Probates & Wills Santa Fe, New Mexico, 1774-1896

Baca

Dedication

We dedicate the book to our Santa Fe Ancestors who founded the villa and their descendants.

About the Book

In compiling and transcribing this book, the original probate documents, which are housed at the New Mexico State Records Center & Archives in Santa Fe, New Mexico, have been used. A set of microfilms were first evaluated to ascertain their usability, but when some of those proved nearly impossible to read, the original books were used instead.

The probate book for this time period, specifically Book E, is from 1878-1897. Although many of the people portrayed here had died much earlier, the titling of property or one of their children’s wills being probated, brought these much older wills into the court system. The system of probating a will took precedence when trying to determine who owned what and who had title to specific real property.

These records are County Records for Santa Fe, that comprise Probate Records and Wills, which were re-written from the original document by the Clerk and placed into these books. Therefore, what we were using were primary probate records, which were second-hand transcriptions of the original wills. The clerk wrote what they thought was the exact language of the will, and in most cases, they appear to be just that. In some cases names are spelled in various ways throughout one document such as Gonzales, Gonzalez, or Gonsales or place names such as Cienega, Sienega, Sieneguilla, and Cieneguilla. In order to try to keep to the original as much as possible, the transcriptions were altered just to keep some consistency and not have the reader question some of the writings of the clerk.

After spending more than a year transcribing, it became apparent that an abstract would work much better for these wills. In doing so, the front part, which generally is religious and very repetitive for each will, was removed. The wills concisely end with just a date, executors and any other wishes they might have left out, but again decided that repetitiveness of each will was just that, redundant.

Acknowledgements

We’d like to acknowledge the help at the New Mexico State Archives from Al Regensberg, Felicia Lujan and Melissa Salazar. Without their assistance, this project would have never been finished. We have also imposed ourselves on two special friends and colleagues who are Robert J. Tórrez and Rick Hendricks, Ph.D., one a former State Historian and the other our current State Historian. Without their abundant knowledge of terminology and word usage, we would not have been able to translate some of the bequests in these wills. Lastly, we’d like to acknowledge Daniel E. Martinez and Rose Mestas Thompson, who proofed, corrected, and questioned wording and language usage in the book. We are appreciative and thank each and everyone for their time and effort.

Spanish Names and Words

The names of persons in this book vary from one to the other. The Spanish language during this time period was interspersed with the much later American usage of Spanish. For instance, surnames spellings differ greatly. Since we did not have access to the original will, we surmise that the clerk, when transcribing, at times would fall back into what was familiar and wrote the names, as he knew them and not what was actually written. The owners of the wills likely took them back home where they were passed down or later destroyed, therefore, we did not have the ability to check the original document. We have also provided a list of definitions for some words. In other cases, we just wrote the translated word next to it. The index also provides the variant spellings and refers them to more modern day usage.

Introduction

The abstracts compiled here are of wills filed with the Clerk and Recorder’s Office, of Santa Fe County, during the latter part of the 1800’s. The wills include several instances where family members also filed wills, and were found in the same book as in the case of Ramona Sanchez, her adopted daughter, Eleuteria Corrales, and then Ramona’s husband, Dario Corrales.

The oldest will was written In 1774, when Lazaro Trujillo, from Cuyamunge, lay on his deathbed dictating his will; he begins to dictate his will stating his wish to be buried at the church in Nambe in the habit of St. Francis, because he was a member of the third order. He names his parents, two wives and his living children. It is interesting to note that even though his will was written in 1774, it was not recorded until 1887 more than 100 years later. We believe this may have been due to land transfer documents still being passed down in his family and the need for title and deed transfer.

Almost all these wills were being written when the testator was on his/her deathbed, when a person was generally repentant and trying to set things right with God. The majority of the wills had the same heading beginning with a confession of faith and an appeal to God for salvation as shown in the will of Miguel A. Archibeque.

First of all, I declare and say that I confess that I believe in the mystery of the Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, as three distinct persons but only one true God, I believe in the mystery of the Incarnation of the Son and I believe in all that the Holy Roman Catholic and Apostolic Church teaches and in all that a Catholic Christian believes in this faith.

One exception was the case of Juan Jose Romero, who protests dying and questions why God would let this death happen to him and entitles his will, A Protestation against the Faith on the Matter of Death.

Wills were written, because of a serious illness or imminent death, however, in the case of Octavio Lujan, he had suffered some kind of accident, which was proving to be fatal. Others had suffered accidents, including several of the women including Maria Teresa Garcia.

If a woman received a dowry, both parties (husband or wife) generally mentioned it, so that in case of children or a second marriage, there would be no questions insofar as inheritance from the either parent. Juan Cristoval Trujillo’s wife, Maria Lugarda Gomez del Castillo received eight breeding cows as her dowry, but she also inherited, two mares, a pony, nine sheep, three male sheep and fourteen pesos – none of which existed by the time the will was written. The mares and pony were poisoned with weeds, and the family had consumed the rest of the animals over the years.

The payment for the funeral varied with the individual, but the majority of the wills ask that piece of property should be sold, in order to pay for the funeral costs, as in the case of Maria de Loreto Vigil. If the person had sufficient means, extra Masses were then requested for themselves, or for other deceased family members.

Mandatory Offerings (mandas forzosas) were given to help the poor and widows. The amount would vary from one real to three pesos depending on the wealth of the individual. Juana Luisa Martin left three pesos for each person.

In 1814, Miguel Ortiz freed his slaves, Andres Sandoval and Matilde Sandoval, and even gave his slave, Andres, a ranch of his own. On the other hand, Mariano Romero just transferred ownership of his two criados, to his two sons –I leave Maria Antonia, to my son Rafael and Jose Antonio, to my son Gaspar.

In 1886, Maria Carmen Sena still had minor children at home and had to name guardians for her two minor children. Maria Concepcion Varela on the other hand, gave her daughter to the Sisters of Loreto until she puts herself in the grace of God, while Felipe Santiago Delgado listed his daughter, Sister Gertrudis, should receive part of the inheritance. Juan Rafael Sandoval also stated that his daughter, Juana Sandoval, was a nun with the Sisters of Loreto.

When Manuela Pino de Sandoval died in 1886, she owed 386 pesos to various parties. We can surmise she was left with debts needing payment, or was a poor manager of money. She owned a house, but had given two rooms to her niece and still wants her to have the remaining inheritance.

By the 1880’s, both, Rita Sandoval and Teresa Sena, owned sewing machines and must have been able to make a living by sewing for others.

Mariano Romero, Jose Antonio Rodriguez y Ortiz, Miguel Ortiz, Pedro Rafael Trujillo, Juan Estevan Baca, Antonio Roybal y Ortiz owned mills, but locations were only listed in two wills, Miguel Ortiz on the Cañon de Jemes River, and Antonio Roybal y Ortiz on the Nambe River.

One of the more interesting items in the wills was Jose Doroteo Sena, stating that he had lent the Archbishop, Juan B. Salpointe, $1,500.00 pesos and the money should be collected.

Executors were mainly the spouse, oldest child or trusted sibling. Often, there were three executors named, especially in the cases of large estates so that, if there was a dispute, the three would be able to resolve the issue.

Lastly, prior to 1850, because of the lack of Notaries in New Mexico, the testator would ask the Alcalde Mayor, War Captain, or other significant individual to validate the will, in the presence of witnesses. After 1850, when the U.S. Court System came to New Mexico, it became the job of the executor, to take the will into the Probate Court to have it filed and recorded.

The wills offer a window into the life and death of an individual. One can look at a will and see wealth, poverty, humbleness and sadness, all in the span of one document. Many of the wills list parents, wives, and children or siblings, witnesses and executors and even close family friends. Luckily for historians and genealogists, these documents were preserved when they entered the County Probate System.

Patricia Sanchez Rau

Translations

(x) – signed by mark

acequia madre – the mother ditch for irrigation

al partido – a system of shares involving sheep or cattle

almud - is a dry measure used for grain. There are 12 almudes in a fanega

banda – lands usually on or near a bank of a river

Cañada – a small deep canyon

Criados – a person generally of Indian descent who is raised in a Spanish household

de la tierra – a system used for barter, good in exchange or paid with foodstuffs

escopeta - An Escopeta is a light, smoothbore, muzzle-loading musket. A popular weapon of the 18th century used by the soldado de cuera

fanega – a unit of measure which varies between 22.5 litres and 55.5 litres, according to the area

huerta – a kitchen garden; small orchard near the main house

latias – small poles used to separate the rough material in a ceiling

portal – a porch

real(es) – a coin worth 12 centavos

sala – generally a living room; room

vecino – tax paying citizen

vega – common grazing land; a meadow

vigas – large pine posts that are used to hold up a roof in a house; beams

zaguan – an entryway into a courtyard of a hacienda

Jose Octavio Lujan

Declares: I, Jose Octavio Lujan, a resident of the County of Santa Fe and Territory of New Mexico, declare that I have suffered an accident; and I order this my last will and testament.

Declare that I was married in the Catholic Church to Maria Encarnacion Moya, for twenty years and during this time we had six children Eginio, Juan, Clementa, Rafeley (Rafaela), and Pablo¹.

Bequests: Declare the house where I live, which consists of six rooms and a porch, a stable and a corral continuous with the house.

Declare as my property a piece of land by the house, which contains fruit trees of all kinds 114 small trees and 140 large.

Declare as my property, a small ranch consisting of eight hundred eighty-one varas of land for which I hold the document.

Declare as my property: a pair of mules, one female burro, a certain number of sheep and goats.

Declare as my goods – furniture, a cart with all its harnesses, two pieces of furniture, two beds, two wash