"New Mexico Roots, Ltd."

The most challenging part of conducting New Mexico genealogical research is tracing our family lines between 1850 and 1910, basically the American territorial period. This is not due to any shortage of records. On the contrary, there is a wealth of records, which contributes to the problem. The greater amount of these records is not indexed, and many are not easily accessible to interested genealogical researchers who do not live near the important repositories in New Mexico. Couple this with the increased mobility of our ancestors during the American territorial period and the challenge is greater. One of my own family lines took ten years of research before breaking through this barrier.

However, once the barrier is broken, researchers will encounter numerous valuable resources, in particular excellent indexes for census records and church records of the Spanish colonial period. It is at this point the Origins of New Mexico Families: A Genealogy of the Spanish Colonial Period by Fray Angélico Chávez becomes a useful tool for extending lineages. Hand in hand with this source, and among the most important and necessary sources to consult regarding New Mexico families from 1678 to 1869, is the 11 volume catalogue of the pre-marital investigations compiled by Chávez.

The short title for the 11 volumes is "New Mexico Roots" or "New Mexico Roots, Ltd.". The longer title given by Chávez is: "New Mexico Roots, Ltd: A Demographic perspective from genealogical, historical, and geographical data found in the Diligencias Matrimoniales, or Pre-Nuptial Investigations (1678-1869) of the Archives of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe" (Santa Fe, NM: 1982).

These volumes were never formally published. However, photocopied and bound editions were made from the original typewritten manuscript and placed in several repositories. I am aware of these locations where the volumes can be consulted: Archives of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe (Santa Fe), the New Mexico State Records Center and Archives (Santa Fe), the New Mexico State Library (Santa Fe), the Center for Southwest Research/Zimmerman Library - University of New Mexico (Albuquerque), and the Special Collections/Genealogy Library-Albuquerque Public Library (Albuquerque). In Colorado, the volumes can be found at the Denver Public Library.

Alternatively, for those researchers not living near Santa Fe, Albuquerque, or Denver, microfiche copies can be ordered at any Family History Center of local LDS Churches (Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) which are obtained from the main library in Salt Lake City. The cost is 15 cents (.15) per microfiche. Each volume is on one microfiche, so the cost is $1.65. Once ordered the microfiche becomes part of the permanent collection of the Family History Center from which it was ordered. You can then consult "New Mexico Roots" whenever you need to without having to travel to New Mexico. I highly recommend this for those who live away from the places mentioned above.

 If you are completely unfamiliar with "New Mexico Roots," here are a couple of examples of the information that Chávez extracted from the original pre-marital investigation records:

GONZÁLES, GONZÁLEZ [p. 703]

1696, Jan. 18 (no. 11). ANGELA GONZALES and Melchor de Jesus Herrera (q.v.).

1696, April 2 (no. 19), Santa Fe. DIEGO GONZALES BERNAL (23), n. of New Mexico, son of Alferez Juan Gonzalez Bernal and Nicolasa Zaldivar, both deceased, and Maria de Benavides (14), n. of Guadiana, d. of Juan Esteban Benavides and Maria de Diezmos, natives of la Villa del Nombre de Dios. —Witnesses: Antonio Lucero (45), n. of New Mexico, Antonio Sisneros, n. of El Rio Abajo, Juan Antonio Ramos (20), n. of Salvatierra, Diego Velasquez (19), n. of Durango. Pair married, April 30, 1696, with witnesses Juan Gonzales Bernal and Maria Lopez.

[A source like this is often cited as: Fray Angélico Chávez, "New Mexico Roots:" 703, DM 1696, April 2 (no. 19), Santa Fe]

 The information is indexed by family surname. Under each surname section records are listed chronologically by year. The prospective grooms and brides are catalogued and the detailed extractions are found under the grooms' name as shown above.

 In the colonial period, it was necessary for couples to present their petition of marriage to church officials. The purpose of the pre-nuptial investigation, or 'diligencia matrimonial' (DM), was to ensure that there were no impediments to the desired union, in particular impediments of consanguinity. If a couple were related within the 4^th degree of consanguinity, a dispensation to marry from the bishop was required since it was too far to acquire a dispensation from the Pope.

Any person with information concerning any possible impediment to the proposed union would have the opportunity to share the information as part of the prenuptial investigation.

Even if you are familiar with "New Mexico Roots," you may not be aware that the original records are available on microfilm from the Archives of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe (AASF). Specifically, AASF Diligencias Matrimoniales, Rolls #59-80. Many of these documents, written in Spanish, are challenging to read. It is also challenging to locate the exact record you are interested in because the numbering system is very informal. The documents are arranged by year, but there are no page numbers or frame numbers to assist in locating the specific beginning of any given year. Under the collection of DMs for each year, Chávez assigned a number to each document. Therefore, if there are 17 DMs for the year 1698, each document is assigned a number from 1 through 17. In "New Mexico Roots" the numbers are coded within the year, date and place, for example: 1698, Jan. 22 (no. 13), Santa Cruz. Because there is no index within the microfilm of the DMs, it can be difficult to locate the number of the document you wish to consult. The handwritten numbers and years appear at the beginning of each DM written in the upper left hand corner of the first page of each DM.

 Regardless of this difficulty, these records contain useful information such as transcriptions of marriage records and/or certifications of marriage and in many cases some historical information about the couples. Occasionally, researchers can extract additional information that was not extracted by Chávez for "New Mexico Roots."

 An interesting scholarly history book which made use of the original DMs from the Archives of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe was written by Ramón A. Gutiérrez and entitled When Jesus Came, the Corn Mothers Went Away: Marriage, Sexuality, and Power in New Mexico, 1500-1846 (Stanford University Press, Stanford, California: 1991).