The Socorro Land Grant Research Project
Thursday, April 11, 2024
Baca and Garcia Jurado Ancestry of Socorro Land Grantees
Thursday, June 16, 2022
Spanish, Mexican and Territorial New Mexico Records on Ancestry
If you have a paid membership to Ancestry.com, you can access the following New Mexico records for Spanish, Mexican and United States Territorial periods:
* New Mexico, U.S., Civil Records of New Spain, 1621-1821- These records organized by "Twitchell Numbers". These are original Spanish era records and are in Spanish.
* New Mexico, U.S., Land Records of New Spain, 1692-1846 - These are original Spanish and Mexican documents as well as transcriptions of those records and United States court documents relating to Spanish and Mexican Land Grants.
* New Mexico, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1801-1993 - As described in the title, these are United States wills and probate records. You can browse these records by county, including Socorro County.
There are many other records that can be found on Ancestry, but I find these are particularly useful for New Mexico genealogy.
Friday, May 7, 2021
Socorro County deed, mining, mortgage, and land records
On Family Search, there are a number of digital records from the Socorro County that can be accessed. Some are in English, many are in Spanish. All are original. Take a look. There are few indexes, so you may have to scroll through the images to find an ancestor or two.
Click on the link below to begin searching:
Monday, October 14, 2019
Index: Socorro County Marriages 1885-1907, 1911. Images 61-80
Below is an index of Socorro County Marriages as recorded in the Socorro County Courthouse, from the periods of 1885-1907 and 1911. These are images 61-80. These specific records are for the years 1891-1893. You can view the images yourself by clicking on the link below.
You can find this database on the FamilySearch website at this link:
Source:
"New Mexico, County Marriages, 1885-1954," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-L1SL-9MNB?cc=2110325&wc=SL34-YWP%3A361659601%2C361659502 : 18 December 2014), Socorro > image 1 of 173; State archives and county courthouses, New Mexico.
Saturday, December 29, 2018
San Marcial Marriage Records/index - 1883 - 1900
San Marcial Church Marriages, San Marcial, Socorro County, New Mexico
Monday, March 26, 2018
Black Sheep Story: Antonio Duran y Chaves
The first piece of information that I found interesting is that Juana Baca is listed as being of "unknown parentage". Through other sources, I know the situation of her birth: she was the illegitimate daughter of another Juana Baca. Although the record states that her parentage is unknown, it also mentions that Juana Baca (the younger) and her fiancee Antonio Duran y Chaves were related in the 3rd degree of consanguinity. How would they have known the two were related if her parents were unknown?
The story gets more interesting, though. It seems that Antonio Duran y Chaves had a little fling with one of Juana's unnamed relatives. He was seeking dispensation so that he could get married to Juana because he was related to Juana's cousin by the second degree of affinity, and also his own 4th degree of consanguinity.* Other reasons for the request: Juana was poor and feared for her reputation if her relatives were to die. Antonio was also charitable in taking her in, and was very fond of her. How sweet!
The couple was given their dispensation and were allowed to be married. However, Antonio was to pay penance for his sin. The groom's punishment for was to do manual labor at the church once a week for 4 months, beg alms for poor souls, donate 1,000 adobes each for the Albuquerque church and the Bernalillo cemetery, and personally make 100 adobes each for the Albuquerque and Bernalillo churches while working one whole week at each church. This punishment was to be warning to others who might commit the same sins as he.
Antonio Duran y Chaves and Juana Baca were my 6th great grandparents on my mother's side.
* Affinity means that he is related by marriage, or in this case intended marriage. Consanguinity means that he was related by blood. 2nd degree usually means 1st cousin, 3rd degree is often second cousin, and 4th degree is usually 3rd cousin. However, other relationships such as 1st cousin once removed, and second cousin once removed can be the basis for the 3rd and 4th degrees, respectively.
Sources:
Fray Angelico Chavez, New Mexico Roots, Ltd.: A Demographic Perspective from genealogical, historical and geographic data found in the Diligencias Matrimoniales or Pre-Nuptial Investigations (1678-1869) of the Archives of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe. (Santa Fe, New Mexico: typescript, 1982), volume 2, p. 305.
Fray Angelico Chavez, Origins of New Mexico Families: A Genealogy of the Spanish Colonial Period: Revised Edition (Santa Fe: Museum of New Meixco Press, 1992), Kindle Edition. (Kindle Locations 6151-6156).
Monday, January 1, 2018
Microfilm only: Socorro County probate records
* Wills, testaments & inventories (Socorro County, New Mexico), 1870-1874
* Homestead records (Socorro County, New Mexico), 1882-1906