Aragón

Agustín Gerónimo de Aragón, the grandfather of Ignacio de Aragón (ONMF: 127) was master organ-maker (“maestro de hacer órganos”) by occupation. In 1623, Agustín Gerónimo was a witness for the solicitation for a license to marry related to the proposed union of Pedro Rodriguez Loaiza, español, and María de Quintana, española. Agustín Gerónimo identified himself as español, age thirty-six, indicating he was born circa 1587. It is not clear if he was a native of the Spanish Americas or Spain.

It is worthwhile to note that the wife of Agustín Gerónimo de Aragón was doña Francisca de Quintana, who was perhaps a relative of the prospective bride. The other witnesses to the above event, which took place at the Catedral de México, were Juan de Martos, español, age thirty-six, Maestro Sedero; Diego Valdez, español, age forty-four; Francisca de Saldamuela, española, age forty; and María de Quintana, española, age eighteen.

Researcher: José Antonio Esquibel

Source: Archivo General de la Nación, Matrimonios, Vol. 90, exp. 97, ff. 221-222.

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Agustín Gerónimo de Aragón and doña Francisca de Quintana, the grandparents of Ignacio de Aragón (ONMF: 127), were residing in Mexico City as early as 1614. Although the origin of this couple still needs to be determined, baptismal records for five of their children combined with marriage records of two of their children help to form a genealogy of the early generation of the Aragón family. The names of the godparents of the Aragón-Quintana children may offer some valuable leads to uncovering addition genealogical information and identifying the place of origin of Agustín Gerónimo de Aragón and doña Francisca de Quintana.

Children of Agustín Gerónimo de Aragón and doña Francisca de Quintana:

Alonso de Aragón y Quintana, baptized 16 April 1614, Catedral de México, Mexico City. Padrinos: Alonso de Alavés and doña Mariana de Cepeda Alavés.

María [de Aragón] y Quintana, baptized 26 December 1615, Catedral de México, Mexico City. Padrino: Pedro de Sayns Cox. Note: In this record the father is identified only as Agustín Gerónimo. As María de Alcazar, she recorded banns of matrimony at the Catedral de México on 8 December 1632, with Juan Dionisio, a native of Oporto, Portugal.

Agustín de Aragón y Quintana, baptized 13 July 1620, Catedral de México, Mexico City. Padrinos: Francisco de Canalujo and Luisa de Morales.

Antonia [de Aragón] y Quintana, baptized 30 January 1623, Catedral de México, Mexico City. Padrinos: Gerónimo …. [illegible] and María de Angulo. Note: In this record the father is identified as Agustín Hierónimo.

Melchior de Aragón y Quintana, baptized 18 January 1624, Catedral de México, Mexico City. Padrinos: El Doctor Francisco de Urieta and his wife doña Francisca [no surname recorded].

Juan de Balcazar Aragón, married 24 November 1647, Catedral de México (banns: 25 November 1647), Mensia Galindo, native of Mexico City. (Parents of Ignacio de Aragón who settled in New Mexico in 1694.)

Doña Ysabel de Quintana Balcazar y Aragón, married 24 March 1651 (banns: 2 April 1651), Catedral de México, Mexico City, Nicolás Martínez de la Mata, native of Mexico City.

Researcher: José Antonio Esquibel

xico City, Mexico, Distrito Federal, Asunción Church (Catedral de México), Bautismos de Españoles, 1590-1611, LDS microfilm #0035168 and Bautismos de Españoles, 1612-1627, LDS microfilm #0035169; and José Antonio Esquibel and John B. Colligan, The Spanish Recolonization of New Mexico, HGRC, 1998, 108-110.

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Ignacio de Aragón (ONMF: 127-128), progenitor of the Aragón family of New Mexico, was a son of Juan de Aragón and Mencia de las Ruelas Galindo (José Antonio Esquibel and John B. Colligan, The Spanish Recolonization of New Mexico: 106-108). The Galindo family has its origins in Sevilla, Spain, while the Ruelas family can be traced to the mid-1500s in Puebla de los Ángeles, New Spain. This research adds the names of eight immediate ancestors of Ignacio de Aragón and includes family surnames such as Calderón, Carmona, Dávila, Salguero, and Zúñiga.

An article titled "The Ancestry of Ignacio de Aragón" by José Antonio Esquibel was published in the summer 2001 issue of El Farolito (Vol. 3, No. 2), quarterly journal of the Olibama López Tushar Hispanic Legacy Research Center. The article provides transcriptions of original marriage records that clearly documents the information used to compile the Galindo-de la Ruelas genealogy. The article is illustrated with a genealogical chart showing related family members.

Single issues of El Farolito, can be purchased for $6.00, or four issues a year can be obtained through OLTHLRC membership of $20.00 per year. Send check or money order with single-issue request or request for membership to OLTHLRC, MSC 237, 6637 W. Colfax Ave., Lakewood, Colorado 80214-1896.

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Among the most influential santeros of the “golden age” of Nuevomejicano Catholic devotional art were José Aragón (born circa 1781-89) and José Rafael Aragón (born circa 1783-96). The artwork of these two men, first identified by E. Boyd, is frequently displayed in many collections of Spanish New Mexico colonial art. Scholars have noticed similarities in the styles of the Aragón santeros, but it was not previously known that they were related. The research of Esquibel and Carrillo identifies José Aragón and José Rafael Aragón as sons of Juan Andrés Aragón and Juana Gertrudis Domínguez Mascareñas, residents of Santa Fe in the 1780s and 1790s.

José Aragón married María Josefa Casados (baptized 19 March 1790, Santa Fe), sister of santero José Anastacio Casados. Aragón and Casados resided in Santa Fe until around 1818-1820, by which time they moved to the Galisteo area and then settled at Antón Chico by 1828 and then at Tecolote by 1850. José Aragón mastered his craft as a painter of retablos and a carver of bultos. The region of the Pecos Valley, in particular the area of San Miguel del Vado, saw an increase in settlement in the first three decades of the 1800s. It appears Aragón’s expertise was drawn upon to decorate local churches, private chapels, moradas and homes. He and his wife were the parents of at least seven children:

1. Diego Antonio Aragón, baptized 17 November 1812, Santa Fe. Padrinos: José Lucero and Josefa Lucero. Diego Antonio Aragón married (1) Teresa Lovato, daughter of Isidro Lovato and Casilda Tenorio. Known children:

• • María Prudencia Aragón, born 15 November 1840, baptized 25 November 1840, San Miguel del Vado. Abuelos paternos named as José Aragón and María Josefa Casaus.

  • José Francisco Aragón, baptized 22 March 1843, San Miguel del Vado, twenty-two days old. Abuelos paternos named as José Aragón and Josefa Casados.

  • María Ricarda Aragón, baptized 11 April 1849, San Miguel del Vado.

  • Juan José Aragón, born 24 April 1851, baptized 6 May 1851, San Miguel del Vado.

Diego Aragón, a vecino of Los Valles de San Agustín, married (2) 11 August 1856, Our Lady of Sorrows, Las Vegas, María Pelegrina González, vecina of Los Valles de San Agustín, daughter of Miguel Albino González and María Juliana Blea.

2. José Antonio Aragón (twin), born 5 April 1815, baptized 8 May 1815, Santa Fe. Padrinos: Juan Trujillo and Josefa Montoya.

3. Ramona María Juana Aragón (twin), born 5 April 1815, baptized 8 May 1815, Santa Fe. Padrinos: Anastacio Casados [uncle of the child, and an escultor] and Manuela Casados [apparently the aunt of the child].

4. Juan Francisco Aragón (twin), baptized 9 September 1817, Santa Fe. Padrinos: Ignacio Armenta and doña Josefa Montoya.

5. Juan de Jesús Aragón, (twin), baptized 9 September 1817, Santa Fe. Padrinos: Ignacio Armenta and doña Josefa Montoya.

6. Rumaldo Aragón, born circa 1826, married 22 May 1848, San Miguel del Vado, María Soledad Sena, baptized 26 March 1821, Santa Fe, daughter of Matías Sena y Fajardo and María Soledad González y Padilla. Known children:

José Macedonio Aragón, born 24 February 1849, baptized 14 March 1849, San Miguel del Vado. Padrinos: Macedonio González and María Manuela Martín.

María Dolores Aragón, born 8 November 1849, baptized 15 November 1849, San Miguel del Vado.

1. José Ylario (Hilario) Aragón, baptized 2 November 1828, San Miguel del Vado (Pecos, AASF Roll 6). In this record, his parents were identified as vecinos de Antón Chico. The paternal grandparents were recorded as Juan Andrés Aragón and Gertrudis Domínguez. The maternal grandparents were recorded as José Casados and Matilde Lucero. The padrinos were José Candelario Flores and María Luisa Padilla, vecinos de la Cuesta.

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José Rafael Aragón is well known for creating numerous altar screens for northern New Mexico chapels and churches, as well as for his many surviving retablos and bultos. Aragón first married María Josefa Lucero de Godoy, baptized 25 April 1785, Santa Fe, daughter of Antonio Lucero de Godoy and María Manuela Benavides. This marriage took place on 15 July 1815, Santa Fe. From this union there were born at least seven children, possibly eight:

Blas Aragón, born 2 February 1809, baptized 5 February 1809, Santa Fe; married 16 June 1830, Santa Fe, María Francisca Padilla, daughter of Diego Padilla (sexton) and María Rita Ávila. Blas Aragón was identified as a natural son of María Josefa Lucero at the time of his baptism. His marriage record names his parents as Rafael Aragón and Josefa Lucero.

Possibly José Antonio Lucero (Aragón?), español, born March 1810, buried 14 January 1811, Santa Fe; identified as a natural son of Josefa Lucero.

José Aragón, born 11 August 1815, baptized 15 August 1815, Santa Fe. Padrinos: Francisco Baca and Ana María Baca.

Miguel Antonio Aragón, español, born 7 May 1817, baptized 9 May 1817, Santa Fe. Padrinos: Ventura Lucero (uncle of the child) and Francisca Sandoval. This child was buried on 4 July 1817, Santa Fe.

José Rafael Aragón, born 6 November 1818, baptized 8 November 1818, Santa Fe. Padrinos: don Juan Bautista Alarid and doña Guadalupe Baca.

Juan Antonio Aragón, baptized 30 March 1821, Santa Fe. Padrinos: Juan Trujillo and Luisa Trujillo.

María Josefa Aragón, baptized 20 September 1823, Santa Fe. Padrinos: Viterbo Ortiz and María de la Cruz Baca; married 1844, Santa Cruz, José Patricio López, resident of Quemado (Córdova), baptized 29 April 1817, Santa Cruz, son of Juan de Jesús López and María del Carmen Romero.

María Manuela Aragón, baptized 18 June 1827, Santa Fe. Padrinos: José de Jesús Montoya and María Victoria Roybal.

Researchers: José Antonio Esquibel and Charles M. Carrillo

Sources: See José Antonio Esquibel and Charles M. Carrillo, A Tapestry of Kinship: The Web of Influence of Among Escultores and Carpinteros of the Parish of Santa Fe, 1790-1850. (Albuquerque: LPD Press), 2004.

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ARAGÓN-SILVA

In 1801, Juan Cruz Aragón, age thirty-six, a soldier of the Santa Fe Presidio and the widower of Teodora Baca, sought to marry Juana Sandoval, age twenty-six and the daughter of Cavo Graduado José Sandoval and Polonia Tafoya. Juan Cruz was related to Juana in the fourth degree of affinity, Juana being a third cousin of Teodora Baca as shown in this outline:

Bárbara Tafoya siblings Lugarda Tafoya

Researchers: Rick Hendricks and John B. Colligan

Source: AHAD-357, f. 658-63, Santa Fe, 16 July-19 October 1801: New Mexico Prenuptial Investigations From the Archivos Históricos del Arzobispado de Durango, 1800-1893.