I have been trying to figure out who the parents of Petronila de Retamosa Macias Valades Gonzalez de Gardea are and still have no real clue. Petronila was married to Joseph Lozano in Teocaltiche 23 February 1666. All other information on her comes from baptism, marriage, info mat., wills, and burials of her children in Aguascalientes. In each record she is listed with a different combination of surnames.
Considering Petronila’s Mestiza/Tresalba status, I am under the impression that she may be a natural daughter of an Espanol father just as her mestizo husband Joseph Lozano was.
Her use of Gonzalez and Gardea hint that she may be descended from Martin Perez de Gardea and his wife Mariana Gonzalez de Ruvalcaba in some way but I am not certain of this. Her use of Macias and Retamosa suggest that she must be descended from Nicolas Macias Valades and his wife Leonor Retamosa in some way. But how?
I thought I was close with the couple Francisco Martel and Ana Macias. Both are descended from Nicolas Macias Valades and Leonor de Retamosa. Ana Macias mentioned having a daughter named Petronila in her 1698 will. Only this Petronila would be too young to be the same Petronila married to Joseph Lozano.
I have been noting the Padrinos and Testigos of Petronila’s children who share surnames with hers for clues.
*A Beatriz Gonzalez is Padrina to the baptism of Petronila’s son Juan Lozano 21 August 1679.
*A Phelipe Gonzalez is a testigo to the marriage of Petronila’s son Juan Antonio Lozano 28 December 1710. Phelipe Gonzalez gives his age as 46 setting his birth at about 1664.
*A Pedro Macias is a testigo to the marriage of Petronila’s son Eugenio Lozano, about 15 January 1697, and to the marriage of Petronila’s daughter Juana who married Sebastian de Ulloa 25 May 1696. Pedro Macias gives his age as 37 or 40 setting his birth at about 1660 or 1656.
*A Joseph Macias Valades is mentioned in the burial record of Petronila’s daughter Juana 20 November 1738.
*A Miguel Martel (perhaps a relation of the Francisco Martel mentioned above) is a testigo to the first marriage of Petronila’s son Manuel Lozano 10 February 1698. Miguel Martel gives his age as 47 setting his birth at about 1651.
*An Antonio Macias Valades is a Testigo to the marriage of Petronila’s son Joseph Lozano 12 August 1716. Antonio Macias Valades gives his age as 40 setting his birth at about 1676.
*Joseph Lozano married Maria Teresa Nunez 12 August 1716. Maria Teresa Nunez is the daughter of Juan Nunez and Teresa Macias Valades. Teresa Macias Valades is the daughter of Gabriel de Castaneda and Maria Valades.
Does anyone know how these Padrinos and Testigos fit in with the descendants of Martin Perez de Gardea and Mariana Gonzalez de Ruvalcaba or Nicolas Macias Valades and Leonor de Retamosa? Has anyone seen Petronila or her children listed as Padrinos or Testigos of their lines? This may help give clues to who her closer relations are, and may help narrow down potential candidates for her parents – or paternity if she is a natural daughter.
Trying to find the parents of
What is the baptism date for Petronila’s grandson Joseph who she was also a madrina for?
Petronila Gonzalez de Gardea
Hi David,
I apologize I didn't see your question until today while I was looking for other information. Here is Joseph's baptism that Petronila was madrina for. It's the first one on the right:
https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-64V7-Q3T
Chris
PEtrona Gonsales de Gardia
Chris,
I cant read this record. who does it say are the parents.
Danny C. Alonso
Petrona González de Gardea
Hi Danny,
The parents of Joseph are Sebastián de Ulloa and Juana González de Gardea, listed here as Juana González Lozano. The godparents were Onofre Lozano and Petrona González de Gardea.
Chris
The Household of Hernando Martel and our Petronila
I think that our Petronila likely comes from the household of Hernando Martel and Beatriz Macias Valades Retamosa Villegas. The origin of the padrinos and testigos of her children, Petronila’s peculiar use of surnames, and the intermarriage of some of her children all seem hover around this couple.
Identifying Padrinos and Testigos:
I believe I have all of the Gonzalez and Macias Padrinos and Testigos of our Petronila’s children identified accept for Joseph Macias Valadez.
I think that Beatriz Gonzalez (padrina to Juan Lozano) and Phelipe Gonzalez (testigo to Juan Antonio Lozano) are siblings. Only I think they are both the children of Juan Gonzalez and Francisca del Castillo, not Luis Gonzalez and Catalina de Quiroga, but they are still both grandchildren of Luis Gonzalez and Beatriz Gallegos.
I think Miguel Martel (testigo of Manuel Lozano) is the same as stated earlier by Chris.
I think that Pedro Macias Valadez (testigo to Eugenio Lozano and Juana Lozano) is the same Pedro Macias Valadez (husband to both Francisca Ruiz de Quiroga/de Espitia and Luisa de Esparza). I think that Antonio Macias Valadez (testigo to Joseph Lozano) is the same Antonio Macias Valadez (husband of Francisca Martinez de Zuniga y Mozos). In this way, Pedro and Antonio are brothers and are both the children of Pedro Macias Valadez and Josefa Gutierrez. I think that Pedro Macias Valadez (husband of Josefa Gutierrez) is the same Pedro baptized 5 June 1625 in Aguascalientes who was the child of Pedro Macias Valadez and Luisa de Villegas. This would make Pedro Macias Valadez (husband of Josefa Gutierrez) a brother of Beatriz Macias Valadez Retamosa Villegas (wife of Hernando Martel).
Origins of Padrinos and Testigos reviewed:
Looking back at the identifiable padrinos and testigos of our Petronila’s children, they all seem to be relatives of Hernando Martel (son of Luis Gonzalez and Beatriz Gallegos) and Beatriz Macias Valades Retamosa Villegas (daughter of Pedro Macias Valades and Luisa Villegas). Beatriz and Felipe Gonzalez are both children of Juan Gonzalez and Francisca del Castillo, and both grandchildren of Luis Gonzalez and Beatriz Gallegos. Pedro and Antonio Macias Valades are both children of Pedro Macias Valades and Josefa Gutierrez, and both probably grandchildren of Pedro Macias Valades and Luisa de Villegas. Miguel Martel is the son of Hernando Martel and Beatriz Macias Valades Retamosa Villegas, and thus a grandchild to both sets of grandparents.
Miguel Martel’s brother Francisco had a daughter named Petronila. Considering the scarcity of this name on either side of these families, I would guess that she was probably named after our Petronila, potentially her aunt – or half aunt, or adopted aunt – I will elaborate on this below.
The peculiar use of surnames/ the unexplained Gardea:
Our Petronila being the daughter of Hernando Martel and Beatriz Macias Valades Retamosa Villegas would explain the Retamosa, Macias, and Gonzalez of her surnames, but not her use of Gardea.
Perhaps Luis Gonzalez (husband of Beatriz Gallegos) was a son of Martin Perez de Gardea and Mariana Gonzalez de Ruvalcaba. It does fit the timeline. Also, keep in mind that Luis Gonzalez did have a daughter Mariana Gonzalez potentially named after her paternal grandmother. However, let’s not jump to conclusions yet.
I am wondering if Joseph Lozano and his wife Petronila may have broken the “rules of surname inheritance” in a few cases.
Our Petronila’s husband Joseph Lozano does appear a few times as Joseph “Lozano de Gardea” even though we know that his mother was not Mariana Gonzalez de Gardea. Gardea does not appear among the ancestors of his father Cristobal Lozano unless Cristobal Lozano’s great-grandmother Isabel Gonzalez was really Isabel “Gonzalez de Gardea” but I have not seen evidence of this. Maybe Gardea hints to whoever Joseph Lozano’s unnamed mother was or maybe Joseph Lozano broke the “rules of surname inheritance” and used his stepmother Mariana Gonzalez de Gardea’s surname regardless of not being her son. Perhaps this was to give the appearance of legitimacy.
With our Petronila’s racial status falling under Mestiza or Tresalba, and the racial status of all Herando Martel and his wife’s relatives falling under purely “Espanol” (correct me if I am wrong here), I am left with the impression that like her husband Joseph Lozano, our Petronila may have been a natural daughter growing up in this household.
Like her husband, she may have used surnames that she was not technically descended from to give the appearance of legitimacy. Expositas often simply adopt the surnames of the households they are raised by. Could our Petronila be a natural daughter of Hernando Martel or his wife? Or could our Petronila be a natural daughter of some other blood relative of Hernando Martel or his wife, but was brought up as an exposita in the household of Hernando Martel? Exposita or not, I feel that our Petronila must have had some blood connection to this household.
Intermarriage of our Petronila’s children/Unclear Dispensas:
A few hints to Petronilas having a blood descent, from at least Nicolas Macias Valades and Leonor de Retamosa, come through the marriages of some of her children. The info. mat. of Petronila’s daughter Maria Lozano, found here:
https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-DHQK-H5?i=412&wc=M6QF-MNL%…
indicates that Maria Lozano married her cousin Alvaro Macias Valades who she was related to in the third and/or forth degree, but does not give specifics. I am not sure if they are cousins once, descending from a trunk couple three generations on one side and four generations on the other, or if they are double cousins, thus third cousins in one way and second cousins in another.
The above mentioned Alvaro Macias Valades, was the son of Alvaro Valades (husband of Sebastiana Fernandez de Alarcon), who was the son of Juan Alvaro Hernandez Valades (husband of Maria Gutierrez de Valdivia), who was the son of Juan Valades (husband of Isabel de la Cruz). This Juan Valades I suspect of being a son or grandson of Nicolas Macias Valades and Leonor de Retamosa.
Another child of Petronila, Joseph Lozano Gonzalez Macias, may have married a cousin. Joseph Lozano Gonzalez Macias was married to Maria Teresa Nunez in Aguascalientes 12 August 1716. The marriage record and corresponding info. mat. do not seem to indicate the need for a dispensa, but Maria Teresa Nunez was the daughter of a Juan Nunez and a Maria Teresa Vargas Macias Valades. Intrigued by this “Macias Valades” I tried to hunt down the parents of Maria Teresa Vargas Macias Valades but found two contradicting accounts given in two dispensas.
The first dispensa, found here:
https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:9392-629D-FG?i=412&wc=3J43-HZS%…
concerns the marriage of Maria Teresa Vargas Macias Valades’ daughter Ana Nunez (sister to Maria Teresa Nunez) to Juan de Atuna. The dispensa makes Maria Teresa Vargas Macias Valades the daughter of Gabriel de Castaneda and Maria Valades (who was a first cousin of Juan Vargas Valades who was a son of Juan Valades and Maria Lopez Rebollo). Gabriel de Castaneda is also the half brother of Juan Vargas Valades.
The second dispensa, found here:
https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:9392-6Y9N-NC?mode=g&i=74&wc=3J4…
concerns the marriage of Nicolas Lopez de la Serda, widower of Maria Gertrudis Lozano who was a daughter of the previously mentioned Joseph Lozano Gonzalez Macias and Maria Teresa Nunez, to a third cousin of his departed wife. It makes Maria Teresa Vargas Macias Valades the daughter of a Juan Vargas Valades (a brother of Andrea Vargas Valades who married Felipe de Trillo).
I am not sure if the two Juan Vargas Valades’s mentioned in the two dispensas are the same person or not, or if the second dispensa is confusing Gabriel de Castaneda and replacing him with his half brother Juan Vargas Valades. In any event, the use of “Vargas” in these lines makes me suspect that Maria Teresa Vargas Macias Valades was descended from Blas Vargas Valades (husband of Luisa de Siordia) who I believe was a natural son of Gaspar Macias Valades (son of Nicolas Macias Valades and Leonor de Retamosa.)
So some of our Petronila’s children intermarried with other descendants of Nicolas Macias Valades and Leonor de Retamosa; this does not quite help us solve Petronila’s descent. Whether she is a legitimate daughter, natural daughter, or exposita daughter, I still feel that our Petronila has some blood connection to the household of Hernando Martel and Beatriz Macias Valadez Retamosa Villegas.
Joseph Lozano de Gardea
I think some people used their step-parents name. My ancestor Bartolome Josephe Martel who is married to Juana Manuela Lozano de Gardea is the grandson of the Miguel Martel you mentioned as Testigo to Manuel Lozano. Bartolome Josephe Martel's parents are Catalina Anguino y velasco and Miguel Martel but Catalina Anguino y Velasco was also married to Nicolas Ponce and Bartolome Josephe Martel was also known as Bartholome Josephe Ponce and my ancestors all took the Ponce last name from his step-father and not Martel
Danny C. Alonso
Joseph Lozano de Gardea
Hi Danny,
I am not aware of any of my ancestors using a step-parent's name. I suppose it's possible, but, I haven't seen it. But, I don't think Bartolome Joseph Ponce used his step-father's name. First, Doña Catalina Velasco de Anguiano was widowed from Nicolas Ponce, when she married Miguel Martel. So, Bartolome Joseph Ponce wouldn't have been alive when Nicolas Ponce was alive, so, it doesn't seem like it would make sense that he would use an apellido of someone he not only never knew, but also wasn't his father. I believe Doña Catalina Velasco de Anguiano was also Doña Catalina Ponce and Bartolome Joseph Ponce was actually using his mother's apellido. Here on the baptism of a daughter of hers and Miguel Martel, she is listed as Doña Catalina Ponce:
https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-64V7-WL4
Chris
Joseph Lozano de Gardea
Chris,
How do you know for sure that Catalina Ponce and Catalina Velasco de Anguino are the same person. couldn't there be more than one person named Migel Martel. also do you think then that joseph lozano de gardea is not using his step mother's name?
Danny C. Alonso
Joseph Lozano de Gardea
Hi Danny,
Maria Efigenia Martel, the daughter that Miguel Martel and Catalina Ponce were baptizing in 1699 is the same daughter that's listed on her defuncion as the daughter of Miguel Martel and Catalina de Anguiano here:
https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-XK5W-VH3
Regarding, Joseph Lozano de Gardea, no, I personally do not believe he would use Gardea if he was not in someway related to that family.
Chris
Joseph Lozano de Gardea
Thank you Chris. this is very interesting. i wonder if or maybe how she's related to Nicolas Ponce.
Danny C. Alonso
Petronila de Retamosa
Hi David,
I think you're on the right track with some of these testigos. Many are interrelated. Beatriz González, madrina to Juan Lozano, I believe is the daughter of Luis González and Catalina de Quiroga and the granddaughter of Luis González and Beatriz Gallegos, that would also explain the Martel connection as Beatriz Gallegos is a probable daughter of Captain Hernando Martel, founder of Santa Maria de los Lagos.
Felipe González, testigo to Juan Antonio Lozano, is the brother to the above Beatriz González, and also grandson of the same Luis González and Beatriz Gallegos.
Miguel Martel, testigo to Manuel Lozano's marriage is the brother to the above named Francisco Martel. He's the son of Hernando Martel and Beatriz de Retamosa, aka Beatriz Macías Valadez, aka Beatriz de Villegas. He's also grandson of the same Luis González and Beatriz Gallegos.
Chris
Petronila de Retamosa
Hi Chris,
If Petronila was a descendant of Hernando Martel and Beatríz Macías Valadéz that would explain the Retamosa, but that doesn't explain the González de Gardea.
Paige
Petronila de Retamosa
Does anyone know if Petronila de Retamosa was madrina or witness at any events
Paige
Petronila de Retamosa
Hi Paige,
I agree. Plus, I think the Gardea part of the name was the most important to them, since that's what they chose to pass on. Not once among their descendants have I seen Macías or Retamosa, but, numerous descendants used some variation of González de Gardea, Lozano de Gardea, etc.
I can't recall more than once that I've seen Petronila de Retamosa as madrina. I do know she was madrina to her grandson Joseph, along with Onofre Lozano, the son of Cristobal Lozano and Mariana González de Gardea, and, half brother to her husband. But, that's about the only time I know of where she was madrina.
Chris