Sosa Albornoz

Capitán Alonso de Sosa Albornoz enlisted as a soldier in the army of don Juan de Oñate, passing muster on February 10, 1597, in the Valle de la Puana in the jurisdiction of Nombre de Dios, Nueva Vizcaya. He declared he was a native of "México," referring to Mexico City, and identified himself as a son of Francisco de Sosa Albornoz. In his company were his wife and five children (Archivo General de Indias, Patronato 22, Ramo 4, f. 416v; and Hammond and Rey, Don Juan de Oñate, Vol. I, 165).

El capitan Alonso de sosa albor,

noz natural de mexico, hijo de Fr[ancis]co

de sosa albornoz, con su persona y arca

buz y un criado, con todas las demas ar

mas de persona y caballo. tiene muger

y cynco hijos y familia llebalo a la

jornada.

Source: Salazar Inspection, Valle de la Puana, February 24, 1597,

Archivo General de Indias, Patronato 22, Ramo 4, f. 416v

Sosa Albornoz and his family were next accounted as members of the New Mexico expedition in a muster dated December 6, 1597, in which his wife, doña Beatriz Navarro, was specifically mentioned.

El capitan Sossa ~ mem[ori]a de las Cossas de Pertrecho q[ue] yo el cap[it]an Alonsso de Sossa Albornoz llebo p[ar]a [e]sta jornada de la nueba mex[i]co

Y no entran en [e]sta manifestacion sedas y Ropas, plata y joyas de

mi perssona y de doña beatriz navarro mi muger porq[ue] [e]stas no quiero

q[ue] vayan en ella y de los Ganados y pertrechos de Guerra de q[ue] aqui hago

mencion q[ue] tengo al pressente se me a Consumido Gastado y rrobado y

perdido otra tanta cantidad por la dilacion de la Jornada y assi lo

juro a dios en forma de derecho y lo firme, Al[ons]o de Sosa Albornoz.

-mas manifesto quarto docenas de pares capatos y quarto pares de

borceguies y quarto pares de botas de flandes y seid pares de la de

aca

Source: Salazar Inspection, Minas de Todos Santos, January 7, 1598,

AGI, Patronato 22, ramo 4, ff. 466v and 467r.

Information recorded in Mexico City in 1635 and 1651 by a son of Alonso de Sosa Albornoz, combined with additional information recorded in 1667 by a grandson and the 1540 record of passage of don Francisco de Sosa Albornoz, provides a valuable account of the lineage of the Sosa Albornoz family, which originated in the region of Toledo, Spain:

Capitán don Alonso de Sosa, Señor de Villa Borquelo in the region of Toledo, Caballero del Orden de Calatrava, served the Catholic Monarchs (Don Fernando y Doña Isabel) as alférez in the wars of Granada. He was the father of Esteban de Sosa, who follows.

Don Esteban de Sosa married with doña Ana de Albornoz, residents of Santa Olalla (region of Toledo). They were the parents of Francisco de Sosa Albornoz, who follows, and Esteban de Sosa

Don Francisco de Sosa Albornoz, native of Toledo, Spain, sought passage to the New World with his brother on 7 April 1540. In Mexico City, don Francisco married doña Inés de Tapia, daughter of don Andrés de Tapia (conquistador de México) and doña Isabel de Sosa. Their son was don Alonso de Sosa Albornoz, who follows.

Don Alonso de Sosa Albornoz (born circa 1550, Mexico City), first married with doña Juana Ramírez, daughter of don Gabriel Ramírez and doña Petra Ortiz de la Vega. One known son of this couple was don Andrés de Tapia y Sosa.

The maternal grandfather of Alonso de Sosa Albornoz, Andrés de Tapia, was the right hand captain of Hernán Cortes in the conquest of Tenochtitlán.

Mexican genealogist Rodolfo González de la Garza published an incorrect lineage that linked the Sosa Albornoz with the family of don Alonso de Estrada, Treasurer and Governor of New Spain. That lineage is incorrect. The above lineage is based on primary records for which sources are provided below.

Alonso de Sosa Albornoz was first married with Juana Ramírez and they were the parents of Andrés de Sosa y Tapia who came to New Mexico with his father in 1598. Sosa Albornoz married a second time with doña Beatriz Navarro, daughter of Juan Navarro and María Rodríguez Castaño de Sosa. Alonso and doña Beatriz became the parents of doña Ana de Sosa Albornoz, who apparently accompanied her parents to New Mexico.

In later years, Andrés de Sosa y Tapia recalled that his father was appointed as one of the captains of the "discovery and conquest" of New Mexico and that his father entered that new kingdom with his wife and children, having invested and expended 60 thousands pesos, a modern-day equivalent of over $2.3 million.

According to Andrés de Sosa y Tapia, his father brought his own wagons with provision and military equipment and paid at his own cost for a small troop of soldiers with arms and horses. Andrés mentioned that his father builds houses at the first Spanish settlement at San Juan de los Caballeros "and at the second one called San Pedro." This is the only known reference to a second settlement named San Pedro in the known archival documents pertaining to the exploration and settlement of New Mexico.

Having invested a consider amount of his personal estate into the New Mexico enterprise, Captain Alonso de Sosa Albornoz and others were greatly discouraged by the lack of discovery of silver and the extreme difficulty of supporting themselves due to the poverty of the land, became dissatisfied with don Juan de Oñate as a leader. In August 1598, Sosa Albornoz and Captain Pablo de Aguilar organized a group of about forty-five soldiers, including some officers, who sought to leave New Mexico and return south (Hammond and Rey, Don Juan de Oñate, 481 and 1137). When this plot came to the attention of Oñate, he apprehended Sosa Albornoz and Aguilar and intended to execute them by garroting but reversed his decision at the insistence of the Franciscan friars “and the entire army” (Hammond and Rey, Don Juan de Oñate, 481).

Although Sosa Albornoz remained in New Mexico, his discouragement grew and in early 1602 he approached Oñate with a request for permission to leave New Mexico with his family. Oñate granted permission and instructed Sosa Albornoz to be prepared to depart within eight days (Hammond and Rey, Don Juan de Oñate, 612-613). During the following days Oñate changed his mind, perhaps fearing what Sosa Albornoz would report to royal officials in Nueva España about the conditions in New Mexico and even perhaps speak poorly about how Oñate managed the settlement and explorations. Oñate made the decision to have Sosa Albornoz executed, which apparently followed his decision to kill Captain Pedro de Aguilar, whose death may have been the impetus for Sosa Albornoz seeking to leave New Mexico.

Shortly before the time that Sosa Albornoz sought permission to leave New Mexico, Captain Pedro de Aguilar, who in 1598 co-planned the desertion of the New Mexico colony with Sosa Albornoz, was called to appear before Oñate under the pretext of confirming some statements. Aguilar was seized by his arms and stabbed with butchering knives by several men and a sword thrust by Oñate (Hammond and Rey, Don Juan de Oñate, 612).

During the time that Sosa Albornoz was making his preparation to leave, an order was given for all captains and soldiers to “go out and round up horses” (Hammond and Rey, Don Juan de Oñate, 613). Sosa Albornoz complied with the order and:

“When he had gone two leagues from the camp, he was attacked in a ravine by the sargento mayor [don Vicente de Zaldivar] and some of his followers. The stabbed him to death, without giving him the opportunity to confess. After they murdered him, they covered his body with stones so that it could not be found. No one dared look for it. His widow was left with a large number of children. The main cause of his murder was the poor man’s suspicion that they were trying to dishonor him. In view of the incident, the relatives of Captain Sosa did not again ask for permission to leave” (Hammond and Rey, Don Juan de Oñate, 613).

This account of the death of Sosa Albornoz was written by Captain Luis Gasco de Velasco in a letter to royal officials dated March 22, 1602. In addition to describing the tragic end to the life of Sosa Albornoz, Gasco de Velasco alluded to the fact that there were relatives of Sosa Albornoz among the settlers, but it is not clear from the existing records who were those relatives.

In 1614, don Juan de Oñate was convicted of the murders of Aguilar and Sosa Albornoz despite having defended his order stating that:

“The death of captain Alonso de Sosa was proper punishment for his guilt. The main accusation against him was that he deserted the army against orders. Nevertheless, his execution was suspended, but because of repetition of the offense the execution was carried out by order of Don Juan, after the said captain confessed, and he was executed according to the practice of war. This punishment was necessary to avoid trouble, disturbances and uprising by his friends and relatives, who threatened great harm” (Hammond and Rey, Don Juan de Oñate, 1132).

Also convicted for the murder of Sosa Albornoz were Maese de Campo Vicente d de Zaldivar, Captain Alonso Gómez, Captain Dionisio de Bañuelos, Captain Domingo de Lizama, Juan de Salas, Francisco de Vido, a mulato named Juan, and an African named Luis Bautista (Hammond and Rey, Don Juan de Oñate, 1114, 1118-1119, 1119-1120, 1121, and 1123).

The widow of Sosa Albonroz, doña Beatriz Navarro, became the wife of Captain Bernabé de las Casas, perhaps marrying before leaving New Mexico in October 1602 as part of a large group that deserted while Oñate was on an expedition. This couple settled in the area of Saltillo-Monterrey where the family of doña Beatriz resided.

A marriage investigation record dated January 21, 1653, Monterrey, Nuevo León, confirms that Alonso de Sosa Albornoz and doña Beatriz Navarro were parents of a daughter named doña Ana de Sosa. The record provides this lineage:

Capitán don Alonso de Sosa married with doña Beatriz Navarro, vecinos del Nuevo México. They were the parents of doña Ana de Sosa, who follows.

Doña Ana de Sosa married with Alférez Alonso de Farias, son of Capitán Juan de Farias (vecino de Terreno y Minas de Mazapil) and doña María de Treviño y Quintanilla. Doña Ana de Sosa and don Alonso de Farias were the parents of doña María de Sosa, who follows.

Doña María de Sosa married Capitán don Vicente de Zaldívar y Resa, son of don Juan Guerra de Resa and doña Magdalena de Mendoza (a niece of don Juan de Oñate). Doña María de Sosa and don Vicente de Zaldívar y Resa were the parents of doña Margarita de Sosa y Zaldívar, who follows.

Doña Margarita de Sosa y Zaldívar married in 1653, Monterrey, Nuevo León with don Diego de Ayala, vecino de Monterrey and an encomendero, son of Capitán don José de Treviño y Quintanilla and doña Leonor de Ayala.

Researcher: José Antonio Esquibel

Sources: Cristóbal Bermúdez Plata, Catálogo de pasajeros a Indias durante los siglos xvi, xvii y xviii, Sevilla, 1946, Tomo III: 94 [This source identifies Francisco de Sosa Albornoz as a native of Toledo and a son of Esteban de Sosa and Ana de Albornoz, residents of Santa Olalla]; 'Relación de los méritos y servicios de Andrés de Sosa y Tapia, 1635/1651, Ciudad de México' and 'Relación de méritos de Antonio de Tapia y Sosa, 30 enero 1667, Ciudad de México', in J. Ignacio Rubio Mañe, "El conquistador Andrés de Tapia y su familia," Boletín del Archivo General de la Nación, Tomo VI, Num. 3, 1964: 563-564 & 588-589; George P. Hammond, editor, and Agapito Rey, translator, Don Juan de Oñate: Colonizer of New Mexico, 1595-1628, Coronado Centennial Publication, 1540-1940, 5-6, University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, 1953: 165, 240-241, 290; Guillermo Porras Muñoz, El gobierno de la Ciudad de México en el siglo xvi, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México, 1982: 436; José Antonio Esquibel, “The Paternal Ancestry of don Alonso de Estrada, Tesorero y Gobernador de Nueva España, and the Revised Genealogy of the Sosa Albornoz Family," in Genealogical Journal: Society of Hispanic Historical and Ancestral Research, Vol. IV, 1998: 1-22; and José Antonio Esquibel, "Tragedy Among Oñate's Colony: A Chronicle of the Sosa Albornoz Family," in Nuestra Raíces (Journal of the Genealogical Society of Hispanic America), Vol. 10, No. 1, Spring 1998: 3-8 and Vol. 10, No. 2, Summer 1998: 41-50.

Record of Merits and Services of Andrés de Tapia y Sosa

In 1635 Andrés de Sosa y Tapia prepared and submitted a brief account of his merits and services that included information about his father, Capitán Alonso de Sosa Albornoz, regarding their involvement in the exploration and settlement of New Mexico.

Curiously, the name of Andrés de Sosa y Tapia is not found among the existing muster rolls of the Oñate expedition, but his father is listed. An explanation for this omission is suggested in Sosa y Tapia's document of méritos y servicios when he recounts that his father brought with him to New Mexico armed soldiers with horses and munitions at his expense. The indication given is that Capitán Alonso de Sosa Albornoz maintained his own small army as part of the expedition into New Mexico. This group of soldiers probably included his son who mentioned in his méritos y servcios that he assisted his father in the "conquista y pacificación del Nuevo México," participated in all the entradas and affrays of the conquest, and helped build houses in the first settlement of San Juan de los Caballeros. Intriguingly, Sosa y Tapia mentioned helping build houses in a second settlement in New Mexico which he referred to as "San Pedro" rather than San Gabriel.

It is likely that the soldiers under the command and pay of Capitán Alonso de Sosa Albornoz were not accounted for in the list of soldiers under Oñate command since they were not part of the army that Oñate was under contract to recruit. Sosa y Tapia indicated that his father sold his entire estate for more than 60,000 pesos, an estimated equivalent of over $2.3 million dollars by modern standards. With this kind of wealth, Sosa Albornoz could well finance his own private army to protect his family and possessions, and further assist in the cause of the conquest and pacification of New Mexico. Notice in this particular record of méritos y servicios that valuable genealogical information was provided in addition to the historical information.

Relación de los méritos y servicios de Andrés de Sosa y Tapia

Transcription by Ignacio Rubio Mañe

Andrés de Sosa y Tapia presenta los papeles de sus méritos y servicios siquientes:

Un testimonio de una información fecha en esta ciudad el año pasado de seiscientos y trienta y cinco, ante el general Fernando de Sosa Suárez, Caballero de Orden de Santiago, Corregidor que fue en ella, y Esteban Bernal, Escibano Público, en la qual deponen los testigos, unos de vista y otros de oído, cómo tienen por cierto ser hijo legítimo del Capitán Alonso de Sosa Albornoz y doña Juana Ramírez, y nieto por la parte materna [sic paterna] de Francisco de Sosa Albornoz y de doña Inés de Tapia, su muger, y bisnieto de Esteban de Sosa y doña Ana de Albornoz, y por parte materna nieto de Gabriel Ramírez; y que la dicha doña Inés de Tapia, su abuela, fue hija de Andrés de Tapia, Conquistador, pacificador y poblador de esta Nueva España y Ciudad de México, y Teniente de Capitán general y Maese de Campo en dicha Conquista; y que vino a ella en companía de Fernando Cortés, primer Marqués del Valle; y que el dicho Francisco de Sosa Albornoz, su abuelo, fue uno de los descubriadores, conquistadores y pacificadores del rieno de la [Nueva] Galicia y [Nueva] Vizcaya, sirviendo a Su Majestad en dichas provinocias a su costa y minzión [sic], y que fue de los primeros Alcaldes Mayores que hubo en los reales de Minas de Sain, San Martín y Sombrerete, y pobló el Valle de Suchil y el Real Minas de Chalchiguites, Villa de Nombre de Dios, en que gastó muy gran suma de hacienda; y que el dicho el Alonso de Sosa, su padre, fue uno de los Capitanes nombrados para el decubrimiento y conquista de la Nueva México y a su entrada llevó su muger e hijos, llevando carros con bagajes de bastimentos, armas, municiones y soldados con armas y caballos, todo a su costa y minción [sic]; y edificó casas en la primera población de San Juan de los Caballeros y en la segunda que llamaron San Pedro, para lo qual vendió las haciendas que tenía, de que sacó más de sesenta mil pesos, los quales gastó en ella, dejando con esto quando murió a sus hijos pobres; y que el dicho Andrés de Sosa asistió con el dicho su padre en la dicha conquista y pacificación del Nuevo México, hallándose en todas las entradas y refriegos, y demás ocasiones que se ofrecieron, cumpliendo los órdenes que se le dieron como bien soldado; y que los susodichos y sus ascendientes sirvieron a su Magestad y fueron personas nobles, caballeros hijosdalgo, cristianos viejos sin mácula, ni raza de moros, ni judíos, ni de los nuevamente convertidos a nuestra Santa Fe Católica, y como tales personas nobles se les guardaban y guardaron todas las franquezas, libertades y excepciones de que gozan los hombres nobles hijosdalgo, según fuero de España: y que el dicho Andrés de Sosa sirvió aventajándose, en companía del dicho del dicho Capitán Alonso de Sosa Albornoz, su padre.

________

Relation of the merits and services of Andrés de Sosa y Tapia

Translation by José Antonio Esquibel

Andrés de Sosa y Tapia presents the papers concerning his merits and services as follows:

A testimony of some information written in this city the past year of 1635 before the General Fernando de Sosa Suárez, Knight of the Order of Santiago, Corregidor of this city, and Estabn Bernal, Public Scirbe, in which both eye-witnesses, and witnesses who have heard, declared with certainty that he is the legitimate son of Captain Alonso de Sosa Albornoz and doña Juana Ramírez, and grandson, through the maternal [sic paternal] side, of Francisco de Sosa Albornoz and doña Inéz de Tapia, his wife, and great-grandson of Esteban de Sosa and doña Ana de Albornoz, and on his maternal side, a grandson of Gabriel Ramírez. The said doña Inés de Tapia, his grandmother, was a daughter of Andrés de Tapia, conquistador, pacifier, and settler of this Nueva España and City of Mexico, Lieutenant Captain General and Maese de Campo in the said conquest; and who came here in the company of Hernando Cortés, first Marqués del Valle. And, that the said Francisco de Sosa Albornoz, his grandfather, was one of the discoverers, conquistadors, and pacifiers of the kingdoms of Nueva Galicia and Nueva Vizcaya, serving His Majesty in the said provinces at his cost, and was among the first Alcaldes Mayores in the royal mines of Sain, San Martín, and Sombrerete, and he settled the Valley of Xuchíl, the royal mines of Chalchiguites, and the Villa of Nombre de Dios, in which he spent a considerable amount of his estate. And, that the said Alonso de Sosa, his father, was one of the captains named for the discovery and conquest of the New Mexico, and he took his wife and children, taking carts with much supplies, arms, munitions, and soldiers with arms and horses, all at his expense; and he constructed houses in the first settlement of San Juan de los Caballeros and at the second named San Pedro. For all of this he had sold the haciendas that he had, for which he obtained more than sixty thousand pesos, all of which he expended in it, leaving his children poor when he died. And, the said Andrés de Sosa assisted with his said father in the said conquest and pacification of the New Mexico, participating in all the entradas and affrays, and on many occasions that were offered, he carried out the orders that were given as a good soldier. And, the above mentioned, and his antecedents, served His Majesty and were noble persons, caballeros hidalgos, old Christians without stain, nor Moorish race, nor Jewish, nor of the newly converted to our Holy Catholic faith, and as such noble persons they were guarded by and they guarded all the exemptions, liberties, and exceptions of the noble hidalgos, according to the law of Spain, in the company of the said Captain don Alonso de Sosa Albornoz, his father.

Researcher: José Antonio Esquibel

Source: Transcription presented at the end of the second part of the article by J. Ignacio Rubio Mañe, "El conquistador Andres de Tapia y su familia" (segunda parte), in Boletin del Archivo General de la Nación, Segunda serie, t. VI, núm. 3, 1965, 477-489.