Bernardino de Sena y Valle

  Noted events in his life were:

• Background Information. ²⁴⁷
"Bernardino was the adopted son of ("hijo expuesto") of Don José del Valle and Ana de Rivera. Valle was a native of Sevilla, Spain, who became a resident of México City around 1689 and was a single man until Jue 29, 1693 when he married Ana de Rivera, a native of Tezcuco. Presumably, Bernardino was orphaned and Valle and Rivera took him as their ward, but it is uncertain whether Sena came into the Valle household before or after the marriage of this couple. given that Ana de Rivera was a native of Tezcuco, perhaps she knew Bernardino's family.

"Bernardino accompanied his adopted parents to New Mexico where they settled in Santa Fé in June 1694. Three years later, Bernardino was listed in the Valle household as a huerfano, an orphan, in the May 1697 record of settlers who received livestock from Governor Vargas. According to this record, the Valle family maintained their residency in Santa Fé and did not join the other México City colonists who founded the villa of Santa Cruz.

"At the age of 19-21, Bernardino was married at Santa Fé on 8 February 1705 to his first wife, Tomása Martín González, daughter of Hernán Martín Serrano and Joséfa de la Ascensión González. This particular marriage secured his social status among the elite of Santa Fé, using this to his advantage and success. On June 2, 1710, Sena bought farm land belonging to Andrés Montoya and his wife Antonia Lucero de Godoy for the sum of thirty pesos which was located in Santa Fé on the other side of the river. In this same year, his wife's grandmother, Doña Sebastiána de Mondragón, gave Sena a house in Santa Fé with a lot and an orchard as a dowry for his marriage to Tomása; it was the same house which she occupied. There is also a record of Sena buying additional Santa Fé land in 1723.

" Bernardino was a blacksmith, rancher, and land owner. He operated a blacksmith shop in Santa Fé that he left to his son upon his death. Sena also owned two houses, both located in Santa Fé. The first house was that which had belonged to Sebastiána de Mondragón, the grandmother of Tomása Martín González. The second house consisted of two stories with nine rooms and a porch on the lower level and seven rooms and a hall on the upper level. To the south of this house was a fenced field in which Sena grew corn. Also, next to the house was a small orchard with apricot and peach trees. This property had corrals and stables for the horses on the east side. It was likely that Sena's blacksmith shop was also on his property that was located south of the Santa Fé River, the river being the northern boundary of his land.

"Bernardino de Sena was a properous individual and a prominent member of the local church community of Santa Fé. He and his wives were godparents to numerous children, including orphans. Specifically, he and Doña Manuela Roybal raised four orphan children who were acknowledged in Sena's will as: Santiago; Baltazar; José (el Coyote); and Marìa de los Dolores. Sena was also an active member of several religious societies. He was the mayordomo of the Society of the Blessed Sacrament and treasurer of the Holy Places of Jerusalem, as well as a member of the Third Order of San Francisco."

Spanish Recolonization of NM, pp. 351-352

• Background Information. ²⁵²
Bernardo de Sena was born in the Valley of Mexico, and at the age of nine in 1693, hecame to New Mexico along with his adoped parents, José de Valle and Ana de Ribera. He is recorded to have had a round dark face, large eyes and a thick nose. His adopted parents settled at Pojoaque. He married Tomasa Martín Gonzáles on 8 Feb 1705 using the name Bernardino de Sena y Valle, and stated that he was born in Tezcuco of unknow parents, and was 18 years old. Yet when he made his last will at the age of fifty-three, he gave his parent's names as Agustín de Sena and María Ynez de Amparano of Mexico City.

After he was married, Bernardino spent the rest of his life in Santa Fé where Sena Plaza near the Plaza bears his name. He acquired considerable property in Santa Fé, and was one of Santa Fé's most respected citizen.

He was instrumental in gathering the funds necessary for the restoration of San Miguel Chapel, he was mayordomo of the Conqistadora Confraternity, and served as handler of money and property for the Franciscans.

When he died on 11 Nov 1765, he was buried in the San Miguel Chapel and vested in a Franciscan habit. His first wife, Tomasa, was buried in the Conquistadora chapel on 10 Feb 1727. His second wife was also buried there in 1 May 1778.

He and his first wife, Tomasa had a son anmed Tomás Antonio, who married Luisa García. He and his second wife were married for twenty-nine year with no issue, but they raised four adopted children: Santiago, Baltasar, Maria de los Dolores and Jose "el coyote."

~The Origins of New México Families, p. 286

• Original Settler, 1695, Santa Cruz de la Cañada. ¹⁵¹⁰
Bernardino de Sena, along with his foster parents, Don José del Valle & Ana de Ribera, were among the very first settlers of Santa Cruz de la Cañada.

Early Settlers of Santa Cruz de la Cañada, p. 3

• Dates & Events, 1725. ³⁹⁴
Conveyance. Hand written, ink. July 24, 1725, Bernardino de Sena.

"Through power granted to Bernardino de Sena by the Fray Custodio, conveys a piece of land next to the convent of the church at Santa Cruz de la Canada."
Signature of Gervasio Cruzat y Gongora, and Joseph Marquez.
Page separated, tattered. July 24, 1725.

• Census: Spanish, 1750, Santa Fé, Nuevo Méjico, Nueva España. ²⁷⁰
Bernardino de Zena; Manuela Roibal; María Guadalupe; Bernardino; Tomassa; Luissa; Francisca; Josseph; Diego; Therressa; 3 children

Spanish and Mexican Census, p. 6

• Web Reference: The Will of Bernardino de Sena ~ 1758.
In his will of 17 Jul 1758, mentions that his parents Agustín Sena and María Ynes Amparano, both deceased natives of Mexico City. He declared that he was married to Tomasa Gonzales for twenty years, and they had one son, Tomás Antonio Sena, who was living and married to Luisa García. He names doña Manuela Roybal as his second wife, with whom he was married for twenty-nine years. In this will, Bernardino left his his lands in Cuyamungue to his son Tomás as well as property which included in his blacksmith shop and a corn field.

References: Spanish Archives of New Mexico, Series I, Twitchell 860, Reel 5, Frames 82-95.

• Burial
Bernardino de Sena was buried in San Miguel Mission underneath the altar. In 2002 while installing heating pipes under the floor of the church, construction workers happened across his body. Although Bernardino had long since become a skeleton, the habit in which he was clothed was in excellent condition! Bernardino was reinterred after the construction was completed.

Bernardino married Tomása Martín González, daughter of Hernán (el mozo) Martín Serrano and Josefa de la Asencion González, on 8 Feb 1705 in Santa Fé, Nuevo Méjico, Nueva España ^248,252.^,267 (Tomása Martín González died in 1727 in Santa Fé, Nuevo Méjico, Nueva España and was buried on 20 Feb 1727 in Conquistadora Chapel, Santa Fé, Santa Fé, Nuevo Méjico, Nueva España ²⁵².)

  Noted events in their marriage were:

• Diligencia Matrimonial. ²⁴⁸
20 Jan 1705, Santa Fé, Bernardino de Sena y Valle (18), native of the City of Tezcuco in New Spain, parents unknow, and Tomasa Martín (14-15) daughter of Hernando Martín and Josefa Gonzales. Witnesses: Diego Marques de Ayala (26), native of Mexico City

~ Roots Ltd., Diligencias Matrimoniales, p. 1807

Bernardino next married María Manuela Roybal, daughter of Ignacio Roybal y Torrado and Francisca Gomez Robledo, on 25 May 1727 in Santa Fé, Nuevo Méjico, Nueva España.³¹ (María Manuela Roybal was born in 1696 in Nuevo Méjico, Nueva España ²⁴⁸.)

  Noted events in their marriage were:

• Diligencia Matrimonial. ²⁴⁸
13 May 1727, Santa Fé, Bernardino de Sena (40), native of Mexico city, widowed of Tomasa Gonzales, and Doña Mauela Roybal (31), widow of Capitán Juan de Archibeque, killed in 1720 Villasur Expedition. - Witnesses: Antonio de Ulibarri (45), Juan de Media (54), Vicente Armijo (50), married; Felipe Tamaris (41) and Manuel Tenorio de Alba (28), both soldier survivors of the 1720 Villasur Expedition; Santiago Giravalle, servant of Archibeque who stayed with him until he died, and then escaped with a bullet shot in his chest and several other wounds. Par married 25 May 1727.

~ Roots Ltd., Diligencias Matrimoniales, pp. 1807-1808