Profile picture for user jrefugioghermosillo

Online Status

Por jrefugioghermosillo |

Hola prim@s,

The San Luis Potosí miscellaneous archives continue to be a great source of information, and not just for known Potosina families!
On 4 Mar 1597, Juan Michel - resident of Guadalajara - with permission, authority and consent of doña Graciana Maral, his legitimate wife, sold a hacienda for smelting and refining metals to Juan de Vergara Osorio. I leapt when I read those first lines, for two reasons, the first being that doña Graciana is given the surname “Maral”: in all other documents, she is called “Graciana Corona,” and this was a new clue to her identity and her origins, which still remained unknown. The second reason was because she had to give express permission to her husband, which meant that she owned the hacienda, and likely inherited it from her parents - whom might be named in this document (!!!). And sure enough, her father is named: Domingo González Maral.
I had seen Domingo González Maral’s name in the archives, and I quickly found his testamento, dated 4 Mar 1595. He was the son of Diego González Maral and doña Ysabel de ?, vecinos de la villa de ? en los Reynos de Castilla en Portugal. I left question marks for his mother’s surname and the name of their village, since I’m not completely sure about my interpretation, and perhaps I can get the group’s input (Alex - you’ve proven quite good at this!). Thanks. Domingo González Maral was married to Ynés de León, and they had three children: Diego González Maral (killed by Indians), Ysabel de Maral y Corona (married to Pedro de Miranda), and Graciana, who was about 20 at the time, of marriageable age, and living in the home of her first-cousin (I assume in Guadalajara). He names Graciana as his universal heir.
When their daughter, Ysabel Maral y Corona, married Pedro de Miranda on 21 Sep 1586, Domingo González and Ynés de León were living in las minas de Guanajuato. By Apr 1596, Domingo González was living in SLP, when he rented 30 baras de minas from don Bartolomé Nuñez de Villavicencio (source: RMB).
Ynés de León was already deceased when Domingo González wrote his testamento in March 1595. My guess is she was a daughter of Martín Monge and Ysabel Álvarez Corona, whose female descendants tended to use the surnames “León” and “Corona.” Their granddaughter, Catalina de León y Corona cc Cosme López, was madrina for at least one child of Juan Michel and Graciana Corona.

I hope you’re all well, and please let me know what you think the surname of Domingo González Maral’s mother was, as well as the name of their village in Portugal.
Thanks!
Manny Díez Hermosillo

Manny,

I will give my two cents on the name of Domingo González Maral's mother, and a tentative transcription of the first part of the will.

I think I agree with "de Mona." If you look at the "m" in mona and the "m" in Domingo three lines up, I think they look exactly the same. As to the "o," the writer did not close the o, making it look like a u but neither did he close the o in "Yo," when Domingo said "Sepan quantos ... como yo."

As to the place where the parents were from I think it says: "difuntos vezinos que fueron de la villa de Cubas en los Reynos de Castilla en Portugal." This wording makes sense since Castilla and Portugal were united from 1582-1640, which is when this will was written (1595).

So, the complete first section (with a small portion I could not make out) says:

"En el nombre de nuestro señor Jhesu Xpto y de la siempre virgen maria su madre, sepan quantos esta carta vieren como Yo domingo gonzalez maral ... de san luis minas del potosi de ls nueva España, hijo legitimo de diego gonzalez maral y de doña Ysabel de mona difuntos vezinos que fueron de la villa de Cubas en los Reynos de Castilla en Portugal estando como Estoy enfermo..."

Hope this helps!

Sergio

Thank you, Sergio. Those are the challenges of paleography: not only deciphering chicken scratch, but also trying to “hear” how a 16th century Spanish scribe heard a foreign word. And then, there are the place names that are no longer in use, which is always a possibility.

I finally located the testimony of Domingo Gonzalez from the Alonso Alvarez proceso, which identifies him as the yerno of Martin Monje. It’s dated 24 Apr 1562 in Ameca, Jalisco. Unfortunately, there is no signature to match with the signature on the testamento of Domingo Gonzalez Maral, so we’re still relying upon deductive reasoning, as far as Ines de Leon’s parentage.

I also noticed that in the left image, in the last paragraph of his testimony, witness Luis Montesinos mentions an “Alonso Gutierrez, sobrino de Myn Monge.” That Martin Monje had a nephew living in the area is news to me. Perhaps he’s the son of Juan Gutierrez de Leon cc Catalina Sanchez? FYI, you’ll find other early residents of Ameca and Purificacion appearing as witnesses in that section of the proceso - Juan Fernandez de Hijar and Alvaro Bracamonte, to name a couple.

Saludos,
Manny Díez Hermosillo

How many Alex's are on NR? Geez I hope it not just me...otherwise the pressure is on!

Both requests are tough! Here are some possibilities that I see:

Surname, which may even have cut off letters:
Mona
Niona

City, which again may have cut off letters:

Cubel
Cubiel
Cubes
Cubies
Cubill

That would be the letters transcribed. Then of course the b could be a v, the s could be a z, the c could be a q, in modern spanish etc.

Do you think how "Villa" is spelled looks strange? Like 99% of the time "Villa" is found at that position in the sentance but if you look at "illa" in Castilla in the next line, it looks different than in Villa. Maybe it doesnt say villa and the city is "X de X"?

Tough one!

Alex

Thanks Alex. I also see “de Mona” for the mother’s surname, though “Niona” is an interesting variant. And “villa” does look a little different - looks like he added a third “l.”

As far as the identity of his wife, Inés de León, and trying to link her to Martín Monje cc Isabel Álvarez Corona, I consulted with Sylvia Corona, and she replied, “sobre Domingo González esto es lo que tengo: Nació hacia 1527.  En 1556 tal vez en la villa de Colima, ante el escribano Juan de la Torre, Martín Monje, su suegro, vecino de Colima, le otorgó poder a Domingo González, residente en las minas de Guaxacatlán, en lo concerniente a las minas que tenía en el real, para registrar ante cualesquiera justicias, nuevas minas y, también, para poblar y labrar y meter en ellas gente y esclavos que para el dicho efecto Domingo había recibido de Monje. Siendo yerno de éste, prestó declaración en 1557, en Guadalajara, durante el proceso inquisitorial contra Alonso Álvarez de Espinosa.  Fuentes: (Romero de Solís, 1999b: N° 46;  y Villaseñor Bordes, 1959: 40).”
I looked at Villaseñor Bordes’ “La Inquisición en la Nueva Galicia,” and in the list of witnesses for the proceso against Alonso Álvarez de Espinosa, he names “Domingo González yerno de Martín Monge, de edad de 30 años poco más o menos.”
I read through that proceso - there are actually two folders, 1557 and 1569 - and though I see Domingo González’s name among those of witnesses present during a proclamation, I can’t find the testimony where he talks about Martín Monje giving him poderes, so either I missed it, or there’s a third folder.
Either way, at least we know it’s documented that Martín Monje had a son-in-law named Domingo González, and seeing how Domingo González Maral was married to Inés de León, and their daughters used the surname “Corona,” it’s makes sense that they are the same Domingo González, and that Inés de León would be Martín Monje’s unnamed daughter. She would’ve named for his mother, Inés de Alonso Monje.

Thanks!
Manny Díez Hermosillo

Thank you, Glenn. I was thinking Cuba, too, but at first glance, I see “Cuvill” or “Cuvile,” so I’m leaning towards Covilhã, which a Spanish scribe might have written “Cuvilla.” Another possibility is Cubalhão (“Cuvallo” or “Cuvaio”). It’s too bad the scribe didn’t write down the town’s bishopric, which was common in those days. What do you see for his mother’s surname?

Thanks again!
Manny Díez Hermosillo

Genealogy Research