Reference: Spanish Archives of New Mexico, Series I,
Twitchell 1052, Reel 5, Frames 1284-1287.
©Patricia
Sanchez Rau, 2014
ARCHIVE 1052
Public
Survey Office
Date: March 11, 1754
Subject
Matter: Will of Joseph Romo de Vera,
resident of Santa Fe,
Executed
before Nicolas Ortiz Alcalde
Marginal
heading: Year of 1752
Last
Will and Testament of don Joseph Romo de Vera
No.
401 (Original Number)
In the name of Almighty
God and the ever Virgin Mary, conceived without stain of original sin. Let it
be known and evident to all who may see cause, present that I don Jph. (Joseph)
Romo de Vera, at present, a resident of the Villa of Santa Fe, Capital of New
Mexico, legitimate son of don Francisco Peres Romo and doña Petronila de Vera,
my deceased parents to grand and execute by way of codicil this, my last, final
and deliberate Will and Testament.
I confess that I firmly
believe in the mysteries of the Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Ghost, three
distinct persons, but only one true God, and all the rest of the mysteries
which our Holy Mother, the Roman Catholic Church, holds, believes, and
confesses, having as my special patroness the ever-Virgin Mary, my holy
Guardian Angel, Saint John the Baptist and the rest of the Saints of my
devotion, so that they may intercede for me with my Lord Jesus Christ, that he
may conduct my soul in the surest way to salvation, under whose rule I order
this, my testament in the following form and manner, revoking herewith any
other testament or codicil executed prior to this that none may be valid or
acknowledged either in court or out of court, and my wish is that only this
present one is to be acknowledged.
First, I commend my soul
to God, our Lord who created it and redeemed it with his precious blood and my
body to the earth from whence it was formed.
I desire that, then God, our Lord, shall take me from this present life,
my body to be buried inside the church in the place where my administrator may
choose, inside the door, in a humble manner.
I desire that my body be shrouded with the habit of our holy father, St.
Francis.
I declare that I was
married the first time, according to the rites of our holy church, to doña
Maria Maldonado y Solis, and during this marriage we had and procreated
nineteen (19) children, all deceased. I
contracted second nuptials with doña Angela Baldes, now deceased. We had three children, two deceased and one
living, named Joseph, whom I declare as my only heir. Said deceased wife was the legitimate
daughter of Domingo Valdez and Ana Maria Marquez.
Item: I declare that I bequeath to the obligatory
bequests 4 reales each; I order them paid from the best of my estate.
Item: I declare that I have given to Salvador
Martines 400 pesos and even something more, for a ranch I bought from him in
the villa of Albuquerque, which I declare as my property, as per instruments in
my possession. The amounts are as
follows: 2 tam oxen, 1 good gun worth 50
pesos, 120 pesos in a ranch which I had outside this villa, adjoining the land
of Phelipe Tafoya, formerly belonging to Tomas Tapia, as per its instruments. I also gave him another 100 pesos in a piece
of land granted to me by the King, which adjoins lands of Domingo Valdez, as
per instruments in my possession. I also
declare that said Salvador Martines owes me 200 pesos, as shown by a promissory
note which he executed for me, signed by his own hand and by Sebastian de Apodaca,
and with this I have many pesos over and above that which is necessary to
complete the value of the said ranch.
Item: I declare as my goods an old cart, a pair of
straps, a whip and a yoke.
Item: I declare as my property 5 good horses with
one mare, included in said numbers which are with the herd of horses from the
royal garrison.
Item: I declare as my property a loom with all its
equipment, with the exception of the spinning wheels.
Page 3
Item: I declare as my property an old iron griddle
and a spoon of the same.
Item: I declare that I have an old chocolate jug.
Item: I declare that I have an old chest, a small
chest and a small wooden box.
Item: I declare as my property an old saddle, a
pair of spurs, a bridle and a broken rifle.
Item: I declare that I have 5 goats, 1 ram, and
besides that 3 one-year old kids.
Item: I declare that I have two old Castilian
broadcloth frock coats.
Item: I declare that I have two holy pictures,
painted on canvas. One is the image of
Our Lady of Consolation and the other is San Xeronimo (St. Jerome).
Item: I declare as my property three large books, 3
small books which I loaned to Manuel Tenorio and another to doña Juana Baca,
and another new one to Salbador Martines.
Item: I declare as my property an old Queretaro
cloth coat and a beaver hat, also old.
Item: I declare as my property a pair of silver
shoe buckles and some large trouser buttons.
Item: I declare as my property two napped blankets,
one sheet and a mattress.
Item: I declare that I owe to don Jph. Moreno 10
pesos in products of the land and the señor owes me 20. I order my administrators to pay him and then
collect from him.
Item: I declare that I owe the venerable Third
Order three pesos.
Item: I declare that don Juan Jph. Lobato owes me a
horse and let this be solely as he shall indicate.
Item: I declare that Salvador Martines owes me a
sorrel horse which he promised to give me on his return this year of 1754.
Item: I declare that the estate of Maria Quiteria
Contreras owes me 50 pesos.
And for the compliance
with all the bequests and legacies in this my last will and testament, I
appoint and assign as my administrator, in the first place Domingo Baldes,
second, Ana Maria Marques, third, Juana Gomes, so that all these will handle my
estate, sell them to the highest bidder for their lawful value or as they may
think best, so that with the proceeds from said estate, they may defray my
funeral expenses and my debts. The
residue of my estate, it is my will to adjudicate it to my son Joseph Manuel
Romo.
I the grantor, for the
greatest validity of this, my testament, requested the Señor Alcalde Mayor of
this villa of Santa Fe, don Nicolas Ortiz, to interpose his authority and
desire that all herewith expressed be kept and complied with and that all
clauses in this testament be executed within the term of a whole year
prescribed by law, and in case they should need more time, that necessary time
be extended to them. Those present as
instrumental witnesses were don Juan
Antonio Ortiz, Bartholome Maese and Salvador Martin, all residents of this
villa of Santa Fe.
Because the grantor could
not sign on account of his illness being unable to use his right hand as his
arm was all swollen, I, said Alcalde Mayor, signed it, acting with my two
assistant witnesses for lack of a public or royal notary, of which none is
found within the distance prescribed by law: and it is on this ordinary papers
and the sealed paper is not available in this kingdom.
Executed in this villa of
Santa Fe, on the eleventh day of March, of the year one thousand seven hundred
fifty four.
In testimony whereof.
Nicolas Ortiz (Rubric)
Jues Receptor
Witnesses: Joseph Maldonado (Rubic)
Antonio Ortiz (Rubric)
No comments:
Post a Comment