don Juan Cristobal de Luna y Tapía: Indio and Cacique

Published by Travis –

I'm descended from don Juan Cristobal de Luna y Tapía through a few of his children. He's the purchaser (1690s) of a piece of land in Lagos de Moreno, known as Cañada de los Indios Ricos (modern Cañada de Ricos).

 Any information on the following family would be helpful: 

1st generation: don Juan Cristobal de Luna y Tapía born about 1635 cc Beatris Inés. (Probable brother or 1st cousin of don Francisco de Luna born about 1637 and died abt. 1686, married doña Ana Catarina de la Cruz). 

2nd generation:

- Miguel Jacinto de Luna y Tapía born bef. 1652 in Encinillas, Ojuelos, Jalisco. 

- Pasquala Magdalena de Luna y Tapía born before 1657 probably in Encinillas, Ojuelos, Jalisco. 

- don Patricio de Luna y Tapía born before 1666 probably in Encinillas, Ojuelos, Jalisco cc doña María de la Encarnación de Alarcon (AKA María de la Cruz). 

- Andrea de la Cruz (AKA Andrea de Luna) born before 1667 in Encinillas, Ojuelos, Jalisco. 

- Cristobal de Luna y Tapía born about 1667 in Encinillas, Ojuelos, Jalisco. 

- Rita de Luna born about May 1670 in Encinillas, Ojuelos, Jalisco. 

- doña Alfonsa de Luna born about 1672 in Encinillas, Ojuelos, Jalisco. 

All the above are noted as INDIO in records, and many are noted as don, doña, cacique and/or principale, prior to and after the purchase of Cañada de Ricos. 

According to records, don Juan Cristobal de Luna y Tapía spoke Nahuatl. This fact, plus the marriage patterns of the next 2 to 3 generations of his family lead me to believe that the Luna y Tapía family were Tlaxcalan in origin not Otomi, as many suggest. 

Any information or theories about the de Luna y Tapía families of Cañada de Ricos, Encinillas and Ciénega de Mata are welcome. 

Thank you. 

Best, 

Travis

Comentario

I’m sure you probably know that some IMs for Cienega de Mata during the late 1600s can be found in the Asuncion de Maria parish in Aguascalientes? If not, I see several Luna’s - all of them Indios, including an IM for Don Cristobal HL de Don Cristobal cc Beatriz Ynes. George Fulton indexed those IMs years ago, and uploaded them to the reference files here at NR. The filmrolls have since been rearranged, but the roll numbers remain the same, you’ll just have to go by the dates. You can download the PDFs here: https://www.nuestrosranchos.org/node/18014

Also, Encinillas was historically in the parish of San Matias, Pinos, Zacatecas. While there are records for Indian baptisms dating back to the late 1600s, they are well-indexed and easily found. But the IMs go back to 1650, so try digging around in that film roll. Perhaps there’s a marriage in there, and sometimes you can find ancestors appears as testigos.

I had also indexed sacramental records done in San Matias, 1613-1647, but I just checked them, and I see no Luna’s. But if you want to check, the pdf can be downloaded here: https://www.nuestrosranchos.org/node/24112

Good luck!

Manny Díez Hermosillo

Comentario

Hello Manny,

Incredible advice. Thank you so much. I'm indebted. 

I knew some of Ciénega de Mata records were indexed through Aguascalientes but didn't know the rest. I'll follow up on everything you suggest. 

We are descended from the de Luna y Tapía family 3 (and maybe 4) different ways. So this line is important to us. 

I'll add that there is a brief write-up on don Cristobal Luna y Tapía and La Cañada de Ricos in "Lagos Indios," by Mario Gómez de Mata. I found this book online and ordered a copy. 

I was also told Gomez de Mata wrote more about this same family in another book.  If anyone has knowledge of this second book please let me know. 

Thank you again. 

Best,

Travis

Genealogy Research