Montes Vigil and López - wrong marriage year

Date: [unknown] [unknown]
Location: Santa Fé, Nuevo México, Nueva España
Surnames/tags: Montes_Vigil López

In the prenuptial investigation dated 1733 in Santa Fe (there is no month listed on the original record), Juan Montes Vigil declares that he is about 24 years old, which would make his birth year about 1709.^[1] However, his baptism record dated 20 March 1689 in Ciénega de Mata, Lagos de Moreno, Jalisco, México, means he would have been 44 years old at the time of his marriage in 1733.^[2] He also declares in the prenuptial investigation that he is a native of Zacatecas. Therefore, he could not have been born in 1709, as the Vigil-Jimenez de Anciso family immigrated to New Mexico with the Hurtado colonists in 1695.^[3]

The date listed on the prenuptial investigation of Juan Montes Vigil and Ines Lopez is most likely incorrect. The original document was not dated – a different person (the handwriting is different) wrote the year ‘1733’ on the document either when it was transferred to microfilm or when the original documents were compiled. From the information given by witnesses in the document, we can deduce a more accurate year for the prenuptial investigation.

Witness Juan Rico de Rojas states he is about 40 years old at time of prenuptial investigation.^[1] In his own prenuptial investigation dated March 30, 1698, he gave his age as 29.^[4] Based on this information, the correct year of the prenuptial investigation would be 1709.

Witness Marcos de Armijo states he is 30 years old at time of prenuptial investigation.^[1] In his own prenuptial investigation dated February 12, 1698, he gave his age as 20.^[5] Based on this information, the correct year of the prenuptial investigation would be 1708.

Juan Montes Vigil states in his prenuptial investigation that he is about 24 years old.^[1] We know from his baptism record that he was born on March 6, 1689.^[2] Assuming he stated his correct age, that would make the correct year of his prenuptial investigation with Ines Lopez as 1713.

Inez Lopez states that she is about 22 years old. Using the date of 1713 as the correct year of the prenuptial investigation, her actual year of birth would be 1691.

Ines Lopez also states that she is the daughter of Alonso Lopez de Salazar and Luisa Gomez de Arellano.^[1] Her mother was murdered by Francisco Rodriguez in 1704.^[6] Based on Inez Lopez’s revised year of birth, she was 13 years old when her mother was killed. That is plausible, whereas if she had really been 22 years old in 1733 (the date listed on the prenuptial investigation), she would have been born in 1711, or 7 years after her mother’s death, which is impossible.

Lastly, in Juan Vigil's last will and testament dated April 30, 1762, he states that he was married to his first wife Ines Lopez for 29 years.^[7] We know from her burial record that Ines Lopez died in January 1745. If they had been married for 29 years, then they were married in 1716.

The year of the prenuptial investigation of Juan Montes Vigil and Ines Lopez was most likely about 1713.

• Researched and written by Steven Perez, sources added by Marcie Ruiz.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4} Chávez, Angélico. New Mexico Roots Ltd: a demographic perspective from genealogical, historical and geographic data found in the diligencias matrimoniales or pre-nuptial investigations (1678-1869) of the Archives of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe. PDF image copy, UNM Digital Repository, http://digitalrepository.unm.edu/cswr_reference/5 : 1983, vol. 11, p. 2096; 1733 [s/b 1713] Santa Fe, Juan Montes Vigil (24) and Ines Lopez (22).
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} "México bautismos, 1560-1950", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JMDH-J4L : 15 March 2022), Juan Montes Jimenes, baptized 20 Mar 1689 when 14 days old, Cienega de Mata, Mexico; FHL microfilm #640,149, image 221.
3. ↑ Strout, Clevy Lloyd, “The Resettlement of Santa Fe, 1695: the Newly Found Muster Roll.” New Mexico Historical Review, Vol. 53 (March 1978), pp. 265 and 268.
4. ↑ Chávez, New Mexico Roots, 10, 1788; 1698, Santa Fe, Juan Rico de Rojas (29) and María Concepcion Gutierrez (22). Pair married 21 Apr 1698.
5. ↑ Chávez, New Mexico Roots, 1, 124-125; 1698, Santa Fe, Marcos de Armijo (20) and Tomasa de la Parra (20). Pair married 13 Feb 1698.
6. ↑ Chávez, Fray Angélico. Origins of New Mexico Families: A Genealogy of the Spanish Colonial Period. (Santa Fe: Museum of New Mexico Press, revised 1992), 269.
7. ↑ "New Mexico, U.S., Land Records of New Spain, 1692-1916," browsable images, in Spanish, Ancestry (Image : accessed 13 Oct 2023), path: Collected Spanish Land Files > Serial 10276 > Item 1055 > image 117 of 245, Settlement of Estate, Juan Montes Vigil, 30 Apr 1762, Santa Fe, New Mexico; State Records Center and Archives, Santa Fe, New Mexico; an English translation can be found at 1598 New Mexico.