Lopez de Gracia
As indicated by fray Angélico Chávez, Andrés López de Gracia (a resident of the Isleta jurisdiction in 1638) was a brother of Sebastiana López de Gracia, wife of Diego González de Apodaca(Chávez, ONMF: 55-56). Information from a pre-nuptial investigation dated 5 August 1729, provides information that confirms that Andrés and Sebastiana had two sisters, Isabel López de Gracia (wife of Pedro Rico de Rojas) and Lucía López de Gracia (wife of José Nieto).
The pre-nuptial investigation took place in Santa Fe surrounding the intention of José Antonio Rodríguez, widower of Juana Gertrudis de Tapia, who sought to marry María Gerónima Montaño. An impediment of affinity was described by witnesses who stated that Juana Gertrudis (daughter of Francisco de Tapia and María Magdalena Nieto) and Gerónima (daughter of Lucas Montaño and Juana de Anaya Almazán) were third cousins. One of the witnesses was the maternal grandmother of Juana Gertrudis, Petrona Pacheco, who was the wife of Cristóbal Nieto. Another witness was José González de Apodaca who declared that the prospective bride was a grandchild of a female first cousin of his. Although no specific lineage with names has been preserved in the record, it is clear from the testimonies that Juana Gertrudis and Gerónima were related in the fourth degree of consanguinity. This indicates they had a set of second great-grandparents as common ancestors. Exploring the ancestry of these two women, the following lines of descent can be established:
Lucía López de Gracia Siblings Isabel López de Gracia
Cristóbal Nieto 1st cousins Felipa de Cedillo Rico de Rojas
María Magdalena Nieto 2nd cousins Juana de Anaya Almazán
Juana Gertrudis de Tapia 3rd cousins Gerónima Montaño
These lineages substantiate the relationship between Lucía López de Gracia and Isabel López de Gracia as sisters and support the testimony of Petrona Pacheco. In addition, it is the statement of José González de Apodaca that leads to information linking these two López de Gracia women with Sebastiana López de Gracia and Andrés López de Gracia. González de Apodaca declared that Gerónima Montaño's grandmother (Felipa Cedillo Rico de Rojas) was a first cousin of his. As it turns out, González de Apodaca was a son of Diego González de Apodaca and Sebastiana López de Gracia (Chávez, ONMF: 5). Felipa Cedillo Rico de Rojas was a daughter of Pedro Cedillo Rico de Rojas and Isabel López de Gracia (Chávez, ONMF, 285). This establishes that Sebastiana López de Gracia was sister of Isabel, and thus also of Lucía López de Gracia and Andrés López de Gracia.
Still, another member of the López de Gracia family was María López de Millán, briefly alluded to by Chávez (ONMF: 56, 109). On 24 May 1661, María López Millán, "mestiza o lo mas castiza," provided testimony before Inquisition officials at Isleta Pueblo in the case against Governor don Bernardo López de Mendizábal. In her testimony she declared that she was forty-eight years of age (born circa 1613) and the wife of Francisco de Valencia (age fifty-four—born circa 1607), and mentioned her sister Sebastiana de Gracia, estanciera, owner of an estancia located one league from the pueblo of Quarac. María López Millán lived with her husband at their estancia located one league south of the Isleta Pueblo. This additional information indicates that María López Millán was another sister of the López de Gracia siblings.
Researcher: José Antonio Esquibel
Sources: Chávez, "New Mexico Roots, Ltd.: 1571 (DM 1729, August 5, Santa Fe); Archivo General de la Nación, Inquisición, tomo 593, ff. 63, 80-82.