Silva-Ponce de Leon

There was a branch of the Silva family established in the area of Picurís in the latter decades of the 1700s by don Santiago Silva and doña Josefa Ponce de León. This couple had at least five children. This family was enumerated in the 1790 census of Picurís as follows: #58 Santiago Silva, español, 45; M^a Josefa Ponce de León, española, 39; three sons: 13, 3, 1.

A year earlier, at the church in Picurís, don Santiago Silva was a witness to the marriage of Juan Pablo Padilla, resident of New Mexico for one and a half years. Padilla was described as a native "del Paso del Norte, soltero, coyote," and was nineteen years of age, and the natural son of Juan Nepomuceno Padilla and Maria del Carmen Vanegas. Padilla's bride was Maria de los Reyes Aragón, age sixteen, a daughter of Joaquín Aragón and Margarita Vásquez. The marriage record for this couple is dated 21 January 1789. Don Santiago Silva, as a witness for the groom, gave his own age as forty-six (indicating he was born around 1743) and declared that he was "originario del Paso."

Santiago Silva, the son of Francisco Silva and ---------ntes (name illegible) was married in October 1771 at the church of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, El Paso del Norte, with Josefa Ponze, daughter of Juan Joseph Ponze and Casilda Lucero.

Maria Josefa de la Luz Ponce, española, was baptized at the church of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, El Paso del Norte, on 12 March 1751, a daughter of Juan José Ponce and Casilda Lucero.

María Josefa de la Luz Ponce de León had a sister named María Petrona, española, who was baptized in August 1753, Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, El Paso del Norte. She also had a brother named Joseph Ponce who was married 10 April 1780, Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, El Paso del Norte, with doña Josefa Días del Carpio [Díaz de Carpio]. This couple had a daughter named María Feliciana Carpio who was married at the church of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, El Paso del Norte, on 7 June 1794 with Fermín Morro, a native of El Paso and a son of Juan José Morro and María Ribera.

Extending this family genealogy one more generation, Juan Joseph Ponce de León, of San Buenaventura [most likely in Nueva Vizcaya] and Casilda Lucero de Godoy were married 10 November 1744, Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe Church, El Paso del Norte. It appears that further research on the Ponce de Leon family can be done with records from a little further south in San Buenaventura, Nueva Vizcaya.

Further research needs to be conducted to determine if this Silva family was related to the Silva family founded further north in New Mexico by Antonio de Silva and Gregoria Ruiz.

Don Santiago Silva and doña Josefa Ponce de León had these known children:

Margarita Silva, married 27 September 1788, Picurís, with Juan Cristóbal Sánchez, español, resident of Embudo, son of José Sánchez and Isabel Fresqui.

Mariano Silva, born circa 1774, married circa January 1793, Santa Cruz, with María Manuela Martín, born circa 1776, española, of El Cerro de Chimayó, daughter of Julián Martín and Rosa Mascareñas.

Antonio José Silva, born 9 February 1788, baptized 15 February 1788, Picurís.

Son (name unknown), born circa 1789.

Tomás José de los Dolores Silva, born 29 December 1791, baptized 2 January 1792, Picurís.

Researcher: José Antonio Esquibel

Sources: AASF Roll 6, San Lorenzo de Picurís Church, Baptismal Records 175 1834; AASF Roll 28, San Lorenzo de Picurís Church, Marriage Records 1726-1837; Virginia L. Olmsted, New Mexico Spanish and Mexican Colonial Censuses, 1790, 1823, 1845, New Mexico Genealogical Society Publication [1790 census of the jurisdiction of Picurís], 123; John B. Colligan and Terry L. Corbett, "A Guide to the 1788 and 1790 Censuses of El Paso del Norte Arranged Alphabetically and Listed to Indicate Possible Family Groupings."