Beyond Origins of New Mexico Families
A website maintained by José Antonio Esquibel
Pasajero Records for Colonial New Mexico Families:
Góngora,
Montes Vigil, Moya and Robledo
Some of the first records of passage relating to families that eventually settled in New Mexico have been located in the archives of Sevilla and extracted in the past six years. Spanish transcriptions of these records will begin to appear on the pages of this web site in upcoming months or in genealogical publications in the upcoming years.
The combined research efforts of José Antonio Esquibel and John B. Colligan yielded the records of passage of the Góngora and Moya families of Sevilla. A synopsis of these records appears in their book, The Spanish Recolonization of New Mexico, recently published and now available from the Hispanic Genealogical Research Center of New Mexico. The research efforts of Rick Hendricks (University of New Mexico/Vargas Project) and John B. Colligan resulted in finding the record of passage for Juan Montes Vigil, the ancestor of the Vigil family of New Mexico who came to the New World in 1611. A link to the synopsis and an excerpt of this record is given below.
Recently, while on a trip to Spain in October 1999, Charles Martínez y Vigil, conducted some research in Sevilla and was successful in locating the records of passage for Pedro Robledo, his wife Catalina López and four of there children. Charles Martínez y Vigil has worked on a
Spanish transcription and José Anotnio Esquibel has completed an English translation (see New Items). The Robledo-López came to New Mexico in 1598 with don Juan de Oñate and are among the common ancestors for many people with Hispano roots in New Mexico. In fact, the records of passage for this family represent the second of such located for families that came to New Mexico in 1598. (The first records of passage for a family of original settlers relates to the Sosa Albornoz family —Captain Alonso de Sosa Albornoz settled New Mexico in 1598 with his wife doña Beatriz Navarro). In addition, Charles also located the records of passage for Pedro Robledo's parents who came to New Spain the year after Pedro and his family had come. In time, it is hoped that these records of passage for the Robledo family will be transcribed and even translated for any interested person to read. In the meantime, a link to the synopsis of the record of passage relating to Juan Montes Vigil that yielded valuable new genealogical information concerning the ancestry of the Vigil family in the region of San Martino de Siero in Asturias, Spain, can be consulted here along with the Spanish transcription obtained by John B. Colligan.
Keep an eye on this web site for Spanish transcriptions of the records of passage for the Góngora and Moya families after January 1, 2000. The Moya record of passage is scheduled to be published in the April 2001 issue of Herencia (quarterly journal of the Hispanic Genealogical Research Center of New Mexico). Also, in the coming years, we are likely to see similar records extracted for the Atencio, Borrego, Chávez, Mascareñas, and Valdés families. It will be recommended that a Special Collection file be established at the New Mexico Records Center and Archives to collect copies and transcriptions of all original records of passage found for New Mexico families.