Mestas

Juan de Mestas (ONMF: 73) had come to New Mexico in the mid-summer of 1656 in the company of Governor don Juan de Manso. Testimony given in 1662 by Capitán Miguel de Hinojos (age forty-one; born circa 1621), encomendero and resident of Santa Fe, gave mention of "Juan de Mestas, mercador" ("Juan de Mestas, merchant"). Furthermore, in July 1662, Juan de Mestas was described as "camarada y paisano del dho Don Ju^o Manso" ("pal and countryman of the said don Juan Manso"). This information indicates a very close friendship existed between Governor Manso and Mestas. Being a good friend of Governor Manso, Mestas may have traveled with him from Spain to the New World.

Governor don Juan de Manso (born circa 1628; Governor: 1656-1659) was a younger brother of fray Tomás Manso, Franciscan Procurator-general in New Mexico for twenty-five years, provincial of his order in 1655, and later named as bishop of Nicaragua. Both were natives of Luarca (Loarca), an Asturian seaport on Spain's north coast. It is probable that Juan de Mestas, who was also Asturian, knew the Manso brothers from Asturias and may even have been a native of Luarca himself or from some nearby village or town.

Juan de Mestas stored his commercial goods in a room at the Governor's Palace. In early 1659, two Indians by the name of Juan Zuñi and Cristóbal el Meco encountered the door to the storeroom of Mestas slightly open. The two stole goods that they eventually distributed to others in the Villa de Santa Fe. Mestas suspected Zuñi, but when confronted, the Indian denied the theft. Some of the stolen goods came into possession of the wife of Capitán Bartolomé Romero who had purchased the goods from an Apache Indian women named María, a servant of Capitán Hernán Martín and the wife of Nicolás Durán, "el mozo" (the younger). An investigation and subsequent testimony of several citizens led authorities to arrest Juan Zuñi and El Meco. Most of the stolen items were returned to Mestas.

During the residencia of Governor Manso (1659), Governor López de Mendizábal placed Manso under house arrest. Concerned for his life, Manso wrote several letters to the viceroy of Nueva España. He entrusted copies of his letters to three men: Juan de Mestas, Padre fray Nicolás Chávez, and Diego González Lobón. These men traveled together and fulfilled their mission.

By July 1662, Juan de Mestas was mentioned as being in Mexico City, having provided information to the Real Audiencia of Nueva España regarding the case of his compañero, Governor don Juan de Manso. Mestas was still in Mexico City as of May 1663.

Researcher: José Antonio Esquibel

Sources: Archivo General de la Nación, Mexico, Concurso de Peñalosa, tomo 2, leg. 1, no. 9, f. 19; tomo 3, leg. 1, no. 1, f. 48, f. 74-75 & f. 103; Adolph F.A. Bandelier and Fanny R. Bandelier, Historical Documents Relating to New Mexico, Nueva Vizcaya, and Approaches Thereto, to 1773, edited by Charles Wilson Hackett, Carnegie Institute of Washington, Washington, D.C., 1923: Vol. 3, 154 & 170.

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Fray Angélico Chávez identified Joaquín Mestas (ONFM: 218) as the husband of two wives, Teresa Tafoya and Victoria Sánchez. However, research indicates that there were two distinct men with the name Joaquín Mestas, and both lived in the jurisdiction of Santa Cruz de la Cañada during the mid 1700s.

Joaquín Mestas and Teresa Tafoya, possibly married circa 1741, had eight known children born in Chama or Nambé during the period of 1742-1764. Joaquín was a son of Juan Mestas Peralta and María Trujillo (Pojoaque). This couple appears to have moved and lived in the Chama area when their children were born. The following is the list of their children:

Manuel Mestas, born circa February 1742 in Ojo Caliente.

Pedro Antonio Mestas, born circa May 1745 in Nambé.

Juan Pedro Mestas, born circa December 1749 in Nambé.

Luisa de la Luz Mestas, born circa December 1751 in Chama.

Juana Gertrudis Mestas, born circa February 1754 in Pojoaque.

José Joachín Mestas, born circa March 1756 in Chama.

Marina Mestas, born circa October 1758 in Chama.

Joaquín Mestas and Victoria Sánchez married 16 May 1756 in Santa Cruz. They had twelve known children born from 1756-1786, mostly all born in Santa Cruz de la Cañada. These children overlap in years with those of Joaquín Mestas and Teresa Tafoya, accounting for two different individuals of the same name. Joaquín Mestas and Victoria Sánchez were enumerated in the 1790 census of Santa Cruz. This Joaquin’s death record is dated 5 February 1812 (Santa Cruz) but the death record indicates he was eighty years of age, which indicates he born about 1731. At this time, there is no information to tell us the names of his parents. This Joaquín Mestas was more than likely a cousin to the other. The following is the list of the children of Joaquín Mestas and Victoria Sánchez.

María Victoria Mestas, adopted child. She married Juan Ponciano Sánchez, 25 January 1804 in Santa Cruz de la Cañada; born 20 November 1783 in Santa Cruz de la Cañada.

Maria Ygnacia de la Luz Mestas. She married Nicolás Martín, 29 July 1793 in Santa Cruz de la Cañada.

Pedro Antonio Mestas, born circa May 1757 in Santa Cruz de la Cañada.

María Gertrudis Mestas, born circa March 1760 in Santa Cruz de la Cañada.

Juan Ygnacio Mestas, born circa April 1763 in San Juan de los Caballeros.

José Ramón Mestas, born circa 1766 in New Mexico. He married (1) Maria Concepción Valdés, 16 January 1789 in Santa Cruz de la Cañada, New Mexico; born circa 1772. He married (2) María del Carmen Lucero, 10 February 1817 in Abiquiu.

Diego Mestas, born circa November 1767 in San Juan de los Caballeros.

Miguel Toribio Mestas, born circa March 1770 in San Juan de los Caballeros, died 8 December 1792 in Santa Cruz de la Cañada.

Rosa Mestas. She married Juan José Lobato, 11 October 1801 in Santa Cruz.

José Antonio Mestas, born 12 February 1779 in Mesilla.

María Dolores Mestas, born circa September 1782 in Mesilla.

María Francisca Mestas, born circa December 1786.

Researchers: Pat Sánchez Rau and Henrietta Martínez Christmas

Sources: Bautismos de la Misión de Santa Clara 1729-1805, Bap Feb 4 1742 Transcribed and Edited by David Gonzales, pp. 4, 11, 15, 21. AASF--Reel #6, Book #18, Nambe, NM, Nambe Baptisms, (Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah Film #16849). Transcribed by Virginia Langham Olmsted, Compiled by Margaret Leonard Windham and Evelyn Lujan Baca, Santa Cruz de la Cañada Baptisms Volume 1, (New Mexico Genealogical Society 1995), pp. 203, 97, 105, 181, 197, 227. 100 Years of Santa Cruz Marriages – 1726 –1826 extracted by Henrietta Martínez Christmas & Patricia Sanchez Rau, LDS Film 16972, pp 71, 63, 87. Thomas D. Martínez, San Juan de los Caballeros Baptisms 1726-1870, (Self-Published), p. 377. Translated and Compiled by Virginia Langham Olmsted, New Mexico Colonial Censuses 1790, 1823, 1845, (New Mexico Genealogical Society 1975), p. 105. New Mexico Marriages Church of Santo Tomas of Abiquiu 1756-1826, p. 60. Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah, Santa Cruz de la Cañada Deaths, (Film #16973, New Mexico), José Toribio, age 18, s/ Juaquin Mestas and Victoria Sanchez.