Miguel Gallegos

  General Notes:

Herencia, Vol 21, #1, Revised Gallegos Family Genealogy, p. 49, Miguel Gallegos, born about 1535 in Villa de Riaza, Spain died by 1586. He was married to Violante de Terrazas, and they had at least five children, Francisca Gallegos, Isabel Gallegos, Miguel de Terrazas, María Hernábdez Soriana, and Luis Gallegos de Terrazas who was the progenitor of the Gallegos famly in San José del Parral and New Mexico. ¹⁵¹¹

  Noted events in his life were:

• Background Information. ¹⁵¹¹
From information compiled from source documents of Father Treviño Castro in Mexico City it has been shown that the Gallegos family of New Mexico can be traced back to the Villa de Riaza in Segovia, Spain as far back in time as about six hundred years ago. Primary source documents reveal that Luis Galegos de Terrazas was the son of Miguel Gallegos and Violante de Terrazas. Miguel Gallegos, born circa 1535, left Spain by 1561. He was among one of the first Spaniards to explore the northern frontier region of Nueva Galicia. By 1561, he become one of the first settlers of th Villa del Nombre de Dios.

According to Miguel, he was at Las Minas de Chalchihuites, Nueva Galicia in 1561 when Francisco de Ibarra, the future governor of Nueva Vizcaya before their expedition "to reconnoiter land north and east of the mines of San Martín" becasue Fray Gerónimo de Mendoza hoped to covert the Natives in the area. Ibarra was interested in the expansion of Spanish territory, finding new sources for precious metals and locations suitable for Spanish settlements. According to Miguel Gallegos, after the formal settling of the Villa de Nombre de Dios, Ibarra and some of his soldiers set out on an expedition which lead to the discoverys of El Peñol Blanco ad the Río de Nazas.

Miguel Gallegos first appearance in a historical document is one dealing with the inventory and sale of property and estate of Sancho Jiménez. Miguel was listed as the escribo, a scribe or notary, of this document dated 4 Jun 1564 in the Villa del Nombre de Dios. [1] Miguel again appears as the escribo for a document dated 2 Dec 1567 and again in 1560 at the same location, this time in a case of the Inquisition concerning the denunciation of Guillén Bernal who saying in public that "simple fornication is not a sin." [2]

On 5 Jan 1570, Miguel Gallegos gave testimony on the behalf in the Villa del Nombre in which he gave information on his background. He testified that he was a native of the Villa de Riaza in the kindoms of Castilla, and he had been in the area of the Villa del Nombre de Dios from ten years more or less since the time of its founding. He stated that he was thirty-five years of age, and that nines year prior, he was residing in Las Minas de Chalchiuites.

Miguel Gallegos received at land grant in the area of the Villa de Durango in 1572. Later that decade, he married Violante de Terrazas, daughter of Diego de la Mancha & María Hernández. The couple had at least five known children. Miguel must have died before 15 Sep 1586 because Violante, his widow, married Alonso de Valenzuela, a civic official of the Villa de Durango. [3] At that same time, Diego de Morga was appointed the Guardian of the Miguel Gallegos's children, Francisca Gallegos, Isabel Gallegos, Luis Gallegos, Miguel de Terrazas and María Hernández Soriana.

"The Genealogy of Luis Gallegos de Terrazas and Pascuala de Rueda Part 1," Herencia, Vol. 21 #1, pp. 29-31, 35-43

Footnotes:
1. Archivo General de Indias, Contratación, 202 B, N.23, Bienes de fintuntos: Sancho Jiménez, ff.1 1r-12r.
2. Archivo General de Nación, Inquisición, t. 7, exp. 2, Processo de la justicia eclesiastica contra Guillén Bernal, Villa del Nombre de Dios, 1567 and Archivo General de Nación, Inquisición, t. 175. exp. 1, Proceso contra Guillén Bernal, Villa de Nombre de Dios, 1569
3. Archivo Municipal de Durango, Documentos del Año de 1584, Sobre la venta y remate de las casa de los menores hijos de Don Miguel Gallegos, 1586/1596 f.1r.

Miguel married Violante de Terrazas, daughter of Diego de la Mancha and María Hernández.¹⁵¹¹

  Marriage Notes:

The Genealogy of Luis Gallegos de Terrazas and Pascuala de Rueda Part 1, p. 49 ¹⁵¹¹