, the Indians arrived shooting arrows. He fled to save himself; he was in his shirt sleeves; they shot at the white; he diverted the Indians by quickly taking off his shirt, which remained hanging on a spine; they continued shooting the shirt and he, since he was black and it was dark (sic) had time to enter into his house from where he defended himself that night. The strategy saved his life and with it he saved his house ... Another day Diego de Solís arrived sent by the major justice, to see how he was and, the impudence seen, they deserted right away; that the little strength oblige all that."165
Antonio Velázquez, soldier of Carvajal with whom he was on June 14, 1583, in the town of Tancolol.166
Juan de Victoria Carvajal. We believe that he is the Juan de Carvajal mentioned earlier, the interpreter of the Mexican language of Luis Carvajal y de la Cueva; our conjecture is strengthened at knowing that Juan de Victoria Carvajal was born in Yautepec in the marquisate of the valley of Oaxaca around 1561 and he was the son of Juan de Carvajal and very probably a mestizo, which would explain his knowledge of the Mexican language. He was of medium stature, with a light-brown beard and 37 years of age in February of 1597 when he entered into New Mexico with Don Juan de Oñate. He had already entered before, in 1590, with Gaspar Castaño de Sosa.167
Agustín de la Zarza. See previous [material] what we say about Andres Palomo. In 1524 Miguel de la Zarza, native of Zarza de Alanje in Badojoz, arrived in la Nueva España in company of Juan and Tomé Cortés, natives of Medellín, also in Badajoz.168 In 1526 Juan de la Zarza, native of Ciudad Rodrigo in Salamanca went to Mexico with his brother Amador de Tapia, sons of Alonso de la Zarza and Teresa Gómez. Juan de la Zarza was a visitor of Oaxaca and la Mizteca in 1547.169
This second list of persons, who entered with Carvajal into la Huasteca, gives us a total of forty, of which we have data or vehement suspicions that 25 of them belonged to the crypto-Jews, or be it 62.5%. If we unite these data with those of the passengers of the vessel"Santa Catalina," we would have a total of 72 persons, of which 47 would be Sephardics, which gives a percentage of 65.3%.
3.
That they entered through Saltillo. We go on now to speak of
the people who, in the epoch of Carvajal, entered into el Nuevo
Reino de León through the "road of the Zacatecas," across
Mazapil and Saltillo. We must advise the reader that we shall
include, in this third list, the founders and the old settlers
of Saltillo for the following reasons. First, Carvajal usurped
this jurisdiction and changed authorities and attracted the
inhabitants into his faction; let us hear what Alonso de León
tells us: He went into Saltillo, which was an older settlement
and in virtue of his stipulations, due to falling in the
demarcation of his jurisdiction (we have already seen that this
is false), he removed justice; placing on his own those which he
liked. Having returned from Saltillo with some inhabitants of
Saltillo, since he knew how to flatter all and attract them with
his kindness and demeanor, he populated, in the north part of
the eye of Monterrey, the town of San Luis."170
Second, we have already seen how the settlements founded (?) by
Carvajal were ephemerid ones; Saltillo was the refuge of those
who were depopulating them. Third, Carvajal took out of
Saltillo all the settlers of his town of Almadén and a part of
these accompanied Castaño de Sosa to New Mexico. Finally, the
twelve families that entered with Montemayor for the foundation
of the Metropolitan City of Our Lady of Monterrey in 1596, also
left from Saltillo.
Our third list is the following:
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Diego de Aguirre. In 1580 Francisco de Urdiñola entered, on the orders of Captain Diego de Aguirre, to fight the warring Indians in the district of Saltillo.171
Fortunato de Aguirre, founder of Saltillo.172
Matías de Aguirre, captain and one of the first settlers of Saltillo.173
Ortuño de Aguirre, tailor and one of the oldest settlers of Saltillo.174
Somebody Alanís, inhabitant of Saltillo since before 1586.175
Catalina de Alfaro, Mestiza, inhabitant of Saltillo since before the marriage of Alberto del Canto (1586).176
Diego Alonso, of the first settlers of Saltillo.177
Juan Alonso, Portuguese and one of the founders of Saltillo who figures in the list of land water grants awarded by Alberto del Canto in 1577.178
Melchor Álvarez, Portuguese, companion of Alberto del Canto in the founding of Saltillo..179 In 1584 an old Portuguese of more than 73 years of age named Melchor Álvarez lived in Guadalajara, presented as a witness for Francisco Barrón in his battle against Carvajal. Might he have something to do with his aforementioned homonym?180 Hernando Arias, "the Samson" of el Nuevo Reino de León of whom the chronicler speaks to us.181
Magdalena de Avila, wife of Juan López, parents of Bartolomé, Tomás and Lucas López, from the old settlers of el Nuevo Reino de León.182
Mateo de Barraza, notary public and one of the founders of Saltillo.183 On April 1, 1578, he received from Martín López de Ibarra a gift of lands in the valley of el Pirineo (Parras, Coah.).184 In 1604 a married man without hacienda named Mateo de Barraza was an inhabitant of Durango.185
Alonso de Barreda. "About Alonso de Barreda we only know that he was the first senior mayor of Monterrey, designated by Montemayor in the record of foundation; and that he settled his farming hacienda to the west of Santa Catalina."186
Francisco de Bascones, companion of Castaño de Sosa in his entry in New Mexico.187
Francisco de Bellerías, owner of the woods of las Caleras in the jurisdiction of Saltillo.188
Cristóbal de Biruega, of the expedition of Castaño de Sosa to New Mexico.189
Diego de Biruega. Brother of the previous one? He also accompanied Castaño on his expedition.190
Fernán Blas Pérez. In 1596 he was the owner of an hacienda of silver mining in las Tapiezuelas, in la Pesquería Chica (Marín , N.L.).191
Luis Bogaror, captain and one of the oldest settlers of Saltillo.192
Somebody Bustamante, in the battle the people of Diego de Montemayor and those of Alberto del Canto had in the city of León (Cerralvo, N.L.), "they killed one of the outside ones (of the people of Alberto del Canto) named Bustamante."193 Might Pedro de Bustamante be a companion of Sánchez Chamuscado in his expedition to New Mexico? In 1582 he stated being 34 years of age, native of the town called Carancejas of the mountain in the valley of Cabezón near the town of Santillana, that he came to the Nueva España around 1572; that the first three years he was a discoverer of mines and the other seven at the service of His Majesty in the government of Diego de Ibarra.194
Juan Calderón, town councillor of the town of Almadén around the year of 1588.195
Somebody Camacho, one of the first settlers of el Nuevo Reino de León.196
Alberto del Canto of whom we spoke earlier.
Francisco de Cardona, in 1599 he was an inhabitant of Monterrey.197
Somebody Carrillo, inhabitant of Saltillo since before 1589 had been a prisoner in Guadalajara for bigamy.198
Gaspar Castaño de Sosa with whom we will occupy ourselves amply farther on.
Hernando de
Castro, Portuguese, accused on April 10, 1575, of "on holy Thursdays
he locked himself in his room, in his dwelling (of Sain) and he would
arm himself and he would take his sword in hand and with it he would
stab at a crucifix, and then he would rest and he would sit in a chair
to return to stabbing at the crucifix."199 Exactly forty
years before, on April 3, 1535, there were, registering in the House
of Commerce of Seville to go to the Indies, "Hernando de Castro and
Juan de Castro, his brother, sons of Hernando de Castro and of Teresa
de Figueroa, inhabitants of Cáceres, at Santo Domingo."200
Although the investigator is never exempt from falling into the
dangerous trap of the
homonyms, we believe that this Hernando de Cácares is the same one who, in 1575, fought with a crucifix in his residence of Sain, because of his also having a brother named Juan (Fernandez) de Castro,201 of whom we shall speak farther on.
Agustina de Charles, wife of Juan Pérez de los Ríos, inhabitants of Saltillo and founders of Monterrey. On December 15, 1593, Fray Pablo de Góngora, Franciscan from the convent of San Esteban de Saltillo, accused her, along with her daughter Ana Pérez, of witchcraft, it states thus: "also in this town there are two women, mother and daughter, the one is named Agustina de Chabes (sic) and the daughter is named Ana Pérez, and the husband and father is named Juan Pérez de los Ríos of these a neighbor of his, who is called Melchor Álvarez, says that it was a gourd of milk that they gave a servant, it caused him to lose his reason that he raged from his heart until, with oils and melesina[1] and other aids God was served to liberate him; to another Mestizo servant, who is called Diego de la Mancha, this said Melchor Álvarez also says that they gave him another drink, that he was ill for a long time and he arrived at death until he went to a cattle farm to drink the milk where he vomited two large worms with hair; a Mestiza, who was called Catalina de Alfaro, who is in the jurisdiction of this town, came to complain to the lieutenant of the magistrate of it, who is called Juan Navarro, saying that they were witches and the said Juan Navarro came to the guardian priest of this convent to say that the guardian priest should take the case and make information of it..."202
Alonso de Charles, firstborn son of Juan Pérez de los Ríos and of Agustina de Charles. In el Nuevo Reino de León he used the name of Alonso Pérez.203
Bartolomé de Charles, second son of Juan Pérez de los Ríos and of Agustina de Charles.204
Catalina de Charles, sister of Agustina de Charles; she is mentioned in the "Memorial of the Discovery" of Gaspar Castaño de Sosa: "On the sixteenth of the said ...(November of 1590)... a tame doe, which Catalina de Charles had with her, broke a foot there."205
Martín de Charrieta, one of the oldest inhabitants of Saltillo.206
Juan de Contreras, ensign of the expedition of Castaño de Sosa to New Mexico, named 2nd lieutenant in the absence of his brother Francisco Salgado.207
Baldo Cortés, first priest of Saltillo and one of its founders, owner of lands to the south of Saltillo, between Buenavista and la Encantada, and of a vast extension from the valley of Las Labores, today Ramos Arizpe, to Anaelo, including the ranch of Mesillas.208 He was the owner of mines and of lands in el Nuevo Reino de León.209
Agustina Díaz, also called Agustina de Simancas, was the wife of Alonso Pérez and legitimate daughter of Juan Pérez de Simancas and of Rufina Díaz.210
She was the woman whose life was saved by Alberto del Canto by cutting, with his sword, the rope with which her husband had hanged her.211
Mariana Díaz widow of Diego Diaz de Berlanga, inhabitant of Monterrey.212
Rufina Díaz, wife of Juan Pérez de Simancas and mother of Agustina Díaz.213
[1] Not able to find the word in any dictionary. It could be his way of writing medicine.
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Diego Díaz de Berlanga, companion of Gaspar Castaño de Sosa in his entry into New Mexico.214 "...he entered into Monterrey the day of its foundation.[1] He accompanied the governor in all the official acts as a scribe. It was he who wrote the letter of foundation of the city and authorized, with the governor, the first grants of lots and farmlands to the first settlers. He was designated as town councillor third class of the first government that the city had and first class in it of 1600. On February 5, 1597, he received, as a grant, four caballerias[2] of land to the north of the city where he founded his farm. His death must have occurred in the first years of the XVII century. His widow, Mariana Díaz sold his lands afterward to Pedro de la Garza, it being called for that reason since then, Estacia de Pedro de la Garza, today San Nicolás de los Garza."215 In 1551 Juan Díaz de Berlanga was one of the most important miners in the mines of los Zacatecas.216
Alonso Díaz Camuño, owner of a ranch in la Cuesta de los Muertos, along the road from Saltillo to Monterrey; he was the owner also of an hacienda of silver mining in the same place.217
Gaspar Duarte, one of the founders of the town of Saltillo and its government scribe in 1591; he was the one who signed the act of foundation of the town of San Esteban de la Nueva Tlaxcala.218 On December 10, 1586, he was an inhabitant of Mazapil.219
Juan de Elizalde, was an inhabitant of Saltillo in February of 1592.220
Martín de Elizalde , was an inhabitant of Saltillo in October of 1591.221
Juan de Erbóez, one of the founders of Saltillo who is mentioned in the distribution of grants: "Item, said magistrate (Alberto del Canto0 distributed to Juan de Erbáez, inhabitant of the said town, two caballerias of land at the exit of el valle de las Labores (Ramos Arizpe, Coah.) at the boundaries of lands of Santos Rojo."222
Juan de Estrada, of the expedition of Castaño de Sosa to New Mexico.223
Juan de Farías or Fariá, Portuguese, perpetual town councillor of the town of Almadén, named by Carvajal on May 2, 1588.224 Mayor first class of the city of Monterrey in 1604. We believe that he is the Juan de Farías of the expedition of Espejo.225
Alberto Fernández, founder of Saltillo and its mayor second class in 1580.226
Alonso Fernández, founder of Saltillo.227 In 1584 he was an inhabitant of the town of Huichapan, an old man of more than 70 years of age called Alonso Fernández the Elder. Might he have been the father of the one preceeding?228
Alvaro Fernández, inhabitant of Saltillo in 1591.229
Juan Fernández, in 1604 he was an inhabitant of Saltillo.230 In the expedition of Antonio de Espejo to New Mexico there figures a Juan Fernández, native of Oporto in Portugal.231 In1603 Juan Fernández de Bracamonte was a constable in the city of Monterrey.232
Juan Fernández de Castro, brother of Hernando de Castro, the one who
fought on holy Thursdays with a crucifix. This one is head of the
Fernández de Castro family which was so important in el Nuevo Reino de
León. In the report of the mines of San Martín, etc. of 1585, it is
said: "In this same manner, populated next to a river they call Sain,
six leagues from the town of Llerena, towards the mines of Zacatecas,
is a watermill with four founding ovens and two for refining lead,
that all of them are moved by a water wheel ... which was made and
built by Juan Fernández de Castro, who
[1] This word, although spelled fundacinó must be fundación.
[2] See footnote x, chapter 3.
sold it to a Juan Guerra, who has it and possesses at present ... and two leagues farther down the said Juan Fernández de Castro has populated haciendas of major and minor livestock ranching and of farming..."233 he exciting problem of the multiple family relations between the Fernández de Castro and the Montemayor we shall discuss farther on.
Diego de Figueroa, soldier of Luis de Carvajal in the captaincy of Gaspar Castaño de Sosa, inhabitant of Saltillo.234
Pedro Flores, different from the one we mentioned in the previous list; one of the oldest settlers of Saltillo, perhaps of the founders.235
Diego Gaitán de Espinosa, in 1593 he was an inhabitant of Saltillo.236
Bartolomé García, native of the town of Alquesea, in Extremadura, at 66 years of age in 1592 in which he was an inhabitant of Zacatecas; around 1565 he had lived in the region of the Río Grande y Nieves237 and by 1571 he was a brother of the brotherhood of the Most Holy Sacrament of the city of Zacatecas.238 In 1631 a Bartolomé García.239 lived in Monterrey, in very close connection with the Montemayors.
Juan Bautista García in 1604 was an inhabitant of Saltillo and was young and unmarried.240 Might he have been the son of another Juan Bautista García who, in 1595, was steward of the brotherhoods in the city of Zacatecas, of which he was chief constable?; he had already died by 1625.241
Lorenzo García, inhabitant of Saltillo in 1604 and owner of farming field.242
Lucas García, Portuguese, complete [sic] brother of Diego Rodríguez, sons of Baltasar de Sosa and Inés Rodríguez, inhabitants of Saltillo; husband of Juliana de Quintanilla, who was an entire [sic] sister of José de Treviño and of Sebastiana de Treviño, this last one wife of the major justice Diego Rodríguez, her uncle. He was one of the founders of the city of Monterrey. "Lucas García was a translator of the Huachichila language. In 1606, he accompanied Don Francisco de Urdiñola in the punishment of the Indians who sacrificed Fray Martín de Altamira in the river of Nadadores in Coahuila. He had the rank of captain and he had diverse charges in Monterrey: town councillor (1599, 1601, 1606 & 1630); mayor first class (1607, 1627 & 1628) and mayor second class (1602, 1611 & 1624). He was, furthermore, procurer in 1616."243
Pedro Gentil, founder of Saltillo.244 He was the owner of carriages and in them came the Tlaxcaltecas in 1591 to populate San Esteban of la Nueva Tlaxcala.245
Ana Gómez, slave of Doña Estefanía de Montemayor.246
Francisco Gómez, servant of Alonso López de Baena.247
Alonso González, "who went through with Narváez, and who found himself in the seizure and conquest of this city (Mexico) and in many other provinces which he declares, ... and that he is married and has two daughters ready to marry, Mestizas and one daughter and one son, both legitimate, and his wife ready to deliver (this he declared in 1547) ... and that he is a native of Lisbon, of the lineage of the Gagos, servant of the house of the king of Portugal; and that they had principal charges: his father's name was Juan Álvarez de Gago."248 He was one of the soldiers of the army of Pedro de Ahumada Sámano whom he accompanied in the persecution of the rebellious Indians up to the mountains of Guadiana and to the Malpaís in 1561.249 In 1566 he was one of the first settlers of the mines of Fresnillo and on September 16 of that year, he discovered, in said mines, those of el Peñol and there we found him in February of 1567.250 On November 8, 1568, as a soldier of Francisco Cano, he signed, as a witness, the "Narration" of the entry into the "Lake of New Mexico" and he was an inhabitant of Mazapil.251 In 1577, he accompanied Alberto del Canto in the foundation of Saltillo and he populated the valley of las Labores" (Ramos Arizpe, Coah.).252 On August 4, 1589, being an inhabitant of Saltillo, it is said of him that he is an "old man and (very) near death."253 In 1596 he executed a testament founding a chaplaincy with the land he had in the valley of las Labores (Ramos Arizpe, Coah.) which, since then, was called "Capellanía."254
Lorenzo González, one of the oldest settlers of Saltillo.255
Marcos González, from the first settlers of el Nuevo Reino de León.256
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Julián Gutiérrez, was the scribe before whom were registered the first grants of lands and waters awarded by Alberto del Canto at founding the town of Santiago del Saltillo and [was] one of its first settlers.257
Cristóbal de Heredia. On May 2, 1588, Carvajal named him mayor of the town of Almadén (Monclova, Coah.)258 and in 1590 he accompanied Gaspar Castaño de Sosa in his entry into New Mexico as his camp master.259 On July 23, 1600, Captain Cristóbal de Heredia, in the mines of San Bartolomé, signs as a witness various documents of the inspection done by Gordejuela of the army of Don Juan de Oñate and he entered with him into New Mexico.260 In 1604 he was an inhabitant and owner of a mill in the mines of Indé.261 Might he have been the Heredia whom Francisco de Ibarra sent, in the middle of 1569, to take jurisdiction of the town of Nombre de Dios? We believe not, more likely it must treat of Julio de Heredia who, in March of 1563, was named by Ibarra in the valle of San Juan (El Fuerte, Sin.) as officer of the royal treasury.262
Alonso Hernández, one of the first settlers of Saltillo, bachelor, brother of Jesús Hernández.263
Ana Hernández, native of Lisbon, wife of Domingo de Morales, the Elder, parents of Domingo de Morales, the Younger, one of the first settlers of el Nuevo Reino de León.264
Domingo Hernández. In 1572 he was a brother in the brotherhood of el Santísimo Sacramento of the city of Zacatecas, a Portuguese carpenter named Domingo Hernández, who lived in the farm of Alonso López (de Lois?, who had his farm in Río Grande, Zac.).265 In 1590 the Portuguese Domingo Hernández accompanied Castaño de Sosa to New Mexico.266 In June of 1594, he was an inhabitant of la Nieves (Nieves, Zac.) and on January 28, 1595, he was a cartwright of Urdiñola "from 7 years to now" in his farm Río Grande and he states being 25 years of age and he was married to Isabel de Cisneros.267 We are sure that it has to do with two different persons; the carpenter married to Isabel de Cisneros and the companion of Castaño de Sosa.
Francisco Hernández "who lodges (in Mazapil) in the home of Diego de Montemayor" in 1572.268 There is a very remote possibility that he might be the Francisco Hernández who, in 1547, was an inhabitant of the Puebla de los Angeles, who had come to la Nueva España in 1536, a native of the town of Medellín, legitimate son of Francisco Hernández and of Inez de Escobar, and who is has the office of tailor.269
Ginés Hernández, Portuguese and one of the founders of Saltillo, along with Alonso González they populated the "valle de las Labores" (Ramos Arizpe, Coah). In 1591 he was town councillor of the town of Santiago de Saltillo, in 1596 he remained as testamentary executor of Alonso González; he died in 1603.270 In April of 1604 he was an inhabitant of Saltillo and owner of a planting field, Ginés Hernández, perhaps son of the previous one.271
Gonzalo Hernández, one of the first settlers of Saltillo.272
Jesús Hernández, young bachelor, brother of Alonso Hernández of the oldest settlers of Saltillo.273
Julián Hernández de Amaya, of the first settlers of Saltillo where he still lived on October 12, 1583.274
Antonio Hernández Grimón, one of the founders of Saltillo mentioned in the report of grants of lands made by Alberto del Canto: "Item, he (Alberto del Canto) distributed to Antonio Hernández Grimón three caballerías of land in the mountain they call el Saltillo, bordering the lands of Rodrigo Pérez, at the top part, edge of the rivulet which runs." [sic]275
Alonso Hernández Solís, of the first settlers of Saltillo.276
Francisco de Isasti, native of the town of Rentería, one-half league from the valley of Oyarzum in Guipuzcoa, 22 years of age on May 9, 1592, when he lived in the valley of los Patos (General Cepeda, Coah.) in the jurisdiction of the town of Saltillo.277 Might he be the brother of León de Isasti, servant, since 7 years of age, of Francisco de Urdiñola, son of Juanes de Isasti and native of the valley of Haro and who accompanied Juan de Oñate to New Mexico? 278
Alonso Jaimes, one of the captains of the expedition of Gaspar Castaño de Sosa to New Mexico.279
Pedro Jiménez de Montes, mayor of the town of Almadén, named by Carvajal on May 2, 1588.280
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Martín Jiménez, one of the first settlers of el Nuevo Reino de León, he was a miner and, in the year of 1600, he was town councillor in the city of Monterrey.281
Juancho, soldier of the expedition of Castaño to New Mexico.282
Gonzalo de Lares, one of the inhabitants of the mines of Almadén who accompanied Castaño de Sosa to New Mexico. He still lived in Saltillo in 1604.283
Antonio de Leiva, husband of Doña Leonor de Rentería, brother-in-law of Gonzalo Fernández de Castro and brother-in-law [through wife] of Diego de Montemayor, the Younger. He was an inhabitant of Sombrerete and entered into the Nuevo Reino de León [not] until 1609.284
Agustín de Lesaca, captain of those of Luis Carvajal y de la Cueva, who, along with Baltasar Castaño de Sosa, made "edicts, although apposed" with the people who remained in Almadén after the imprisonment of the governor.285 In August of 1589 he was an inhabitant of Saltillo.286 On January 28, 1592, "... he stated having been a soldier of López de Lois and of Urdiñola and, afterwards, commander of the troop of this last one, being thirty-nine years of age and being a native of a place situated at one league from the town in which Urdiñola was born. He stated having met Urdiñola in Mazapil and having accompanied the conqueror, in union with other soldiers, to the peace conference which this one had with the Cuahuchichil Indian Melchor..."287
Miguel Limón, of the first settlers of Saltillo.288
Lucas de Linares, in February or March of 1587 he was an inhabitant of the town of la Cueva with the title of first justice - Luis Carvajal, the Younger calls him magistrate - and usurping the office of deputy in the city of León. Shortly afterward he died at the hands of the Indians.289
Bernabé López, on October 28, 1635 he stated being "... inhabitant of the city of Monterrey... ... old settler, of more than thirty-five years to this day ... legitimate son of Juan López, deceased, one of the first persons who entered in the settlement of said city, who entered with the first governor of it, Carvajal ..."290 He was the son of Magdalena de Avila, Mulatto.
Juan López. "He stated in his testament, dated in Monterrey November 8, 1634, that he was born in Mexico City and was the legitimate son of Pedro López and Cecilia López.. Juan López was married to Magdalena de Avila, their children being: Juana, married to Juan de Montalvo; Melchora, wife of Leonardo de Mendoza; Melchor and Bernabé López.."
"In the grant of 8 caballerías of land which Diego de Montemayor awarded him on June 5, 1600, he affirms that he had been given some lands from 'the first time that he came to settle.' His son Bernabé stated in 1635 that Juan López, his father, was one of the first persons who entered in the settlement of said city (Monterrey or be it the town of San Luis), that he entered with the first governor of it, Carvajal ..."291 In 1601 he was town councillor, in 1602 constable magistrate executor, in 1603 steward of the church, in 1604 major constable of the city of Monterrey.292 We believe that he is the same one who figures as servant of Gaspar Castaño de Sosa in the expedition to New Mexico.293
Don Juan López also figures among the companions of Castaño de Sosa;294 he cannot be the aforementioned because of the Don; it is very possible that it has to do with Juan López de Ibarra from the expedition of Antonio de Espejo295 of whom we have very interesting data. On September 18, 1584, owing to an inquisitorial process, he stated being "an unmarried young man, native of the city of Milan, in Italy, where he was born; inhabitant as a soldier at the mines of Mazapil, bishopric of la Galicia from where they brought him prisoner to this Holy Office, into whose jails he entered last Saturday; that he is 25 or 26 years of age. Father: Francisco (sic for Juan) López de Ibarra, native of Eibar, near Bilbao, that at present he resides in Guadiana of la Nueva Galicia, as governor's lieutenant of la Nueva Vizcaya and Cecilia de Castrori, native of the said city of Milan, in which being a maiden she bore this declarer, his said father living in that city ... He said that he was born in the city of Milan where he learned to read and write and was raised until the age of 13 years, that he began to serve as a soldier and to receive a salary from the king, and he was one in diverse borders and presidios of Italy, near Milan and in the war of Flanders five years until it must be six years that he came to Spain, and from there he came to this land it must four years (1580) with the count of la Coruña in the vessel of Noruega (Noriega?), and in passing he arrived in Mexico and went to Nueva Vizcaya in search of his said father, and in that province he has resided until now as soldier, and he went to New Mexico when now it was discovered (1582) and that he has not studied any subject, nor has he been in France, nor
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England, nor Germany, just in Italy ... (He swore and blasphemed) ..." On September 2, 1585, he went free and with security and the sentence was that he serve two years as soldier in one of the forts of the "land of war."296
Juana López, daughter of Juan López and Magdalena de Avila, Mulatto, wife of Juan de Montalvo.
Melchora López, sister of the previous one, married to Leonardo de Mendoza.297
Alonso López de Baena, close relative, perhaps brother-in-law [through wife], of Diego de Montemayor, the Younger, he lived in Mazapil, Sombrerete and Saltillo and he settled in Monterrey in 1609 and the following year he already figures as its mayor.298
Francisco López de Recalde who, with his wife and children, entered into New Mexico with Castaño de Sosa, one of his daughters died on the road; he performed the charge of camp master.299
..Alonso Lucas, member of the expedition of Castaño de Sosa to New Mexico.300 We believe that he is Alonso Lucas el Bueno, fourth governor of el Nuevo Reino de León who on September 22, 1626, "... responded being called Captain Alonso Lucas el Bueno, that he has been a major justice and captain of war in this Reino de León by commission of the Royal Audience of la Nueva España, further it is more than two years (1623 or 1624) and that he is of the age of fifty-four years (born around 1572)."301 In 1541 a Portuguese Jew named Alonso Bueno lived in Mexico City. In 1600 Andrés Bueno, metal worker, inhabitant of Mexico, was processed in the Inquisition as Judaizer. In 1530 an Alonso Lucas was a secretary of the Royal Audience of Mexico303
Diego Luis Muñoz, of the old settlers of Saltillo.304
Bernardo de Luna, on April 10, 1578, first magistrate of the valley of el Pirineo, where the town of Santa María de las Parras would be founded.305
Diego de la Mancha, Mestizo youth, inhabitant of Saltillo, bewitched by Agustina de Charles and her daughter Ana Pérez.306
Francisco de Mancha, perhaps father of the previous one, member of the expedition of Castaño to New Mexico.307 On March 5, 1563, Alonso de la Mancha was named ensign or 2nd lieutenant of the expedition of Francisco de Ibarra to the conquest of Copalá y Topia; the following year he figures as major constable of the camp.308
Domingo Manuel, "appears as a witness in the act of foundation of Monterrey. Like the other inhabitants, he was granted lands for planting. He founded the hacienda of Santo Domingo (San Nicolás de los Garza, N. L.) where he died tragically."309 Let us hear how Alonso de León tells it: "A few days after (the punishment that was made to the Indians for the death of Fray Martín de Altamira) where today it is the field of Juan Cavazos, Domingo Manuel had it; there they killed, sadly, his Indians in this fashion: these had taken a herd of mares; Domingo Manuel went out and Juan Pérez de los Ríos, following them and reaching them, they made (in) them great destruction, killing some and bringing others, and making all of them flee. They returned the mares, and afterwards the captain of the hamlet, with six or eight wounds, complaining that they had gone to mistreat them -- as if they had given them no cause for it–. Domingo Miguel told him that that man (Pérez de los Ríos) who had gone with him was bad; that he should not worry, that he would heal him. The Indian replies: If you did not take him, he would not go. Finally he healed him, and now that he was convalescent, he paid him the work by coming one day at mealtime, he and two others; they stood at the little door, and at the time that the poor fellow was going to give a tortilla to the wounded one, another one gave him [a blow] on the arm with a wooden weapon . Then they took him without defense; they unclothed him and put a rope around his neck, and they shot him with arrows and hanged him from a large hole from which they had taken soil. They robbed and destroyed everything there was.310
Cristóbal Martín from the expedition of Castaño de Sosa to New Mexico.311 In 1585 we found a Cristóbal Martín in Zacatecas and in 1547 there lived in Puebla Cristóbal Martín, native of the town of Huelva and legitimate son of Cristóbal Martín de Leiva and of Catalina Martín ... married with the daughter of Diego Cansino."312 Could he be a relative of Antonio de Leiva?
Juan Martín who in
1604 was procurer of the city of Monterrey.313 Could he be
related to Juan Martín who in 1550 was a rich miner in the mines of
los Zacatecas314 and in 1561 was an inhabitant and miner of
the mines of Comanja?315 In 1547 Juan Martín, native of
Seville, legitimate son of Cristóbal Núñez and Francisca Martín was an
inhabitant of Mexico City and he went to la Nueva
España in 1537 already married and with children.316 Might he have been the father of the procurer of Monterrey?
Blas martín de Mederos, Portuguese, from the expedition of Castaño de Sosa to New Mexico.317
Francisco Martínez from the founders of Saltillo.318
Mariana Martínez, wife of Juan Pérez de Lerma, Portuguese, parents of Juan Pérez de Simancas.319
Manuel de Mederos. On April 10, 1575, he declared in the mines of Sombrerete that "his name is Manuel de Mederos, and that he is of the age of 35 or 36 years (he must have been born around 1540), and that he is a native of the island of San Miguel, in the Islands of the Azores, of the kingdom of Portugal, and that he is the son of Hernán Rodríguez Mederos and of María Manuel Panoma ... and that it has been ten or eleven (years) that he went to la Nueva España and that he is with Martín Pérez, inhabitant of the town and mines of San Martín, and that this declarant resides in the valley of la Puana, on a farm of the said Martín Pérez and that he is married and a husband ... to a Mestiza named Magdalena Martínez daughter of Juan Martín de Guadacanal, scribe in the house of Francisco Palomino, in the mines of Taxco."320 In 1577 he accompanied Alberto del Canto in the foundation of Saltillo and is one of the settlers who appear mentioned in the register of the grants made by that one.321 He entered with Luis Carvajal y de la Cueva into el Nuevo Reino de León and in 1583 "he founded the farm of San Juan Bautista de la Pesquería Grande ... today Villa de García, N. L."322 He accompanied Carvajal to the foundation of Almadén (Monclova) in April of 1588323 and Castaño de Sosa in his entry into New Mexico.324 At the definitive depopulation of el Nuevo Reino de León and again was an inhabitant in Saltillo, where he was living with his family on December 15, 1593.325 Although he does not figure among the founders of the city of Monterrey, we believe that he was one of the oldest inhabitants and in 1599 he performed the office of town councillor, in 1601 that of mayor, in 1602 church steward, in 1603 town councillor and in 1605 mayor. On December 7, 1607, in the company of Diego de Huelva, he bought from the priest Cebrián de Acevedo Ovalle all the mines that this one possessed in el Nuevo Reino de León. He still lived in December of 1613.326 In May of 1597 a Francisco de Mederos was processed as Judaizer in Mexico City.327 In Spain, in the province of Orense, above the Portugal Line, there is found the little town of Mederos, toponym which originated this surname.
Antón Méndez, from the first settlers of Saltillo.328 It is possible that he could
be the same soldier Antonio Méndez who in 1585 was a brother in the brotherhood of el Santísimo Sacramento in Zacatecas.329
Catalina de Montaño, wife of Mateo de Villafranca.330
Domingo de Morales. "He was born around 1541. He stated being the son of another Comingo de Morales and of Ana Hernández originally of Lisbon. He said he entered into el Nuevo Reino de León around the year of 1599 and that he contracted marriage in Monterrey. He still lived in 1631, when he stated being 90 years of age."331
Juan Morlete. One of the most distinguished personages in the
history of the northeast of Mexico in the beginnings, he well
deserves an ample biography; here we shall only note the few
data that we were able to collect about him in our
investigation: he was born in 1557 in the fortress of Arzila, on
the eastern coast of Marruecos "at half the distance between
Cape Espartel and the port of El Araix," when this was a
Portuguese possession, (he called himself a native of Jerez on
the Frontier); his parents were Lucas Morlete, son of Juan
Morlete and Isabel Tirado, and Estefanía Gómez, daughter of
Rodrigo Báez and of Isabel González. His paternal grandfather,
Juan Morlete, was French, Flemish, and German - the witnesses do
not agree, but Morlete says that he was German - and barber in
the aforementioned fortress and his son, Lucas, was the druggist
of the fort. In his information of purity of blood the majority
of his witnesses declared that he descended from old Christians;
but, one of them, the lawyer Nuño Nuñez de Villavicencio, said
that he did not know Morlete nor his ancestors, but that he
heard said that his parents were Portuguese and were held
suspect and in the opinion of being unclean and descendants of
Jews, which would explain the concealing of his place of
origin. He arrived in la Nueva España in 1575 or 1576 and since
then traveled through Zacatecas, Río Grande,
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Mazapil, Saltillo, etc.332 He became an inhabitant in the mines of San Gregorio of el Mazapil where he performed, for many years, the office of scribe of His Majesty, officer of the Holy Office and protector of Indians. On October 12, 1583, he was in Saltillo performing his office as scribe;333 in 1586 he was a member of the Santísimo Sacramento of the city of Zacatecas, although he continued his residency in Mazapil;334 in 1588 he was named officer of the Holy Office and, as such, accompanied Diego de Montemayor, from Saltillo, to go to apprehend Luis Carvajal y de la Cueva who had hidden himself in Almadén, and by then he had taken residency in the town of Santiago del Saltillo;335 in March of 1591, having left Saltillo with twenty men, he arrived in Taos in New Mexico and took Gaspar Castaño de Sosa prisoner336 - because of this apprehension and that of Carvajal in 1588 - Alonso de León, without reason, called him bellicose man and of nat a good nature ... that, envious of his goodness (that of Castaño de Sosa), he tried to take vengeance on him, through that road, of a light disagreement that they had had years back."337 In December of 1593, he is accused that "being a godfather [of a child] of Alberto del Canto and the best friend whom he has, because in certain business that there has been against the said Alberto del Canto, the said Juan Morlete, being major justice of this town (Saltillo), has provoked justice...338 On September 17, 1594, being magistrate of the aforementioned town, through la Nueva Vizcaya, he gave possession to the Tlaxcalteca and Guachichil Indians and the rest of the nations, of the settlement of San Esteban of la Nueva Tlaxcala.339 On February 11, 1595, he was in the mines of el Fresnillo340 and in the royal Título[1] of agreement of the marquisate of Aguayo it says that Morlete died before the year of 1597341 and, since he intercepted in Saltillo the letters in which Montemayor announced the foundation of Monterrey342 to the viceroy, he must have died at the end of 1596.
Diego Muñoz, one of the oldest settlers of Saltillo.343
Miguel Muñoz, one of the founders of Saltillo.344 September 2, 1591, being town councillor of said town, it is said that "he is ill and sick of a grave sickness..."345
Pedro de Murga, one of the founders of Saltillo; October 27, 1591, he was a deputy of the magistrate of the first mayor in that place.346
Juan Navarro, in 1556 was one of the discoverers and first settlers of the mines of San Martín347 and in 1561 he was the owner of a farm in the valley of Sichú and was "one of the five on horseback" who accompanied Pedro de Ahumada Sámano in the very dangerous entry into "Malpaís," in the war against Guachichiles and Zacatecos, and he was wounded on one side.348 In 1577 he entered with Alberto del Canto into the founding of Saltillo.349 On April 1, 1578, Juan Navarro, who is called here Juan Sánchez Navarro, received from Martín López de Ibarra a grant of land in the valley of el Pirineo (Parras, Coah.).350 September 2, 1591, he was the mayor of the town of Santiago del Saltillo351 and on December 15, 1593, deputy of the magistrate of the first mayor.352 In 1604 we encountered two people with the name of Juan Navarro, one a young bachelor, inhabitant of Cuencamé and the other, an inhabitant of the valley of Santa Bárbara (Chih.)353
Diego Núñez de Miranda, one of the oldest inhabitants of Saltillo, owner of a planting field, father of the eminent Jesuit Antonio Núñez de Miranda.354 Elías Amador says: "Among the first Spaniards who went to populate the mines of Fresnillo around the year of 1568, there was the captain Don Diego Núñez de Miranda, married to the lady Doña Jerónima de Valdecañas. From this marriage was born a son, on November 4, 1618 in said mines of el Fresnillo), named Antonio ..."355 We do not discard the possibility that the settler of Saltillo be the brother of the Jesuit.
Diego de Orozco, could be the son of the Diego de Orozco who declared, in 1547, "That he is an inhabitant of Guadalajara, native of Toledo, and legitimate son of Francisco de Orozco, constable of the Inquisition, and of Leonor Cornejo; and that it has been twelve years (1535) that he came to this Nueva España and one-half of this time he has resided in la Nueva Galicia, where he has served in everything that has been needed with his arms and horses; and that he has had three first cousins of his who were of the first conquerors , and that they died in it at the service of His Majesty, as was Francisco de Orozco, captain who conquered Guajaca and two Diegos de Orozco, one who died in Guadalajara and another going to the isle of el Marqués (California) ..."356 This Diego de Orozco was
[1] In Spain it designates the dignity of duke, marquis, count, viscount or baron.
one of the first settlers of the mines of los Zacatecas and in 1549 he was the owner of a mine "at estacas[1] de la Descubridora."357 In May of 1613, we found a Deigo de Orozco inhabitant of the city of Monterrey.
Francisco de la Peña, inhabitant of Saltillo.358
Alonso Pérez or Alonso de Charles, legitimate son of the captain Juan Pérez de los Ríos and Agustina de Charles, husband of Agustina Díaz whom he tried to choke.359
Ana Pérez, daughter of Juan Pérez de los Ríos and Agustina de Charles who, in 1593, their being inhabitants of Saltillo, was accused of being a witch along with her mother;360 in October of 1626, she still lived in the city of Monterrey.361 In March of 1567 an Ana Pérez362 lived in Sombrerete but we believe it has to do with a homonym.
Cristóbal Pérez, one of the founders of Saltillo.363 On December 18, 1580 or 1579, he was town councillor of said place.364 And in September of 1591 deputy of the magistrate of the first mayor.365 In 1596 he entered with Diego de Montemayor into the founding of Monterrey366 and in 1602 he was town councillor in said city.367 It seems that he was a close relative of Juan Pérez de los Ríos.368 On January 6, 1608, a Cristóbal Pérez contributed 30 pesos for the construction of the parochial church of San Luis Potosí.369 Might he be the same one?
Martín Pérez, one of the founders of Saltillo, where he was still living on October 31, 1591.370 There are several very suggesting homonyms. In 1554 Martín Pérez was one of the soldiers of Francisco de Ibarra and in 1556 he was the first mayor of Zacatecas, at the end of 1557 or beginning of 1558, Martín Pérez began an expedition toward the north, discovering the mines of Mazapil.371 In 1557 a Martín Pérez was the scribe of the tribunal of the office of the first gubernatorial district of the two towns of Pánuco and Santiago de los Valles and the first mayor was Rodrigo Rengel.372 One of the discoverers of the mines of el cerro de San Pedro (S. L .P.), on March 4, 1592, was Martín Pérez;373 finally in 1604 Martín Pérez was an inhabitant of Cuencamé, married and with a family.374
Mateo Pérez, one of the first settlers of Saltillo.375
Rodrigo Pérez, of the first founders of Saltillo, his name figures in the register of grants given by Alberto del Canto and he still lived in said place on October 27, 1591.376 In 1566 a Rodrigo Pérez, "an ox cartwright," was a brother of the Brotherhood of the Holy Sacrament in Zacatecas.377
Juan Pérez Chocallo, Portuguese, is one of the oldest settlers of Saltillo and in January of 1580, being deputy to the magistrate of said town, he solicited, before Martín López de Ibarra, the confirmation of the grants made by Alberto del Canto to the settlers. He died between October 27, 1591378 and December 15, 1593 in which Fray Pablo de Góngora writes: "... the Chichimeco Indians killed an inhabitant of this town (Saltillo) who is called Juan Pérez Chocallo."379
Juan Pérez de Lerma, Portuguese, son of Pedro de Lerma and Mari [sic]Álvarez, in 1539, being an inhabitant of Valladolid (Spa.), he embarked for la Nueva España;380 he married Mariana Martínez and they were parents of Juan Pérez de Simancas.381 In the Municipal Archives of Monterrey there is an entreaty of a grant of lands and Indians written by Pérez de Lerma and seeded with Portuguesisms.382 He entered into el Nuevo Reino de León with his family in 1599383 and he founded a farm where today it is Los Lermas, N.L.384 The secretary of the expedition of Francisco de Ibarra to New Mexico, in 1563, had the family name of Lerma, we had thought it possible to identify him with our personage, but Baltasar de Obregón called him Lerma Avilés,385 which resolves the conjecture negatively. The last datum that we have about Juan Pérez de Lerma is from February 26, 1626, in which he still lived in the city of Monterrey.386
Diego Pérez de Orellana, steward of Lucas García on his farm of Santa Catalina where Diego died on May 31, 1624, in an assault in which the Indians burned the farm.387
[1] Divisions or partitions made in mines.
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Juan Pérez de los Ríos "is one of the most restless and interesting inhabitants (of the city of Monterrey). Probably he might be the same one whom Icaza registers in his Autobiographical Dictionary of Conquerors of Nueva España, it is established in it that he was born in Coimbra, Portugal; that his parents were Alonso Pérez and Francisca Martín; and that in 1547 (sic for 1540) he went to la Nueva España marrying in Puebla (in 1545) with the daughter of the conqueror Pedro de Sepúlveda. He appears among the first inhabitants of Saltillo, in 1577. Friend of Carvajal, he goes afterwards with Gaspar Castaño de Sosa to New Mexico; this one frequently calls him his lieutenant. El Nuevo Reino de León being deserted, he came with other companions, on the order of Diego de Montemayor, to 'shelter this jurisdiction.' He entered into the establishing of the city (of Monterrey) and it fell to his lot to be commissioned to take the official report to the viceroy count of Monterrey; but he returned without accomplishing his charge because, in Mazapil, Juan Morlete took away the letters by deceit. He was a town councillor (1596, 1601, 1603, 1606 and 1624), mayor (1599 and 1602), and major constable (1613, 1615 and 1616). In 1597 he was given land grants in the river of los Cuanahales. He was married to Agustina de Charles, who on some occasion she found herself accused of witchery, and that she was the daughter of Bartolomé de Charles and Juana González, inhabitants of Puebla, datum that corroborate for us in the identity with the conqueror cited by Icaza. His children were: Juan, Ana, Bartolomé, Alonso (like his father), Esteban and Pedro. He died in Monterrey around 1624.388 On September 12, 1558, there lived in Zacatecas a Juan Pérez,389 whom we again encounter in the same city in 1567,390 we do not believe he would have a relation with our personage.
Juan Pérez de Simancas, "legitimate son of Juan Pérez de Lerma and Mariana Martínez, [both] Portuguese; husband of Rufina Díaz parents of Agustina Díaz or Agustina de Simancas."391 He was one of the oldest inhabitants of Monterrey and owner of a lot for a house "questá[1]at the beginning of the springs and river of this city."392 He was still alive on December 10, 1612.393
Andrés Pérez de Verlanga, secretary of the government of Gaspar Castaño de Sosa in his expedition to New Mexico.394
Hernán Ponce de León, one of the companions of Castaño de Sosa in his entry into New Mexico.395 We believe him [to be] a member of the family by marriage of Juan Bautista de Lomas y Colmenares, married to Doña Francisca Ponce de León, inhabitants of Nieves.396
Juana Porcallo de la Cerda, in 1572 lived in Mazapil and married there with Diego de Montemayor; mother of Doña Estefanía. Doña Juana had already died since the middle of 1581.397 She was surely the sister of Lorenzo Porcallo de la Cerda and daughter of the conqueror Vasco Porcallo.398 This Lorenzo Porcallo, in 1564, was the owner of a farm on the outskirts of Toluca, neighbor to the one which Don Lope de Sosa owned.399 A sister of Doña Juana must have been María Porcallo married to Pedro Fernández de Castro, that in 1567 they [?] were brother in the brotherhood of the Holy Sacrament of the city of Zacatecas,400 this would explain the relation between the Montemayor and the Fernández de Castro.
Juliana de Quintanilla, wife of Lucas García and sister of José de Treviño and of Sebastiana de Treviño who was the wife of the major justice Diego Rodríguez.401
Juan Ramírez. On April 22, 1612, Juan Ramírez402 was an inhabitant of the city of Monterrey. In 1597 a Juan Ramírez accompanied a Juan de Oñate in his entry to New Mexico. "... soldier native of the town of Torrijos in the archbishopric of Toledo son of Francisco Ramírez ...:403 On December 17, 1568, a Juan Ramírez404 was an inhabitant of Sombrerete. Might they be the same?
Hernán Ramírez Cortoya, one of the oldest settlers of Saltillo.405
Diego Ramírez Zamorano, curate priest of the mines of el Mazapil, inhabitant of Saltillo, and traveling companion of Luis Carvajal y de la Cueva in el Nuevo Reino de León.406 Here a curious case of a homonym presents itself since, in the same document, one following the other, there are mentioned a father Zamorano and a Diego Ramírez Zamorano, camp master of the of the army of Carvajal.407
Esteban de los Ríos, son of Juan Pérez de los Ríos and of Agustina de Charles.408
[1] Unable to find this word in any dictionary, including Diccionario de la Lengua Expañola from the Royal Spanish Academy, 1956.
Pedro de los Ríos, brother to the one before.409
Alonso Rodríguez, brother of Diego Rodríguez and one of the first settlers of Saltillo, he was a bachelor in 1577.410
Andrea Rodríguez, wife of Captain Hernán Blas Pérez; she was the goddaughter of Manuel de Mederos411
Antonio Rodríguez, Portuguese. We believe having followed his trail, save our having fallen in the always dangerous trap of homonyms: on January 4, 1562, Antonio Rodríguez, being in the mines of los Zacatecas, gave testimony in the "Information" of Pedro de Ahumado Sámano. On August 25, 1570, he was His Majesty's scribe in said mines.413 In 1572 he was a brother in the brotherhood of the Most Holy Sacrament and he was married to Bernadina de Crecidilla.414 In 1581 there lived in Zacatecas another Antonio Rodríguez, merchant, married to Catalina López, both brothers of the brotherhood. 415 In 1586 an Antonio Rodríguez was a miner in El Fresnillo416 In 1590 Antonio Rodríguez was a steward of the brotherhood.417 On October 30, 1593, as deputy to the magistrate of the mines of San Luis Potosí, Juan López del Riego, Antonio Rodríguez[1] was present in the discovery of the mines of la sierra de Pinos.418 On February 10, 1597, passing inspection as a soldier of the expedition of Ibarra, in Santa Bárbara, "Antonio Rodríguez, soldier, native of Canes in Portugal, son of Silvestre Juan," and on January 8, 1598, "Antonio Rodríguez, son of Silvestre Juan, natives of Canes, in the jurisdiction of Lisbon, of medium stature, chesnut-colored beard, 28 years of age..."419 In 1599 Antonio Rodríguez entered through Saltillo as a settler of el Nuevo Reino de León and in 1601 he was mayor of the city of Monterrey and still lived in said city in 1631.420
Baltasar Rodríguez, steward of Francisco de Urdiñola and one of the founders of Parras.421
Bartolomé Rodríguez entered through Saltillo at a very early date as settler of el Nuevo Reino de León and in 1604 he was town councillor of the city of Monterrey.422
Diego Rodríguez, young bachelor, brother of Alonso Rodríguez and one of the first settlers of Saltillo.423 In 1580 he was a major constable in said place.424 On September 2, 1591, he figured as procurer of the town of Saltillo.425 On September 20, 1596, one of the founders of the city of Monterrey was "Captain Diego Rodríguez, Portuguese, probably friend of Carvajal y de la Cueva. Inhabitant and procurer of Saltillo in 1591. In Monterrey he also held important positions: first mayor (1600, 1612 & 1616); steward of the church (1601); procurer (1605 & 1607), deputy governor (1612); supreme magistrate (1621 & 1624). When Diego de Montemayor, the Younger died he left him as lieutenant, a charge which the Royal Audience confirmed on April 6 of the same year (1612) in consideration of his services lent to the king during more than thirty years (since 1582). He was not empowered as captain, neither for the punishment of the natives nor to make risings against them due to the experience there was of the bad results of this system of pacification."
"It was he who ordered, with the reason of the flood of 1611, the moving and the new plan of the city, to the south of the spring. During his administration the attempt was also made of the repopulation of the city of León (Cerralvo, N. L.). Feeling ill he made his will on February 26, 1626, before the scribe Pedro Monzón and he went to Mexico for a cure. He became so poor that, being in Zacatecas, the general Don Agustín de Zavala had to pay his return to Monterrey and his son-in-law and friends lent him some clothes. He died in Monterrey in January of 1627, at 70 years of age. (He was the husband of Sebastiana de Treviño) and his daughters, Doña Mónica, Doña Inés, and Doña María, married Miguel de Montemayor, Gonzalo Fernández de Castro and Pedro de la Garza,
[1] I have to assume he was the one present. It reads "... he was present in the discovery of the mines of la sierra de Pinos, Antonio Rodríguez."
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respectively (sic). He also had two illegitimate daughters, Melchora and Clara; the first married Diego de Treviñio, the Younger."426 Diego Rodríguez was the brother of Lucas García son of Baltasar de Sosa and Inés Rodríguez.427
Inés Rodríguez, wife of Baltasar de Sosa. In 1548 Diego de Montemayor and Inés Rodríguez, his wife, embarked in Seville in route to la Nueva España.428 We have the suspicion that Diego de Montemayor was married three times: first with Inés Rodríguez, secondly with María de Esquivel, and thirdly with Juana Porcallo de la Cerca. Might the Inés Rodríguez married to Baltasar de Sosa not have been the daughter of his first marriage? If it were so,
and Lucas García would be grandsons of the governor Diego de Montemayor.
Juan Rodríguez, Portuguese, servant of Alberto del Canto in the town of Saltillo in December of 1593.429 In 1598 "Juan Rodríguez, native of the city of Oporto, son of Gonzalo González, of medium stature, somewhat gray, 40 years of age."430 He figures among the people of Don Juan de Oñate. On April 21, 1604, in Saltillo, there lived an unmarried man named Juan Rodríguez.431
Jusepe Rodríguez. From the expedition of Castaño de Sosa to New Mexico.432
Matías Rodríguez, Portuguese, brother of Juan Rodríguez Moreno, that in 1598 they deserted from the army of Don Juan de Oñate in New Mexico.433
Juan Rodríguez de Avalos, native of Chrutuma (sic) in Portugal, cosmographer or mariner who took the latitude of the town of Puaray during the entry of Castaño de Sosa into New Mexico and who returned with Don Juan de Oñate; we do not know if he is the same one who, in 1598, deserted in the company his young brother Matías Rodríguez; our doubt is based in that the deserter is called Juan Rodríguez Moreno and the cosmographer is call Juan Rodríguez de Avalos.434
Juan Rodríguez Nieto, from the expedition of Castaño to New Mexico.435 Might he be the servant of Alberto del Canto?
Santos Rojo, one of the founders of Saltillo who is mentioned in the register of the grants given by Alberto del Canto; he was one of the most important inhabitants and he brought the image of the Cristo de la Capilla to Saltillo; he was still living in 1604.436
Juan Romero, government scribe of el Nuevo Reino de León in 1585; inhabitant of the city of León (Cerralvo, N. L.).437 In 1570 he was an inhabitant of the mines of San Juan, jurisdiction of Santa Bárbara (Chih.).438
Pedro Romero, perhaps son of the previous one; in 1621 he was a deputy chief magistrate in Monterrey where he was still living in February of 1626.439
Juan Ruiz, graduated (priest?), he signs, with Diego de Montemayor, the document of the moving of the city of Monterrey and the grants of land and Indians that this one made to Nuestra Señora de Monterrey.440
Cristóbal de Sagastiberri, one of the founders of Saltillo who is mentioned in the land grants made by Alberto de Canto in 1577.441 He died in 1586 in the territory of Saltillo at the hands of the Indians.442
Martín de Salazar. On June 26, 1561, he was wounded by the Chichimeca Indians in a place two leagues from Zacatecas.443 On May 2, 1588, he was named town councillor in the town of Almadén (Monclova, Coah.).444 In 1590 he accompanied Castaño de Sosa in his entry into New Mexico.445
Pedro de Salazar, possibly the son of the previous one, in 1611 he was mayor in Monterrey where he still lived in 1613.446 In 1591, exercising some charge of the government in the town of Tlaxcalilla (S.L.P.), was a Pedro de Salazar who must be the same one who in 1608 contributed 5 pesos for the construction of the parochial church of San Luis Potosí.447 In 1604 Pedro de Salazar lived in Durango and he was the owner of a cattle ranch and, in 1606, he was town councillor in said place.448
Francisco Salgado. On May 2, 1588, he was named perpetual town councillor of the town of Almadén.449 On August 4, 1589 he was an inhabitant of Saltillo but a resident in Coahuila (sic for Almadén) and he was the owner of a female slave named Isabel who previously belonged to Alberto del Canto.450 In 1590 he entered into New Mexico as a 2nd lieutenant of Gaspar Castaño de Sosa; he was the brother of Juan de Contreras.451
Diego Sánchez, one of the founders of Saltillo according to the bachelor Fuentes.452
Juan Sánchez, from the expedition of Castaño de Sosa to New Mexico.453 Juan Sánchez de Fuensalida figures in the expedition of Rodríguez Chamuscado (1581 - 1582) 454 We believe that he is the same one.
Pablo Sánchez, brother of Cristóbal Sánchez and of Domingo Rodríguez; the three brothers entered into New Mexico with Juan de Oñate in 1597.455 Captain Pablo Sánchez was an inhabitant of Monterrey in 1623456 and in 1631 he was general procurer of said city.457 On May 31, 1656, he declared being "an inhabitant of Monterrey, legitimate son of Antón Sánchez and Isabel de Tejeda, inhabitants of Tormes, in the kingdoms of Castilla, of which I am a native ... of the age of 86 years and 4 months and 10 days ... (he was born February 18, 1570)."458
Martín Sánchez, one of the founders of Saltillo according to the datum of the bachelor Fuentes.459
Pedro Sánchez, one of the founders of Saltillo, datum of the bachelor Fuentes.460
Juan Sánchez de Avalos, from the expedition of Castaño de Sosa to New Mexico. It only has to do with a bad paleography of the surname of Juan Rodríguez de Avalos, the cosmographer of the expedition.461
Martín Sánchez Navarro, one of the first settlers of Saltillo. We believe that he is the Martín Sánchez annotated above and that the Navarro was added to him graciously by the bachelor Fuentes.462
Pedro de San Juan, on August 4, 1589, he was an inhabitant of Saltillo.463 In 1572 Antonio de San Juan was a brother of the brotherhood in the city of Zacatecas..464
Diego de San Miguel, one of the oldest inhabitants of Saltillo.465 In 1604Diego de San Miguel the Elder and Diego de San Miguel, the Younger466 lived in that place, under the circumstance that both of them appear as bachelors. Might the first one have been a widower or the second a bastard?
Domingo de Santisteban, from the expedition of Gaspar Castaño de Sosa to New Mexico.467
Diego de Solís, commander, owner of the farm de San Marcos in the jurisdiction of Monterrey, father of Esteban Martín.468
Juan de Solís, in 1606 was an inhabitant of Monterrey.469
Martín de Solís, one of the founders of Saltillo.470 In 1580 he was a town councillor at said place.471 He entered with Luis Carvajal y de la Cueva to populate el Nuevo Reino de León and still in March of 1587 he was an inhabitant of the city of León.472 On September 2, 1591, he lived in Saltillo and served as interpreter or speaker of Náhuatl for Urdiñola due to being "...fluent in the Spanish and Mexican language ..."473which we believe [to be] Mestizo. Israel Cavazos tells us about him: "... he might probably be the same one to whom, on January 22, 1543, the viceroy Don Antonio de Mendoza grants a farm next to the river of Matalzingo (sic), in the territory of Huichilapa (sic).474 Settler, after Santiago de Querétaro, he figures among the first settlers of Saltillo in 1577. He appears in September of 1591 as an interpreter of Náhatl in the affairs of foundation of San Esteban of la Nueva Tlaxcala. He entered into Monterrey with Montemayor. He was of the most modest settlers, since he only came to perform the charge of constable, faithful executor in the municipal governments of 1600, 1601 and 1606. He populated an hacienda around la Punta de la Loma which he inhabited with Francisca de Avila, his wife. His children were: Juan, born in Querétaro around 1570 and married to Andrea, Indian of Coahuila, founder of the hacienda of la Santa Cruz, where the municipal head of Guadalupe is today, to the east of the city and Diego Solís, married to María de Mendoza and founder of the hacienda of San Marcos, at the top of what today is la Colonia Libertad."475 In 1631 it is said "... the Solises and other poor inhabitants ..."476
Baltasar de Sosa, one of the founders of Saltillo whose name figures in the register of the grants made by Alberto del Canto in 1577; in 1580 he was the mayor of said town.477 Baltasar de Sosa was married to Inés Rodríguez, Portuguese both of them and they were parents of Alonso Rodrígues, Diego Rodríguez and Lucas García.478
Juan de Tarango, one of the oldest settlers of Saltillo.479
Juan de Tarango Vallejo, in 1626 he was an inhabitant of Monterrey.480 Might he be the same one as the one before or might he be his son?
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Juan Tenorio or Juan Benito Tenorio, on May 29, 1613, it was said of him, "... inhabitant who was of this kingdom (el Nuevo Reino de León),"481 but we have not been able to find out neither when he arrived in it nor when he died.
Jusepe Tenorio, possibly the brother of the one before.482
Mateo Tenorio, one of the oldest settlers of Saltillo where he still lived in 1604, "owner of a wheat and cornfield and of a cattle ranch that they call los Patos."483 In 1612 he was an inhabitant of Monterrey.484 Might the three Tenorios from Monterrey: Jusepe, Juan and Mateo, have been sons of one from Satillo?
Juan de la Torre, town councillor of Almadén for the year of 1588.485 In 1592 a Juan de la Torre, son-in-law of Captain Miguel Caldera, took possession, in the name of his father-in-law, of the mine Descubridora in the mountain of San Pedro (S.L.P.); and the same year he inherited from Doctor Riego a half of the mine called Cata de Oro in the same mountain.486
Juan Trujillo, captain of the army of Luis Carvajal y de la Cueva, extant in the town of Almadén on May 2, 1588.487 Before 1585, a someone Trujillo founded a farm in the valley which still carries his name in the environs of Fresnillo (Zac.).488 In 1624 Juan Trujillo was a royal scribe in San Luis Potosí.489
Antonio Vázquez del Río, captain, from 1601 to 1604 he was the magistrate of the city of Monterrey and town councillor of its municipal government; in 1605 he was mayor.490
Juan de Vega, laboring Indian, companion of Castaño de Sosa in his expedition to New Mexico.491
Pedro Velada. In 1594 he was the owner of a farm in the jurisdiction of Nieves (Zac.).492 In 1605 he entered in the rebuilding of the town of Almadén as captain and magistrate.493 From 1621 to 1623 he was a public scribe in the city of Monterrey.494
Juan de Velasco Aguero, in 1604 he was town councillor of Monterrey.495
Mateo de Villafranca. On February 7, 1631, he declared that "... he was the son of Juan de Villa (sic for Villafranca) and Lucía de Santiago, who were inhabitants of the city of Zacatecas, (Juan de Villafranca, in 1588, was one of the two inspectors and examiners of the offices of cleaners, jacket sellers, shoe sellers, and clothiers of the city of Zacatecas; he was a master tested in Seville)496 and that he is an inhabitant of this city (Monterrey) more than twenty-nine years (1601), and that he has always practiced in the service of the divine worship (sexton) in this convent of Our Father San Francisco of this said city, and that he is of the age of seventy years (born around 1560)."497 Mateo de Villafranca performed several duties in the city of Monterrey: in 1603 he was procurer and in 1604 steward of the parochial church.498 In 1626 he figures as testamentary executor of Agustina de Charles.499 And in 1631 he was accused of having received numbers of Indian slaves of those which Captain Colmillo introduced.500
Agustín de Villasur, one of the founders of Saltillo, his name figures in the register of the grants made by Alberto del Canto.501
Cristóbal de Viruega, from the expedition of Castaño de Sosa to New Mexico.502
Diego de Viruega, brother of the one before and member also of the expedition of Castaño.503
Juan de Virues, Mulato, inhabitant of Saltillo. On December 15, 1593, it is said of him "... that he resides from el Mazapil to this Saltillo, from the time that the said Diego de Montemayor was out to kill the said Alberto del Canto, regarding having been with his said wife and being in el Reino de León, where the said Diego de Montemayor was governor's lieutenant...504
Pedro Vuergo (sic), young bachelor, of the first settlers of Saltillo.505
Miguel de Zitúa, one of the founders of Saltillo whose name figures in the register of the grants made by Alberto del Canto in 1577.506
This last listing gives us a total of 187 persons, of which we believe that 130 are of Portuguese origin, which gives a percentage of 74.8% of Sephardics; uniting these data with those we obtained in studying the people who entered from la Huasteca, we shall have a total of 259 persons, of which we believe 177 to be of Judeo-Portuguese ascendency, which gives a percentage of 68.3%.
The data which this investigation provides bring us to conclude that in the second half of the XVI century, a large number of Sephardics penetrated into the northeast of la Nueva España; that these supported Luis Carvajal y de la Cueva in his intent to found a "Nuevo Reino de León" - do not forget that he and almost all of them came from the "Boundary of Portugal," border between the "Old Reino de León," in Spain, and the province of Traz-os-Montes, in Portugal - many of these Sephardics inhabited lands of Nuevo León and Coahuila and from them descends a large percentage of the present population of said region; it is observed, moreover, that all of these colonizers of Sephardic origin were very united, forming clans or, at least, family groups of great cohesion, within which there was a clear endogamic tendency, with marriage within very close relatives; and thus they came to form a very closed community, of an aristocratic character, from which came the public officials as well as the military chiefs, the concessioners as well as the merchants, and to which the people of mayor social significance pertained; and that, as we shall see farther ahead, it imposed it tone to the life of the region and even to the politics of the governors of el Nuevo Reino. What we consider a mere fantasy, a poor novelistic creation without documental support of any sort, is the "Jewry of Monterrey" which, as we saw before, is described so minutely by Charles K. Landis and Vito Alessio Robles, who, with great agility, speak specifically of Monterrey, as if this city had been the only site of la Nueva España with Sephardic population. Why did Don Vito not write about the "Jewry in Saltillo" as he did of the "Jewry in Monterrey?" The illustrious Saltillo historian comes to say that "the counted inhabitants of Satillo (they were withdrawn) from whatever commerce along with those (the inhabitants of Monterrey) pointed out as heretics," we only see in this phrase the expression of those puny passions of scandal, inevitable between neighboring settlements. We insist that in all that has been said now about the topic, are only fantasies and free affirmations since it is not prepared with the most minute datum which permits entering into the problem arriving at knowing something about the religious life that, in the intimacy of the family, those people lived. The inquisitorial documents relative to the northeast of la Nueva España are much too rare and all of them of very early dates and almost none refers to el Nuevo Reino de León; we only remember the "Autobiography" of Luis de Carvajal, the Younger in which he tells us of having kept the Law of Moses in the mines of San Gregorio or Manuel de Herrera, relative of Castaño de Sosa, beheading a rooster of the land (a turkey) according to the Jewish ritual, at a ranch called Los Ojos "which is in the government of the said governor Luis de Carvajal." There is not the most remote possibility of encountering some "memoirs," or some "confessions," or an "intimate diary," or the narration of a traveler describing the customs. Furthermore, the only thing that we have been able to document is the presence - in the northeast of Mexico in the XVI century - of numerous persons of Sephardic origin, but not necessarily Judaizers. Another factor that we should keep in mind is the degree of distancing of each one of these Sephardics from the origin of the group: there are those born in Portugal, in el Reino de León or in Extremadura; there are those that are natives of Seville, of Granada, or of some other place of Andalucía; there are those born in Mexico, in la Puebla de los Angeles or in some other place of la Nueva España, there are those that are children of father and mother "converts" and there can be those - rare exception - in which one of his progenitors might be "old Christian;" and there are those that are Mestizos and Mulattos. Through our knowledge of the inquisitorial processes, we know that there were among them many religious mixtures, from the sage rabbi to the ignorant soldier or peon, from the passionate fanatic to the sincere convert, passing through the bashful ones, the cowards, the timid ones, the pretenders, the lukewarm ones, the indifferent ones, the compliant ones, etc. We take on the words of A. Domíguez Ortiz, cited by Ascensio in the article mentioned earlier: "Still it makes less sense to lump together into only one class the personally converted Jews and their descendants, of which a remote vestige touched more than a few, a drop of perhaps ignored blood of the interested one himself." Thus multiple questions will always be left open: How many of those Sephardics still were Judaiszers upon entering el Nuevo Reino de León and to what degree would they continue believing and practicing "the old law of Moses?" The practicing families, how long did they continue it and which were the steps of the Judeo-Christian syncretism ? Since when, how and why did the tradition of Moses come to disappear in this region? Is there any part if it remaining? Questions that, with the exception of the last one, never came to be answered and documented.
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The problem that is planted in them is of the greatest interest, suggestive and passionate, since we know how, in these regions of the world, the Sephardic groups have been characterized by their constant and firm fidelity to the law of Moses, by their eminently conserved spirit and by their profound closeness to the traditions and customs of their race, to the degree that the families, who descent from those Jews expelled from Spain in the XV century, continue speaking Spanish, singing romances and, some, jealously keeping the key to the house that their remote ancestors inhabited in Spain. Moreover, in spite of expulsions, inquisitorial persecutions and even of pogrom, the Sephardics continue living faithful to their tradition and as minority groups, still within the Hispanic world, such is the case of the "chuetas" of Palma de Mayorca, secluded in "the street," which conserves all the characteristics of the ancient synagogue or medieval ghetto; or the Crypto-Jews of the lands of Braganza, Traz-os-Montes or la Beira in Portugal, - a region from which came the Sephardic settlers of el Nuevo Reino de León - who have come up to today faithful in their tradition; or to say, a case of special interest for us, that Saphardic community of which Monin speaks to us in The Jews in Spanish America (1492-1810), Buenos Aires, 1939, pp. 135-136. ("In the present state of things , he says) there exists in Curucuatín (Chili) a Bnei Sion tribe that affirms that it comes from the first pigs (converted Jews)that arrived in Chili at the beginning of the XVII century. They practice old traditions and rites, a mixture of Judaic-Christian ceremonies and they have adhered to the Hebrew church; they form a nucleus of more or less 600 families and they marry preferably among themselves." It seems to be that up to the middle of the XIX century the Crypto-Jews continued forming small communities in Spain, principally at the "Portugal Line;" regarding the topic one can consult Caro Baroja: The Jews in the Modern and Contemporary Spain, Madrid, 1961, pp. 148-162; and it is said that some of these communities still exist in lands of Salamanca and in Talavera la Real, a place situated a little to the east of Badajoz. We have vague reports of persistence of a Jewish community that, as in the case of Chile, it purports to descend from the novo-Hispanic Crypto-Jews and they keep the tradition of Moses in a part of the region of Tehuantepec. Here arises another question: why did the Sephardic group of the northeast of la Nueva España lose that vitality that has made it possible that other groups continue up to these days? Why did it not leave any perceptible tracts? Did it really not leave them? We believe that the only one who could arrive at revealing something of this impassioned unknown would be the folkloric investigation, a discipline that is outside of our camp and of our possibilities, but that we suspect [to be] very promising, since, accidentally, in simple readings of information or by our scarce communication with people of the region in study, we have come to observe some curiosities and some significant resemblances in the folklore of Nuevo Leon and Coahuila with the Sephardic folklore of the novo-Hispanic Crypto-Jews of the XVII century, as it appears in the inquisitorial processes; but understand well, it only has to do with resemblances which we have not been able to deepen, of which we even would not be able to say with any certainty if they are only found in this region or if they also arise in other places.; or if they are typically Sephardics or if they belong to the common transfondo[1] of the Hispanic towns or to the Mediterranean tradition. We believe that, before arriving at any conclusion, it would be necessary to investigate carefully many things: is there a true relationship between these folkloric phenomena or does it treat simply of a curious and fortuitous resemblance? How old is the folkloric phenomenon registered in the northeast of Mexico? - for example, the custom of circumcising the newborn males is very extensive in the city of Monterrey, but we have been able to make clear that it is only an influence of the North American hygienic preoccupation and an imitation if its clinical techniques -. Is it or is it not exclusive of the region in study and, on another hand, does it actually pertain to the Sephardic tradition? It is obvious that, in order to give a serious and trustworthy answer to these questions, one must share a detailed and profound knowledge of the two folklores that are compared, a knowledge that we are very far from possessing.
This work already printed, we found in the HISTORIA DE NUEVO LEON of David Alberto Cossío, Vol. II, p. 275, this curious and surprising paragraph: "The Judaizers, although very persecuted from the times of Don Luis de Carvajal, did not stop working surreptitiously in this territory. With the best secrecy, but with tireless effort, they continued their propaganda among the inhabitants and soldiers; but the inveterate Christianity of the settlers (?) and the tireless spiritual work fo the friars and priests (?) placed a continuous obstacle to those workers. In the greatest of secrecy the Judaic rituals were celebrated with fasting and lavation; Psalms were recited and other ceremonies of the old law were performed, all of them awaiting the arrival of the Messiah." Unfortunately Cossío does not mention the source in which he is supported in such an interesting affirmation.
[1] Unable to find "transfondo" in any dictionary including Diccionario de la Luenga Española from the Royal Spanish Academy. Fondo would mean base which would make it "transbase."