Marquez
The Márquez-Mendoza Error in New Mexico Genealogy
José Antonio Esquibel
Writing in 1954, Fray Angélico Chávez wrote the following in regard to the unidentified wife of Gerónimo Márquez, a soldier in the army of don Juan de Oñate:
“His wife’s name is not known, but an ambiguous statement makes her seem to be a Doña Ana de Mendoza, daughter and granddaughter of leading Conquistadores of New Spain. She had three sisters who were nuns, and was a niece of Don Fernando de Oñate as well as a first cousin of Francisco de Zaldívar” (Origins of New Mexico Families, 71)
The source of this information cited by Chávez was Archivo General de la Nacion (AGN), Mexico, Audiencia, legajo 72, Title 1489. In actuality the source is AGN, Mexico, Audiencia is legajo 72, Title 148-148a, and consists of two documents with twelve pages.
A photostat of this document is available at the University of New Mexico’s Zimmerman Library in the Southwest Reading Room.
In 1996 when Patricia Black Esterley of the New Mexico Genealogical Society sent me a photocopy of the two documents in an attempt to clarify what genealogical information was contained in the archival document. I transcribed the document and the transcription, with references to doña Ana de Mendoza, her sisters and famous uncles, was published in Nuestra Raices (Journal of the Genealogical Society of Hispanic America), Vol. 8, No. 4, Winter 1996, 147-48.
Immediately there were a couple of seemingly difficult obstacles encountered with the documents: 1) the name of Gerónimo Márquez does not appear anywhere in the two documents, and 2) the person dictating the documents could not be easily identified.
A diligent approach to reading the two documents revealed that the author of both documents was Doctor don Santiago del Riego, the husband of doña Ana de Mendoza, daughter of don Juan de Zaldívar y Oñate and doña Marina de Mendoza.
The documents are addressed to the king of Spain from Riego and provide information describing his merits and those of his wife, doña Ana. Riego's name is difficult to decipher, but is written three times, once on the cover of the first document and then at the end of each of the two documents.
The first document is dated February 24, 1597, Mexico City and is addressed to His Majesty from "El Dr Santiago del Riego." Riego declared that he had served in the Real Audiencia of Nueva España for thirty-three years. Furthermore, he mentioned he had nine children by his wife, doña Ana de Mendoza, whom he described as "hija y nieta de los Primeros y mas principales conquistadores desta nueva spana." It is this statement that Chávez referred to when he wrote that doña Ana de Mendoza "was a daughter and granddaughter of leading Conquistadores of New Spain."
The second document contains two entries written to the king by don Santiago del Riego. The first entry is dated October 14, 1598, Mexico City, and contains the information from which Fray Angélico Chávez extracted material for his suggestive comments about the wife of Gerónimo Márquez.
Riego declared he had been married with doña Ana de Mendoza for twenty-five years, and in addition to serving in the Real Audiencia de Nueva España and Nueva Galicia, he had been serving in the Real Audiencia de las Indias for the past nine years. Both of his wife’s parents had died, leaving three minor daughters, each of who entered convents.
Santiago del Riego made reference to a second woman named doña Ana de Mendoza who help found a small convent for nuns along with contributions from two uncles and a cousin, This is the source of the reference made by Chávez that doña Ana de Mendoza "had three sisters who were nuns." reference to a second woman named doña Ana de Mendoza. Santiago del Reigo mentioned doña Ana’s uncles (tios), don Fernando de Oñate, and don Cristóbal de Oñate, and to her first cousin (primo hermano), don Francisco de Zaldívar, as individuals who contibuted funds for the convent: "…como lo hizo don Frdo de Oñate su tio con quatro mil ps y Franco de zaldivar su primo hermano con tres mil… ."
Based on the information provided by Santiago del Riego, this second doña Ana de Mendoza was a daugter of a daughter of don Vicente de Zaldívar y Oñate and doña Magdalena de Mendoza, the half-sister of Fernando de Oñate and Cristóbal de Oñate. Doña Ana’s first cousin, Francisco de Zaldívar, was a son of don Juan de Zaldívar y Oñate (brother of Vicente de Zaldivar y Oñate) and doña Marina de Mendoza.
There is no reference to Gerónimo Márquez in either entry of the second document. Rather, the entries relate to the foundation of the Convent of San Lorenzo in Mexico City established through donations made by doña Ana de Mendoza, her husband, and her relatives. Doña Ana and her husband provided 44,000 pesos for the founding of the convent. Her uncle, don Fernando de Oñate, gave 4,000 pesos, while her first cousin, Francisco de Zaldívar, contributed 3,000 pesos, with an additional 4,000 pesos given by another uncle, Cristóbal de Oñate.
The information above confirms that doña Ana de Mendoza was not the wife of Gerónimo Márquez. The question of the identity of Márquez’s wife remains unanswered. However, some clues as to her identity may lay in a brief reference found in Gaspar Pérez de Villagrá’s epic account of the Oñate’s colonization of New Mexico (Historia de la Nueva Mexico, 1610).
Pérez de Villagra wrote, "The next post in order he gave/ To Captain Marcelo de Espinosa,/ With Gerónimo Márquez and Juan Díaz,/ Pedro Hernández and Francisco Márquez,/ These four all brothers… " (Canto XXVI).
Did Pérez de Villagrá intend to state that these four men were siblings, or that they were related by marriage as brothers-in-law? Although it is probable that all four men were siblings using different family surnames it could have been that Gerónimo Márquez and Francisco Márquez were brothers and Juan Diaz and Pedro Hernandez were brothers-in-law of Gerónimo and Francisco.
Alternatively, these four men could have been four of the five sons that Gerónimo Márquez brought with him to New Mexico, although Fray Angélico Chávez identified these sons as Francsico Márquez, Juan Márquez, Pedro Márquez, Hernando Márquez and Diego Márquez. Additional research is needed to clarify the relationship between Gerónimo Márquez, Francisco Márquez, Juan Díaz and Pedro Hernández.
Capitán Diego Márquez (ONMF: 221), married with Juana Martín Serrano, died at Santa Cruz, on 29 April 1729. His age was given as forty-six, indicating he was born circa 1683. His wife was a daughter of Domingo Martín Serrano, and a sister of Blas Martín Serrano according to a pre-nuptial investigation record dated 27 April 1800, Abiquiu, that provides the following lineage:
Domingo Martín, father of
Juana Martín [married with Diego Márquez], mother of
Francisca Márquez [married with Pablo Manuel Trujillo], mother of
Pablo Trujillo [married with María Teresa de Jesús Hurtado], father of
María Josefa Trujillo
Researcher: José Antonio Esquibel
Sources: Archives of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, Roll 39, Santa Cruz Church, Burials: 1726-1859; Archivos Históricos del Arzobispado de Durango (AHAD)-337, fr. 0037, DM 27 April 1800, Abiquiu (microfilm copy at the Rio Grande Historical Collections, New Mexico State University Library.
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MÁRQUEZ—Promising Lead
Gerónimo Márquez (ONMF: 69) came to New Mexico in 1598 with relatives. In Canto XXVII of his Historia de la Nueva México, 1610, Gaspar Pérez de Villagrá makes this intriguing reference: "The next post in order he gave/ To Capitán Marcelo de Espinosa,/ With Gerónimo Márquez and Juan Díaz,/ Pedro Hernández and Francisco Márquez,/ These four all brothers…".
Did Pérez de Villagrá intend to say that these four men were brothers by blood, or that they were brothers by marriages, brothers-in-law? Although it is possible all four men were siblings using different family surnames, it is more likely that Gerónimo Márquez and Francisco Márquez were brothers and that Juan Díaz and Pedro Hernández were brothers-in-law. Were Díaz and Hernández married to sisters of the Márquez men? Or, was the wife of Gerónimo Márquez a Díaz or Hernández woman?
Additional research into the Oñate expedition records, particularly the known muster rolls, is certainly needed. Another source to consult would be the list of pasajeros traveling from Spain to the New World. In particular, a search of the surname index (Díaz, Hernández, and Márquez/Martín Sambrano) and the place name index (San Lucar de Barameda) for the years prior to 1598 may be worthwhile.
Researcher: José Antonio Esquibel
Sources: Gaspar Pérez de Villagrá, Historia de la Nueva México, 1610 (A Critical and Annotated Spanish/English Edition Translated and Edited by Miguel Encinias, Alfred Rodríguez, and Joseph P. Sánchez), Paso Por Aquí Series on the Nuevomexicano Literary Heritage, ed. by Genaro M. Padilla and Erlinda González-Berry, Albuquerque, University of New Mexico Press, 1992, Canto XXVII. Clarification that Ana de Mendoza was not the wife of Gerónimo Márquez can found in these two articles: José Antonio Esquibel, "On the Identity of Doña Ana de Mendoza (Supposed Wife of Gerónimo Márquez), in New Mexico Genealogist, Vol. 35, No. 3, September 1996, 74; José Antonio Esquibel, "Clarification on the Marriage Relationship of Doña Ana de Mendoza (Supposed Wife of Gerónimo Márquez), in Nuestra Raíces, Vol. 8, No. 4, winter 1996, 144-47.
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MÁRQUEZ-DURÁN
One main branch of the Márquez family of New Mexico begins with Bartolomé Márquez and his wife Damiana Durán, residents of Santa Fe in the mid-1700s. At this time, no information has been uncovered from printed or archival sources to confirm the names of the parents of Bartolomé Márquez, the husband. In fact, there is not enough information available to make an educated guess as to the family origins of Bartolomé Márquez. However, it is known that his wife, Damiana Durán, was a sister of José Durán (also known as José Rincón), both children of Miguel Durán and María Sebastiana Rincón (SANM I : no. 550).
Durán-Rincón
In early April 1708, Miguel Durán submitted his prenuptial petition to marry María Rincón, daughter of Mexico City natives Antonio Francisco Rincón de Guemes and Antonia de Valenzuela (Chávez, NMR, 445, DM 1708, April 2, nos. 7 & 11, Santa Fe). Miguel was born circa 1668 at the hacienda of don Juan Ruiz de Zavala (location undetermined). He did not know the names of his parents and was the widower of María de la Rosa. Miguel Durán and María Rincón were married and they resided at Santa Fe. Miguel died at about the age of sixty and was buried in Santa Fe on 3 July 1727. His burial record identified his widow as María Sebastiana Guemes Rincón.
María Sebastiana Rincón de Guemes was baptized at the Sagrario of the Cathedral of Mexico City on 17 August 1686 (LDS microfilm #0035174). She was the legitimate daughter of Antonio Francisco Rincón de Guemes and Antonia de Valenzuela, and her padrino was Bachiller Cristóbal de Paredes. Her parents were married at the Sagrario of the Cathedral of Mexico City on 25 July 1683 (LDS microfilm #0035269). Antonio Francisco was a son of Lázaro Rincón and María de León and his wife, Antonia, was a daughter of Juan de Valenzuela and doña Melchora del Castillo.
Antonio José Rincón and Antonia Valenzuela recorded their intent to marry on 18 July 1683 in Mexico City as follows:
Antonio Francisco Rincon, natural y vesino desta ciudad hijo lexitimo de lasaro Rincon y de Maria de Leon, con antonia de balensuela, natural desta dicha ciudad hija lexitima de Juan de Valenmzuela y de Da Melchora del castillo.
This couple married seven days later and their record of marriage reads as follows:
en veinte y cinco del mes de Julio de mil seiscientos y ochenta y tres con lizencia del Licdo D. Joseph de Lezamiz cura de esta Sta iglesia catedral despose por palabras de presente que hizieron verdadero y lexitinmo matrimonio a Antonio frco Rincon con Antonio de Valenzuela; siendo testigos el Berl Antonio de Ocaranza, Baltazar de Peredo y frco de fris presente —signed by D. Joseph de Lezamiz and B. Dr. Cristóbal de Paredes.
Antonio Francisco Rincón de Guemes and Antonia de Valenzuela were among the families that volunteered in 1693 as settlers to assist with the recolonization of New Mexico. This couple came to New Mexico with five children, including María Sebastiana Rincón de Guemes, arriving at Santa Fe in the early morning hours of 23 June 1694. Antonio Francisco was a weaver by trade and was deceased by May 1697 when his widow and children were given livestock by Governor Vargas and enumerated in a census of settlers:
108 Annta de Velenza viuda/sus hijos Joseph Rincon/Ma Rincon/ damiana Rincon
(SANM II: 65; translation found in Blood on the Boulders: The Journals of Don Diego de Vargas, New Mexico, 1694-97, Book 2, John L. Kessell, Rick Hendricks and Meredith D. Dodge, eds., Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1998, p. 1146 [on this page Antonia Valenzuela is incorrectly named as Antonia Valencia]).
Márquez-Durán
Damiana Durán, wife of Bartolomé Márquez, was apparently the namesake of her aunt, Damiana Rincón, the sister of María Sebastiana Rincón de Guemes. She and Bartolomé were married at Santa Fe on 25 January 1728. The witnesses to this union were Juan de Santistevan and Juana Sisneros. A document in the Spanish Archives of New Mexico identifies Damiana Durán as having been a sister of José Rincón (also known as José Durán). José had sold land he inherited on the south side of the Santa Fe River in the Analco settlement for 40 pesos (approximately $120) to his brother-in-law Bartolomé Márquez. Márquez and his wife, and José Durán and his wife, were enumerated in the 1750 census of Santa Fe and were listed one after the other as follows:
Bartolomé [no surname]; Damiana [no surname]; Ma Olalla;
Ana María; Ma Sebastiana; three children.
Joseph Duran; Ma Josepha
(Virginia L. Olmsted, Spanish and Mexican Census of New Mexico, 1750-1830, p. 7).
One of the unnamed children of Bartolomé Márquez and Damiana Durán was their son Lorenzo Márquez. The documented evidence for this relationship is found in the will of Diego Padilla dated 1833, Santa Fe. In this will, Diego Padilla identified his parents as don Ysidro Padilla and doña Ana María Márquez. In addition, he named his grandfather as Bartolomé Márquez and his uncle as Lorenzo Márquez (SANM I: 712). Furthermore, there are a couple of other records that clearly link Lorenzo to Bartolomé Márquez and Damiana Durán. Lorenzo Márquez and Bartolomé Márquez were witnesses to a marriage that occurred in Santa Fe on 27 March 1758. Lorenzo Márquez and Ana María Márquez were padrinos for an orphan girl christened María Damiana Márquez at Santa Fe on 18 August 1752.
Márquez-Griego
Lorenzo Márquez, son of Bartolomé Márquez and Damiana Durán, was married with Apolonia Griego in Santa Fe on 3 November1761. Unfortunately, the names of their parents were not recorded in their record of marriage. At this time, the names of the parents of Apolonia Griego are not known. The 1750 census of Santa Fe lists only one Griego family household. José Antonio Griego and María Tenorio were enumerated with four children, two of whom were named, María and Fernando (Olmsted, SMCNM, 5). In addition, living in the household of Bonifacio de Rezo in that same year was Agustín Griego and his wife, unnamed (Olmsted, SMCNM, 8).
In addition to their own children (listed below), Lorenzo Márquez and Apolonia Griego were padrinos for these orphan children: María Apolonia Márquez, baptized 13 January 1778, Santa Fe; José Francisco Márquez, baptized 18 April 1787, Santa Fe (this child had been left in the home of Lorenzo Márquez).
Lorenzo Márquez was a sexton by profession. He and his wife were enumerated as residents of Santa Fe in the 1790 census. His age was listed as forty-six, indicating he was born circa 1744, and he was identified as "español." Apolonia Griego was identified as "española," age forty-two (born circa 1748). In this couple's household were one son age 16, one daughter age 14, and three female orphans ages 21, 16 and 7 (Virginia L. Olmsted, New Mexico Spanish and Mexican Colonial Censuses, 1790, 1823, 1845, p. 63).
One possible lead in determining the family origins of Apolonia Griego is that Lorenzo Márquez and his daughter María Josepha Márquez were padrinos for Andrés Griego, baptized 2 December 1785, Santa Fe, son of Cristóbal Griego and María de la Luz Segura. Cristóbal Griego and María de la Luz Segura were married in Santa Fe on 1 December 1765. Unfortunately, the parents of the couple were not recorded.
Apparently, Lorenzo Márquez was among one of the early settlers of the San Miguel del Vado area. The will of Diego Padilla dated 1833 makes mention of "the house of Uncle Lorenzo Márquez at El Bado" (SANM I: 712).
Researcher: José Antonio Esquibel
Sources: Cited in text.