Antonio Montoya, who was born between 1709 and 1714 in La Villa de la Santa Fe, New Mexico and died in Santa Fe around 1790, was married to Ynes Baca. Although he was the subject of recent research, his parentage remained unclear because online family trees linked him to parents without supporting documentation. As a result, expanding his family tree had been temporarily paused until solid evidence could confirm whether Andrés Montoya and Antonia Gregoria Lucero de Godoy were indeed Antonio's parents.
In 1739, Antonio married Ynes Baca, the daughter of Manuel Baca and Maria Gertrudis de Aragon, but the marriage document did not provide any information about Antonio's parents. In this instance, having access to a birth or death record would have been valuable, but unfortunately, such records were not available.
However, the will of Andrés Montoya, Antonio's presumed father based on the online trees, existed. Unfortunately, when someone transcribed the will and posted it online, they omitted Antonio and his wife's names. The transcription would have provided an immediate and easy solution to connect Antonio with his parents, but the mistake caused inaccurate research conclusions. Consequently, the investigation was again temporarily suspended due to the lack of sufficient documentation.
Upon revisiting the issue, a genealogy group specializing in New Mexican Spanish heritage was contacted to crowdsource the research. Within a short time, an image of Andrés Montoya's original will was provided, revealing the missing names. Antonio Montoya and his wife Ynes Baca were both mentioned in the 1740 will, confirming their relationship to Andrés Montoya.
The image below shows Andrés Montoya’s original will. Antonio and his wife’s names are underlined in red.
Further research showed that Antonio came from a deep ancestry with records dating back several generations on both his paternal and maternal sides. It was also revealed that Antonio's mother was one of the founding women of La Villa San Felipe de Alburquerque.
The historical marker, shown below, mentions the following:
In February 1706 several families participated in the founding of Albuquerque but the names of only 22 are preserved in the historical record. Within those families were many women honored as being founders of La Villa San Felipe de Alburquerque. Their success in the face of incredible challenges is testament to their courage and bravery. Their names are recorded on the back of this marker.
On the other side of this marker are the names of some of the known women who established La Villa San Felipe de Alburquerque.
As we come to the end of this story, it's important to take away the lesson of the significance of solid evidence when building a family tree. It can be tempting to rely on online family trees, but without supporting documentation, we risk perpetuating inaccuracies. This story highlights the importance of revisiting research and persisting through blocks to find a breakthrough. With determination and access to the appropriate resources, we increase our likelihood of successfully tracing our ancestry and discovering our family's history.
About the author:
Wendy Werner is a family history researcher with a passion for helping others locate their roots. She has eighteen years of genealogy research experience.
You can email Wendy at: gentrees@live.com
Find more stories at https://heritage-paths.com