Wills and probate records are some of the best records available for connecting individuals in time, family and location. The 1817 Will of Juan José Dias from the Presidio del Pitic in Sonora, Mexico is particularly detailed. It includes information about his parents, wife and daughter, those who are witnesses on the document, as well as those in his life with whom he has business transactions as his creditors and debtors.
This will demonstrates why probate records can be some of the best records for seeing the overall picture of someone’s life. Juan José was a wealthy man, but also a man who had brought no assets into the marriage. He has someone in his life with whom he is trusting his wife and daughter’s (who is not yet of age) care to, as well as the management of his assets.
While we don’t have an age we do have enough information, including that he is originally from San Miguel de Horcasitas, his parents names and his wife’s name, providing numerous additional research paths. We also have the information that Don Rafael Dias signed the document on Juan José’s behalf since he did not know how to sign his name. With the shared surname it is yet another direction to follow for genealogy research.
Will of Juan José Dias
Name of Testator: Dias, Juan José
Will No. 18 Year: 1817
Sex: M Age: blank Place of Birth: Native of the Town of Horcasitas
Place where testament was presented: Hermosillo
Type of Testament: Open Locality: Presidio del Pitic
Testator’s Occupation: Farmer/Rancher/Muleteer
Economic Status: High
Spouse’s Name: Escalante, Maria Ygnacia
Names of Children:
We have only had a daughter, Cesilia de los Dolores
Other Persons Mentioned:
ATTESTED BY: Don José Esteban, Captain of the Horcasitas Company, Military and Political Commander.
ASSISTING WITNESSES: Jose de Berroteran and Phelipe Jimenes.
INSTRUMENTAL WITNESSES: Don Francisco Javier Romo, Don José Maria Días, Don José Maria. Normandía.
SIGNED ON BEHALF OF THE TESTATOR (as he did not know how to sign): Don Rafael Días.
EXECUTOR AND CUSTODIAN: Don Manuel Rodriguez.
CREDITORS: Don Manuel Rodriguez, Don Francisco Rodriguez.
DEBTORS: Don Simon Valencia, Don Ygnacio Araiza, Don Juan Jose Noriega, Benito Marcial of Sonora, Joachin Coronado of Los Llanos, Señor Vicente Castelo, José de la Cruz Gradillas, Ramón Valencia, Don Antonio Curiel. He has crops planted on a sharecropping basis with Pedro Robles.
Father’s Name: Clemente Dias (deceased)
Mother’s Name: Maria Luisa Urrea (deceased)
Father’s Place of Birth: Former residents of the Presidio del Pitic
Mother’s Place of Birth: Former residents of the Presidio del Pitic
Summary of the properties and items mentioned within the testament:
In the Name of God Almighty, Amen. Let all who see and understand this, my Declaration and last testamentary disposition, know that I, Juan Jose Dias, a native of the Town of Horcasitas and a resident of this Presidio of Pitic. The son (since my tender years) of Clemente Dias and Maria Luisa Urrea, my parents and masters, who were also residents of this Presidio of Pitic.
Finding myself gravely afflicted by an illness that God Our Lord has seen fit to send me, yet remaining in full possession of my judgment, memory, and will; believing, as I firmly believe, in all that Our Holy Mother, the Roman Catholic Apostolic Church, believes, confesses, and teaches, in whose faith and belief I profess to live and die, confessing, as I do confess, this truth and the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity: Father, Son, and and Holy Spirit. three distinct persons and one true God, to Whom I ask and beseech to forgive my sins. Calling upon as my intercessor the Sovereign Queen of the Angels, Most Holy Mary, whose Sacred Mystery of Holy Purity I believe and confess, as well as my Holy Guardian Angel, the Saint of my name, and all the other Saints, male and female, of the Heavenly Court, that they may aid, succor, and favor me during the rigorous ordeal of death, whenever the Will of the Lord God Almighty sees fit to take me from this world to call me to Judgment.
With this understanding, and fearing the death that is natural to every human creature, I order, command, and dispose this, my TESTAMENT, as my last and final will, in accordance with the following clauses:
1st Item:
I command that, when my body has become a corpse, it be returned to the earth from which it was formed, shrouded in the habit of Our Father Saint Francis, and that my burial be humble, at the discretion of my Executor, and take place within the consecrated ground of the Parish Church of this Presidio.
2nd Item:
I hereby bequeath, in favor of the mandatory and pious bequests, four *reales* to each one.
3rd Item:
I declare that it is my will to appoint Don Manuel Rodriguez as the sole Executor and Custodian of the assets remaining to me; whom I likewise appoint as Tutor and Curator of my only daughter, born of a legitimate marriage, Maria Cesilia de los Dolores, who is currently under the age of legal guardianship.
4th Item:
I declare that I was married in my first nuptials to Maria Ignacia Escalante “in facie ecclesiae” (in the face of the Church); from which marriage we have begotten and raised only our aforementioned daughter, Cesilia de los Dolores, whom I hereby appoint as my sole and legitimate heir to whatever portion of the estate corresponds to my share of ownership.
5th Item:
I declare that, at the time I married my aforementioned wife, I brought no assets into the marriage; for although I possessed a few beasts of burden, the debts I owed exceeded their total value; and that my wife, Maria Ignacia Escalante, likewise brought no assets whatsoever into the marriage.
6th Item:
I request and charge that my wife place herself under the care of Don Manuel Rodriguez, in whom I place my full trust and confidence, assured that he will provide her with such sustenance as he is able to afford both her and her daughter, and will ensure the best possible administration of that portion of the estate corresponding to my aforementioned daughter. As for that portion which may belong to my aforementioned wife by virtue of marital community property, she is free to manage it at her own will, in accordance with the law, as it is not my intention to contravene her rights in this regard; however, I do earnestly entreat my said wife to entrust herself entirely to the aforementioned Don Manuel Rodriguez, who will, in all matters, guide her and provide for her best interests.
7th Item:
I declare, for the discharge of my conscience, that I owe, as a primary debt, to the aforementioned Don Manuel Rodriguez a certain sum of pesos; the exact, specific amount of which I am unable to state with certainty; be that as it may, since this entry appears in one of his Cash Books, I direct that it be upheld and that the amount recorded therein be paid, for I place my complete trust in the good conscience, renowned integrity, and Christian conduct of the aforementioned Don Manuel Rodriguez.
8th Item:
I declare that I am indebted to Don Francisco Rodriguez in the amount of forty pesos, which I direct be paid from my assets.
9th Item:
I declare that my assets at the present time are as follows: A drove of fifty mules, forty of which are saddled and fully outfitted in good condition; two hundred head of cattle (branded stock), more or less; and a number of horses and colts, all branded with my mark; an irrigated farmstead for the cultivation of grain crops, complete with all farming implements, including six yokes of oxen. The house of my habitation, being the very dwelling in which I currently reside in this district, together with all the furniture and household effects found therein at the time of my death.
10th Item:
I declare, for the discharge of my conscience, that the following individuals are my debtors: Don Simon Valencia, nine “fanegas” of wheat; Don Ygnacio Araiza, an ungelded colt; Don Juan Jose Noriega, five “fanegas” of wheat; Benito Marcial of Sonora, a cow with a calf and a three-year-old bull; Joachin Coronado of Los Llanos, twenty pesos; Señor Vicente Castelo, twenty pesos; Jose de la Cruz Gradillas, thirteen pesos. Ramón Valencia, in addition to that private account, as the freighter for the *Abajo* district, owes a mule. Don Antonio Curiel owes me a plow fitted with a new share.
11th Item:
I declare that I currently have three and a half *fanegas* of wheat sown on a sharecropping basis with Pedro Robles.
By virtue of all that I have set forth herein, and in order that this, my Last Will and Testament and final disposition, may possess the utmost validity and firmness, I hereby annul any and all other wills or codicils that I may have executed prior to this date; for it is my express wish and will that this document alone shall possess due validity and legal force. I respectfully request that the Honorable Captain Don Jose Esteban, Military and Political Commander of this district and Territorial Judge, be pleased to interpose the full weight of his authority and judicial decree to ensure that this, my Last Will and Testament, receives its most punctual fulfillment and validation.
And I, Don Jose Esteban, Captain of the Orcasitas Company, Military and Political Commander of this district, do hereby attest that I personally know the Testator, who, although afflicted by physical ailments, remains in full possession of his mental faculties, including his memory, intellect, and free will, and that, in my presence and in the presence of the instrumental witnesses, Don Francisco Xavier Romo, Don Jose Maria Dias, and Don Jose Maria Normandia, as well as the witnesses assisting me in my official capacity, Don Juan Jose Dias executed the foregoing Last Will and Testament contained herein. Of El Pitic and the Villa of San Pedro de la Conquista, on the ninth day of the month of April in the year one thousand eight hundred and seventeen.
As the Grantor did not know how to write, Don Rafael Dias signed on his behalf at his request; and I, the undersigned, executed this instrument in the presence of the instrumental witnesses and witnesses of assistance, acting “per receptoria” (by virtue of official commission) due to the absence of any duly appointed Notary Public within the jurisdiction, to which fact I attest.
Summary
Summary indicating the name, institutions, monetary value, pertinent clarifications, etc., regarding the inheritance:
I declare that I was married in my first nuptials to Maria Ignacia Escalante “in facie ecclesiae” (in the face of the Church); from this marriage, we begot and raised only our aforementioned daughter, Cesilia de los Dolores, whom I hereby designate as my sole and legitimate heir to all that pertains to my share of the estate. The testament consists of two folios of official paper, in a fair state of preservation.
Original untranslated transcription available: Testamentos de Sonora, 1786-1910, https://www.colson.edu.mx/testamentos/principal.aspx