Ana Maria Regina and Maria Teresa de Jesus, the daughters of Francisco Pérez Serrano and Ana Maria Ortiz Cortez, were born in Tetuachi, Sonora. Records confirm that Maria Teresa was baptized there on February 1, 1745 by Father Carlos de Roxas. Ana Maria's baptism record has not been found, but it is reasonable to think that she was Maria Teresa's older sister, born before her younger siblings whose baptisms were recorded at Tetuachi in 1743, 1745 and 1747, before her mother's death in about 1750.
The place of the sisters' births was a Real de Minas [place of a large ore deposit]. It was located about 10 miles south of the community of Arizpe, situated in the mountains above the valley that cradled the Sonora River. Nuestra Senora de Aranzazu de Tetuachi was the formal name given to the Real de Minas where silver was mined and refined for over 50 years. Tetuachi was established in 1719 when the earliest miners arrived. These Basque adventurers from Vizcaya, Spain, included Juan Bautista de Anza born in 1693 and Francisco Pérez Serrano born about 1701. The families of these two successful and ambitious men were formally joined in the years to come by the marriage of their respective sons and daughters.
Arizpe, the Spanish mission community located north of Tetuachi, had been founded by the Jesuits in 1646 and was well established. However, it did not have a church building. The church in Arizpe was built about 1756. Prior to that, Father Carlos de Roxas, the Jesuit Priest in Arizpe, traveled to settlements throughout the parish where he performed sacramental rites.
Juan Bautista de Anza had migrated to "New Spain" in 1712 and married Maria Valenzuela. He acquired mining properties and joined the Sonoran militia, advancing rapidly in rank. He was a widower with two children when he married Maria Rafaela Bezerra Nieto in 1722. Maria was the daughter of Antonio Bezerra Nieto, the esteemed Calvary Commander of the Janos Presidio in Chihuahua.
Juan Bautista and Maria had four children born between 1725 and 1736--their oldest was Francisco Antonio de Anza born January 17, 1725 and their youngest was Juan Bautista de Anza born July 7, 1736. In 1729 Juan Bautista had received the formal royal appointment of Captain of Fronteras, Sonora, and the younger Juan Bautista was born there.
The date Francisco Pérez Serrano arrived in "New Spain" has not been uncovered; nor have details about his life before he reached Tetuachi in 1719 and assumed part-ownership of the Real de Minas. That he was from Vizcaya is not in doubt. The Basque meaning of Serrano is blackberry patch. Pérez is an ancient Basque given name and means son of Pero or Pedro. Francisco was a prominent member of the tightly-knit Basque community in Northern Sonora. It is evident that Francisco found financial success by 1728 when he was the high bidder at an estate sale and acquired assets including livestock, jewels and other items of value. In addition to being one of the proprietors of the mine at Tetuachi, he had become a successful merchant, at some point provisioning the Presidio of Fronteras. During the 1730s, Juan Bautista de Anza, in his capacity as Justice Mayor of Sonora, appointed Francisco to the position of Deputy Justice of the Tetuachi District.
In about 1740-42 Francisco Perez Serrano married Ana Maria Ortis Cortez, the widow of military officer Manuel Hugues San Martin. Francisco and Ana's children were born at Tetuachi, and the family lived there during the following decades while Francisco conducted business there and in and from Arizpe.
Tragically and shockingly, Capt. Juan Bautista de Anza was killed in an Apache ambush in May 1740 when Juan Bautista his youngest son was not yet 4 years of age. His young son grew up with the military ambition and expertise of his father, and as history has confirmed, like his father, he was highly intelligent, adventurous and accomplished. In 1752, at the age of 16, Juan Bautista enlisted in the army and rapidly advanced in rank. On September 7, 1759, Juan Tomas Beldarrain, Captain of the Tubac Presidio died as a result of a wound from a poisoned Seri arrow. Following Captain Beldarrain's death, Juan Bautista de Anza was promoted to Captain of the Tubac Presidio. His mother and his older brother Francisco moved to Tubac as well. His mother lived there for less than a year, passing away in October 1750.
Francisco Pérez Serrano's wife Ana Maria Ortiz Pérez Serrano, passed away in Arizpe in about 1750 leaving the young Ana Maria Regina, Maria Teresa and their siblings without a mother. Francisco married Maria Isabel Salazar on February 2, 1751, and Ana Maria and her siblings were raised by Francisco and Maria Isabel, their stepmother, in or near Arizpe. Francisco and Maria Isabel had children of their own beginning December 9, 1751 with the birth of a daughter born in the Pueblo of Cucurpe, near Arizpe.
On June 24, 1761, Juan Bautista traveled to Arizpe to be married to Ana Maria Regina Pérez Serrano. Father Carlos de Roxas officiated at Nuestra Senora de la Asuncion the church that had been completed about five years earlier. Juan Bautista and his new wife then returned to the Tubac Presidio.
During the mid-1760s, Ana Maria's sister Maria Teresa Pérez Serrano married Francisco Antonio de Anza at the Tubac Presidio. Francisco de Anza was a widower--his first wife, Victoria Carrasco, had died at the Buenavista Presidio on October 2, 1763.
Following their marriages, the two Anza brothers and the two Serrano sisters were closely linked for the remainder of their lives.
Maria Teresa gave birth to two daughters, both born at Tubac--Maria Rosa de Anza born about 1772 and Ana Maria "Anita" de Anza born about 1775. The births of their nieces brought joy to Juan Bautista and Ana Maria who had no children, and they doted on the girls.
In 1777 when Juan Bautista was appointed Governor of the province of New Mexico, his wife and family including his brother and sister-in-law, Francisco and Maria Teresa, and their two daughters accompanied the Anza caravan to Santa Fe. They were all residing there when Francisco passed away on June 10, 1785, at the age of 60. His daughters were about 13 and 10 years of age at the time, and Juan Bautista and his wife assumed responsibility for their beloved nieces and for Francisco's widow. Juan Bautista governed New Mexico until 1787 and then returned to Arizpe, Sonora. He was appointed commander of the Presidio of Tucson, but before he could take command there, he died at Arizpe on December 19, 1788.
The death of Francisco de Anza and the death of Juan Bautista de Anza three years later, certainly shattered their wives and the two young girls. The sisters remained at Arizpe and raised Maria Teresa and Francisco's young daughters.
On May 26, 1798, Maria Teresa's younger daughter Ana Maria "Anita" married Teodoro de Islas, a native of San Miguel de Horcasitas and a resident of Arizpe. Their first child, a son, was born in 1799 in Arizpe and their other children were born there as well in 1801, 1802 and 1804.
Maria Teresa's older daughter Maria Rosa married Jose Hugues San Martin, a resident of the town of Ures, Sonora, on January 10, 1799. Their first child, a daughter, was born in Arizpe in 1806. They too had other children born at Arizpe.
Ana Maria, Juan Bautista's widow, had the pleasure of witnessing the marriages of her two dear nieces before she passed away at Arizpe on October 15, 1800. She was given an Ecclesiastic burial with high cross in the 4th section of the church.
Maria Teresa, Francisco's widow, lived until 1804. She had the pleasure of witnessing the marriages of her two daughters as well as the joy of becoming a grandmother. She passed away at San Miguel de Horcasitas on June 25, 1804. Her death at San Miguel de Horcasitas, the birthplace of her son-in-law Teodoro, seems unusual given her residence in Arizpe. Perhaps she was visiting Islas family members who resided there, although this is speculation.
Information in this memorial has been documented by sacramental records and information located at Familysearch.org, Ancestry.com, Mission 2000 Database and literature including:
Etulain, Richard W. and Echeverria, Jeronima, Portraits of Basques in the New World;
Etulain, Richard W., Editor, 2004, Western Lives, a Biographical History of the American West; Chapter 2, Kessell John L. Juan Bautista de Anza: Farther and Son, Pillars of New Spain's Far North;
Garate, Donald T., Juan Bautista de Anza, Basque Explorer in the New World 1693-40;
Garate, Donald T., Who Named Arizona? The Basque Connection, The Journal of Arizona History Spring 1999;
Kessell, John L., Spain in the Southwest, a Narrative History of Colonial New Mexico, Arizona, Texas and California;
Moorehead, Max I., The Presidio, Bastion of the Spanish Borderlands
Francisco Serrano's family included sons Ignacio Pérez Serrano, Francisco Xavier de las Llagas Pérez Serrano, Juan Phelipe Pérez Serrano and Jose Antonio Pérez Serrano. In time, Ignacio was appointed the Justicia of Santa Ana, Sonora, and married Maria Guadalupe de Beldarrain, the Tubac Presidio Captain's daughter. Francisco Xavier was a Cadete at the Presidio de Santa Fe, NM and thereafter, the Alcalde Mayor of Albuquerque, NM. He married Maria Guadalupe de Aguirre, daughter of Juan de Aguirre and Gertrudis Fernandez Aguirre. Jose Antonio, like his father, was a successful merchant and businessman in Sonora. He married Maria Teresa Corella, daughter of Fernando Corella and Josefa Escalante Corella.
The place of the sisters' births was a Real de Minas [place of a large ore deposit]. It was located about 10 miles south of the community of Arizpe, situated in the mountains above the valley that cradled the Sonora River. Nuestra Senora de Aranzazu de Tetuachi was the formal name given to the Real de Minas where silver was mined and refined for over 50 years. Tetuachi was established in 1719 when the earliest miners arrived. These Basque adventurers from Vizcaya, Spain, included Juan Bautista de Anza born in 1693 and Francisco Pérez Serrano born about 1701. The families of these two successful and ambitious men were formally joined in the years to come by the marriage of their respective sons and daughters.
Arizpe, the Spanish mission community located north of Tetuachi, had been founded by the Jesuits in 1646 and was well established. However, it did not have a church building. The church in Arizpe was built about 1756. Prior to that, Father Carlos de Roxas, the Jesuit Priest in Arizpe, traveled to settlements throughout the parish where he performed sacramental rites.
Juan Bautista de Anza had migrated to "New Spain" in 1712 and married Maria Valenzuela. He acquired mining properties and joined the Sonoran militia, advancing rapidly in rank. He was a widower with two children when he married Maria Rafaela Bezerra Nieto in 1722. Maria was the daughter of Antonio Bezerra Nieto, the esteemed Calvary Commander of the Janos Presidio in Chihuahua.
Juan Bautista and Maria had four children born between 1725 and 1736--their oldest was Francisco Antonio de Anza born January 17, 1725 and their youngest was Juan Bautista de Anza born July 7, 1736. In 1729 Juan Bautista had received the formal royal appointment of Captain of Fronteras, Sonora, and the younger Juan Bautista was born there.
The date Francisco Pérez Serrano arrived in "New Spain" has not been uncovered; nor have details about his life before he reached Tetuachi in 1719 and assumed part-ownership of the Real de Minas. That he was from Vizcaya is not in doubt. The Basque meaning of Serrano is blackberry patch. Pérez is an ancient Basque given name and means son of Pero or Pedro. Francisco was a prominent member of the tightly-knit Basque community in Northern Sonora. It is evident that Francisco found financial success by 1728 when he was the high bidder at an estate sale and acquired assets including livestock, jewels and other items of value. In addition to being one of the proprietors of the mine at Tetuachi, he had become a successful merchant, at some point provisioning the Presidio of Fronteras. During the 1730s, Juan Bautista de Anza, in his capacity as Justice Mayor of Sonora, appointed Francisco to the position of Deputy Justice of the Tetuachi District.
In about 1740-42 Francisco Perez Serrano married Ana Maria Ortis Cortez, the widow of military officer Manuel Hugues San Martin. Francisco and Ana's children were born at Tetuachi, and the family lived there during the following decades while Francisco conducted business there and in and from Arizpe.
Tragically and shockingly, Capt. Juan Bautista de Anza was killed in an Apache ambush in May 1740 when Juan Bautista his youngest son was not yet 4 years of age. His young son grew up with the military ambition and expertise of his father, and as history has confirmed, like his father, he was highly intelligent, adventurous and accomplished. In 1752, at the age of 16, Juan Bautista enlisted in the army and rapidly advanced in rank. On September 7, 1759, Juan Tomas Beldarrain, Captain of the Tubac Presidio died as a result of a wound from a poisoned Seri arrow. Following Captain Beldarrain's death, Juan Bautista de Anza was promoted to Captain of the Tubac Presidio. His mother and his older brother Francisco moved to Tubac as well. His mother lived there for less than a year, passing away in October 1750.
Francisco Pérez Serrano's wife Ana Maria Ortiz Pérez Serrano, passed away in Arizpe in about 1750 leaving the young Ana Maria Regina, Maria Teresa and their siblings without a mother. Francisco married Maria Isabel Salazar on February 2, 1751, and Ana Maria and her siblings were raised by Francisco and Maria Isabel, their stepmother, in or near Arizpe. Francisco and Maria Isabel had children of their own beginning December 9, 1751 with the birth of a daughter born in the Pueblo of Cucurpe, near Arizpe.
On June 24, 1761, Juan Bautista traveled to Arizpe to be married to Ana Maria Regina Pérez Serrano. Father Carlos de Roxas officiated at Nuestra Senora de la Asuncion the church that had been completed about five years earlier. Juan Bautista and his new wife then returned to the Tubac Presidio.
During the mid-1760s, Ana Maria's sister Maria Teresa Pérez Serrano married Francisco Antonio de Anza at the Tubac Presidio. Francisco de Anza was a widower--his first wife, Victoria Carrasco, had died at the Buenavista Presidio on October 2, 1763.
Following their marriages, the two Anza brothers and the two Serrano sisters were closely linked for the remainder of their lives.
Maria Teresa gave birth to two daughters, both born at Tubac--Maria Rosa de Anza born about 1772 and Ana Maria "Anita" de Anza born about 1775. The births of their nieces brought joy to Juan Bautista and Ana Maria who had no children, and they doted on the girls.
In 1777 when Juan Bautista was appointed Governor of the province of New Mexico, his wife and family including his brother and sister-in-law, Francisco and Maria Teresa, and their two daughters accompanied the Anza caravan to Santa Fe. They were all residing there when Francisco passed away on June 10, 1785, at the age of 60. His daughters were about 13 and 10 years of age at the time, and Juan Bautista and his wife assumed responsibility for their beloved nieces and for Francisco's widow. Juan Bautista governed New Mexico until 1787 and then returned to Arizpe, Sonora. He was appointed commander of the Presidio of Tucson, but before he could take command there, he died at Arizpe on December 19, 1788.
The death of Francisco de Anza and the death of Juan Bautista de Anza three years later, certainly shattered their wives and the two young girls. The sisters remained at Arizpe and raised Maria Teresa and Francisco's young daughters.
On May 26, 1798, Maria Teresa's younger daughter Ana Maria "Anita" married Teodoro de Islas, a native of San Miguel de Horcasitas and a resident of Arizpe. Their first child, a son, was born in 1799 in Arizpe and their other children were born there as well in 1801, 1802 and 1804.
Maria Teresa's older daughter Maria Rosa married Jose Hugues San Martin, a resident of the town of Ures, Sonora, on January 10, 1799. Their first child, a daughter, was born in Arizpe in 1806. They too had other children born at Arizpe.
Ana Maria, Juan Bautista's widow, had the pleasure of witnessing the marriages of her two dear nieces before she passed away at Arizpe on October 15, 1800. She was given an Ecclesiastic burial with high cross in the 4th section of the church.
Maria Teresa, Francisco's widow, lived until 1804. She had the pleasure of witnessing the marriages of her two daughters as well as the joy of becoming a grandmother. She passed away at San Miguel de Horcasitas on June 25, 1804. Her death at San Miguel de Horcasitas, the birthplace of her son-in-law Teodoro, seems unusual given her residence in Arizpe. Perhaps she was visiting Islas family members who resided there, although this is speculation.
Information in this memorial has been documented by sacramental records and information located at Familysearch.org, Ancestry.com, Mission 2000 Database and literature including:
Etulain, Richard W. and Echeverria, Jeronima, Portraits of Basques in the New World;
Etulain, Richard W., Editor, 2004, Western Lives, a Biographical History of the American West; Chapter 2, Kessell John L. Juan Bautista de Anza: Farther and Son, Pillars of New Spain's Far North;
Garate, Donald T., Juan Bautista de Anza, Basque Explorer in the New World 1693-40;
Garate, Donald T., Who Named Arizona? The Basque Connection, The Journal of Arizona History Spring 1999;
Kessell, John L., Spain in the Southwest, a Narrative History of Colonial New Mexico, Arizona, Texas and California;
Moorehead, Max I., The Presidio, Bastion of the Spanish Borderlands
Francisco Serrano's family included sons Ignacio Pérez Serrano, Francisco Xavier de las Llagas Pérez Serrano, Juan Phelipe Pérez Serrano and Jose Antonio Pérez Serrano. In time, Ignacio was appointed the Justicia of Santa Ana, Sonora, and married Maria Guadalupe de Beldarrain, the Tubac Presidio Captain's daughter. Francisco Xavier was a Cadete at the Presidio de Santa Fe, NM and thereafter, the Alcalde Mayor of Albuquerque, NM. He married Maria Guadalupe de Aguirre, daughter of Juan de Aguirre and Gertrudis Fernandez Aguirre. Jose Antonio, like his father, was a successful merchant and businessman in Sonora. He married Maria Teresa Corella, daughter of Fernando Corella and Josefa Escalante Corella.
Ana Maria Regina and Maria Teresa de Jesus, the daughters of Francisco Pérez Serrano and Ana Maria Ortiz Cortez, were born in Tetuachi, Sonora. Records confirm that Maria Teresa was baptized there on February 1, 1745 by Father Carlos de Roxas. Ana Maria's baptism record has not been found, but it is reasonable to think that she was Maria Teresa's older sister, born before her younger siblings whose baptisms were recorded at Tetuachi in 1743, 1745 and 1747, before her mother's death in about 1750.
The place of the sisters' births was a Real de Minas [place of a large ore deposit]. It was located about 10 miles south of the community of Arizpe, situated in the mountains above the valley that cradled the Sonora River. Nuestra Senora de Aranzazu de Tetuachi was the formal name given to the Real de Minas where silver was mined and refined for over 50 years. Tetuachi was established in 1719 when the earliest miners arrived. These Basque adventurers from Vizcaya, Spain, included Juan Bautista de Anza born in 1693 and Francisco Pérez Serrano born about 1701. The families of these two successful and ambitious men were formally joined in the years to come by the marriage of their respective sons and daughters.
Arizpe, the Spanish mission community located north of Tetuachi, had been founded by the Jesuits in 1646 and was well established. However, it did not have a church building. The church in Arizpe was built about 1756. Prior to that, Father Carlos de Roxas, the Jesuit Priest in Arizpe, traveled to settlements throughout the parish where he performed sacramental rites.
Juan Bautista de Anza had migrated to "New Spain" in 1712 and married Maria Valenzuela. He acquired mining properties and joined the Sonoran militia, advancing rapidly in rank. He was a widower with two children when he married Maria Rafaela Bezerra Nieto in 1722. Maria was the daughter of Antonio Bezerra Nieto, the esteemed Calvary Commander of the Janos Presidio in Chihuahua.
Juan Bautista and Maria had four children born between 1725 and 1736--their oldest was Francisco Antonio de Anza born January 17, 1725 and their youngest was Juan Bautista de Anza born July 7, 1736. In 1729 Juan Bautista had received the formal royal appointment of Captain of Fronteras, Sonora, and the younger Juan Bautista was born there.
The date Francisco Pérez Serrano arrived in "New Spain" has not been uncovered; nor have details about his life before he reached Tetuachi in 1719 and assumed part-ownership of the Real de Minas. That he was from Vizcaya is not in doubt. The Basque meaning of Serrano is blackberry patch. Pérez is an ancient Basque given name and means son of Pero or Pedro. Francisco was a prominent member of the tightly-knit Basque community in Northern Sonora. It is evident that Francisco found financial success by 1728 when he was the high bidder at an estate sale and acquired assets including livestock, jewels and other items of value. In addition to being one of the proprietors of the mine at Tetuachi, he had become a successful merchant, at some point provisioning the Presidio of Fronteras. During the 1730s, Juan Bautista de Anza, in his capacity as Justice Mayor of Sonora, appointed Francisco to the position of Deputy Justice of the Tetuachi District.
In about 1740-42 Francisco Perez Serrano married Ana Maria Ortis Cortez, the widow of military officer Manuel Hugues San Martin. Francisco and Ana's children were born at Tetuachi, and the family lived there during the following decades while Francisco conducted business there and in and from Arizpe.
Tragically and shockingly, Capt. Juan Bautista de Anza was killed in an Apache ambush in May 1740 when Juan Bautista his youngest son was not yet 4 years of age. His young son grew up with the military ambition and expertise of his father, and as history has confirmed, like his father, he was highly intelligent, adventurous and accomplished. In 1752, at the age of 16, Juan Bautista enlisted in the army and rapidly advanced in rank. On September 7, 1759, Juan Tomas Beldarrain, Captain of the Tubac Presidio died as a result of a wound from a poisoned Seri arrow. Following Captain Beldarrain's death, Juan Bautista de Anza was promoted to Captain of the Tubac Presidio. His mother and his older brother Francisco moved to Tubac as well. His mother lived there for less than a year, passing away in October 1750.
Francisco Pérez Serrano's wife Ana Maria Ortiz Pérez Serrano, passed away in Arizpe in about 1750 leaving the young Ana Maria Regina, Maria Teresa and their siblings without a mother. Francisco married Maria Isabel Salazar on February 2, 1751, and Ana Maria and her siblings were raised by Francisco and Maria Isabel, their stepmother, in or near Arizpe. Francisco and Maria Isabel had children of their own beginning December 9, 1751 with the birth of a daughter born in the Pueblo of Cucurpe, near Arizpe.
On June 24, 1761, Juan Bautista traveled to Arizpe to be married to Ana Maria Regina Pérez Serrano. Father Carlos de Roxas officiated at Nuestra Senora de la Asuncion the church that had been completed about five years earlier. Juan Bautista and his new wife then returned to the Tubac Presidio.
During the mid-1760s, Ana Maria's sister Maria Teresa Pérez Serrano married Francisco Antonio de Anza at the Tubac Presidio. Francisco de Anza was a widower--his first wife, Victoria Carrasco, had died at the Buenavista Presidio on October 2, 1763.
Following their marriages, the two Anza brothers and the two Serrano sisters were closely linked for the remainder of their lives.
Maria Teresa gave birth to two daughters, both born at Tubac--Maria Rosa de Anza born about 1772 and Ana Maria "Anita" de Anza born about 1775. The births of their nieces brought joy to Juan Bautista and Ana Maria who had no children, and they doted on the girls.
In 1777 when Juan Bautista was appointed Governor of the province of New Mexico, his wife and family including his brother and sister-in-law, Francisco and Maria Teresa, and their two daughters accompanied the Anza caravan to Santa Fe. They were all residing there when Francisco passed away on June 10, 1785, at the age of 60. His daughters were about 13 and 10 years of age at the time, and Juan Bautista and his wife assumed responsibility for their beloved nieces and for Francisco's widow. Juan Bautista governed New Mexico until 1787 and then returned to Arizpe, Sonora. He was appointed commander of the Presidio of Tucson, but before he could take command there, he died at Arizpe on December 19, 1788.
The death of Francisco de Anza and the death of Juan Bautista de Anza three years later, certainly shattered their wives and the two young girls. The sisters remained at Arizpe and raised Maria Teresa and Francisco's young daughters.
On May 26, 1798, Maria Teresa's younger daughter Ana Maria "Anita" married Teodoro de Islas, a native of San Miguel de Horcasitas and a resident of Arizpe. Their first child, a son, was born in 1799 in Arizpe and their other children were born there as well in 1801, 1802 and 1804.
Maria Teresa's older daughter Maria Rosa married Jose Hugues San Martin, a resident of the town of Ures, Sonora, on January 10, 1799. Their first child, a daughter, was born in Arizpe in 1806. They too had other children born at Arizpe.
Ana Maria, Juan Bautista's widow, had the pleasure of witnessing the marriages of her two dear nieces before she passed away at Arizpe on October 15, 1800. She was given an Ecclesiastic burial with high cross in the 4th section of the church.
Maria Teresa, Francisco's widow, lived until 1804. She had the pleasure of witnessing the marriages of her two daughters as well as the joy of becoming a grandmother. She passed away at San Miguel de Horcasitas on June 25, 1804. Her death at San Miguel de Horcasitas, the birthplace of her son-in-law Teodoro, seems unusual given her residence in Arizpe. Perhaps she was visiting Islas family members who resided there, although this is speculation.
Information in this memorial has been documented by sacramental records and information located at Familysearch.org, Ancestry.com, Mission 2000 Database and literature including:
Etulain, Richard W. and Echeverria, Jeronima, Portraits of Basques in the New World;
Etulain, Richard W., Editor, 2004, Western Lives, a Biographical History of the American West; Chapter 2, Kessell John L. Juan Bautista de Anza: Farther and Son, Pillars of New Spain's Far North;
Garate, Donald T., Juan Bautista de Anza, Basque Explorer in the New World 1693-40;
Garate, Donald T., Who Named Arizona? The Basque Connection, The Journal of Arizona History Spring 1999;
Kessell, John L., Spain in the Southwest, a Narrative History of Colonial New Mexico, Arizona, Texas and California;
Moorehead, Max I., The Presidio, Bastion of the Spanish Borderlands
Francisco Serrano's family included sons Ignacio Pérez Serrano, Francisco Xavier de las Llagas Pérez Serrano, Juan Phelipe Pérez Serrano and Jose Antonio Pérez Serrano. In time, Ignacio was appointed the Justicia of Santa Ana, Sonora, and married Maria Guadalupe de Beldarrain, the Tubac Presidio Captain's daughter. Francisco Xavier was a Cadete at the Presidio de Santa Fe, NM and thereafter, the Alcalde Mayor of Albuquerque, NM. He married Maria Guadalupe de Aguirre, daughter of Juan de Aguirre and Gertrudis Fernandez Aguirre. Jose Antonio, like his father, was a successful merchant and businessman in Sonora. He married Maria Teresa Corella, daughter of Fernando Corella and Josefa Escalante Corella.
The place of the sisters' births was a Real de Minas [place of a large ore deposit]. It was located about 10 miles south of the community of Arizpe, situated in the mountains above the valley that cradled the Sonora River. Nuestra Senora de Aranzazu de Tetuachi was the formal name given to the Real de Minas where silver was mined and refined for over 50 years. Tetuachi was established in 1719 when the earliest miners arrived. These Basque adventurers from Vizcaya, Spain, included Juan Bautista de Anza born in 1693 and Francisco Pérez Serrano born about 1701. The families of these two successful and ambitious men were formally joined in the years to come by the marriage of their respective sons and daughters.
Arizpe, the Spanish mission community located north of Tetuachi, had been founded by the Jesuits in 1646 and was well established. However, it did not have a church building. The church in Arizpe was built about 1756. Prior to that, Father Carlos de Roxas, the Jesuit Priest in Arizpe, traveled to settlements throughout the parish where he performed sacramental rites.
Juan Bautista de Anza had migrated to "New Spain" in 1712 and married Maria Valenzuela. He acquired mining properties and joined the Sonoran militia, advancing rapidly in rank. He was a widower with two children when he married Maria Rafaela Bezerra Nieto in 1722. Maria was the daughter of Antonio Bezerra Nieto, the esteemed Calvary Commander of the Janos Presidio in Chihuahua.
Juan Bautista and Maria had four children born between 1725 and 1736--their oldest was Francisco Antonio de Anza born January 17, 1725 and their youngest was Juan Bautista de Anza born July 7, 1736. In 1729 Juan Bautista had received the formal royal appointment of Captain of Fronteras, Sonora, and the younger Juan Bautista was born there.
The date Francisco Pérez Serrano arrived in "New Spain" has not been uncovered; nor have details about his life before he reached Tetuachi in 1719 and assumed part-ownership of the Real de Minas. That he was from Vizcaya is not in doubt. The Basque meaning of Serrano is blackberry patch. Pérez is an ancient Basque given name and means son of Pero or Pedro. Francisco was a prominent member of the tightly-knit Basque community in Northern Sonora. It is evident that Francisco found financial success by 1728 when he was the high bidder at an estate sale and acquired assets including livestock, jewels and other items of value. In addition to being one of the proprietors of the mine at Tetuachi, he had become a successful merchant, at some point provisioning the Presidio of Fronteras. During the 1730s, Juan Bautista de Anza, in his capacity as Justice Mayor of Sonora, appointed Francisco to the position of Deputy Justice of the Tetuachi District.
In about 1740-42 Francisco Perez Serrano married Ana Maria Ortis Cortez, the widow of military officer Manuel Hugues San Martin. Francisco and Ana's children were born at Tetuachi, and the family lived there during the following decades while Francisco conducted business there and in and from Arizpe.
Tragically and shockingly, Capt. Juan Bautista de Anza was killed in an Apache ambush in May 1740 when Juan Bautista his youngest son was not yet 4 years of age. His young son grew up with the military ambition and expertise of his father, and as history has confirmed, like his father, he was highly intelligent, adventurous and accomplished. In 1752, at the age of 16, Juan Bautista enlisted in the army and rapidly advanced in rank. On September 7, 1759, Juan Tomas Beldarrain, Captain of the Tubac Presidio died as a result of a wound from a poisoned Seri arrow. Following Captain Beldarrain's death, Juan Bautista de Anza was promoted to Captain of the Tubac Presidio. His mother and his older brother Francisco moved to Tubac as well. His mother lived there for less than a year, passing away in October 1750.
Francisco Pérez Serrano's wife Ana Maria Ortiz Pérez Serrano, passed away in Arizpe in about 1750 leaving the young Ana Maria Regina, Maria Teresa and their siblings without a mother. Francisco married Maria Isabel Salazar on February 2, 1751, and Ana Maria and her siblings were raised by Francisco and Maria Isabel, their stepmother, in or near Arizpe. Francisco and Maria Isabel had children of their own beginning December 9, 1751 with the birth of a daughter born in the Pueblo of Cucurpe, near Arizpe.
On June 24, 1761, Juan Bautista traveled to Arizpe to be married to Ana Maria Regina Pérez Serrano. Father Carlos de Roxas officiated at Nuestra Senora de la Asuncion the church that had been completed about five years earlier. Juan Bautista and his new wife then returned to the Tubac Presidio.
During the mid-1760s, Ana Maria's sister Maria Teresa Pérez Serrano married Francisco Antonio de Anza at the Tubac Presidio. Francisco de Anza was a widower--his first wife, Victoria Carrasco, had died at the Buenavista Presidio on October 2, 1763.
Following their marriages, the two Anza brothers and the two Serrano sisters were closely linked for the remainder of their lives.
Maria Teresa gave birth to two daughters, both born at Tubac--Maria Rosa de Anza born about 1772 and Ana Maria "Anita" de Anza born about 1775. The births of their nieces brought joy to Juan Bautista and Ana Maria who had no children, and they doted on the girls.
In 1777 when Juan Bautista was appointed Governor of the province of New Mexico, his wife and family including his brother and sister-in-law, Francisco and Maria Teresa, and their two daughters accompanied the Anza caravan to Santa Fe. They were all residing there when Francisco passed away on June 10, 1785, at the age of 60. His daughters were about 13 and 10 years of age at the time, and Juan Bautista and his wife assumed responsibility for their beloved nieces and for Francisco's widow. Juan Bautista governed New Mexico until 1787 and then returned to Arizpe, Sonora. He was appointed commander of the Presidio of Tucson, but before he could take command there, he died at Arizpe on December 19, 1788.
The death of Francisco de Anza and the death of Juan Bautista de Anza three years later, certainly shattered their wives and the two young girls. The sisters remained at Arizpe and raised Maria Teresa and Francisco's young daughters.
On May 26, 1798, Maria Teresa's younger daughter Ana Maria "Anita" married Teodoro de Islas, a native of San Miguel de Horcasitas and a resident of Arizpe. Their first child, a son, was born in 1799 in Arizpe and their other children were born there as well in 1801, 1802 and 1804.
Maria Teresa's older daughter Maria Rosa married Jose Hugues San Martin, a resident of the town of Ures, Sonora, on January 10, 1799. Their first child, a daughter, was born in Arizpe in 1806. They too had other children born at Arizpe.
Ana Maria, Juan Bautista's widow, had the pleasure of witnessing the marriages of her two dear nieces before she passed away at Arizpe on October 15, 1800. She was given an Ecclesiastic burial with high cross in the 4th section of the church.
Maria Teresa, Francisco's widow, lived until 1804. She had the pleasure of witnessing the marriages of her two daughters as well as the joy of becoming a grandmother. She passed away at San Miguel de Horcasitas on June 25, 1804. Her death at San Miguel de Horcasitas, the birthplace of her son-in-law Teodoro, seems unusual given her residence in Arizpe. Perhaps she was visiting Islas family members who resided there, although this is speculation.
Information in this memorial has been documented by sacramental records and information located at Familysearch.org, Ancestry.com, Mission 2000 Database and literature including:
Etulain, Richard W. and Echeverria, Jeronima, Portraits of Basques in the New World;
Etulain, Richard W., Editor, 2004, Western Lives, a Biographical History of the American West; Chapter 2, Kessell John L. Juan Bautista de Anza: Farther and Son, Pillars of New Spain's Far North;
Garate, Donald T., Juan Bautista de Anza, Basque Explorer in the New World 1693-40;
Garate, Donald T., Who Named Arizona? The Basque Connection, The Journal of Arizona History Spring 1999;
Kessell, John L., Spain in the Southwest, a Narrative History of Colonial New Mexico, Arizona, Texas and California;
Moorehead, Max I., The Presidio, Bastion of the Spanish Borderlands
Francisco Serrano's family included sons Ignacio Pérez Serrano, Francisco Xavier de las Llagas Pérez Serrano, Juan Phelipe Pérez Serrano and Jose Antonio Pérez Serrano. In time, Ignacio was appointed the Justicia of Santa Ana, Sonora, and married Maria Guadalupe de Beldarrain, the Tubac Presidio Captain's daughter. Francisco Xavier was a Cadete at the Presidio de Santa Fe, NM and thereafter, the Alcalde Mayor of Albuquerque, NM. He married Maria Guadalupe de Aguirre, daughter of Juan de Aguirre and Gertrudis Fernandez Aguirre. Jose Antonio, like his father, was a successful merchant and businessman in Sonora. He married Maria Teresa Corella, daughter of Fernando Corella and Josefa Escalante Corella.
Family Members
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See more de Anza or Pérez Serrano memorials in:
- Templo de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción de Anza or Pérez Serrano
- Arizpe de Anza or Pérez Serrano
- Arizpe Municipality de Anza or Pérez Serrano
- Sonora de Anza or Pérez Serrano
- Mexico de Anza or Pérez Serrano
- Find a Grave de Anza or Pérez Serrano
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