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)