| San Juan Marriages,
3 Feb 17;26 - 11 Jan 1776 |
AASF Reel #29 |
| San Juan
Marriages, 30 Oct 1830 - 24 Oct 1855 |
AASF Reel
#29 |
| San Juan
Marriages, 1 Oct 1843 - 10 Jan 1855 |
AASF Reel
#29 |
| Santa Clara Marriages,
27 Jan 1726 - 27 Dec 1832 |
AASF Reel #30 |
Complete name index as follows: 1) Grooms
and Deceased Husbands, 2) Wives and Deceased Wives, Parents,
and 3) Godparents, Witnesses, and Others. Also included
are lists of abbreviations and phrases used in the publication.
Map
of the Area, by Ernie Jaskolski
Introduction, by Marina Ochoa, Archivist, Archdiocese
of Santa Fe
Marriage is one of the most important sacraments in the
life of the catholic church. It reflects the union between
Christ and His Church and was officially listed as one
of the seven sacraments of the church during the Countil
of Trent (1545-1563). Record keeping procedures regarding
marriage were put in place at that time was well and have
continued as an important part of the duties of pastors
to the present.
Marriage registers kept in the catholic church in New
Mexico were bound by certain universal church quidelines
regarding the recording of information. This included
the date and place/parish where the marriage took place,
the name of the pastor and the names of the persons being
married as well as names of parents and the names of witnesses
or sponsors. The record was to be signed by the pastor
and duly recorded in the marriage register of the parish.
The announcement of marriage banns, the completion of
the diligencia matrimonial (marriage investigation)
and the names of paternal and maternal grandparents were
sometimes included in the record as well. This information
makes the marriage record one of the most useful tools
when conducting family histories or genealogical research.
Sacramental registers in the archive collection of the
Archdiocese of Santa Fe are maintained and preserved in
accordance to church law (Can 486, 487). The collection
includes documnets dating from 1678 to 1900 although some
parishes have turned in records dating to about 1920.
Preservation microfilming measure were put in place in
the 1950s by the Genealogical Society of Utah and in the
1980s by the New Mexico State Records Center and Archives.
The najority of records in the archival collection are
on microfilm and readily available for use.
The New Mexico Genealogical Society undertook the extraction
of records from the registers in the collection under
the direction of Fray Angelico Chavez in 1974 and began
publishing extractions several years ago, beginning with
Albuquerque Baptisms 1707-1850. The Society is
currently in the process of publishing other volumes including
the present one on marriages records from the mission
parishes of Santa Clara and San Juan.
The earlier of the San Juan books of marriages extracted
is a beautifully bound leather register with a hand knotted
cord and button for keeping the book closed. The first
entry is the marriage of Diego Lusero [sic] and
Ana Maria Martin, both Españoles, which took place
on February 3, 1726. The presiding priest was Fr. Jose
Antonio de Torres. Most of the entries are well written
and legible. The Santa Clara register, with marriage records
beginning in 1726 and ending in 1832, is also bound in
leather and there is evidence of a hand tied cord, now
broken, for keeping the book closed. The entries are recorded
in ink made from iron gall which gives them a brownish
tinge. The first two entries are signed by Fray Pedro
Antonio Esquer, who was at Santa Clara during the month
of January 1726 and again in December of 1734. Marriage
entries include those people from the place referred to
as "Puesto de Chama," historically known
as San Jose del Rio Chama and which is today known as
Hernandez. Some of the persona recorded are identified
as Genizaros.
The publication of these marriage records will be of
great assistance to those wishing to learn more about
their family history. The mission parishes of San Juan
and Santa Clara were important centers of the catholic
church in an area and time of colonial expansion and settlement.
The publication of the marriage records from these two
mission parishes by the New Mexico Genealogical Society
has been long awaited and will be greatly received and
extensively used.
Marina Ochoa, Archivist, Archdiocese of Santa Fe
June, 1998
________________
The San Juan and Santa Clara records were extracted by
M. Eloise Arellanes. Data entry for the San Juan marriages
was done by Patricia A. Salazar. Consuelo Gooch and William
Zamora did the proofreading. Data entry for the Santa
Clara records was done by Rosemary Tafolla Pierce and
Gina Meredith. Evelyn Lujan Baca was proofreader. Margaret
Leonard Windham prepared the indexes. Rose Holte coordinated
the index checkers, who were Nancy Brown, Dorothy Mazon,
Dorothy L. Miller and Marjorie Shea. Andres Segura arranged
for the publication. Map by Ernie Jaskolski. A publication
of the New Mexico Genealogical Society. |
