Ambrosio Sáez de Cháves

  General Notes:

Had an encomenda in the early decades of the 17th. Century.
Information from "Los Sais' de Los Lentes" by James R. Sais.

• Background Information. ²⁵⁰
Ambrosio Sáez (ONMF: 100) was a native of the Valle de San Bartolomé, Nueva Vizcaya, and was born circa 1636-40. This man had a son named Agustín Sáez who returned to New Mexico in 1693 after the thirteen-year exile at Guadalupe del Paso. A series of documents among the collection of the Archives of San José de Parral extracted by Robert D. Martínez and José Antonio Esquibel provides very promising leads concerning the genealogy of the Sáes family of the Valle de San Bartolomé. Information from these archival sources suggest that Ambrosio Sáez may very well have been a grandson of Pedro Sánchez de Chávez (aka Sáez de Chávez) and María Rodríguez.

On March 2, 1635, in the Real y Minas del Pueblo de San Juan del Río, Nueva Vizcaya, General Cristóbal de Ontiveros, the executor of the estate of his deceased father-in-law, Captain Pedro Sánchez de Chávez (aka Sáez de Chávez) appeared before the Alcalde Mayor y Capitán a Guerra Captain don Francisco de Simancas, jointly represented by his wife, doña María Sáez, and by Captain Gerónimo de los Reyes, the representative of Captain Diego de Ontiversos, husband of doña Ana Sáez. This last couple was described as vecinos of the Valle de San Juan. General Cristóbal de Ontiveros provied an account of the settolement of the estate of Pedro Sánchez de Chávez, identifying doña María Sáez and doña Ana Sáez as sisters and legitimate daughters of Captain Pedro Sánchez de Cháves, a vecino of the "provincia de Santa Barabara," located in the Valle de San Bartolomé. (AHP, Roll 1641A, frs. 629-635). Ontiveros then named the children and heirs of Captain Pedro Sánchez de Cháves as doña Ana Sáes, doña Ana Sáez, Antonio Sáez, and Ambrosio Sáez.

According to information provided by General Ontiveros, Pedro Sánchez de Chávez had some property valued at 9,644 pesos (approximately $290,000), which consisted of a hacienda in the Valle de San Gregorio with land for livestock (cattle, sheep and goats), a "molino de pan" (a bread mill), and operations for extracting silver. Pedro Sánchez de Chávez also owned agricultural land and land for raising sheep and goats (ganado menor) that was known as Santa María, situated in the Valle de San Gregorio. In the settlement of estate, Antonio Sáez received over 3,000 pesos (approximately $90,000 in modern monetary terms) in accordance with his father's last will and testament in the form of 1,000 pesos, and two African slaves and the property of Santa María in the Valle de San Gregorio. Captain Diego de Ontiveros and Ana Sáez received 1,500 pesos. Captain Gerónimo de los Reyes, for his "solicitud de suerte," received 1,400 pesos. The total amount for Ambrosio Saez is not stated but the remaining amount owed to him was 2,594 pesos. An attached document from Captain Diego de Ontiveros and his wife doña Ana Sáez mentions her parents as Pedro Sánchez de Chávez and María Rodríguez.

There is a document from 1633 in which María Rodríguez referred to herself as "muger legitima que fue de Pedro Saez de Chavez, difunto" ("legitimate wife of Pedro Sáez de Cháves, deceased") [AHP, Roll 1633A, fr. 634]. She referenced the last will and testament of her husband, indicating he was dead by 1633. She again referred to her husband as "Pedro Saez," rather than Pedro Sánchez, indicating that the Sáez family name came from his side of the family.

Additional documentation indicates that the Ambrosio Sáez mentioned as a son of Pedro Sánchez (Sáez) de Cháves (deceased by 1633) was not the same person named as Ambrosio Sáez (b.ca. 1636-40) who settled in New Mexico, but this second Amborsio Sáez was very likely a close relative being either a son of nephew of the elder Ambrosio Sáez.

In 1632, the elder Amborsio Sáez identified himself as a vecino and minero of the new discovery of San José de Parral, and referred to ten varas of a mine that he owned in the cerro (hill) of San José de Parral (AHP, Roll 1632, fr. 149-150). He signed the document, indicating he was literate. On September 12, 1635, Ambrosio Sáez gave official power of attorney to Damián de Ávila, a resident of San José del Parral, stating he was a "vecino y minero y labrador del Valle de san Bartolomé, provincia de Santa Barbara de la Na Vizcaya " (AHP, Roll 1635, fr. 460). Ambrosio signed this document as well. Eleven years later on July 4, 1646, at San José del Parral, Ambrosio Sáez identified himself as a vecino y labrador del Valle de San Bartolomé when he registered a mine "que esta de quarenta leguas deste Real camino carril de carros del Nuevo Mexico azia el oriente y pasando el ultimo bando del Rio de Sacramento." He titled his mine "la mina de Sacramento." In this claim he mentioned the name of a son, Juan Sáez, and he mentioned a brother, "Capitán Antonio Saes, mi hermano." (1645B, fr. 556-557).

A few days latter, Captain Ambrosio Sáez, "vecino y labrador en el Valle de San Bartolomé," wrote a letter dated July 7, 1646. He declared he was the careteaker of the belongings of General Cristóbal de Ontiveros, apparently deceased at the time. He mentioned the widow of Ontiveros was doña María Sáez, who we know was his sister from other documents. (1645B, fr. 553).

Additional research is needed to further confirm the connection of Ambrosio Sáez (b.ca. 1636-1640), the founder of the Sáez family of New Mexico, with the Sáez family of the Valle de San Bartolomé. The information provided above presents valuable leads that may assist interested researcher.

Researchers: Robert D. Martínez and José Antonio Esquibel

Sources: El Archivo de Hidalgo del Parral (AHP), Roll 1632, frs. 149-150, Roll 1633A, fr. 634, Roll 1635, fr. 460, Roll 1641A, frs. 629-635, 1645B, frs. 553-557.

Ambrosio married Magdalena de Garfias in 1627 in San Bartolo, Durango, Nueva España. (Magdalena de Garfias was born in 1608 in San Bartolo, Durango, Nueva España.)