Valentin and Jose Epitacio Torres Household Census Records

Sometimes I discover interesting and mysterious facts on census records. For instance, it appears that my 3rd great grandparents Valentin and Josefa Torres had a servant by the name of Refugia Chaves (1860 census) and later had two wards: Nestor and Josefa Abeyta (1880 census.) Valentin's son, my 2nd great grandfather Jose Epitacio Torres, also had a servant: an 11 girl by the name of Antonia Escamios (1900 census.) There is no indication who these servants and wards were. In addition, these censuses list children of Valentin and Jose Epitacio that I did not discover through other types of records.

As with any other type of record, I'll need to do further research to verify the information that I found here. If you have any other information about this family that may help me with my research, please add a comment to this blog or send me an E-mail.

Click on the images below to view the census records

1860 United States Census: Town of Socorro, County of Socorro, Territory of New Mexico, page 13, dwelling # 107, family #105.

The household of Valentin and Josefa (Ortiz) Torres may be found on the bottom of the page. Twenty-four year old Valentin Torres was a laborer who had $250 in real property and $100 in personal property. No occupation was indicated for his wife. Their children included a daughter Dolores, a son Jose, and another daughter whose name is undecipherable. The Jose Torres listed on this record is most likely Jose Epitacio Torres. The record for this family continues on the next page....

1860 United States Census, Town of Socorro, County of Socorro, Territory of New Mexico, page 14.

On the next page of the same census record, one final name is listed for the Valentin Torres household: an 11 year old female servant by the name of Refugia Chavez. The only other information for this young lady was that she was born in New Mexico. There is no indication to her relationship to the family, if any.

1880 United States Census, Precinct #1 Town of Socorro, County of Socorro, Territory of Socorro, sheet 19, dwelling # 209, household #239.

This record shows Valentin and Josefa Torres, who were 44 and 41 years old respectively, and their son Jose Epitacio, who was 22. Two wards are also listed: Nestor Abeyta, 12, and Josefa Abeyta, 16. I do not know what was the relationship between the Abeyta children and the Torreses. It is possible that they may be related to the next family listed on the page: Jesus and Maria Abeyta.

1900 United States Census, City of Socorro, County of Socorro, Territory of New Mexico, Sheet # 12, Dwelling # 288, Family #288.

Jose Epitacio's family is enumerated as: head Jose E. Torres, 41; wife Guadalupe P., 41; daughter Josefina, 8; daughter Delfina (my great-grandmother), 7; son Valentin, 5; son Esteban, 3; and daughter Marienila (?) 1 year old. There was also a female servant listed: Antonia Escamios, 11 years old.

1910 United States Census, Precinct # 1, City of Socorro, County of Socorro, Territory of New Mexico, Sheet 22 A, Dwelling #20, Family #21.

Jose Epitacio's family is listed as follows: head Jose E. Torres, 51; wife Guadalupe 41; daughter Josefita, 18; son Valentin, 14; son Estevan, 12; daughter Mariana 10; son Felipe, 9; daughter Juana Maria, 7; and daughter Guadalupe Jr., 4. By this time, my great-grandmother Delfina was married and living in a different household.

1920 United States Census, Precinct # 1, City of Socorro, County of Socorro, State of New Mexico, p. 2A

Jose Epitacio's family is listed in dwelling #19, family # 26 on page 2A. The family is enumerated as such: head Jose E. Torres, 60; wife Lupe P, 49; son Valentin, 24; son Estevan, 22; son Felipe, 19; daughter Jennie, 17; daughter Lupe, 13; son Jose E, Jr., 7.

I found these images on Ancestry.com.

Connecting the Dots....

Sometimes a genealogist can connect the dots once of certain piece of information is revealed. This occured when I read an article by Antonette Duran Silva and Nancy Anderson titled "Cayetano Torres, Son of Diego Torres and Maria Martin". As the title of this article indicates, Cayetano Torres' mother appears to be Maria Martin, Diego Torres' second wife. Until previously, I only knew the name of Cayetano's father. However, this wasn't the only helpful information that I found in the article - or for that matter the most interesting.

Cayetano's wife was a woman by the name of Maria Manuela Feliciana Vallejo(s). According to the article, she was the daughter of Bernardo Vallejo(s) and Francisca Xaviera de Silva. Her parentage was new to me, so I decided to do a little more research.

Since Bernardo Vallejos was married to a Silva woman, I decided to check the Antonio Silva chapter of Aqui Se Comenzia. On page 425, I discovered that Francisca Xaviera Silva was the daughter of Antonio de Silva. On page 427, the book indicates that Bernardo Silva was the son of Pedro Duran y Chaves. This led me to the chapter of Pedro Duran y Chaves. On page 189, Bernadro Vallejo is described as the son of Pedro Duran y Chaves III and Maria Vallejos. I already knew much about Pedro Duran y Chaves' ancestry. Therefore, I needed to find out more about this Maria Vallejos.

I searched through the index of To the Royal Crown Restored to see if I could find mention of Maria Vallejos. The book, which was edited by Kessell, Hendrix and Dodge, contains many documents from the Don Diego de Vargas reconquest of New Mexico. Maria Vallejos was not listed in this book.

I looked at the Silva chapter of The Spanish Recolonization of New Mexico. On page 373, it indicates that Bernardo was the son of Pedro Duran y Chaves and "most likely by a woman of the Vallejo family." Notes indicate that this information can be found in New Mexico Roots page 2043, Dilegencia Matrimonio # 1725 (no.2), Albuquerque. The notes also show the relationship between Bernado's daughter Brigida Vallejos and her husband Torbio Garcia:

Lucia Hurtado******1st degree******Martin Hurtado + Catarina
Jaramillo

Pedro Chaves******2nd degree******Bernadina Hurtado

Bernardo Vallejos******3rd degree******Toribo Garcia

Brigida Vallejos*****4th degree

(The Spanish Recolonization of New Mexico, page 379, note 81.)

This seems to verify once again that Bernardo Vallejos was the son of Pedro Duran y Chaves, but does not indicate specifically who was his mother.

I checked one more place: Chaves' Origins of New Mexico Families. I found an entry for the Vallejo family (page 303), but no mention of a Maria Vallejos. The Duran y Chaves entries did not yield her name either.

This is what genealogists call a brick wall. I may never find any more information about Maria Vallejos. However, I will keep on trying. The next thing I need to do is look up the primary sources - I shouldn't depend solely on secondary sources. The primary sources may give me some clues to Maria Vallejos' ancestry.

In the meantime, check on these following links:

* Direct Descendants of Maria Manuela Feliciana Vallejos - this chart shows how I descend from Bernardo Vallejos' daughter.

* Ancestors of Maria Rita Antonia Torres - this ahnentafel shows eleven generations of ancestors for Rita Torres, the daughter of Cayetano and Feliciana (Vallejos) Torres.

References:

Duran Silva, Antonia and Nancy Anderson, "Cayetano Torres, Son of Diego Torres and Maria Martin" in New Mexico Genealogist: The Journal of the New Mexico Genealogical Society, vol. 45, no. 3, pages 140-150.

Chavez, Angelico, Origins of New Mexico Families: A Genealogy of the Spanish Colonial Period, rev. ed. (Santa Fe: Museum of New Mexico Press, 1992.)

Esquibel, Jose Antonio and John B. Colligan, The Spanish Recolonization of New Mexico: An Account of the Families Recruited at Mexico City in 1693. (Albuquerque: Hispanic Genealogical Research Center of New Mexico, 1999.)

Kessell, John L., Rick Hendricks, and Meredith Dodge, eds. To the Royal Crown Restored: The Journals of Don Diego de Vargas, New Mexico, 1692-1694. (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1995.)

Valencia y Valdez, Gloria M., et. al., Aqui Se Comienza: A Genealogical History of the Founding Families of La Villa de San Felipe de Alburquerque (Albuquerque: New Mexico Genealogical Society, 2007)

1890 Census - Special Schedule - Philip Bourguignon

In 1890, the United States did a special schedule of Civil War era surviving soldiers and widows. My 2nd great grandfather Philip Bourguignon was listed on this schedule.

He was listed as a sargeant in the Company F of the 1st U.S. Cavalry. He enlisted on 4 December 1848 and was discharged on 11 September 1861. His residence at the time was Socorro, Socorro County, New Mexico. He had rhuematism and was pensioned.

Other soldiers and widows listed on this particular schedule are Presicilliana Melton, widow of Thomas Melton; Washington Wise; John Ryan; and James D. Mitten (?)

Click on the image below to get a larger view of the document.

This document was retrieved from Ancestry.com on 7 November 2007.