Early Will and Testament of Don Fernando Durán y Chaves, 1707

 José Antonio Esquibel

September 2024

Part I: Introduction

• Contents of the Early Will

• A Later Will and Testament

Part II: Translation of the Early Will of Don Fernando Durán y Chaves

Part II: Transcription of the Early Will of Don Fernando Durán y Chaves

____________________________________________

Part I: Introduction

Most individuals living today carrying the Chávez surname and with deep family roots in New Mexico are very likely descendants of Captain don Fernando Durán y Chaves (b.ca. 1647 - d.ca. 1713-1716), a distinguished frontier soldier of the northern frontier of the Spanish Americas in the late 1600’s and the early 1700s.

Not to be confused with 2 other men named don Fernando Durán y Chaves, Captain don Fernando Durán y Chaves was a son of Pedro II Durán y Chaves (son of Pedro Durán y Chaves and doña Isabel de Bohórquez) by a yet unknown first wife. Don Fernando married doña Lucía Hurtado, daughter of Andrés Hurtado and doña Bernardina de Salas y Trujillo and they were the parents of ten children.

A copy of the transcription of the early will and testament of don Fernando Durán y Chaves, dated February 11, 1707, was acquired by Amado Chaves, a resident of Albuquerque, who in March 1909 sent a typed transcription to L. Bradford Prince, former Governor of New Mexico (1889-1893) and President of the New Mexico Historical Society. Amado Chaves wrote the following message to Prince and signed it:

Albuquerque, N.M. March 18 -09 [1909]

My Dear Governor:-

                     I think it would be a good idea for you to have in your historical files as many of the wills of the old Spanish conquerors as possible and, were the originals can't be obtained to have copies. For that purpose I enclose herewith a copy of the will of Don Fernando Duran y Chaves the man who accompanied de Vargas in all his trips. The original we can't get now but I am going to do my best to get it. Don Martin Hurtado you will remember was an intrepid warrior and famous in his time. His daughter married Don Fernando.

                                 Sincerely yours,

                                             Amado Chaves [signature]

Amado Chaves was incorrect in that the wife of don Fernando was a daughter of Andrés Hurtado and not of Martín Hurtado, who was actually the brother of doña Lucía Hurtado. Also, this was not the last will and testament of don Fernando Durán y Chaves, it was an earlier will that he prepared in case of death. Don Fernando’s last will and testament was made closer to when he died circa 1713-1716.

It is not certain which individual was in possession of the original early will or what the circumstances were that the original version was not accessible to Amado Chaves. Presumably, the will, or a certified copy of the original, was in the possession of one branch of the descendants of the Durán y Chaves family and was an important record in the collection of documents related to the Atrisco land grant. It is assumed that the transcription provided by Amado Chaves to L. Bradford Prince is a true and accurate one.

Contents of the Early Will

This early will is notable for its brevity. The will is succinct and not nearly as long as other wills of the eighteenth century. What is unconventional about this will is that don Fernando did not declare any of his property, either personal belongings, house, land, or livestock, and he did not specify any debts he owed or that were owed to him. He also did not specify any wish as to where his body should be buried within the church of San Felipe de Alburquerque nor did not indicate any alms for payment of a mass and burial. Most curiously, there was no mention of bequest  of inheritance to his heirs, especially regarding his personal belongings and land.

The reason for this unconventional will is that he was not near death. He simply acknowledged in the will that “since I am mortal, this is my last will.” As a matter of precaution and preparation for an unexpected death, he wanted to declare several basic facts as his last will and testament.

After confirming his belief in God and the Holy Trinity and declaring his fealty to the Catholic faith, he declared he was married with “doña Lucía Hurtado y Salazar” with whom he had ten legitimate children and named them in order of birth, as: 1) Bernardo; 2) Pedro; 3) Antonio; 4) Ysabel; 5) Francisco; 6) Luis; 7) Nicolás; 8) María; 9) Catalina; and 9) “Pedro Gomes Duran y Chaves, mi menor.”

He rec0nfirmed that the children he named were his legitimate children by doña Lucía and he designated her and Captain Martín Hurtado as the executors of his estate.

Doña Lucía Hurtado also went by the name doña Lucía de Salazar and she had a sister named Isabel de Salazar, both being daughters of Andrés Hurtado and doña Bernardina de Salas y Trujillo. Contrary to initial impressions, the Salazar surname was not a variation of the Salas surname. Rather, it may have been a surname from the Hurtado side of the family. Andrés Hurtado was a native of Zacatecas, born circa 1628. There is a record of matrimonial veiling dated July 17, 1617, Zacatecas, for Pedro Hurtado and Catalina de Salazar. If they were the parents of Andrés, this would be an explanation for the use of the Salazar surname, as well as the use of the name Catalina Hurtado (daughter of Andrés Hurtado and doña Bernardina de Salas y Trujillo) and Cataina Durán y Chaves (daughter of don Fernando Durán y Chaves and doña Lucía Hurtado y Salazar). Further research is needed to confirm this suggested familial relationship. See Hurtado for more details about the history of the Hurtado-Salas y Trujillo family.

Nine of the children of don Fernando and doña Lucía were born prior to December 1692. A list of families living at Guadalupe del Paso made on December 22, 1692, included the following account of the Durán y Chaves-Hurtado Salazar household:

Capt. Don Fernando Durán y Chaves, married to doña Lucía de Salazar, with nine children named Bernardo, sixteen; Pedro, fifteen; Antonio, fourteen; Isabel, thirteen; Francisco, eleven; Luis, nine; Nicolás, six; María, four; and Catalina, one (Kessell, Hendricks, and Dodge, To the Royal Crown Restored: The Journals of Don Diego de Vargas, New Mexico, 1692-1694, Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1995, 48).

This listing provides information for estimating the years of birth of the first nine children, ranging from 1677 to 1692. The younger Pedro Gómez Durán y Chaves was born circa 1704, based on the age of 65 that he gave in 1769 (AGN, Tierras, Vol 934, f. 113r, Autos seguidos entre Yfijenia Duran y Chaves y Andres Antonio Romero en nombre de su madre sobre un edaza de tierra en Atrisco, 1769).

Captain don Fernando Durán y Chaves had one known natural daughter named Clara de Chaves, wife of Juan de la Mora Pineda, as declared in a prenuptial investigation dated March 6, 1708, Villa de Santa Fe (AASF, Roll 60, DM 1708, March 6, no 3, Santa Fe, for Juana de Tafoya Altamirano and doña María Durán y Chaves; and Fray Angélico Chávez, “New Mexico Roots, Ltd.,” 1092-1093). The mother of Clara was living at that time and testified that she had been impregnated by don Fernando, but her name was not recorded.

In 1765 a woman named María Chaves, wife of Sebastián Martín Serrano, dictated her last will and testament and declared she was the daughter of don Fernando Durán y Chaves and Elena Ruiz de Cáceres (Spanish Archives of New Mexico, Series I, no. 197). When she sought to marry Sebastián in 1691 as María Luján, she declared she was the daughter of Miguel Luján and Elena Ruiz de Cáceres (AASF, Roll 59, DM 1691, September, no. 4a, El Paso del Norte; and Fray Angélico Chávez, “New Mexico Roots, Ltd,” 1092-1093). One of the witnesses to the prenuptial investigation was don Fernando Durán y Chaves, age 44 (b.ca. 1647), who declared he had known Sebastián and María since their births at La Cañada and the official witnesses to the marriage on September 24, 1691, were don Fernando Durán y Chaves and doña Lucía Hurtado.

Elena Ruiz de Cáceres was the wife of Miguel Luján and was never married with don Fernando Durán y Chaves, contrary to previously published information in print ad on the Internet. María Luján was apparently raised with the understanding that she was a daughter of Miguel Luján and learned later in life that she was a natural daughter of don Fernando Durán y Chaves, or she chose not to reveal this information during her prenuptial investigation process.

A Later Will and Testament

There is evidence that don Fernando made a last will and testament closer to his death, but it is uncertain if a copy of that document has survived among any descendants living today. It is not part of an archival collection, including any land grant documents. The last will and testament of don Fernando was referenced several times from as early as 1722 and in later years as part of several disputes about inheritance of land among don Fernando’s heirs and their children. The last will and testament provided details about the bequests of belongings and land to his children, such as the following, which was cited in a documented from the 1769 lawsuit over the land known as Las Ciruelas:

To the children of Bernardo, I leave the house that belonged to my father with its field at Las Ciruelas and one apple tree. I leave them, furthermore, one lot of land which runs from Las Ciruelas to where an irrigation ditch forms its boundary (Sánchez, Between Two Rivers, 56)

An excellent source on the history of the Durán y Chaves clan land disputes is the book by Joseph P. Sánchez, Between Two Rivers: The Atrisco Land Grant in Albuquerque History, 1692-1968 (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2008), which draws heavily from archival sources. The material in that book is based on an earlier study published in 1999 as Don Fernando Durán y Chaves’s Land and Legacy (National Park Services, 1999).

There is a very curious part of the early will for which there is still a bit of a mystery. This early will is the first known recorded reference to don Fernando’s youngest son “Pedro Gómez Durán y Chaves, my minor.” It is resumed that the name Gómez was given to distinguish this younger child from an elder son named Pedro Durán y Chaves. It was the elder Pedro who became the husband first of Juana Montoya and then of Gertrudis Ulibarrí and left numerous descendants.

The younger Pedro has remained a mystery on several accounts. First, there are only a few historical references to him. Second, why was he referred to as Pedro Gómez Durán y Chaves? Later in his life, he declared that Gómez was not his legitimate surname and that his legal name was Pedro Durán y Chaves. Third, was Pedro Gómez Durán y Chaves the same person as Pedro Gómez de Chaves married in 1742 at Santa Cruz de la Cañada with Petrona Martín and later lived at the Plaza de San Clemente near Isleta Pueblo?

Those questions are addressed in a separate essay. However, it is important to point out an error on the part of Fray Angélico Chávez who speculated that Pedro Gómez Durán y Chaves was named after “don Fernando’s grandfather, Pedro Gómez Durán” (see Chávez, Origins of New Mexico Families, 163). Pedro Gómez Durán, who came to New Mexico in 1600 from Mexico City was not the founder of the Durán y Chaves family. The children of Pedro Gómez Durán remained in Mexico City with their mother and Pedro died in New Mexico circa 1608. A different man, Pedro Durán y Chaves, arrived in New Mexico circa 1609, where he married doña Isabel de Bohórquez, and they were the progenitors of the Durán y Chaves clan of New Mexico. For details about those two different men, see José Antonio Esquibel, “A Case of Mistaken Identity: Pedro Gómez Durán and Pedro Durán y Chaves,” in Herencia, Vol. 18, Issue 3, July 2010), and read a summary of those findings at the following link: Durán y Chaves.

_____________________________

Part II

Appreciation is extended to Robert D. Martínez, New Mexico State Historian, and the staff of the New Mexico Records Center and Archives, for providing a copy of the letter and transcription of the will provided by Amado Chaves to L. Brandford Prince from which the following translation is made. The transcription appears after the translation.

Translation of the Early Will and Testament of

Don Fernando Durán y Chaves, 1707

Translation by José Antonio Esquibel, September 2024

In the name of the Holy Trinity, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, three distinct persons and one only True God, in whom I loyally and truly believe as a Catholic and loyal Christian that I am, and being in my sound judgement and without any infirmary, knowing that I am mortal, I make this mu last will and charge and do so to discharge mi conscience. And, I say that I have known as my legitimate wife, doña Lucía Hurtado y Salazar with whom God has served to give me as my legitimate sons and daughters who are known as such, and who are of my said wife and me, don Fernando Durán y Chaves, grantees of this testament, they are, first Bernardo, Pedro, Antonio, Ysabel, Francisco, Luis, Nicolás, María, Catalina, Pedro Gómez Durán y Chaves, my minor, all of them known and who are those who I leave as my said legitimate children by my legitimate wife.

And, I leave as my executor, Captain Martín Hurtado, and my dear woman and wife as property holder, so that the said executor complies and execute what is in this letter of my testament. That before the said Captain, as alcalde mayor of this jurisdiction, I leave [him to oversee] my spousal community property and I request of my said executor to comply as alcalde mayor of the Villa de Albuquerque and its jurisdiction.

Acting as receiving judge with two assisting witnesses, I say that I know the grantor and his wife and children and I give faith that the said Fernando Durán y Chaves is in his sane judgement and that he authorized and certified what has been made [in this will] in my presence, not having been otherwise advised or forced, that this judgment is his last will and that I admit I am his executor and to make it so, I signed it as receiving judge with two of my assisting witnesses and the grantor. Because there is no royal scribe in more than 200 leagues and written on ordinary paper because the sealed paper is not available in these parts, it is date at this hacienda of Atrisco on February 11 of this present year of 1707 and with this writing of four pages and has writings on three and a half sides.

Fernando Durán y Chaves

Assisting witnesses:

Antonio de Silva

Antonio de Ulibarrí

Before me as receiving judge, Martín Hurtado

Part III

Transcription of the Early Will and Testament of Don Fernando Durán y Chaves, 1707

From the transcription provided by Amado Chaves to L. Bradford Prince in 1909

EN EL NOMBRE DE LA SANTISIMA TRINIDAD, DIO PADRE, DIOS HIJO Y

DIOS ESPIRITU SANTO , tress personas distintas y un solo Dios ver

dadero, en quien creo fiel y verdaderamente como catolico y fiel

cristiano  que soy y estando en my entero jucio y sin enfermedad

ninguna, coneciendo que soy mortal hice esta mi ultima voluntad

y otorgo y hago para descargo de mi conciencia y digo que conoz-

co por mi mujer legitima  a Doña Lucia Hurtado y Salazar de quein

ha sido Dios servido de darme  por mis hijos e hijas legitimos

que conozco por tales y lo son de mi dicha mujer y de mi Don Fer-

nando Duran y Chaves, otorgante  de este testament, son primera-

mente- BERNARDO- PEDRO- ANTONIO- YSABEL- FRANCISCO- LUIS- NICOLAS

MARIA- CATALINA- PEDRO GOMES DURAN Y CHAVES mi menor, a todos los

cuales conozco y lo son como llevo dicho mis hijos legitimos de mi

legitima mujer y digo que dejo por mi albacea al Capitan Martin

Hurtado y a mi querida mujer y esposa por tenedora de bienes, para

que el dicho albacea cumpla y ejecute lo que en esta carta e mi

testament , que ante dicho Capitan como Alcalde Mayor de esta ju-

risdicion  dejo por mis bienes ganaciales  y suplico a mi dicho al-

bacea hagase cumplir como Alcalde Mayor de la Villa de Albuquerque

y su jurisdiction  actuando common Juez Receptor  con dos testigos  de

asistencia digo, que conozco al otorgante, a su esposa e hijos y

que doy fe a que el dicho Duran y Chaves esta en su sano

jucio y que autorizo y certifico haberse hecho en mi presencia y

no haber sido aconsejado ni violentado sino que  esta

jucio es su ultima voluntad y que admito ser su albacea y para

que conste lo firmo como Juez Recetor con dos testigos de mi assisten-

cia  y el otorgante por noo haber escribano real en mas de docien-

tas leguas y va en papel ordinario porque el sellado no corre en

estas partes , fecha en esta hacienda  de Atrisco en once de Fe-

brero de este presente año e mil setecietos y siete años y con es-

te escrito de cuatro hojas y lleva escritas tres planas y media

                                    FERNANDO DURAN Y CHAVES

Testigos de asistencia

Antonio de Silva

Antonio de Ulibarri

                      Ante mi como Juez Recetor

                                                                  MARTIN HURTADO