Montoya-Zamora

Research and Narrative by José Antonio Esquibel

Most of the information below was originally published in my two-part article titled, "Diego Montoya and Josefa de Hinojos: New Genealogical Findings," Part 1 in El Farolito (Journal of the Olibama López Tushar Hispanic Legacy Research Center), Vol. 18, No. 1, Spring 2015, 10-21, and Part 2 in El Farolito, Vol. 18, No. 2, Summer 2015, 2-27. The genealogy chart at the end is from my article titled, "Protectors of the Franciscans: The López Holguín-Villanueva Clan of 17th-century New Mexico," Part II, New Mexico Genealogist, June 2019, Vol. 58, No. 2.

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Bartolomé de Montoya, born 1572, emigrated from Spain, being a native of Cantillana in the province of Andalucía and a son of Francisco de Montoya (Archivo General de Indias, Patronato, legajo 22, ramo 4, f.552v: Muster roll dated August 28, 1600). Nothing is yet known about the Montoya family of Cantillana and it is not yet known when Bartolomé arrived in Nueva España. He most likely boarded as ship in Sevilla or Cádiz and disembarked at the port of Vura Cruz where he made his way to Mexico City. It was in the nearby community of Tezcuco that he married María de Zamora, a native of Mexico City.

 Based on various records, it has been deduced that María de Zamora was an Indian of the Valley of Mexico. According to her own account, María de Zamora, was a native of the Barrio de San Sebastián in Mexico City, located near the acequia of the city (AGN, Inquisición, t. 467, exp. 78, Testificación contra María Zamora por hechicera, 1607).  The Barrio de San Sebastián was one of four indigenous barrios of Mexico City in the sixteenth century, being formed from the older Mejica (Aztec) barrio of Atzacualco (Tzaqualco) in Tenochtitlán. It is intriguing to consider the possibility that the grandparents of María's grandparents were residents of Tenochtitlán when the Spaniards arrived in 1519.

María de Zamora further declared that her parents, Pedro de Zamora and Agustina Abarca, moved their family from Mexico City to Oaxaca when she was seven years of age. We have no record yet of an age for María and thus the estimated year of her birth is not known. María referred to her father to as an alcalde mayor of Oaxaca and he likely held that position for the local indigenous community. Further research is needed to uncover records related to Pedro de Zamora and Agustina Abarca. Specifically, research into records of indigenous leaders of Mexico City and Oaxaca needs to be conducted.

Contrary to information found in the Internet, there are no records that identify the parents of Pedro de Zamora and there are no records connecting him to the well-known Pérez de Zamora family that were conquistadores and early settlers of Mexico City.

The Zamora-Abarca family left Oaxaca and relocated to the Pueblo of Tezcuco, an indigenous community near Mexico City that quickly developed into a multi-ethnic community, where María de Zamora married Bartolomé de Montoya probably in the early 1590s. There is yet no known marriage record, just María’s testimony.

Bartolomé and María resided in the Barrio de San Lorenzo in the Pueblo de Tezcuco where several of their children may have been born. They enlisted as volunteer settlers of New Mexico as part of the reinforcements recruited at Mexico City in 1600.

This couple and their five children were accounted for on a muster roll recorded in August 1600 at the Valle de San Bartolomé in Nueva Vizcaya. The children, all under age sixteen, were: Francisco, Diego, Lucía, Petronila, and the infant, José, who was born enroute from Mexico City to the Valle de San Bartolomé (AGI, Patronato, leg. 22, r. 4, f. 560r/511r). In their household was an Indian girl, Isabel, age 10 and a native of Tecama who a servant.

Extraction from muster roll of August 1600, AGI, Patronato, leg. 22, r. 4, f. 560r/511r.

         Transcription:

-m[ari]a de çamora muger legitima de b[artolo]me

de montoya hija de p[edr]o çamora, natural

de mex[i]co con cinco hijos tres barones dos

mugeres, todos de diez años para abajo,

llamados fran[cis]co e diego jusepe lucia

e petronila lleuan [en] su serv[ic]io vna

muchacha yndia llamada ysavel

de diez a[ñ]os natural de tecama

         Translation:

María de Zamora, legitimate wife of Bartolomé

de Montoya, daughter of Pedro de Zamora, native

of Mexico [City] with five children, three males, two

females, all ages ten and under,

named Francisco and Diego, José, Lucía,

and Petronila. Coming in their service, an

Indian girl named Ysabel.

ten years of age, native of Tecama.

It was during the journey northward that the youngest boy, “Joseph,” was born. Cynthia LeMons located the boy’s baptismal record among the book of baptisms of the church of Siloa (today’s Silao de la Victoria), Nueva España, located just southeast of Guanajuato, dated March 16, 1600, in which the names of his parents were recorded as Bartolomé de Montoya and María de Cepeda and it was noted “they are passing on the journey to New Mexico” (México, Guanajuato, Silao de la Victoria, Santiago Apóstol Church, Bautismos, 1594-1670, Image 98, LDS microfilm # 004796445).

México, Guanajuato, Silao de la Victoria, Santiago Apóstol Church, Bautismos, 1594-1670, Image 98, LDS microfilm # 004796445.

 Transcription:

                     En 6 de março del dho año [1600] bautize a Joseph hijo

Joseph         de bartlome de montoia y Maria de çepeda, que

                     Pasaban a la jornada del nuebo mex[i]co

                                                                     B[achille]r Plancarte (rubric)

It is not clear if the surname Cepeda was an error on the part of the priest or if this was a surname that María de Zamora also used and was perhaps another family surname. The notation that the couple were on the way to New Mexico is a clear indication that this was indeed a child of Bartolomé de Montoya and María de Zamora. The baptismal record informs us that that María was pregnant when the family left Texcuco/Mexico City and after giving birth she nursed the infant boy on the continuing journey northward.

The Montoya-Zamora family arrived at San Gabriel in New Mexico on December 24, 1600. They remained in New Mexico throughout the term of don Juan de Oñate, who resigned his leadership position in 1608. Although there are no known historical accounts of Bartolomé Montoya and María de Zamora after 1607, members of the Montoya-Zamora family remained in New Mexico after 1609 and left numerous descendants.

The Montoya-Zamora Children

Petronila de Zamora, the youngest daughter of Bartolomé de Montoya and María de Zamora, married Pedro Lucero de Godoy (born 1600, Mexico City), a man of Spanish background born in Mexico City in 1600, an encomendero in New Mexico, and a well-respected military leader (Chávez, Origins of New Mexico Families, 59-60; and José Antonio Esquibel, Introduction to The Lucero de Godoy Family of New Mexico, edited by Gerald H. Peterson and Mary Chacon Peterson, Albuquerque: New Mexico Genealogical Society, 2018).  They became the progenitors of the influential Lucero de Godoy family of seventeenth-century New Mexico. Their daughter, Catalina de Zamora, and their son, Juan Lucero de Godoy, were each identified as being castizo, meaning they were ¾ Español and ¼ Indian. (AGN, Inquicisión, t. 587, exp 1, ff. 201v and 206r, Segundo cuaderno del proceso contra don Bernardo López de Mendizábal por proposiciones heréticas, 1660. Since Pedro Lucero de Godoy was identified as español at the time of his baptism and in records of New Mexico, then Petronila was a mestiza (½ Español, ½ Indian). Since Bartolomé de Montoya was a native of Spain, then the conclusion is that María de Zamora was an Indian woman.

Diego de Montoya, son of Bartolomé de Montoya and María de Zamora, first married María Martín with whom he had two children (Chávez, Origins of New Mexico Families, 77). Diego next married María de Vera Abendaño with whom he had seven known children (see the chart below). Diego attained the privilege of encomendero of the Pueblo of San Pedro, which was passed on to his son Bartolomé, and they received tribute from the Pueblo Indians in return for armed military protection. Many people with the Montoya surname descend from Diego de Montoya.

Their daughter, Lucía de Montoya, married Diego Robledo and this couple left New Mexico sometime in late 1607 or in 1608, settling in the community of Zamora in Nueva España where other member of the Robledo family resided.

It is not certain what became of Francsico and José. There are no known references to José after 1600 and the last known historical reference to Francisco is from the year 1607. Fray Angélico Chávez incorrectly indicated that Francisco de Montoya appears to have been married to a daughter of Alonso Martín Barba and the source he cited actually indicates that Francisco de Madrid was the “yerno,” son-in-law, of Alonso Martín Barba (AGN, Inquicisión, t. 316, exp 2, f. 172v, Relación de Fray Francisco Pérez Huerta, 1617).

María de Zamora and Accusations of Bewitching

María de Zamora was accused of being an hechicera, a bewitcher (AGN, Inquisición, t. 467, exp. 78, Testificación contra María Zamora por Hechicera, 1607). There is a distinction between hechicería and brujería. Hechiceras had clientele, mainly females. An hechicera mixed herbs and other items into powder concoctions and liquid potions to assist women in areas of love relationships and rivalries over men, as well as to address health issues, especially women's health issues.

For example a potion would be given to a man to attract him to a woman, or to make a man unattracted to other women, or given to a husband to make him faithful to his wife, or given to a husband to make him treat his wife better, or given to a husband in order for him to lose interest in a another love interest, or given to a rival to make her lose interest in one's husband or boyfriend.

Although from our modern perspective much of what we read about the practices of hechiceras appears to be based in superstitions, there is a long history of these practices both in European and among Native American societies.

Although there was a denunciation made of María de Zamora, which was followed with an investigation by local Francisco Friars and report submitted to inquisition officials in Mexico City, the Inquisition Tribunal found no merits to the accusations. There was no follow-up on the matter, no arrests, and no Inquisition trial.

There was no formal Inquisition trial. It was an investigation with the collection of testimony from various people. Inquisition trials only occurred in Mexico City before the Tribunal. The report with the recorded testimonies was sent to Mexico City where it was reviewed. No action was taken and the report was filed in the Inquisition archives.

Fray Francisco de Escobar prefaced his report with this conclusion from his investigation: "besides which the case that has been brought against her did not seem to me to present evidence sufficient to warrant her being obliged by decree or sentence to appear as an accused person before the Holy Tribunal unless summoned by Your Honors, because, the case being as yet unproven, it would be defamatory to oblige her to appear if no evidence was subsequently found against her" (AGN, Inquisición, t. 467, exp. 78, Testificación contra María Zamora por Hechicera, 1607, ff. 342r-342v).

A transcription and translation of this case is available from The Cibola Project.

Diego de Montoya and His Immediate Descendants

A vecino of the Villa de Santa Fe in 1628, Diego de Montoya held the rank of alférez and at that time he was already married with Ana Martín Barba, a daughter of Alonso Martín Barba (Chávez, ONMF, 77; AGN, Inquisición, t. 363, exp. 6, f. 67v, Testimony of Alférez Diego de Montoya, July 2, 1628, Convento de San Ildefonso). Their two known children were:

1. Pedro de Montoya and Ines de Zamora, born circa 1619 (AGN, Inquisición, t. 380, exp. 2, ff.244r-244v, Testimony of Ines de Montoya, aka Zamora, February 18, 1635, Villa de Santa Fe; and AGN, Inquisición, t. 596, f. 155v, Testimony of Doña Teresa de Aguilera y Roche, 1663, Mexico City).

2. Ines de Zamora married Juan López de Ocanto and this couple became the progenitors of the López de Ocanto family of seventeenth-century New Mexico (AGN, Inquisición, t. 380, f. 242v, Testimony of Captain Alonso Martín Barba, February 8, 1637, Villa de Santa Fe; and AGN, Inquisición, t. 596, f. 155v-156r, Testimony of Doña Teresa de Aguilera y Roche, 1663, Mexico City).

Widowed of Ana Martín Barba, Diego de Montoya entered into his second marriage with doña María de Vera (also known as María Ortiz de Vera and María de Abendaño), a woman much his junior. Diego was deceased by October 1661 when doña María de Vera was described as his widow. At that time, she complained to royal authorities that former Governor don Bernardo López de Mendizábal had revoked the rights to the encomienda of the Pueblo of San Pedro that belonged to her husband and inherited by her son, Alférez Bartolomé de Montoya, and for which she held the papers and royal titles (AGN, Tierras, t. 3268, f. 104r, Complaint of Doña María de Vera, October 18, 1661, Villa de Santa Fe). It is not clear from existing documents whether the rights to collect the encomienda tribute of the Pueblo of San Pedro were ever restored to her and her son.

Doña Teresa de Aguilera y Roche, the wife of Governor don Bernardo López de Mendizábal, regarded doña María de Vera as her enemy because of the enmity doña María held toward don Bernardo for having revoked the title to the encomienda of the Pueblo de San Pedro. In remarks recorded during her Inquisition trial, doña Teresa specifically described doña María de Vera as the stepdaughter of Antonio de Salas and mentioned that she was the stepmother of Pedro de Montoya and the mother-in-law of the “son of Trujillo,” a reference to Lucía de Montoya who married Francisco de Trujillo, son of Diego de Trujillo. Doña Teresa made a passing reference to the scandalous lifestyle of the daughters of doña María without providing any specific details, but most likely a reference to the three Montoya-Vera sisters, Beatriz de Montoya, Juana de Montoya, and Josefa de Montoya.

The testimony of fray Salvador de San Antonio offers additional information about the Salas-Abendaño-Vera-Montoya extended family that revises what was originally published in Origins of New Mexico Families. The friar identified three nieces of Petronila de Abendaño, “todas tres hermanas de padre y madre,” named doña Beatriz de Montoya, doña Juana de Montoya, and doña Josefa de Montoya. Although Fray Angélico Chávez wrote that these Montoya sisters were born prior to the marriage of doña María de Vera (aka doña María de Abendaño), the testimony of fray Salvador confirms otherwise. Doña María de Vera (b.ca 1624-25), whose name is variously recorded as María Ortiz de Vera and María de Abendaño, was the only known surviving daughter of Diego de Vera and doña María de Abendaño. She became the second wife of Diego de Montoya, a man that was considerably older than her. From this union was born four daughters, doña Beatriz, doña Juana, doña Josefa, doña Luisa de Montoya, and María de Montoya (also known as María de Vera), and at least three sons, Bartolomé de Montoya, Antonio de Montoya, and Felipe Montoya (see Montoya-Paredes for more on Felipe’s link to Diego de Montoya).

Antonio de Montoya, born circa 1645, was a son of Diego de Montoya and doña María de Vera, and the husband of María Hurtado, daughter of Andrés Hurtado and doña Bernardina de Salas Orozco Trujillo. In April 1689, Antonio provided testimony in the prenuptial investigation regarding the proposed marriage of Sebastián Rodríguez Brito and Antonia Naranjo and declared he was 43 years old (born circa 1646), a son of Diego Montoya and doña María de Vera, natives of New Mexico, and that he was married with María Hurtado (AASF, DM 1689, no. 1, El Paso del Norte, Sebastián Rodríguez Brito and Antonia Naranjo). This is the source that confirms the names of the parents of Antonio de Montoya.

Doña María de Vera, widow of Diego de Montoya, entered her second marriage by August 1662 with don Felipe de Albizu, born circa 1626, Pueblo de Zía, son of Tomás de Albizu and Beatriz de Pedraza and a nephew don Juan de Eulate, former governor of New Mexico (AGN, Inquisición, t. 586, f. 173v-174r, Testimony of Felipe de Albizu, August 2, 1662, Convento de San Diego de Jémez).

The following chart provides a visual illustration of the genealogy of the early generations of the Montoya-Zamora family.

Research by José Antonio Esquibel

Narrative by José Antonio Esquibel