Dr.mt

Transport of criminals to Alta California

Published by sarge98 -

Hola a todos. My ancestor, Jose Augustin Narvaez was sent to Alta California (to the Branciforte colony) in 1797, apparently "as a juvenile delinquent picked up on the streets of Guadalajara". One source states: "Agustin NARVAEZ. 'Spanish' 'labrador' Born: Guadalajara, Aguas Calientes, Mexico Came: to Monterey, CA as prisoner. Given Choice of jail in Mexico or home in California...". Would there have been a court or other such record of this event or was this type of action too common to make note of? If the event was noted, where would it likely have been recorded? Thanks for any information on this topic.

Published by jrefugioghermosillo - Thu, 2019-08-15 13:04 | Permalink

If he was from Aguascalientes, causas criminales can be found in the Acervo Digital del Archivo Historico. Maybe there’s something on your ancestor there. It’s been years since I used this archive, since they moved it, but it’s still available online:
http://eservicios.aguascalientes.gob.mx/seggob/acervodigital/bienvenido…

Let me know how that works out.
Suerte!
Manny Diez Hermosillo

Hello and thanks for the clue. My ancestor arrived in Alta California in 1797, joined the Spanish Army and went on to become the alcalde of San Jose CA in 1821 and later (1844)obtained a Mexican land grant in the same area. He did all of this under his birth name.

Mike Dickey

Hi, Manny.

Thanks for the clue. However, my source implied that the judicial authorities would have been in Guadalajara, not Aguascalientes. I tried a search, but could not select Guadalajara as an option. In your experience, has Aguascalientes ever been considered to be a part of Guadalajara (possibly as a "suburb")?

Mike Dickey

Genealogy Research