Has anyone else noticed that in San Luis Potosi, there was a man named Lope Ruiz de Esparza, living there as early as 7 June 1644? On that date, in the parish of Nra Sra de la Asuncion de Tlaxcalilla, he married Elena de la Cruz, who according to other records, lived in the home of Martin Navarro, on whose rancho and carbonera this couple would live for years, said to be his “criados.”
They had at least 4 children:
1. Josepha Ruiz Cruz, b. 02 Apr 1645, San Luis Potosi
2. Domingo Ruiz Cruz, b. 02 Apr 1646, San Luis Potosi
3. Francisca Ruiz de Esparza, b. 08 Dec 1648, San Luis Potosi, m. Francisco Delgadillo aka Juan Delgado, 7 Jan 1664, San Luis Potosi
4. Pedro Ruiz de Esparza Cruz, b. 27 Aug 1651, Aguascalientes, m. Juana Prieto Gallardo, 20 Oct 1671, San Luis Potosi.
Around August 1676, Elena de la Cruz died, and on 8 Feb 1678, in San Francisco de Pozos SLP, Lope Ruiz married his second wife, Elena de Acosta y Gogorron.
They had at least three children:
1. Maria de Esparza Acosta, b. 24 Jan 1680, San Luis Potosi
2. Ygnacio de Esparza, b. 15 Aug 1681, San Luis Potosi; m. Gregoria de los Angeles Martin Cruz, 28 Nov 1702, San Francisco de Pozos, SLP
3. Crespin Antonio Ruiz de Esparza Gogorron, b. 10 Nov 1686, San Francisco de Pozos ,SLP; m. Manuela de Guadalupe Ramos, 25 Oct 1719, San Francisco de Pozos, SLP
When a witness in 1676, Lope Ruiz gave his age as “more than 80 years,” placing his birth before 1596. On most church records, he and his wives and children were categorized as Mestizos, though on some, as Españoles, while on others, as Mulatos. My take is that he and both of his wives were of mixed race.
In 1656, when he registered a livestock brand, Lope Ruiz was the owner of a carbonera located near Las Canoas; in 1675, when he again registered a brand, though he now lived in the city of San Luis, he owned a rancho “some 14 leagues from this city, at the paraje called Magueyal,” which he left in the care of his mayordomo and son-in-law, Juan Delgado, who lived there with his family.
Though most of his children were born around San Luis Potosi, Lope and his first wife did baptize one child in Aguascalientes in August 1651 (whose godfather was Andres de Cheuro?). But most tantalizing was when their daughter, Francisca Ruiz de Esparza, married on 7 Jan 1664, she used the name Francisca de Gabay.
Coincidences? There are just too many to ignore. Since I’ve been unable to document a link between this Lope Ruiz and the family from Aguascalientes, I can only hypothesize:
From his approximate age, he can easily be a son of Lope Ruiz de Esparza and Francisca de Gabai - I always thought it odd that they had no known son named Lope. But then there’s the fact that this Lope was of mixed race: while Francisca de Gabai had indigenous blood, her children were always categorized as españoles. Also, it seems odd that one of their children would be a mere “criado.” Maybe this Lope was a natural son of Lope Ruiz born before his marriage to Francisca de Gabai, the result of an “amistad ilicita” with one of his criadas? To me, this seems the most likely scenario, as it was very common. Of course, this would mean that this branch of the Ruiz de Esparza would not descend from Petronila.
Young Lope and his wife were in Aguascalientes when they baptized their son, Pedro, on 27 Aug 1651; the elder Lope died on 23 Aug 1651, and maybe they were in town to mourn with the family? This would explain their presence in Aguascalientes. According to the elder Lope’s death registry, he left a “memoria,” naming his heirs: maybe the younger Lope is named among them? This would explain how someone who was a mere “criado” in 1648 could afford his own carbonera by 1656. Hmmm. Hopefully, some day, someone can find Lope Ruiz de Esparza’s memoria. For now, we can only speculate.
In my next post, I’ll talk about Lope’s amo, Martin Navarro, who owned a rancho and carbonera in San Luis Potosi.
Abrazos,
Manny Díez Hermosillo
