September 17, 2011 NMGS Program

Special Collections Library
Main Library - Second Floor
501 Central NW
Albuquerque, NM

Saturday, September 17, 2011
10:30 AM

 


The New Mexico Genealogical Society
Presents

Henrietta Christmas
“Jornada del Muerto Grant aka Armendaris Grant”The Jornada del Muerto Grant. The Jornada del Muerto Grant was first sought by Pedro Armendaris of San Elizario around 1819. Later requests for a grant from this long stretch of mostly dry land came in 1845, and conflicted with other grants to the Armendaris family. Long associated with the Camino Real, the Jornada del Muerto Grant presents an interesting set of questions. Beset with drought, Indian predations, and a desert landscape, did it have real value? A primer on researching land grants will be pointed out within the presentation.

Henrietta Christmas, a native New Mexican, is a genealogical and historical researcher for the last 35 years and she descends from eleven of the soldiers that came with Oñate in 1598. She has written several books which relate to New Mexico's small towns and history and over 100 articles mostly on New Mexico's Colonial Families. She is a long-time member of the Historical Society of New Mexico, Hispanic Genealogical Research Center of New Mexico and the New Mexico Genealogical Society. Two of her most recent projects include assisting with the bios for Segesser Hide Paintings for the opening of the History Museum in Santa Fe and writing two chapters in the Anthology for the Historical Society of NM, titled “Sunshine and Shadows in New Mexico’s Past.”

Henrietta’s interest in researching land grants is two-fold, identifying the persons involved and hearing the testimonies. These records provide an in depth knowledge of who, what and when things happened in regards to their specific land grants. Many of these papers are far superior in terms of the WPA interviews and represent New Mexico’s historical past. Some of her most recent land grant projects include El Rito, Antonio Salazar, Santa Fe County and Chaperito. Henrietta resides in Corrales with her husband Walt.

This program is free and open to the public.