Possible Family of Benito de Isla and Petronila de Moctezuma

Hello,

I have recently discovered that I descend from a Benito de Isla whose many descendants spread throughout Nochistlan. I hit the brick wall there, and I do not know who Benito’s wife was. Normally I would assume that the traceable ancestry ends there. However, I have spotted miscellaneously placed postings that allude to a specific ancestry for Benito de Isla and his unnamed wife when they are all placed together. Unfortunately I have been unable to pinpoint the sources for most of these postings – this is where I need help.

But to start with:

PART 1: What is Provable:

From the primary sources that I have been able to access and see with my own eyes, I have mapped out the following:

Benito de Isla was the father of Magdalena de Lavezaris (wife of Francisco Gonzalez) and Maria de Isla y Moctezuma (wife of Capitan Andres Martinez de Sotomayor). This same Benito de Isla also had a natural mestiza daughter named Maria de Isla.

There is another Maria de Isla who was married to Christobal Martinez Lozano and had a family in Aguascalientes. This Maria de Isla (wife of Christobal Martinez Lozano) had a sister named Petronila de Isla.

PART 2: What I suspect (Part A): The Maria de Isla’s:

I think that the Maria de Isla (the mestiza) is possibly one and the same with the Maria de Isla who was married to Christobal Martinez Lozano. However, I have not seen this Maria de Isla (wife of Christobal Martinez Lozano) ever mentioned as anything but “espanol;” the same goes for her children. Then again I have seen many examples within these Mexican colonial records were people who are more accurately and originally described as mixed race, appear later in life described as “espanol”. If these two Maria de Isla’s are the same person then Benito de Isla is also the father of Petronila de Isla.

I do not think the Maria de Isla (wife of Chritobal Martinez Lozano) is the same person as Maria de Isla y Moctezuma (wife of Capitan Andres Martinez de Sotomayor). There seem to be too many children born to both of these women to be same one.

Does anyone have any opinions on this?

PART 2: What I suspect (Part B): The Lavezaris Connection:

Since Benito de Isla had a daughter who used the name Magdalena de Lavezaris. That name must have come from somewhere further back. I think that Benito de Isla is the son of a Bernardino de Isla and another Magdalena de Lavezaris who was the sister of Guido de Lavezaris, Governor-General of the Philippines.

Does anyone have any opinions on this?

PART 2: What I suspect (Part C): The Moctezuma Connection:

Since Benito de Isla had a daughter who used the name Maria de Isla y Moctezuma. That name must have come from somewhere further back. I suspect the connection was matrilineal but have never seen a wife listed for Benito de Isla from my own research. (Benito de Isla possibly being the father of Petronila de Isla also comes into play here.)

I have spotted a few interesting postings that allude to Benito de Isla’s wife. However, they are un-sourced postings, I have been unable to make contact with the people who posted them, and have not been able to pinpoint any primary sources for the following:

From other’s Postings:

1. I have seen a forum (here at Nuestros Ranchos) where a Petronila de Isla is described as being the daughter of a Benito de Isla and a Juana Navarro. I have been unable to contact the person who posted this. Does anyone know where this information comes from?

2. I have seen a tree on Ancestry.com where Benito de Isla is married to a Juana Navarro. Here Juana Navarro dies 28 Dec 1651 in Teocaltiche. The death records in Teocaltiche do not go back that far. Does anyone know where this information comes from?

3. In another tree on Ancestry.com, Benito de Isla is married to a Juana “Navarro y Moctezuma.” Wonderful, if her name actually appears this way, but does anyone know where this information comes from?

4. I have seen forums of the couple Martin de Gabay Navarro and Petronila de Moctezuma as having 4 children: Ana-Francisca, Maria, Christobal, and JUANA. Ana-Francisca, Maria, and Christobal are provable children via various dispensas. But where does the information of this couple also having a daughter named Juana come from? Does anyone know?

PART 3 Conclusions?:

All of this starts to lean in a certain direction. Let us assume that, outside of what is provable, what I suspect is true and what others have posted is also true; that all that is needed is to pinpoint a few more sources. Then the following is a possible reconstruction of the whole picture:

Benito de Isla (son of Bernardino de Isla and Magdalena de Lavezaris) married a Juana Navarro (daughter of Martin de Gabay Navarro and Petronila de Moctezuma) and had as daughters Magdalena de Lavezaris (named after her paternal grandmother), Maria de Isla y Moctezuma (partially named after her maternal grandmother), Petronila de Isla (also partially named after her maternal grandmother), with the additional Maria de Isla (the Mestiza daughter born from another woman).

Chronologically it fits, though a little tight on Petronila de Moctezuma’s side if we assume she was born about 1552, allegedly had the said Juana by 1572, Juana having Magdalena de Lavezaris and Maria de Isla y Moctezuma by the time she was age 15 c. 1587, and both Madalena and Maria also starting to have children by about age 15, since most of their traceable children have their earliest estimated birth years in the late 1600’s early 1610’s. Keep in mind that 15 is a typical age for young girls to marry in this time period.

I would appreciate any opinions, corrections, or primary sources on these matters which may prove or refute the possible reconstruction of this tree.

Regards,

David