Zimmerly, Torres wedding

Below is a family photo taken after the marriage of my great-grandparents Estevan Zimmerly and Delfina Torres. They are the couple in the center of the photograph. The other people in the photo are Delfina's family - her parents, brothers and sisters and an uncle. To the far left, wearing a hat, his her father Jose E. Torres. To the far right, holding the baby is her mother Maria Guadalupe (Padilla) Torres. I've posted a different copy of this photo before which was in much better condition, but had a bunch of wording obscuring part of the picture.

Below is Estevan and Delfina's wedding invitation.

Below is my translation of the wedding invitation using online translation machines:

Wedding

You and your family are respectfully invited to attend

the marriage of our children

Delfina Torres

and

Estevan Zimmerly

which is to be held on the day of April 22,

A.D. 1908, at 7 A.M.

in the Catholic Church of San Miguel

in Socorro, N.M.,

and from there they will be given a toast at the home of the

(first?), and there will be a dance in the evening at the

Garcia Opera (House).

Jose E. Torres.

Paulita T. Zimmerly,

Socorro, N.M., 14 April 1908.

Jose E. Torres was Delfina's father. Paulita T. (Torres) Zimmerly was Estevan's mother.

By the way, the Garcia Opera House, where the dance was held, was built by Francisca Garcia, the widow of Juan Nepomuceno Garcia and dedicated to his memory. Delfina's mother was the niece of Juan Nepomuceno & Francisca Garcia.

Close Relations on my Family Tree

Sometimes, I forget how few families arrived in Socorro in its early years. According to a letter sent in 1817 to the Governor of New Mexico by Javier Garcia and Anselmo Tafoya, there were 70 families that settled the Socorro area in 1815 or 1816. Although a few other families arrived a few years later, including the Santiago Torres family, there were still not many families around. And many of these families were already related either by blood or by marriage.

In my presentation to the Historical Society of New Mexico Conference this may, I indicated that my fourth great-grandmother Maria Guadalupe Torres married two men who were distant cousins. Guadalupe’s 1st husband Francisco Antonio Garcia Jurado was the half 2nd cousin, once removed of her 2nd husband Pedro Antonio Baca. These two cousins were related through Ramon Garcia Jurado, separately through his two wives.

Francisco Antonio Garcia Jurado is my fourth great-grandfather. Pedro Antonio Baca is not my ancestor.

What I had not realized, though, until I read a blog post written by my cousin Maurine Pool, was that Guadalupe’s brother Anastacio Torres married the niece of Guadalupe’s 1st husband Francisco Antonio Garcia Jurado. It wasn’t that I didn’t have that information in my database - after all Francisco Antonio’s niece was my 3rd great-grandmother - but I did not make the connection until I read the blog post.

As I said, many of these families were closely related either by blood or by marriage. No wonder I have so many instances of pedigree collapse in my ancestry.

Sources:

Robert J. C. Baca, “The Torres, Garcia and Baca Families and the Defense of the Socorro Land Grant”, unpublished paper presented at the 2012 Historical Society of New Mexico Annual Conference, May 5, 2012.

Maurine Pool, “Crespin’s Line”, Torres Family Genealogy and History Blog, , retrieved May 28, 2012.

June 16, 2012 NMGS Program

Botts Hall

Albuquerque Special Collection Library

423 Central NE

Albuquerque, NM

(On the corner of Central and Edith)

 Saturday, June 16, 2012

10:30 AM – Noon

The Albuquerque Special Collections Library

and

The New Mexico Genealogical Society

Present

Richard Garcia

“Grandma, Where Do We Come From?” 

Isleta Pueblo Diversity

Isleta Pueblo, from its early contact with other pueblo and non-pueblo tribes, to its first contact with the Spanish, has experienced infusions into the tribal homeland from the Hopi, Acoma, and Laguna Pueblos etc.  These infusions have all contributed to the genetic makeup resulting in an interesting amalgamation that has strengthened the cultural identity and traditional values still present today among the Isleta people.  In addition, Isleta peoples reach out spatially across the Manzanos, south to Ysleta del Sur and the surrounding area thus, further adding to the diversity of the group.

Richard Garcia is an independent genealogical and historical researcher with special interest in the Pueblo Indians and specifically Isleta Pueblo.  He has given many presentations locally and has assisted with archaeological investigations in the Pueblo of Isleta.  His knowledge of the migrations and genealogy of Isleta is without equal and he is always willing to share this knowledge with everyone. 

For more information about our programs, check out the New Mexico Genealogical Society’s website at www.nmgs.org.

This program is free and open to the public

New book "So That It May be Validated"

HIGH NOON ARMIJO - Family History Archives: Andrés Armijo announces the premiere of his latest work titled:   "So that it may be validated:  Family History in the Río Abajo". To read more about the book - check out this link.

My presentation at the 2011 HSNM Conference

I just found my presentation about Luis Maria Baca at the 2011 Historical Society of New Mexico Conference. It is on the Los Alamos Public Access TV website. Click on this link. Scroll down to the bottom, and find the heading "NM Historical Society 2011 Conference". Click on "Baca".

Or click on the link below:

Robert Baca's presentation at the 2011 Historical Society of NM Conference

May 19, 2012 NMGS Program: Robert Torrez

NMGS May Program

Botts Hall
Albuquerque Special Collections Library
423 Central NE
Albuquerque, New Mexico
(on the corner of Central and Edith)

(Click here to view map.)

Saturday, May 19, 2012
10:30 AM - Noon

The Albuquerque Special Collections Library

and

The New Mexico Genealogical Society

Present

Robert Torrez

"Law and Order and the Quest for Statehood:
A View from the Bench"

Among the many reasons it took so long for New Mexico to obtain statehood was the lawless image the territory projected during its "wild west" period. This presentation will review what the territory's executive and judicial officials thought about the rampant disregard for the law and their efforts to bring law and order to the territory in order to enhance the region's image to the rest of the nation for admittance to the Union.

Robert Torrez is the former State Historian and has numerous books and articles to his credit. Some of which are: New Mexico in 1876-1877, UFO’s Over Galisteo, Myth of the Hanging Tree, and Rio Arriba, in collaboration with Robert Trapp. Robert, an indefatigable speaker, constantly travels the state promoting its history and its people.

Click here for a copy of this announcement.

This program is free and open to the public.

$69 to register for ABQ Family History Expo

There's still time to pre-register for the Albuquerque Family History Expo, April 13 & 14, 2012. If you register before the expo before the conference date you can save thirty dollars. It's only $69 online; if you wait until the day of the conference it's $99.

Click on this link for more information or to register for the expo.

April 21, 2012 NMGS Program

Botts Hall

Albuquerque Special Collection Library

423 Central NE

Albuquerque, NM

On the corner of Central and Edith)

Saturday, April 21, 2012

10:30 AM – Noon

The Albuquerque Special Collections Library

and

The New Mexico Genealogical Society

Present

Henrietta Martinez Christmas

“Julian Jacquez, Rosa Villalpando,

and the Taos Massacre of August 1760 - Trekking Through Texas”

August 1760 is a dark period in the history of Taos.  Comanches plundered, captured, and murdered many of the villagers.  Rosa Villalpando was taken captive along with several other women, sold to French Trappers, and eventually ended up in St. Louis.  Forty years later, her son, Julian Jacquez ventures out to find his mother on an amazing whirlwind trip via the Camino Real of Texas in early 1803.

Henrietta is a well respected, independent genealogical and historical researcher specializing in northern New Mexico. She has written six family books and numerous articles for various genealogy and history publications and recently assisted with the Segesser Hide Paintings for the History Museum in Santa Fe.

For more information about our programs, check out the New Mexico Genealogical Society’s website at www.nmgs.org.

This program is free and open to the public

Possible parents of Pedro Tafoya

Earlier today, a few of us on the New Mexico Genealogical Society's Facebook page were discussing the family of Pedro Tafoya (see yesterday's post on this blog.) One of the commentors on the Facebook page suggested that Pedro is the son of Lugarda Tafoya and Juan Sayoga. I looked at my genealogy database, and discovered that I wrote the following about this conjecture that was first thought of by Fray Angelico Chavez:

In Chavez's "Origins of New Mexico Families", he conjectures that Pedro Tafoya is the son of Lugarda Tafoya, a daughter of Antonio Tafoya Altamirando. It appears that the reason he believes this to be true is because Pedro has a daughter by the name of Maria Lugarda Tafoya. Possibly she is named after her grandmother.

He notes that three of Antonio's daughter were mentioned in 1732, one being the elder Lugarda Tafoya. At the time she was the widow of Juan "Gallego", (Chavez's emphasis) who Chavez believes to actually have the surname of Sayago. In another part of his book, Chavez once again notes that he believes Lugarda's husband to be Juan de Sayago, whose cousin married Lugarda's brother. Chavez also believes that Lugarda's children adopted her Tafoya surname after her husband's death.

In the 1750 Santa Fe Census, "Lugarda Tafoia" is shown in a household of 10 named individuals as well as 5 unnamed children. The named individuals includes one "Pedro", who I assume is a Tafoya. The entry reads as such:

"Lugarda Tafoia; Margarita Tafoia; Maria Tafoia; Pedro; Josseph; Miguel; Manuel Tafoia; Juana Maria; Juan Tafoia; Maria de Jesus;Maria; 5 children"

Is this the widowed Lugarda Tafoya with her children, which includes Pedro Tafoya? Does this list include grandchildren, siblings and/or cousins of Lugarda? These are questions that should be answered with further research.

Bibliography:

Chavez, Angelico. "Origins of New Mexico Families: A Genealogy of the Spanish Colonial Period" Revised Ed. Santa Fe: Museum of New Mexico Press, 1992, pp. 191, 291-292.

Olmsted, Virginia Langham, compiler. "Spanish and Mexican Censuses of New Mexico: 1750 - 1830" Albuquerque: New Mexico Genealogical Society,1981, p. 9.

Hello sis, um... I mean "mom"

Recently, I've been researching the families of the Socorro Land Grant for an article I'm writing for the New Mexico Genealogist. As many genealogist have found out, small communities are often made up of small group of families. As such, brothers of one family often will marry the daughters of another family. Such is the case of the Tafoya family in Socorro in the early 1800s. However, one marriage made me take a second look at this family.

Anselmo Tafoya and Maria Rafaela Baca were among the early settlers of the Socorro Land Grant. They had at least 8 children; four boys and four girls. Two of their children were born in Belen before the Tafoyas came to Socorro in 1818, and the other six were born in Socorro.

Two of their sons were Felis and Vicente Tafoya. Felis married Dolores Apodaca, while Vicente married Serafina Apodaca. Both married their brides on 2 March 1851 at the San Miguel Mission in Socorro. Dolores and Serafina were both the daughters of Francisco Apodaca and Tomasa Barela.

On 1 June 1851, Felis and Vicente's youngest sister Maria Martina also got married. Her husband was none other than Francisco Apodaca, who was a widowed from Tomasa Barela! This made the young Maria Martina the mother-in-law of her brothers!

I haven't had a chance to research to see if Maria Martina had any children. If so, those children would be not only the nieces and nephews of Felis and Vicente, but also their sisters and brothers-in-law!

Sources:

Sanchez III, Joe, extractor. Edited by Antoinette Duran Silva, San Miguel del Socorro New Mexico Marriage Records 1821-1853 (Whittier, CA: Independently Published, 1999;), pp. 69, 70 and 71.

Alief, Teresa Ramirez, Jose Gonzales, and Patricia Black Esterly, transcribers, New Mexico Censuses of 1833 and 1845: Socorro and SurroundingCommunites of the Rio Abajo (Albuquerque: New Mexico Genealogical Society, 1994;), p. 5.

Extracted by Lila Armijo Pfeufer. Compiled by Margaret Leonard Windham and Evelyn Lujan Baca, New Mexico Baptisms: Church of Our Lady of Belen 1810-1851 (New Mexico Genealogical Society. Albuquerque, New Mexico. 1998;), pp. 33, 55, & 79.

Armijo Pfeufer, Lila, et al, extractors & compilers, New Mexico Baptisms San Miguel de Socorro Church 1821-1853 (Albuquerque: New Mexico Genealogy Society, 1998;), pp.24, 34, 50 & 65.

Robert J. C. Baca, "A List of Socorro Land Grant Families?" in The Baca/Douglas Genealogy and Family History Blog, http://nmgenealogy.blogspot.com/2011/06/list-of-socorro-grant-families.html, accessed 14 March 2012.