I've been a Nuestros Ranchos member for about 18 years.  Any information on my great-grandfather Rosalio Onate b. about 1856 Villa Garcia, Zacatecas, his father Pablo Donate b. about 1824 Agostadero or Asientos, Aguas., and Bernabe Donate b. about 1800, also from Agostadero or Asientos, Aguas. would be greatly appreciated.  I've searched several years with no avail for definitive dates and places of birth.  Thank you all so much,  Alice B Blake  

Need help, can't find any info on my great grandfather or anyone before him.  I was told that my great grandfather Alfredo used his mother's maiden name Avila and Huizar - Paternal - Alfredo Avila Huizar from Jerez, Zacatecas. Anyone with info or where to look please do so.  I would greatly appreciate it. 

Bracamontes came out in my search

Censos Electorales Tepechitlan y Tlaltenango Diario Oficial del Estado de Zacatecas 1912.

Adjunto el Censo Electoral de Atolinga del Periódico Oficial del Estado de Zacatecas 1912.

Hello, I came across the word coate after a birth name. I'm not
sure if it is part of the name or a description. It is shown as
"Antonio coate mulato". I cannot tell if it is capitalized or not. Has
anyone come across this word in your research? I thought is
might be coyote, but mulato is listed right after.
Cynthia

Has anyone else noticed that in San Luis Potosi, there was a man named Lope Ruiz de Esparza, living there as early as 7 June 1644? On that date, in the parish of Nra Sra de la Asuncion de Tlaxcalilla, he married Elena de la Cruz, who according to other records, lived in the home of Martin Navarro, on whose rancho and carbonera this couple would live for years, said to be his “criados.”

They had at least 4 children: 
1. Josepha Ruiz Cruz, b. 02 Apr 1645, San Luis Potosi 
2. Domingo Ruiz Cruz, b. 02 Apr 1646, San Luis Potosi 
3. Francisca Ruiz de Esparza, b. 08 Dec 1648, San Luis Potosi, m. Francisco Delgadillo aka Juan Delgado, 7 Jan 1664, San Luis Potosi 
4. Pedro Ruiz de Esparza Cruz, b. 27 Aug 1651, Aguascalientes, m. Juana Prieto Gallardo, 20 Oct 1671, San Luis Potosi.

Around August 1676, Elena de la Cruz died, and on 8 Feb 1678, in San Francisco de Pozos SLP, Lope Ruiz married his second wife, Elena de Acosta y Gogorron.

They had at least three children: 
1. Maria de Esparza Acosta, b. 24 Jan 1680, San Luis Potosi
2. Ygnacio de Esparza, b. 15 Aug 1681, San Luis Potosi; m. Gregoria de los Angeles Martin Cruz, 28 Nov 1702, San Francisco de Pozos, SLP
3. Crespin Antonio Ruiz de Esparza Gogorron, b. 10 Nov 1686, San Francisco de Pozos ,SLP; m. Manuela de Guadalupe Ramos, 25 Oct 1719, San Francisco de Pozos, SLP

When a witness in 1676, Lope Ruiz gave his age as “more than 80 years,” placing his birth before 1596. On most church records, he and his wives and children were categorized as Mestizos, though on some, as Españoles, while on others, as Mulatos. My take is that he and both of his wives were of mixed race.

In 1656, when he registered a livestock brand, Lope Ruiz was the owner of a carbonera located near Las Canoas; in 1675, when he again registered a brand, though he now lived in the city of San Luis, he owned a rancho “some 14 leagues from this city, at the paraje called Magueyal,” which he left in the care of his mayordomo and son-in-law, Juan Delgado, who lived there with his family.

Though most of his children were born around San Luis Potosi, Lope and his first wife did baptize one child in Aguascalientes in August 1651 (whose godfather was Andres de Cheuro?). But most tantalizing was when their daughter, Francisca Ruiz de Esparza, married on 7 Jan 1664, she used the name Francisca de Gabay.

Coincidences? There are just too many to ignore. Since I’ve been unable to document a link between this Lope Ruiz and the family from Aguascalientes, I can only hypothesize:

From his approximate age, he can easily be a son of Lope Ruiz de Esparza and Francisca de Gabai - I always thought it odd that they had no known son named Lope. But then there’s the fact that this Lope was of mixed race: while Francisca de Gabai had indigenous blood, her children were always categorized as españoles. Also, it seems odd that one of their children would be a mere “criado.” Maybe this Lope was a natural son of Lope Ruiz born before his marriage to Francisca de Gabai, the result of an “amistad ilicita” with one of his criadas? To me, this seems the most likely scenario, as it was very common. Of course, this would mean that this branch of the Ruiz de Esparza would not descend from Petronila.

Young Lope and his wife were in Aguascalientes when they baptized their son, Pedro, on 27 Aug 1651; the elder Lope died on 23 Aug 1651, and maybe they were in town to mourn with the family? This would explain their presence in Aguascalientes. According to the elder Lope’s death registry, he left a “memoria,” naming his heirs: maybe the younger Lope is named among them? This would explain how someone who was a mere “criado” in 1648 could afford his own carbonera by 1656. Hmmm. Hopefully, some day, someone can find Lope Ruiz de Esparza’s memoria. For now, we can only speculate.

In my next post, I’ll talk about Lope’s amo, Martin Navarro, who owned a rancho and carbonera in San Luis Potosi.

Abrazos,
Manny Díez Hermosillo

Dear Members,

I come to a topic I have proposed that has not gotten much traction: indexing the Protocolos of Guadalajara.  I wanted to give you an example of why I think this would be very worthwhile.  I found the will/testamento of Francisco Rodríguez Ponce from 1660.  I know it has been mentioned before, but from my search of our Forum topics, it does not appear that anyone had seen the actual images or an actual full transcription.  It is a veritable treasure trove for us genealogists!  Below I will include both a partial transcription, and an outline some of the relationships that it details.  It seem to me that he really cared about familial relationships, because he went into a level of detail that I have not seen in other wills, as to  how people are related that are not even in his direct line.  He also often mentioned if the people he was referring to were still living.  Finally, he was extremely  rich.  He received 20,000 pesos in dowry from his mother in law Maria Verdugo, and inherited 124,000 pesos from his father, Fransisco Rodríguez Ponce, el Viejo. Given how long the will, is, I think I will post the relationships in a later post. 

Below is the link to the will, which starts on image 159 and tgoes through to 177.  When I have included the image number below it is either because I skipped a few images or because I know it will be significant for people's reference:

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9BF-W3NJ-H?i=158&cat=…

“En el Nombre de Dios Amen = Sepan quantos esta carta vieren como yo Dn. Fan^co Rodrigues ponçe vez^o y minero del R^l De Guachinango hijo Legitimo de fran^co Rodrigues ponçe ya difunto natural de la villa de lepe en los Rey^os de Castilla y de Doña fran^ca de Rentería y Velasco su lexitima muger viuda del suso dho. natural de Juchipila en este Rey^o de la Galicia que [h]oy vive en el R^l de guachinango Como vesina del considerando la fraxilidad humana y la incertidumbre de esta vida y los peligros que [h]ay en ella…

Y primeram^te Como el fundam^to de mi Salbassion confiesso en la presencia de Dios y de la Virgen sanctissima Su madre y de tola la corte Zelestial que h vivido en al Fee Catholica…

Primeram^te m^do y encomiendo mi alma a n^ro. S^r. Jesuxpto…

[image 161]

Y tem mando y quiero que si nro Sr. Fuere servido de llevarme en el R^L. De guachinango, mu cuerpo sea depositado en la Yglesia Parrochial del en el sepulco y entierro de mi buen padre y abuelo fran^co. Rodrigues ponçe y Alonso Rodrigues ponçe… y si mi fallesimien^to me coxiegre fuera de dho R^L. mi cuerpo sea depositado en la parte E Yglesia de el pueblo o ciudad donde me coxiere para que despes mis albaceas y herederos lo trasladen a la Yglesia de dho. Rl en en entierro de mi padre y abuelo como queda dicho io al entierro de misa. Doña maría verdugo y de todos los abalos que esta en esta ciudad en el conv^to. De S^to franco. En el Altar de nra. Ss^a…

Ytem decalto que yo fui despossado y velado según orden de nra. s^ta madre yglessia in façie exlesie con doña Juana de abalos y vocanegra hijo lejitima de don. Diego de vocanegra y de D^a. maría verdugo y abalos  ya difuntos vesinos que fueron del pueblo de zayula y durante veinte a^s.que [h]a que somos casados poco mas o menos [h]emos tenido y procreado por. nros. hijos a Da. María ya Da. Juana y a don Diego y a Don Joseph u a Da. Fransisca y Doña Angela, declarolos por por nuestro hijo lixitimos y por nrs. Universales herederos.

Ytem declaro qe al tiempo y q^do Contraje el dho. matrimonio con la dha Da. Juana dabalos y vicanegra me hizo la dha. Da. Maria verdugo y abalas que als sason era ya viuda y tutota y curadora de las menores sus hijas escriptura y promisión de detoe de veyte mill ps^s …después que la dha mi s[uegr]a Su madre murió que me lo entero y pago don Joseph de villas^r. mi cuñado y albaçea de la dha. Mi ss^a. Doña maría verdugo y abalos …

If I am reading it right, in Nochistlan, on 25 Feb 1686, it says Domingo Mejia is the padrino and the madrina is Francisca de la Ascencion su prima. I believe this Domingo Mejia is most likely the one who is the son of Lorenzo Mejia and Ines de Estrada. If it is, then does anyone know who this Francisca de la Ascencion is? 

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:939N-G1N6-K?i=546&wc=3P98-J…

This is a new one for me. Has anyone ever seen where a name that is traditionally a last name is actually made to be part of a 1st name? I found the baptism record for my 5th great grandfather. On most records he is listed as Juan Hernandez or Juan Antonio Hernandez. His parents were Cristobal Hernandez and Maria de la Encarnacion Vallin (or Ballin). On his baptism record his first name is listed as "Juan Jose Antonio Bautista". Bautista is not his last name. So his whle name at baptism would be Juan Jose Antonio Bautista Hernandez Vallin. 

Attached is the document. Just wondered if anyone had thoughts on this? Maybe his name was inspired by someone somewhat notible/of important historic reference at the time?