Esparza in Calvillo

Daniel,

The latest Esparza (from Calvillo) in my database is Juan Ruiz de Esparza, married 1752 to Ana Gertrudis Alonso de los Hinojos (another compounded surname). Juan was born in Calvillo, but was married in Aguascalientes. Unfortunately, none of my ancestors was from Calvillo, so I have not checked any church records there. The latest of my ancestors bearing the Ruiz de Esparza surname was my great grandmother Josefa Frías Ruiz de Esparza, born in Rincón de Romos in 1848. She was the daughter of Antonio Frías and Refugio Ruiz de Esparza. Josefa married Wilhelm Ludwig Strecker, a german engineer, in 1870. Wilhelm and Josepha were the parents of my grandfather Guillermo Strecker Frias (b. 1879 d. 1947).

I probably will not be able to help you much with your genealogy until you get into the early 1700's. I have done a pretty thorough research of the early settlers of Aguascalientes, so that will be relatively easier. The Esparzas started pouring in in the early 1700's. Today there are virtually thousands of genealogical lines to follow, so you really have to work backwards in time until you can get to that point. My search was very hard, especially when I got to my 5th great-grandparents Francisco Ruiz de Esparza and Josepha de Ulloa. They were married in Aguascalientes in 1703 but she was from Mesticacán, Jalisco. I spent almost two years trying to find who Josepha's parents were. As you already know, there were too many Francisco Ruiz de Esparza's and I could not find any additional information about Josepha de Ulloa. Finally, I ordered a microfilm with "Informaciones Matrimoniales" and found the information I had been searching for. That was a big boost to my morale, which was beginning to weaken. Her parents were Nicolás de Iñiguez y Ulloa and Lorenza de Cuevas, married 13 Feb 1668 in Cuquío, Nochistlán. That helped me find Josepha's baptismal record and a slew of genealogical information. Her baptismal record reads "El 28 de abril de 1682 en Tacotlán feligresía de Cuquío fue bautizada Josepha, siendo padrino Pedro de Madrigal". I am still looking for her burial record in Aguascalientes.

The point I am trying to make is how important it is to look at the original records and to verify that the information you find is correct. To do this you must find several records and NOT make any assumptions. Check, double check and check some more. All of us hit a brick wall every once in a while, but the fun part is finding the correct information. Without a shadow of a doubt.

I'll let you know if I find any relevant information about your Esparzas ancestors from Calvillo.

Bill