Salazar
There were several families that carried the Salazar surname in 17th century New Mexico, including the Ramírez de Salazar, the Salazar Hachero, the Hurtado-Salazar, Rodríguez de Salazar, and simply Salazar. Many of the individuals who carry the Salazar surname today and have deep roots in New Mexico are likely to find they are descended of a man named Agustín de Salazar who lived in the late 1600s and early 1700s and for who there is still a need to find documentation that names his parents.
Catalina de Salazar, Wife of Luis Martín Serrano
In November 1661, Catalina de Salazar identified herself as the “viuda muger que fue del Capn Luis Mr difunto” (“widow, who is the wife of Capt. Luis Martín”), when she sought payment for grains purchased by Governor López de Mendizábal from her husband (Archivio General de la Naciín, México, Tierras, 3268, ff. 143-144).
There is no primary source documentation that has been uncovered to document that Catalina de Salazar was a daughter of Sebastián Rodríguez de Salazar and Luisa Díaz de Betanzos. Fray Angélico Chávez remarked that she “was very likely a daughter of Sebastián Rodríguez de Salazar; see Chávez, Origins of New Mexico Families (Chávez, Origins of New Mexico Families, 72). The fact that the children of Luis II Martín Serrano and Pedro Martín Serrano were named Sebastián and Sebastiana is an indication of a possible familial relationship between Catalina de Salazar and Sebastián Rodríguez de Salazar.
In 1692, Diego Martín Serrano, born circa 1675, Villa de Santa Fe, son of Apolinario Martín Serrano and Antonia González Bas, sought to marry María Martín Barba (Chávez, “New Mexico Roots, Ltd.,” 1093, DM 1692, July 7, no. 6, Real de San Lorenzo). One of the witnesses to the prenuptial investigation was Francisco Jurado de Gracia, about age thirty-five (born circa 1657), who declared he was the uncle of the groom in the third degree on consanguinity. This means that Francisco Jurado de Gracía and Catalina de Salazar were probably siblings.
Although there is yet no known record that names the parents of Francisco Jurado de Gracia, we can construct a revealing hypothetical genealogy of this family, if Apolinario Martín Serrano was indeed a son of Luis Martín Serrano and Catalina de Salazar, as it so appears. See the chart below of an illustration a likely relationship.
It is worthwhile to note that the above hypothetical reconstruction provides a reasonable explanation for the use of the given names of Sebastián, Sebastiana, Pedro, Catalina, and Francisco for some of the children and grandchildren of Luis I Martín Serrano and Catalina de Salazar.
Researcher: José Antonio Esquibel