If you’ve ever researched a person just because you found their name interesting, you might be a genealogist!
I find the name Maria Leonor Juliana Samaniego absolutely beautiful! Seems like a perfectly good reason to learn more about her.
If you’re curious about the pronunciation of Samaniego you can use Google Translate and have it pronounce it out loud. All on it’s own it made me curious about the Samaniego family.
In case you too are curious:
Maria Leonor Juliana Samaniego was born 1801 in Alamos, Sonora, Mexico to Carlos Samaniego and Maria Josefa Alvares. She went by Leonor in most of the available records so that is how I will refer to her.
Leonor married first Francisco Montijo in 1822 in San Miguel de Horcasitas, Sonora, Mexico. Horcasitas is very near where she was born. Leonor and Francisco have one known son Jose Jesus Carmen Guadalupe Francisco Montijo who was born in 1824. Francisco passed away some time before 1837 when Leonor married Rafael Manjarres.
Leonor was one of three known children born to Carlos Samaniego and his wife Maria Josefa Alvares. Her brothers were Josef Manuel Norverto Samaniego born 1802 and Manuel Ygnacio Guiyermo Samaniego born 1804. If the name spellings seem odd to you, this is how they were spelled in each brother’s baptismal record. Today we would see the first brother’s name as Jose Manuel Norberto and the second brother’s name as Manuel Ignacio Guillermo.
When doing research in colonial Mexico always be open to spelling differences.
Carlos Samaniego is the only known son of Ygnacio Gil Samaniego and Lorenza Antonia Fontes. He was born about 1740 possibly in Alamos. Lorenza is the daughter of Joseph Fontes and Maria Rosa Carranza; she was born in 1740 in Arizpe, Sonora. Joseph was second in command during the 1751 Pima uprising in Sonora.
Not much is currently known about Ygnacio Gil Samaniego, but there are a number of records for the Gil Samaniego family in Alamos in the early 1700s. Matheo Gil Samaniego and Manuel Gil Samaniego both have young children who are recorded as dying in the 1730s in Alamos. Matheo is married to Phelipa de Gasteategui.
Don Matheo Gil Samaniego and his wife Dona Phelipa de Gasteategui have several children who survive into adulthood in Alamos:
Daughter – Dona Gabriela Gil Samaniego marries Don Francisco de Villavueva Lazay Ladron of Reyno de Navazza in 1730 in Alamos.
Son – Don Juan Gil Samaniego marries Dona Maria Gertrudis de Ribera in 1738 in Alamos.
Daughter – Dona Antonia Gil Samaniego marries Don Lucas Rodriguez in 1749 in Alamos. Antonia’s father is listed here as Captain Don Matheo Gil Samaniego. Lucas is the widow of Mariana Baraunda.
Possible Son – Don Matheo Francisco Gil Samaniego marries Dona Francisca Xaviera Abiles in 1733 in Alamos. No parents are listed in this record. It is most likely either his son, a second marriage for him, or this could be a son of Manuel Gil Samaniego.
There is a Dona Juana Paula Gil Samaniego who marries Don Joseph Quintano in 1739 in Alamos. No parents are listed in the record, but she is worth noting as a possible daughter.
As a possible connection to Phelipa de Gasteategui I noted a marriage in 1741 in Alamos for Don Antonio Lopez Peñuelas and Dona Augustina de Murrieta. Antonio is the son of Don Captain Francisco Lopez Peñuelas and Dona Leonor Gasteategui. Augustina is the daughter of Don Francisco de Murrieta and Dona Ysabel Felix. Antonio is listed in the marriage record as being originally from Sinaloa.
The Spanish population in Sonora in the early 1700s is estimated to be no more than a couple of thousand, so it is likely the many of the individuals who share the same surname in the area are related.