SIERRA DE PINOS: Gaspar Gómez de León and Ana de los Reyes, and their links to the Díaz de León and the Santiago families

Hola prim@s,

I came upon this IM in the San Matias Sierra de Pinos archives (found HERE), and I was able to make some new discoveries regarding the families of Juan Díaz de León cc Francisca de Ortega and Juan de Santiago cc María de la Trinidad.
Saludos!
Manny Díez Hermosillo

Gaspar Gómez de León and Ana de los Reyes

Gaspar Gómez de León and Ana de los Reyes petitioned marriage on 29 Sep 1662, in Sierra de Pinos. They were both categorized as Mestizos.

Gaspar Gómez was born around 1642 in San Luis Potosí. He was an “hijo de la Yglesia” (of unnamed parents), and had been living in Sierra de Pinos for a little over a year. Ana de los Reyes, aka Ana Gutiérrez, was born in Pinos, and was the daughter of Melchor de los Reyes and Luisa de Ávalos, both deceased.

Gaspar and Ana presented 4 witnesses to attest to their eligibility for marriage: Marcos Arevalo (Spaniard, age 40), Pedro Díaz de León (Spaniard, age 46), Juan de Santiago (Spaniard, age 67), and Nicolás de Medina (Mestizo, age 30). Of interest, are what Pedro Díaz de León and Juan de Santiago had to say:

Pedro Díaz de León (son of Juan Díaz de León cc Francisca de Ortega, and married to Josefa de Santiago) said that he had had Gaspar Gómez in his company for a little over a year, during which time, he had remained single and free of impediments to contract marriage; nor did he have any from before, for having heard it from reputable people, who had seen the youth grow-up in and around San Luis Potosí, as he had inquired with utmost care, after the boy came into his company, because he knew that he was the son of one of the sisters of this witness, for which reason he was helping him contract marriage with Ana de los Reyes, who was the 1st-cousin of his wife, and whom he had known since she was born, and whom he had seen grow-up in the company of his father-in-law. For this reason, he knew that she was also single and eligible for marriage.

Juan de Santiago (married to María de la Trinidad) confirmed what Pedro Díaz de León had said, that Gaspar Gómez, who was about 20 years-old, grew up in and around San Luis Potosí among reputable people, who were friends of his, and whom he had heard say, on several occasions, that there were no impediments for the youth to marry Ana de los Reyes, whom he had raised in his home, like a daughter, as he had baptized her (he was her padrino), and she was the niece of his wife. For this reason, he knew that she was also eligible to marry.

From these 2 statements, we learn 4 things:

1. One of the daughters of Juan Díaz de León cc Francisca de Ortega had an illegitimate son, who was born around 1642 in San Luis Potosí. Of their three daughters, two lived in San Luis Potosí: Ana de Ortega, who married Juan de Rebolloso, on 12 Jul 1620, and Francisca de Ortega, who married Simón Lopez de Olivares, some time before 13 Jun 1632. When Francisca de Ortega remitted her testamento on 12 Feb 1662, she named as her executor her husband, Simón de Olivares, and as her heirs, their two daughters. There is no mention of Gaspar Gómez being her son, who would have been born during their marriage. So that leaves us with Ana de Ortega. As far as I know, Ana de Ortega and Juan de Rebolloso (also Rebollosa) had only one child, Juan, who was baptized on 1 Nov 1621, in Pinos. On 6 Aug 1622, in San Luis Potosí, Juan de Rebolloso was named as a defendant in a criminal complaint, but after that date, both he and Ana de Ortega drop off the map. They were both deceased by the time their son, Juan de Rebolloso, petitioned marriage with his second wife, Teresa de Sosa, on 2 Apr 1670, in Cerro de San Pedro, SLP. It’s not difficult to imagine that Juan de Rebolloso (padre) died or was absent some time after August 1622, and that Ana de Ortega was involved in a relationship that resulted in the birth of Gaspar Gómez. Her caste was Spanish, while Gaspar Gómez was categorized as Mestizo, so his father would have been Indian or of mixed race. Note: this is speculation, it’s always possible that Gaspar Gómez was the son of María de Ortega or Francisca de Ortega, the result of an extramarital affair.
2. The wife of Pedro Díaz de León, Josefa de Santiago, aka Josefa Gutiérrez, was a daughter of Juan de Santiago and María de la Trinidad.
3. The same María de la Trinidad, who was also known as María de las Nieves, was the sister of either Melchor de los Reyes or Luisa de Ávalos.
4. In light of the fact that cousins Josefa de Santiago and Ana de los Reyes occasionally used the surname “Gutiérrez,” we can deduce that that surname originates with María de la Trinidad, and not with Juan de Santiago, giving us another clue to her origin.

Additional information about Gaspar Gómez de León and Ana de los Reyes

The children of Gaspar Gómez de León and Ana de los Reyes are:

1. Alonso Gómez de León Gutiérrez, d. 24 Feb 1744, Asunción de María, Ags; m. María Sánchez, Jun 1687, San Felipe Apóstol, San Felipe, Gto.
2. Francisco Gómez Reyes, b. 02 Aug 1682, San Miguel, Mexquitic, SLP.
3. Nicolás Gómez de León Gutiérrez, d. 21 Nov 1738, Asunción de María, Ags; m. Nicolasa Francisca de Carrión Gómez, 06 Nov 1715, San Matías Pinos, Zac.

Both Gaspar Gómez de León and Ana de los Reyes were deceased by the time their son, Nicolás Gómez de León, married on 6 Nov 1715.