Hello Everyone,

I think I may have found a lead on our Leonel de Cervantes married to Leonor de Orozco. Their son Jose de Cervantes (married to Isabel Carranza) was a testigo For the dispensa of Miguel Hernandez Goyas and Luisa Becerra. As part of his testimony he admits to being a relative of Miguel's in the 4th degree (though, I think it is really 3rd and 4th degree). Here is the link to the dispensa and Jose's testimony:

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:9392-6TSK-5G?i=276&cc=18745…

Miguel Hernandez was the son of Antonio Hernandez Goyas (Vasquez) and Leonor Casillas, the grandson of a Francisco Vasquez Hernandez, and a great-grandson of Martin Vasquez de Lara and Isabel Hernandez. Martin was the son of Martin Vasquez Zermeño and Ana Garcia de Miranda, the brother of Baltazar Vasquez de Lara (Luisa's ancestor) and of Elvira Gil de Lara Vasquez. Mariano Gonzalez Leal cites Elvira as married to a Jeronimo de Cervantes Orozco, with at least one daughter named Maria who was under the guardianship of her grandfather Martin Vasquez Zermeño before he died. I believe that Jose de Cervantes's testimony suggests Jeronimo and Elvira were also the parents of Leonel Cervantes (married to Leonor de Orozco).

The testimony of the other two witnesses, Nicolas de Ornelas and Tomas Sánchez de Mendoza exclude the parentesco being from Leonor de Orozco. Both of these were Jose de Cervantes's cousins, the sons of Leonor's two sisters Petronila and Maria discussed in another thread. However, they both stated that the generales did not apply to them, leaving the relationship with Miguel Hernandez Goyas to be through Jose's father Leonel.

What do you all think? Does anyone have more on this Jeronimo de Cervantes Orozco?

There is one other aspect that might help us go further with this family. There was another Geronimo de Cervantes Villaseñor in Jalostotitlan who was married to Ana Muñoz Lozano de Hermosillo. They lived with their family at La Cañada de Don Geronimo de Villaseñor. Could he be a descendant of the earlier Jeronimo de Cervantes Orozco that was married to Elvira Gil de Lara? The only clue I have to his ancestors is the testimony of Joaquin de Anda Flores de la Torre for the marriage of Geronimo's daughter, where he says he is her relative.

Joaquin Is the great-grandson of Esteban de Anda Altamirano and his wife Catalina. Esteban also had three daughters with his first wife Beatriz de Barroso y Vera who married Cevantes Villaseñors. Their daughter Bernarda married Francisco Villaseñor and were involved in a lengthy legal battle over inheritence with Bernarda's half-brother Pedro. One unnamed daughter was married to a Tomas Cervantes (who seem to have lived in Puruándiro). Another named Beatriz was married to none other than a Leonel de Cervantes! These three were the albaceas of Beatriz's will according to Gonzalez Leal. Could Geronimo de Cervantes Villaseñor be a descendant of one of these three? Could they also be related to the Jeronimo Cervantes married to Elvira Gil de Lara?

Here is the link to Joaquin's testimony:
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:9392-XYSM-P1?i=388&wc=3J45-…

I hope we can continue to put the pieces together and crack this one very soon.

-Richard