The Civil War in New Mexico

I found this link off of the New Mexico Culture Net, a site called "The Civil War in New Mexico". Items included on this site are soldiers and weapons, photos and sketches and essays and letters. There is also an extensive link section and a timeline. It's worth a look.

The New Mexico Culture Net itself is fantastic site. In the future I'll probably post other links from that site.

Link to the New Mexico Culture Net

Link to the Civil War in New Mexico

John Kessell Book Signing

This may be of interest to New Mexico genealogy and history buffs:

November 23,2008 at 3pm at Bookworks, 4022 Rio Grande in the Flying Star Plaza

For more than four hundred years in New Mexico, Pueblo Indians and Spaniards have lived “together yet apart.” Now the preeminent historian of that region’s colonial past offers a fresh, balanced look at the origins of a precarious relationship.

John L. Kessell’s Pueblos,Spaniards, and the Kingdom of New Mexico is the first narrative history devoted to the tumultuous seventeenth century in New Mexico. Kessell clearly describes the Pueblo world encountered by Spanish conquistador Juan de Oñate and portrays important but lesser-known Indian partisans, while weaving analysis and interpretation into the flow of life in 17th century New Mexico.

Using Census Records to Tell A Story: Casimiro Montoya’s Family

Recently, I wrote a short article that I submitted to the New Mexico Genealogist about the descendants of Maria Clara Lorenza Silva. One of her grandsons was a man by the name of Jose Casimiro Montoya, my 2nd great grandfather. While doing research, I found three United States census records for his family.

Although I did not have enough room to write a more complete story about Casimiro’s family - I was told to write a two to six page article – I do have the space here to continue the story. For reference, I’ve attached to this post the three census records. All three censuses are of Polvadera, New Mexico, a town about nine miles north of Socorro. The 1880 and 1900 censuses are of Casimiro Montoya’s families. The 1910 census is of the Amadeo Luna home, in which Casimiro was living at the time.

Jose Casimiro Montoya was the son of Juan Tomas Montoya and Ana Maria Estefana Perea. He was born on 5 March 1848 in Polvadera, New Mexico.[1] On 8 January 1875, Casimiro married Manuela Abeyta at San Miguel Parish in Socorro, New Mexico. She was the daughter of Jose Albino Abeyta and Maria Miguela Sanchez.[2] Reviewing the census records, it appears that they lived all their married lives in Polvadera.

In 1880, Casimiro and “Manuelita” were living with their two young sons. Amadeo was listed as being 3 years old at the time; “Siverato” was eight months old. Casimiro was a farmer, while his wife kept house.[3]

In 1900, Casimiro and Manuelita had three unmarried children living with them. Jose Liberado, most likely the same child as “Siverato” named above, was listed as being 20 years and born in October 1879. Andrellita, my great-grandmother, was 16 years old and was born in November 1883. The 14 year old Sophia was born in May 1886. It appears that Amadeo may have passed away between 1880 and 1900. Manuelita is noted as having eight births, but having only three living children. Of the family, Casimiro could read and write, but could not speak English. Manuelita was illiterate and was also not an English speaker. All three children were English speakers, and could read and write. Liberado was a farm worker like his father, while the two girls both attended school six months that year.[4]

Ten years later in 1910, the widowed Casimiro Montoya was living with his son-in-law and daughter. The 28 year old Amadeo Luna and his 23 year old wife Sofia M(ontoya) had the 62 year old Casimiro in their home. They also had two sons: three year old Miguel A. and one year old Antonio Jose. Apparently at the time, Sofia had given birth to three children, but only the two survived.[5]

1] Lila Armijo Pfeufer, et al, extractors & compilers, New Mexico Baptisms San Miguel de Socorro Church 1821-1853 (Albuquerque: New Mexico Genealogy Society, 1998), 249.

[2] Archives of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, New Mexico, Roll # 32, 8 January 1875 marriage record.

[3] Casimiro Montoya family, 1880 United States Census, dwelling # 31, household # 31, town of Polvadera, county of Socorro, state of New Mexico, HeritageQuest Online, http://persi.heritagequestonline.com/, Retrieved 9 November 2008.

[4] Casimiro Montoya family, 1900 United States Census, dwelling # 24, household # 25, town of Polvadera, county of Socorro, state of New Mexico, HeritageQuest Online, http://persi.heritagequestonline.com/, Retrieved 10 November 2008.

[5] Amadeo Luna family, 1910 United States Census, dwelling # 10, household # 11, town of Polvadera, county of Socorro, state of New Mexico, HeritageQuest Online, http://persi.heritagequestonline.com/, Retrieved 10 November 2008.

Casimiro Montoya family, 1880 United States Census, dwelling # 31, household # 31, town of Polvadera, county of Socorro, state of New Mexico, HeritageQuest Online, http://persi.heritagequestonline.com, Retrieved 9 November 2008.

Casimiro Montoya family, 1900 United States Census, dwelling # 24, household # 25, town of Polvadera, county of Socorro, state of New Mexico, HeritageQuest Online, http://persi.heritagequestonline.com, Retrieved 10 November 2008.

Amadeo Luna family, 1910 United States Census, dwelling # 10, household # 11, town of Polvadera, county of Socorro, state of New Mexico, HeritageQuest Online, http://persi.heritagequestonline.com, Retrieved 10 November 2008.

Looking for Zimmerly Family Pictures

This summer, I did a presentation for the New Mexico Genealogical Society on the Zimmerly family of Socorro, New Mexico. After the presentation, I promised a number of people that I would write an article about the info I presented. The problem is that I hadn't finished my research, (when do we EVER finish our research) and left out many of the citations in the manuscript that I used for the speech. Since then, I've been extremely busy and have not been able to finish the article.

Well, I hope to start it up again soon. Since the editor of the New Mexico Genealogist asked me to publish it in that journal, I will probably do that instead of distributing the article independently. What I would like, though, is to have photos to go with the article.

I have photos of my 2nd great-grandparents Samuel and Paubla (Torres) Zimmerly, and their youngest son Esteban and his wife Delfina (Torres) Zimmerly. What I would like is to do is get photos of Esteban's siblings and their spouses. Their names are:

* Juan Jose Zimmerly, born 14 January 1868, died 20 March 1916. Married Isabel Torres on 8 February 1888 in Socorro, New Mexico.

* Gertrudes Zimmerly, born 1 June 1871, died 6 September 1920. Married Herminio Torres on 1 Nobember 1889 in Socorro, New Mexico.

* Ricardo Zimmerly, born 6 May 1876. Married Eloisa Stackpole on 26 February 1900.

* Maria Dolores Zimmerly, born 3 March 1881, died 18 Sepember 1947. Married Ricardo Abeyta on 31 March 1902 in Socorro, New Mexico. She may have also been known as "Lola", since that is a common diminutive of "Dolores".

* Teresa Zimmerly, born 24 September 1884, died 7 October 1865. Married Jose Estanislado Miera on 28 May 1906 in Socorro, New Mexico.

If you have photos of any of these people that you wish to share, please send them to me via Email at abqbobcat@nmia.com. Please give me permission to put them in my article, as well as on this blog. If you have any questions, please send me an Email and ask.

Thanks,

Robert J. C. Baca