Students of Spanish-American history will ever be grateful for the detailed and painstaking way in which most Spanish officials kept the records of their acts. This excellence of the surviving materials left by them serves to increase our regret for the loss of those that have been destroyed or have otherwise disappeared. A case in point is furnished by the records of the Franciscan missions founded and conducted during the Spanish régime in Texas. For, while a small quantity of precious mission records are still available, the larger portion of what we know must have existed at one time has disappeared from present view. To say that they are irrevocably lost is unsafe, except where there is positive proof of destruction, for they may unexpectedly come to light in some out-of-the-way corner or some unexplored repository. There is good reason to hope, indeed, that when the archives of Mexico and Spain have been duly searched, much of the missing material for the history of these interesting institutions will be recovered.
It is not my purpose here to speculate as to what materials exist elsewhere, but rather to describe briefly the small collection that is now the property of the San Antonio diocese of the Catholic Church, and is in the custody of the Right Rev. Bishop Forest. Though the collection is small, it contains, besides important material for the history of Texas missions, ethnological data that may in the last resort be our only clue to the classification of a number of native Southwestern tribes, whose racial affiliation would otherwise remain forever unknown. This collection is private property, is guarded with care by the custodian, and, properly, is made available for use only under the strictest safeguards. It is highly desirable, however, that records such as these, which if once destroyed could never be replaced, should be stored in a fire-proof building, beyond the danger of destruction.
The whole collection of Spanish papers, which does not aggregate more than 3,000 pages, perhaps, falls into two groups. The larger and much completer one consists of records of the parochial church which served the Villa of San Fernando de Béxar and the adjacent Presidio of San Antonio de Béxar. The smaller group is composed of records of the missions located near by. It is with the latter that I shall deal here.
In the immediate neighborhood of San Antonio five Spanish missions were established and operated in the 18th century, while a sixth was projected and nominally founded, but was actually conducted as a part of one of the other five. The five actually established were San Antonio de Valero (1718), which had existed formerly on the Rio Grande as San Francisco Solano, San José de Aguayo (1720), Nuestra Señora de la Puríssima Concepción (1731), San Juan Capistrano (1731) and San Francisco de la Espada (1731). The sixth, San Xavier de Náxera, was nominally founded in 1722, and the neophytes intended for it, though ministered to from San Antonio de Valero, were apparently kept separate till 1726, when they were definitely attached to this mission.
Of these missions the only one whose records are fairly complete in the collection under view is San Antonio de Valero, considered together with its antecedent mission, San Francisco Solano, and the attached mission, San Xavier de Náxera, both of which can best be treated with San Antonio de Valero. For these missions there are the following records:
A. BAPTISMAL RECORDS.
The baptismal records of these three missions are contained in a leather-bound book whose title is: Bautismos. Libro I. De 1703 á 1783. 3
This book is made up of two parts, which really are distinct units. In fact, the first part is unbound, and is only laid within the cover of the other; but the title on the outside has been
adjusted to include them both, and they will, therefore, be treated as Parts I and II, which are my own designations. A typewritten title in English that has been pasted on the outside makes it appear as though the book includes records of Mission San José, but this is not true. Both parts of the book are well preserved.
Part I.
The title of this part is: Libro en que se Assientan los Bautismos De los Indios de esta Mission de S. Anto De Valero Sita a la Rivera del Rio de S. Antonio De la Governacion de esta Provincia de los Texas, y Nuevas Philippinas, perteneciente al Colegio Apostolico de propaganda fide De la Santissima Cruz de la Cuidad de Santiago de Queretaro. 4
This is an unbound cuaderno 5 of 16 folios, and is in a good state of preservation. It contains, under two sub-titles, a beautiful copy of the records of (a) baptisms at Mission San Francisco Solano, the predecessor of San Antonio de Valero, down to 1709, and (b) the baptisms at the Hyerbipiamo District, where the Indians of this tribe 6 were kept while awaiting the actual establishment of the nominally founded Mission San Xavier de Náxera. For this record we are indebted to the care of Fray Diego Martín García, who most of the time between 1740 and 1754 was laboring at San Antonio de Valero. In 1745 he undertook the work of copying these records, because, as he said, the old ones were in different manuscripts and in bad shape. His copy is dated Aug. 12, 1745.
(a) San Francisco Solano.—The first sub-title of this cuaderno is Bautismos de Esta Mision En el Tiempo, que se nombró de S. Francisco Solano. Todos los quales con los demas, que se hicieron desde el principio, yo F. Diego Martin Garcia, Ministro actual de esta Mision, translado aqui de dos libros antiguos, por estar estos ya maltratados, y haver hallado algunas partidas en quadernos sueltos. Y como se siguen. 7
Just preceding this title, on folio 1, García gives a brief statement of the founding of Mission San Francisco Solano at La Cienega del Rio Grande, and of its removal to San Ildefonso, thence back to the Rio Grande, and finally, in 1718, to San Antonio. According to García's statement the mission was founded in 1703, and it is true that the first baptism recorded in this copy of the records was performed Oct. 6, 1703. According to Portillo, however, who seems to be right, the mission was founded in 1700. 8 The last baptism recorded in this cuaderno was dated June 17, 1708.
(b) San Xavier de Náxera.—The second subdivision of this document, together with one or two notes entered elsewhere in the other mission records, gives us a clue to the history of Mission San Xavier de Náxera, which hitherto has mystified students. The sub-title of this part is: Bautismos de los Hyerbipiamos Que se intentaron poner en Nueva Mision, con la advocacion de Sn. Francisco Xavier, lo que no tuvo efecto, por haverse quedado en esta Mision de San Antonio. Ponense aqui, por no poderlos poner en su lugar segun los Años. 9 García tells us at the end of the cuaderno that these baptisms were transferred from two older cuadernos.
A word on the history of this mission, since it has never been written, is in order, as a means of showing the bearings of these records. Some time before Feb., 1721, a chief of the Hyerbipiamos, from near River San Xavier, 10 whose ranchería Father Espinosa and Capt. Ramón had visited in 1716, brought a number of families of followers to San Antonio, and asked that a mission might be founded among his people. This chief was hereafter called by the Spaniards Juan Rodriguez, an indication that he was baptized. When the Marqués de Aguayo went to East Texas in 1721 to re-establish the missions there, he took Juan Rodriguez with him as a guide, and when he returned to San Antonio he nominally established (March 10, 1722) the mission asked for, selecting a site between missions San Antonio de Valero and San José de Aguayo, and put it in charge of a Querétaran friar, Joseph Gonzales. 11 That the Hyerbipiamos were kept separate for some time seems evident, for Juan Rodriguez was hereafter known as “governor of the district (barrio) of the Hyperbipiamos,” and the baptisms while they were waiting for the actual foundation of the new mission, though performed at Valero, were recorded in a separate book, as the above title indicates. This situation apparently continued till 1726, when the project of a separate mission was given up, for thereafter the baptisms of the Indians of this tribe are entered in the Valero book. In 1731 Mission Concepción was founded on the same site. 12
Returning to the record, the entries of the Hyerbipiamo baptisms, only 33 in number, begin March 12, 1721, a year before the mission was nominally founded, and extend to July 20, 1726.
The last paragraph of the document contains the interesting statement, signed by García, that on May 8, 1744, was laid the first stone of a new church at San Antonio de Valero, the ministers being Fray Mariano Francisco de los Dolores and Fray Diego Martín García.
Part II.
The title page of this part reads: In Nomine Domini Amen. Libro en que se asientan los Baptismos de los Indios de esta Mission de San Francisco Solano. 13
This title is misleading, for the record continues after Mission San Francisco Solano had become San Antonio de Valero, and extends down to 1783. While Part I is a copy, Part II is an original record in its entirety. It contains 215 pages and 1601 baptismal entries, the first entry being dated March 19, 1710, and the last Nov. 25, 1783.
(a).San Francisco Solano.—Conversions at Solano after 1708 were evidently few, for there are no entries for 1709, and from 1710 to 1718, when the mission was moved, there are only 28, the last one being dated in 1716.
(b).(b) San Antonio de Valero.—The record for San Antonio de Valero begins with a certified statement that on May 1, 1718, D. Martín de Alarcón gave to Fray Antonio de San Buena Ventura de Olivares possession of the mission site at the Indian village on the banks of the San Antonio River. For a period of more than a year there was apparently but one baptism, and that on the day of the foundation of the mission, May 1, 1718. I say apparently, because the dates in the record are confusing, but after some study my conclusion is that the second baptism was not recorded till June 15, 1719. From this time on baptisms were frequent. In the first five entries, the mission is still called “San Francisco Solano, situated at San Antonio de Valero.” Thereafter the name San Antonio de Valero is used, although for a time not exclusively, I believe.
B. MARRIAGE RECORDS.
One book is devoted to the records of the marriages at Mission San Francisco Solano and San Antonio de Valero. In it are probably recorded also the marriages at the Hyerbipiamo District, although these are not distinguished from the others. The title page of the book reads: In Nomine Domini Amen Libro en que se asientan los cassamientos de los Indios de esta mission de S. Francisco Solano. 14 This is an unbound cuaderno containing 69 folios, and is in good condition. The records extend from 1709 to 1785. As some of the leaves have been torn off the back, I can not say how much further it originally extended.
(a).San Francisco Solano.—The first nine entries were made at San Francisco Solano, covering the period from 1709 to 1716, inclusive.
(b).
San Antonio de Valero.—The records for this mission begin in 1719 and extend to 1785. By the end of 1751 there had
been 231 marriages, and by the end of 1764 the number had reached 330. Thereafter the number was very small. I did not note the exact figures. Folios 40 and 41 of this book, covering the years 1749, 1750, and 1751, are lacking. We learn from the marginal numbers, however, that during these three years only 14 marriages were contracted. Some of the missing data at this point can be supplied, perhaps, from the baptismal and burial records for the same period.
C. BURIAL RECORDS.
The book of burial records for this mission is, like the book of baptisms, divided into two parts. Part I (my designation) is a copy of the early and detached records, made by Father García to preserve them, and Part II is the original record from 1710. Both parts are bound together, in leather, and they comprise about 200 folios. They have been badly damaged by water.
Part I.
(a).San Francisco Solano.—Entie[rros] De Esta Mi[sion] de S. Antonio [de Valero] Desde su Fundac[ion]. 15 Under this title fall the first six folios, covering the period from 1703 to 1708, and including 120 interments.
(b).San Xavier de Náxera.—Entierros de los Hyerbipiamos, que se havian de haver puesto en la Mision de S. Franco. la que no se fundó, por haverse quedado en esta Mission. 16 There are 11 entries, all falling in 1722.
García's note, dated Sep. 27, 1745, states that these records in Part I were transferred from two cuadernos.
Part II.
The title page of this part reads: Libro en que se Asientan los Yndios de esta Mision ya difuntos, de San Franco. Solano. 17...
.(a) San Francisco Solano.—Ten entries, covering 1710-1713, inclusive, were made before the mission was moved to the San Antonio. They throw valuable light on the change of names for the mission. The entries for 1710 and 1711 give the name “esta mission de San Francisco Solano;” the first for 1712 calls it “mission del Señor S. Joseph, yglecia de San Francisco Solano;” the first for 1713 reads “esta mission de la advocacion de el Señor S. Joseph, e yglecia de S. Francisco Solano.”
(b).San Antonio de Valero.—The burial records for this mission begin with 1721, but the marginal entry numbers 11-18 are missing, which indicates that one or more pages have been torn out. The last entries are in 1782, the total number being 1376.
In some years the death rate was extremely high. For instance, a report shows that on March 6, 1762, the total Indian population of the mission was 275 persons, 18 and this book shows that in 1763 there were 130 burials, making it appear that nearly half of the population died in one year.
For this mission the collection contains only the book of marriages, entitled: Libro de Casamientos de Esta Mission de la Purissa. Concepcion. Pueblo de Acuña. Fundado En Cinco de el Mes de Marzo de el Año de Mill Setecientos Treinta y Uno en la Margen de este Rio de San Antonio. 19
This is an unbound cuaderno of thirty-six folios. The first twelve folios are a copy of older records, made in 1746 at the instance of Fray Benito Francisco de Santa Ana, president of the Queréteran missions, and minister at Concepción. The remainder of the document is made up of original entries. The whole cuaderno is in good state of preservation.
The record extends from 1733 to 1790, inclusive, while some pages at the back, how many I cannot say, have been torn off. The entries reach a total of 249 in the fifty-seven years. From time to time there is entered the record of a visita, or official inspection, of the mission. While the possession of the baptismal and burial records
would in many points supplement the information given by the marriage record, this book gives us a very valuable guide to the general history of the mission.
For this mission there is one book, in which the records do not begin till Sept., 1777. Hence, if the earlier records can not be found elsewhere, we shall never know the inner history of the most active period of this mission, which at one time had “no equal in all New Spain.” The book is entitled: Libro de Bautismos, Casamientos, y Entierros, pertenecientes â la Mission de Sr. Sn. Josef. 20
On the leather cover has been pasted an analysis, or table of contents, which includes the Concepción marriage book, but the two are entirely distinct records, and are not bound together. Originally the San José book contained 247 pages, but numbers of them, blank ones apparently, have been removed. Otherwise the book is well preserved.
A.Baptisms. The first part (folios 2-57) is devoted to baptisms, beginning Sept., 1777, and extending to 1824. The entries begin with No. 832, (the “old book,” which has disappeared, having contained 831), and extend to 1211. Of these, 1067 had been entered before the end of 1803. After this date most of the entries are for Spaniards, mestizos, and mulattoes.
B.Marriages. Folios — to 139, covering the period 1778 to 1822, contain marriage records. The first entry is No. 335, 21 and by the end of 1796 No. 395 is reached. Few Indians are mentioned after this date.
C.Burials.—Folios 178-229, covering the period 1781 to 1824, are devoted to burial records. The first entry is No. 847, and the last one is No. 1837. After 1804 the burials of numerous Spaniards, mestizos, and mulattoes, but few Indians, are recorded.
A few scattered entries in the San José record book, between 1818 and 1824, apply to these two missions rather than to San José. No other records for these two missions are in the collection.
The comparative fullness of the records for San Antonio de Valero indicates what is lacking from the collection for the others. In short, for Concepción there are no baptismal or burial records; for San José, no records at all for the active period of its existence; for San Francisco de la Espada and San Juan Capistrano practically none at all; while for even Valero and Concepción the records for the few years preceding secularization are missing.
The historical and ethnological value of these records, particularly the latter, is inestimable—a potent cause for regret that the collection is not complete. Their importance can be only briefly indicated here. On the historical side it may be noted first, that they clear up the outlines of the history of mission San Xavier de Náxera, as is indicated above. They also throw considerable light upon the inner history of the San Xavier mission group founded later on San Gabriel River. On the missions in general the signatures of the entries—for each entry is signed—give us a continuous story of the personnel of the mission forces for the periods covered; the dates give us an adequate guide to the chronology; here and there are recorded notable happenings in the history of the missions; while the student of institutions finds light on mission administration and on the effect of mission life upon the neophytes.
More important still, perhaps, are the ethnological data. The baptismal records, as a rule, indicate the tribe to which the person baptized belongs, generally designating the tribal affiliation of both father and mother. In the baptismal and marriage records it is in many cases definitely shown what marriages were contracted before the parties came to the mission. Where such was the case, we get valuable light on inter-tribal relations independent of mission influence. Finally, for present purposes, the two hundred or more native personal names of Indians scattered through the records and in some cases translated, may be our only means of assigning a number of tribes to one or another of the great linguistic groups of the Southwest. Hence, in proportion as language is a satisfactory basis for ethnological classification and as other data are lacking, these will be treasured by ethnologists. 22
3. Translation: Baptisms. Book I. From 1703 to 1783.
4. Translation: Book in which are recorded the Baptisms of the Indians of this mission of San Antonio de Valero, situated on the bank of River San Antonio, in the jurisdiction of this province of Los Texas and Nuevas Philippinas, and belonging to the Apostolic College for the Propagation of the Faith of the Holy Cross of the city of Santiago de Querétaro.
5. A cuaderno is a number of sheets of paper stitched together. There seems to be no exact English equivalent, and the word, because of its definite meaning, deserves to be adopted.
6. Another form of this tribal name is Ervipiame. There are still other variants.
7. Translation: Baptisms at this mission during the time when it was called San Francisco Solano, all of which, together with the others performed from its beginning, I, Fray Diego Martin Garcia, present minister of this mission, transfer to this place from two old books, because these books are now in bad condition, and because some of the entries are found in separate cuadernos. They are as follows:
8. Portillo (Esteban L), Apuntes para la Historia Antigua de Coahuila y Texas (Saltillo, 1888) pp. 271-273.
9. Translation: Baptisms of the Hyerbipiamos, whom it was designed to place in a new mission named San Francisco Xavier, but which was not done because they remained in this mission of San Antonio. They are recorded here because they can not be put in their chronological order.
10. There is ground for thinking that this was the modern San Gabriel River.
11. These statements are based on Juan Antonio de la Peña's Diario of the Aguayo expedition found in Memorias de Nueva España, XXVIII, 1-61.
12. Testimonio de Asiento de Misiones. This document contains the original record of the founding of the mission.
13. Translation: In the name of God, Amen. Book in which are recorded the baptisms of the Indians of the mission of San Francisco Solano.
14. Translation: In the name of God, Amen. Book in which are recorded the marriages of the Indians of this mission of San Francisco Solano.
15. Translation: Burials at the mission of San Antonio de Valero since its beginning.
16. Translation: Burials of the Hyerbipiamos, who ought to have been put into mission San Francisco Xavier, which was not founded because they remained in this mission.
17. Translation: Book in which are recorded the Indians of this mission of San Francisco Solano who are now dead.
18. “Ynforme de Misiones,” 1762, in Memorias de Nueva España, XXVIII, 164.
19. Translation: Book of Marriages at this mission of La Puríssima Concepción, Pueblo de Acuña, founded March 5, 1731, on the bank of this river San Antonio.
20. Translation. Book of Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, at the Mission of Señor San Joseph.
21. The “old book,” which has disappeared, contained 334 entries.
22. It may be noted here that in the County Clerk's office at San Antonio there is a considerable collection of documents dealing with mission land titles, while in the City Clerk's office there are one or two documents of similar nature.
How to cite:
Bolton, Herbert E., "SPANISH MISSION RECORDS AT SAN ANTONIO ", Volume 010, Number 4, Southwestern Historical Quarterly Online, Page 297 - 307. http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/publications/journals/shq/online/v010/n4/article_2.html
[Accessed Sat Nov 21 12:25:11 CST 2009]
