Surname Garza is not Sephardic after all. Thanks Juan.
Steven Garza
I still have a long history here, since the 16th century. I thought it
would be neat, though, if I also had some connection to the people who
wrote the bible. Oh well. Here is a message that Juan Moran sent me:
Steven
-----Original Message-----
From: juan moran [SMTP:jmo...@ncsa.uiuc.edu]
Sent: Tuesday, December 01, 1998 12:12 PM
To: soc-geneal...@moderators.uu.net; Steven Garza
Subject: Re: Searching: GARZA, Mexico
Hello Steven:
In answer to your questions:
1.) There were about 100 persons (not families) that came with Luis de
Carvajal to the Monterrey area in 1580. Among those 100 persons, 67
persons
have been identified as being of Jewish origin. Those families that came
with
Carvajal moved to the Mexico City area after Carvajal was taken by the
Inquisition. The Monterrey area was unpopulated for 10 years before it
was
repopulated again and officially founded by Diego de Montemayor. The
founding
families of Monterrey and their geneology has been well detailed in a
book
titled "Nuevo Leon, Apuntes Historicos" (1938) by Dr. Santiago Roel and
also
by another historian, Mariano Sobremonte, who wrote a biography about
the
founder Diego de Montemayor.
Not one of those persons has the last name Garza. Not one person with
the last
name Garza from the Nuevo Leon area was tried or even suspect by the
Inquisition. This you can check by reading the book by Eugenio del Hoyo
"Historia del Reyno de Nuevo Leon" (1972) and in the various books about
Inquisition in Mexico (Medina, Liebman, Toro, among various authors).
2.) The origin and geneology of the Garza name in Monterrey has been
extensively studied by Dr. Tomas Medirichaga a history profesor at the
University of Nuevo Leon. He published the book "El Origen del Apellidos
Garza
y Trevino en Nuevo Leon" in 1982. The Garza name is a Catholic/Christian
name
from Spain.
3.) The wealthy Garza family of Monterrey is not Jewish, nor is it of
Crypto
Jewish origin either. Their geneology is very well documented in the
"Diccionario Biografico de Nuevo Leon" by Israel Cavazos. The latest
edition
of this biographical dictionary is 1997.
There is a serious error at the URL you mention. It is hard to correct
when it
is not known who wrote it and/or whom to contact to post correct
information.
4.) There were several Alonso de Leon. The first and best known Alonso
de Leon
was a cattleman, soldier/miltitary and he was a very devout catholic and
a
historian. He had very close connections with the Inquisitors and he
dedicated
his history book to the Inquisitor of Mexico City (Juan De Manosca). He
died
of a natural death at about age 52. His life and death was docuemented
by a
contemporary of his, Juan Bautista Chapa. Of the various historical
works I
know, none even makes a mention of relatives of his much less tried by
the
Inquisition. Alonso de Leon wrote a book titled "Historia de Nuevo
Leon".
There is ample document/archival information about his life and family
in the
Archives of Monterrey and there are several studies about him. Also this
Alonso de Leon lived and used as his center of activities in Cadereyta,
Nuevo
Leon.
5.) Don Israel Cavazos Garza is not Jewish nor is he of Crypto Jewish
origin.
He has not written anything on Jewish related topics. He is not an
expert on
Sepharadim either. He himself will tell you that. He is a very
distinguished
and productive scholar who has written extensively on Nuevo Leon's
history.
His books are available at many University libraries. He does interact
well
with the Jewish community of Monterrey (such as giving lecture at the
synagogue there). The present Jewish community in Monterrey is very
recent,
since the 1930s. Before that there was no organized Jewish life in
Monterrey.
Hope this clarifies some of your questions.
Juan Moran