Juan de Arbiso (Arvizu) a Basque Family in Sonora
Sonora and Sinaloa were originally a part of the Spanish province of Nueva Vizcaya, established in 1562. Vizcaya or Bizkaia / Biscay is a province northern Spain, part of Basque country. The name of Nueva Vizcaya is aptly named as much of the area was settled by Basque from Spain rather than Spaniards. This will be important later.
There are a lot of very good records available for Sonora, from Faye Jackson Smith’s book Captain of the Phantom Presidio: A History of the Presidio of Fronteras, the Fondo Colonial Collection, Catholic Church records available at FamilySearch and Ancestry, and the University of Arizona has an extensive collection.
Using these and other resources I’ve been able to piece together part of the story of Juan de Arbiso and his Basque family in Sonora. I have not found where or when he came from the old country, but he is identified in one source as clearly from Vizcaya.
Ygnacio Gavino de Arbiso
The earliest piece of the documented story for Juan is the baptism of his son Ygnacio Gavino de Arbiso 30 March 1704 in Nacozari de Garcia in Sonora. Nacozari de Garcia is a small mining town east of Arizpe in Sonora. Nacozari de Garcia was founded in 1660 as a mining town after silver and copper deposits were discovered there.
Ygnacio Gavino is the son of Juan de Arbiso and Maria de la Yguera (these are how the names are spelled in the records). Ygnacio Gavino’s godparents are Juan de Escalante and Juana Maria Martines, both residents of Nacozari and all are identified as Spanish. Notations of race / ethnicity are included in most Catholic church records into the early 1800s.
Joseph de Gavino de Arbiso
Juan de Arbiso and Maria de la Yguera’s next son Joseph de Gavino de Arbiso was baptized 30 November 1705 in Nacozari de Garcia. Joseph Gavino’s godparents are Juan de Leon and Margarita de Arviso. As these two sons both have the middle name Gavino it can be inferred that this is an important family name, although at this time the actual connection is unclear. The name can also be seen as Savino, consider those interchangeably as the same name.
Rossa de Arbiso
Ygnacio Gavino and Joseph de Gavino are the two youngest children found for Juan and Maria. There is an older sister Rossa de Arbiso who marries Nicolas Peres Granillo in Basochuca. Nacozari and Basochuca are about 16 miles apart as the crow flies. As the roads exist today they are roughly 100 miles apart. Rossa is noted in the marriage diligence as living in the home of her parents. Nicolas’ parents are Cristobal Peres Granillo and Maria Romo de Vivar both deceased. Witnesses to the marriage were Joseph Martin Bernal, 26 years old, and Diego de Milan, 44 years old.
Maria Margarita de Arbiso
There is another sister, Maria Margarita de Arvizu who is the widow of Juan Ygnacio de Leon when she marries Francisco Javier de Robles in 1732. Maria Margarita’s parents are listed in the marriage record confirming her lineage. Her age, however, is more of a question. Maria Margarita had one known daughter, Juana Rosalia de Leon, by her first husband.
Juana Rosalia marries Juan Joseph Rodrigues in 1745 in Arizpe. By this date it can be inferred that Juana is at least 15 years old, so born 1730 or earlier. It is reasonable to infer her mother Maria Margarita was born 1710 or earlier, so she could be the youngest child Juan de Arbiso and Maria de la Yguera or she could be older than her brothers. Nothing can be stated for sure until additional records relating to her are located.
Maria Margarita does appear in several baptismal records with her husband Francisco Robles in 1751 and 1752 in Arizpe. In 1754 Francisco Robles appears in a baptismal record with Dona Antonia de Leon, this may indicate Maria Margarita has passed away, but it also may just mean she was not selected as godmother for another reason.
Juan Joseph Arvizu
There is one final known son of Juan de Arbiso and Maria de la Yguera, Juan Joseph Arvizu who entered military service in 1716 and is 35 years old in 1723 in the list of soldiers at the Presidio San Felipe y Santiago de Janos. Not much is concretely known about Juan Joseph, but there is a Juan Joseph Arvizu who marries Susana Dias; they have a son Joseph Antonio Arivzu who marries Narcisa Gimenes in 1766. At 35 years old in 1723, Juan Joseph was born in 1688, but based on military records he was not married, or at least had no children as of 1726. While no proof exists, it is quite possible that the Juan Joseph who married Susana is the same as Juan and Maria’s son.
Military Records
There are additional military records related to the family. In 1724 in the city of Janos, at the Real Presidio de San Felipe y Santiago de Janos, Captain Don Gregorio Tuñon y Quiroz recorded the fifty soldiers at the Presidio. Included in the list is Juan Joseph de Albisu with all weapons and ammunition necessary, ten horses and one mule.
A mere two years later in another list put together by Captain Don Gregorio Tuñon y Quiroz, Joseph Arbizu is listed with his father being Juan de Arvizu who is 78 years old and it is his father who “sustains him.” Separately listed is Juan de Arbizu himself, but here he is 70 years old, “poor with many children and grandchildren.” As this is a list of all males in the area who could be included in the formation of two companies, this Juan de Arvizu is the same person, which age is correct is unclear. But it does provide parameters that Juan de Arvizu was born between 1648 and 1656.
Tracks of Land
In 1713 Juan de Arvisu from Nacozari appears before a judge in regards to fees he owns on his land. Juan pays the fee, but then owes a note Juan de Leon and Christoval de Leon who are brothers. Juan de Arvizu has two caballerias, which are tracks of rural land that have been granted to a horse-soldier for use in agriculture. This provides information on Juan’s previous military service and it is most likely that the Juan de Leon who is part of the note is his daughter Margarita’s first husband.
Cattle Brand
In another small piece of information about the life of Juan, in 1723 he presents to Juan Antonio Fernandez de la Canada in Arizpe paperwork for his cattle brand. So, he appears to have been expanding from agriculture on his two caballerias into cattle at this time.
There is one last important piece of information that must be taken into account about Juan de Arvizu. Captain Don Gregorio Tuñon y Quiroz is going through making the lists of soldiers and other items at the Presidios because he has been accused of dereliction of duty, a charge which he will eventually be convicted of. The political climate in Sonora is difficult as much of Sonora was settled by Basque including the Arvizu family and Gregorio Tuñon y Quiroz is Spanish.
1720 Letter Signed by Juan de Arvizu
Don Gregorio Tuñon y Quiroz, with the title captain for life of the Presidio of Fronteras, was using his influence to profit for himself while leaving the Basque population to suffer, using soldiers in his mines and neglecting the protection of the presidios. This leads the leading Basque men of Sonora to pursue justice against Tuñon y Quiroz.
In 1720, twelve citizens laid out their accusations against Tuñon y Quiroz, of those five are identified as Basque: Juan de Arvizu, Andres de Peralta, Miguel Antonio de Mondragon, Joseph Antonio de Salazar and Bernardo de Calbo. As these were considered the prominent men in the area the disparaging remarks about the health and state of Juan de Arbiso and family in the 1724 and 1726 lists should be taken with a grain of salt. Certainly, Don Gregorio Tuñon y Quiroz would have wanted to harm the reputation of the men and their families who started the investigation into him.
Book Series Update:
The first book in my genealogy series focused on families from the Sonora / San Miguel de Horcasitas region is already available, beginning with an in-depth study of the Arvizu family. More volumes are currently in the works, each built from the same rich Spanish and Mexican records that make this region so compelling for research.
If your roots trace back to Sonora or northern Mexico, or if you’re interested in well-documented frontier families, this series is just getting started, and there’s much more to come.