Name Change: Jose Chaves to Jose Anastacio Chaves

Recently, I was searching for the ancestors of Anna Maria de Soledad Chaves, who, along with her husband, Jose (Lugardo) Padilla, appears to be one of the early settlers of the Socorro Land Grant. A Jose Padilla is listed in the 1818 Navajo military campaign donation list that I use as an early enumeration of Socorro. Jose Padilla is a common name, so it is difficult to figure out exactly who this person was. I chose an early settler, Jose Padilla who was married to Maria Soledad Chavez. This couple adopted a young Native American child or adult woman by the name of Maria Soledad Rosalia Padilla. Members of the Navajo tribe sold her to this couple, which means that she was basically their slave. We will never know whether she was treated as a member of their family, or just a servant. Stories differ as to how families treated their "adopted children". Once adopted and baptized in the Catholic Church, they were supposed to be raised as Christians. Of course, many families did the least they had to do to honor this pledge, while others felt it was their duty to treat adopted children as their own.

I could not find any other adopted or biological children for this couple.

I found a Tome marriage record for Jose Lugardo Padilla and Ana Maria de Soledad Chaves, on 3 June 1798. I believe this to be the same couple as Jose Padilla and Maria Soledad Chavez. He was the son of Juan Domingo Padilla and Juana Rita Baca; while she was the daughter of Jose Anastacio Chaves (deceased) and Juana Baca. All were from Belen. I found Jose Lugardo's parents' marriage record in Laguna, and was at least able to figure out the ancestry of his father, if not his mother. Ana Maria de Soledad's parents were a different story. Then I came across a record that I believe solved the mystery, and changed the name I had for one of my ancestors.

Since Chaves is the name found among the founders of Albuquerque, I decided to look at the index of the book "Aqui Se Comienza" - a book that I myself contributed two chapters to. The book outlines the descendants of 20+ families. The index showed that Jose Anastacio Chaves could be found on page 100 of the book. On that page, it indicated that Jose Anastacio Chavez and his mother Antonia Baca were godparents in the Isleta Church baptism of Tomas Gallegos. I checked the Isleta baptism and marriage book published by the New Mexico Genealogical Society and discovered this to be correct.

Jose Chaves, the son of Antonio Duran y Chaves and Antonia Baca, was married to Juana Maria Baca, the daughter of Diego Domingo Baca and Juana Duran y Chaves (yes, they were not-so-distant cousins.) Their marriage was in 1758. The baptismal record that showed godparents Jose Anastacio Chaves with his mother was in 1753. The fact that he was baptizing a child with his mother most likely indicates that he was at least an adolescent and probably unmarried. Therefore, I believe that Jose Chaves and Juana Maria Baca are the same couple as Jose Anastacio Chaves who was married to Juana Baca.

This means that their daughter, Anna Maria de Soledad Chaves, is the sister of Luis Maria Chaves, who was married to Maria Isabel Padilla. This couple is another of the families I've discerned to be founders of the Socorro Land Grant based on the 1818 enumeration. Luis Maria Chaves and Maria Isabel Padilla are my 4th great grandparents - ancestors of my maternal grandfather Santiago Baca. I now know my 4th great-grandfather by a different name.

Below is a chart that shows the relationship between Jose Anastacio Chaves and his 3rd great-grandson Santiago Baca.

Sources:
Lila Armijo Pfeufer, Margaret Leonard Windham, and Evelyn Lujan Baca, New Mexico Baptisms San Miguel de Socorro Church: 1821-1853 (Albuquerque: New Mexico Genealogical Society, 1998), p. 18.

Raymond P. Salas extractor and Margaret Leonard Windham compiler, New Mexico Marriages Churces of Immaculate Conception of Tome and Our Lady of Belen (Albuquerque: New Mexico Genealogical Society, 1994), p. 18.

"Microfilm # 16826: Laguna Baptisms, Marriages and Burials," database, FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org: accessed 26 August 2017), Marriage Record: Juan Domingo Padilla and Juana Rita, 9 April 1771, image # 141.

Gloria M. Valencia et. al., editors, Aqui Se Comienza: A Genealogical History of the Founding Families of La Villa de San Felipe de Alburquerque (Albuquerque: New Mexico Genealogical Society, 2007), p. 100.

Lila Armijo Pfeufer, Margaret L. Buxton transcribers, Margaret Leonard Windham, and Evelyn Lujan Baca compilers, New Mexico Marriages and Baptisms San Agustin de la Isleta Church: Marriages 1726 to 1846, Baptisms 1730 to 1776, 1829 to 1842 (Albuquerque: New Mexico Genealogical Society, 1996), p. 133.
 In a baptismal record for Thomas Gallegos (baptized 17 January 1753), the godparents are listed as Joseph Anastacio Chabes and his mother Dona Antonia Baca.

Lila Armijo Pfeufer, Margaret L. Buxton transcribers, Margaret Leonard Windham, and Evelyn Lujan Baca compilers, New Mexico Marriages and Baptisms San Agustin de la Isleta Church: Marriages 1726 to 1846, Baptisms 1730 to 1776, 1829 to 1842 (Albuquerque: New Mexico Genealogical Society, 1996), p. 11. 

Obituary: Julianita Torres, 1909

I found a short obituary for Julianita Torres in 23 January 1909 edition of the Socorro Chieftain. Below is my transcription:

Death of Julianita Torres

Miss Julianita Torres, daughter of Canuto Torres, deceased, and Isabelita Padilla de Torres, died at her home in this city at the age of twenty years and twelve days. The deceased was sick only three days, a severe cold developing into pneumonia. Funeral services were conducted from the family residence and the church of San Miguel at half past nine o'clock Monday morning in the presence of a large attendance of sorrowing relatives and friends. Interment took place in the Catholic cemetery.

Her grave is recorded in Find A Grave. Click on this link to view the memorial.

Source: Death of Julianita Torres, Socorro Chieftain [microfilm], Socorro, New Mexico, 23 January 1909. Obituary for Julianita Torres, daughter of Canuto Torres & Isabelita Padilla y Torres.

The Jose Antonio Padilla family and the Sevilleta Land Grant

About 20 miles north of Socorro is a community known as La Joya. This area, also known as La Joya de Sevilleta, was part of the Sevilleta Land Grant, which was resettled in 1810, a few years before the Socorro Land Grant. As one of the land grants close to Socorro, I've done a little (very little) research on the area.

Recently, I happened upon a certain Padilla family that lived in La Joya in the early part of the 19th century. Since I identified a couple of Padilla men in the 1818 list of Socorro residents, and I myself am descended from Padilla families, I figured that it was important to try to find a connection between the family of Jose Antonio Padilla of La Joya and these particular families. Unfortunately, I have not found the connection since I can only go as far as Jose Antonio Padilla himself. Therefore, I ask for my readers' help in this matter.

Below is a family group sheet for Jose Antonio Padilla:



Below is a descendant chart for Jose Antonio Padilla going forward three generations.

Descendants of Jose Antonio Padilla

For more information about La Joya and the Sevillita Land Grant, check out these sources:

J.J. Bowden's "The Sevileta Grant"

Teresa Ramirez Alief Jose Gonzales and Patrica Black Esterly, New Mexico Censuses of 1833 and 1845: Socorro and Surrounding Communities of the Rio Abajo (Albuquerque: New Mexico Genealogical Society, 1994), p.xiii. Available for purchase from the New Mexico Genealogical Society's website.

Belen family of Socorro founders in 1818 List

On 21 September 1818, residents of the village of Belen were recorded on a list when they made contributions to the same Navajo war campaign that Socorro residents contributed to. The Belen list is four pages long. At some point I may analyze this list as I did with the Socorro list, but for now I want to mention just a few names on the list as they pertain to early Socorro families:

Luis Chaves may be Luis Maria Chaves, the husband of Maria Isabel Padilla. Some of Luis' children, all of whom were born in either the Plaza of Los Garcias or Belen proper,would later live in the Socorro area. Sixty-year old Luis, without his wife, was living in Sabino in 1833.

Santiago Torres' wife Maria Barbara Ortiz gave birth to many, if not all, of their children in Belen. The earliest record that shows Santiago Torres in Socorro is one from 26 December 1822 when he and his daughter Maria Guadalupe were padrinos (godparents) of Juan Estevan Torres, the son of Santiago's Indian servant Josefa Torres. The family of Santiago and Barbara (Ortiz) Torres are listed in the 1833 census of La Parida, a community near Socorro. Many of their descendants lived (and still live) in the Socorro area.

(Don) Paulin Baca (Paulino Baca) was the son of Juan Francisco Baca and Francisca de Jesus Sandoval. As such, he was the brother of Dionosio Antonio Baca, a founder of Socorro. Paulin and his wife Maria Lugarda Tafoya remained in Belen. However, some of his descendants found their way down to Socorro.

(Don) Juan Jose Baca was the son of Juan Felipe Baca and Maria Isabel Baca. He was the brother of Juan Dionosio Baca, a founder of Socorro, and the cousin of the similarly named Dionosio Antonio Baca. Juan Jose Baca and his wife Margarita Chaves also remained in Belen. Some of his descendants later lived in Socorro.

(Doña) Juana Maria Baca, was the wife (maybe widow?) of Jose (Francisco) Pino. She was another child of Juan Francisco Baca and Francisca de Jesus Sandoval. It appears that she and descendants remained in the Belen area.

 

Partial list of names on the 1818 Belen list.

For more information about these families, click on the links below:

Descendants of Luis Maria Chaves

Descendants of Santiago Torres

Descendants of Paulin Baca

Descendants of Juan Jose Baca

Descendants of Juana Maria Baca