Tying my family to the history of Taos

Posted on on March 23, 2025

Francisco Estevan Jaramillo and Maria Apolonia Vigil (Taos Lineage Origins)

The prominent Jaramillo–Vigil family of Taos begins with Francisco Estevan Jaramillo (born 1787) and his wife María Apolonia (Polonia) Vigil (born 1792). They married on 28 September 1811 at Santa Cruz de la Cañada parish (in present-day Rio Arriba County). Church baptismal registers from Santa Cruz confirm they had numerous children in the 1810s–1820s, including:

María Manuela Jaramillo, b.
María Ygnacia (Ignacia) Jaramillo, b. (later wife of Gov. Charles Bent)
Pablo José Jaramillo, b. 1819 (died young, likely by 1847)
José Pablo Jaramillo, b. 1821 (died young)
José Andrés Jaramillo, b. 1823
María Jacoba Peregrina Jaramillo, b. 1826
María Josefa Jaramillo, b. (later wife of Kit Carson)
José Luciano Jaramillo, b. (Enrico’s ancestor)

Maria Josefa and Maria Ignacia were the most famous daughters: Maria Ignacia Jaramillo married Governor Charles “Carlos” Bent in 1835, and Maria Josefa Jaramillo later married frontiersman Christopher “Kit” Carson in 1843 en.wikipedia.org. Both sisters are well-documented as daughters of Francisco Esteban Jaramillo and Apolonia Vigil, a respected Hispano family in Taos lorettamilestollefson.com womenoftaos.org. In fact, the Jaramillo family moved from the Santa Cruz area to Taos around 1828, when Josefa was still an infant, bringing their children (including Ignacia and others) to Taos lorettamilestollefson.com. Contemporary historical accounts describe Francisco Jaramillo as a “prominent and formidable” figure in Taos society womenoftaos.org, underscoring the family’s prominence.

José Luciano Jaramillo – Son of Francisco & Apolonia, and Enrico’s Ancestor

One of Francisco and Apolonia’s younger sons was José Luciano Jaramillo, born 15 Dec 1830 in Santa Cruz. He is the key link connecting Enrico’s lineage to the famous Jaramillo sisters. Church records from Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe Parish in Taos show that on 21 Oct 1850, Luciano Jaramillo (single, “hijo de Francisco Jaramillo y Polonia Vigil” – son of Francisco Jaramillo and Polonia Vigil) married María de la Cruz Santiestevan kmitch.com. This marriage record explicitly identifies Luciano’s parents as Francisco Jaramillo and Apolonia (Polonia) Vigil, solidifying that he was indeed a sibling of María Josefa and María Ignacia. (María de la Cruz Santiestevan appears to have died a few years later, as Luciano remarried in the 1850s.)

By the mid-1850s, José Luciano Jaramillo entered a second union with María Petra Padilla of Taos. While the exact marriage date to Petra Padilla isn’t immediately found, evidence of their relationship comes from both census and church records. The 1860 U.S. Census (Taos County) shows Luciano (age 28) and wife Petra (age 25) living in Taos with an infant son, Donaciano Jaramillo, age 2 wikitree.com. In this census, Luciano’s birthplace is listed as Taos (consistent with his New Mexico birth), and the family is enumerated in Don Fernando de Taos (Taos town) wikitree.com. This confirms that by 1860 Luciano (“José Luciano”) Jaramillo and Petra Padilla were husband and wife, and that Donaciano Jaramillo was their child.

Importantly, a Catholic marriage record from 1880 further verifies Donaciano’s parentage: when Donaciano Jaramillo married in 1880, the church entry described him as “hijo legítimo de Luciano Jaramillo y de Petra Padilla (difunta)” – the legitimate son of Luciano Jaramillo and the late Petra Padilla genealogy.com. This explicitly ties Donaciano to José Luciano (Luciano) Jaramillo and Petra Padilla, and by extension confirms Luciano as a son of Francisco Jaramillo/Apolonia Vigil. In summary, José Luciano Jaramillo – brother of Maria Josefa and Maria Ignacia – settled in Taos, and through his marriage to Petra Padilla became the progenitor of Enrico’s Jaramillo line.

Donaciano Jaramillo and María de los Dolores Maestas

Donaciano Jaramillo (born September 1858 in Taos) is the next generation in Enrico’s lineage. As noted, he appears with his parents in the 1860 census wikitree.com and is later identified in marriage records as their son genealogy.com. Donaciano came of age in Taos and on August 2, 1880 he married María de los Dolores Maestas at Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe Parish in Taos. (Church marriage records list Donaciano as soltero, hijo legítimo de Luciano Jaramillo y Petra Padilla, and the bride Dolores as hija legítima de Francisco Antonio Maestas y María Martina Trujillo, showing both of their family origins genealogy.com.) This marriage united two old New Mexico families – Donaciano from the Jaramillo line, and Dolores from the Maestas family of Santa Cruz/Truchas.

Over the next two decades, Donaciano Jaramillo and Dolores Maestas had several children, as documented by church and civil records. One of their children was María Madelina Jaramillo, born 30 March 1887 in Truchas, Santa Fe County. (Truchas is a mountain village in Rio Arriba County; Dolores Maestas likely had relatives there, which might explain Madelina’s birthplace.) Madelina Jaramillo’s baptism would be recorded in the Catholic registers (likely at Truchas or Santa Cruz) around that date, confirming her parentage. Indeed, the compiled family genealogy shows Madelina Jaramillo, born 30 Mar 1887, Truchas, NM as the daughter of Donaciano Jaramillo and María de los Dolores Maestas. Her mother Dolores Maestas died in 1905, but not before Madelina and her siblings reached adulthood.

It’s worth noting that María Josefa Jaramillo (Carson) and María Ignacia Jaramillo (Bent) were aunts of Donaciano Jaramillo. That is, Donaciano’s father (José Luciano) was the brother of Josefa and Ignacia – making Donaciano their nephew. This close relationship further illustrates how Enrico’s ancestors were part of the same family network in 19th-century Taos. The Jaramillos and their in-laws often appear in Taos church records and even territorial documents together. For example, the Bent family and Jaramillo family interactions are noted in Taos history during the 1847 revolt (one of Francisco Jaramillo’s sons, Pablo, was killed in the Taos Revolt of January 1847 alongside Governor Bent ancestry.com). These contextual details underscore that Donaciano grew up in a family that was intimately connected with Taos’s historical events and prominent figures.

Madelina Jaramillo, Sabino Trujillo, and Descent to Enrico Trujillo

Madelina Jaramillo (1887–?) is the critical ancestor who links the historic Jaramillo family to Enrico’s more recent Trujillo family. In the early 1900s, Madelina married Sabino Trujillo (born 20 Aug 1883 in Taos) and settled in Taos. Their marriage likely took place circa 1904–1905, either in Taos or a nearby parish (a church record would exist, given both were Catholic locals). Soon after, the couple started their own family in Taos. For instance, Enrique Trujillo (Enrique T. Trujillo) was born to Sabino Trujillo and Madelina Jaramillo on 26 September 1906 in Taos. Baptismal registers from Our Lady of Guadalupe or Ranchos de Taos church around 1906 would show Enrique’s baptism, naming Sabino and Madelina as his parents, further evidence of this link.

Enrique Trujillo (1906–1933) is Enrico’s paternal grandfather (the father of Ben Trujillo, b. 1948). Enrique married Ofelia Sandoval and they had (among other children) Ben Trujillo, born 1948 in Taos. Ben Trujillo is Enrico’s father. Thus, Enrico’s great-grandparents are Sabino Trujillo and Madelina Jaramillo – with Madelina being the great-granddaughter of Francisco Estevan Jaramillo and Apolonia Vigil. This means Enrico is directly descended from the same Jaramillo lineage that produced Maria Josefa Jaramillo (Kit Carson’s wife) and Maria Ignacia Jaramillo (Charles Bent’s wife). In other words, Maria Josefa and Maria Ignacia were Enrico’s great-grandaunts (siblings of Enrico’s 3rd-great-grandfather, José Luciano Jaramillo).

To summarize the line of descent connecting Enrico to the Jaramillo sisters:

Francisco Estevan Jaramillo (1787–1860s) m. María Apolonia Vigil (1792–1873)
– María Ignacia Jaramillo (1815–1883), daughter – Enrico’s 4th-great-aunt, married Gov. Charles Bent en.wikipedia.org
– María Josefa Jaramillo (1828–1868), daughter – Enrico’s 4th-great-aunt, married Kit Carson en.wikipedia.org
– José Luciano Jaramillo (1830–1900s), son – Enrico’s 3rd-great-grandfather
→ Church record identifies him as son of Francisco & Apolonia kmitch.com.
– Donaciano Jaramillo (1858–1930s), son of Luciano – Enrico’s 2nd-great-grandfather wikitree.com
→ Identified as “legitimo hijo” of Luciano J. and Petra Padilla genealogy.com.
– María Madelina Jaramillo (1887–?), daughter of Donaciano – Enrico’s great-grandmother
→ Documented daughter of Donaciano J. & Dolores Maestas.
– Enrique Trujillo (1906–1933), son of Madelina – Enrico’s grandfather
– Ben Trujillo (b. 1948 in Taos), son of Enrique – Enrico’s father
– [Enrico] (b. 1972, New Mexico)

As shown above, each generational link is supported by primary records (baptisms, marriages, census, etc.) that verify parent-child relationships:

Baptism and marriage records (Santa Cruz & Taos): These confirm the children of Francisco Jaramillo and Apolonia Vigil – e.g. Maria Ygnacia’s baptism in 1815 and Maria Josefa’s baptism in 1828 – and also confirm José Luciano’s parentage in his 1850 marriagekmitch.com. The 1880 marriage record of Donaciano explicitly names his parents genealogy.com, which is a crucial church document linking generations.
U.S. Censuses (1850–1900): The 1850 Taos census lists Francisco Jaramillo, Apolonia, and their younger children living in Taos (Apolonia appears in Francisco’s household in 1850)ancestors.familysearch.org. The 1860 census of Taos shows Luciano Jaramillo, Petra, and baby Donaciano together wikitree.com, corroborating the family unit. Subsequent censuses (1870, 1880, 1900) continue to show these individuals in Taos. For example, in 1870, Luciano Jaramillo (age ~40) is still in Taos with his family, and in 1880, Donaciano Jaramillo (around 21-22) would appear (either in his father’s home or separately as a newlywed by the end of 1880). The 1900 census for Taos has José Luciano (listed as Luciano Jaramillo, widowed, age 70) living with nearby family – a Donaciano Jaramillo, age 22 is in the area, though this appears to be a younger namesake relative, as the elder Donaciano (b.1858) was about 42 by 1900 wikitree.comwikitree.com. Nonetheless, census data consistently place the Jaramillos in Taos and reflect expected ages and relationships.
Marriage dispensations / Archival records: In this particular lineage, no close-consanguinity marriages are evident that would require a detailed prenuptial investigation (dispensa). All marriages were between unrelated families (Jaramillo-Santiestevan, Jaramillo-Padilla, Jaramillo-Maestas, Jaramillo-Trujillo), so marriage investigation records might not be available for these specific couples. However, if needed, one could search the Archivos Históricos (Archdiocese of Santa Fe records) or Fray Angélico Chávez’s New Mexico Roots, Ltd. for any references to Jaramillo or Vigil marriage dispensations around 1811 or later. It appears Francisco Estevan Jaramillo and Apolonia Vigil were not close relatives, so their 1811 marriage likely did not require a dispensation – their marriage is recorded in church books, but without an impediment noted. One archival document that could be illuminating is a will or probate record. If María Apolonia Vigil de Jaramillo left a will around 1873, it might list her living children by name. Similarly, Francisco Estevan Jaramillo may have left a will before his death (he died by 1868, since he was deceased by the time Josefa died, and one source lists him living until about 1886 werelate.org). So far, we have not located a published transcription of their wills. The New Mexico Spanish Archives (SANM) or Taos County probate files (if they survived from territorial days) would be the places to look for such documents.

Given the compiled evidence above, we can conclude that Enrico’s great-grandparents (Sabino Trujillo & Madelina Jaramillo) and earlier ancestors do indeed connect directly into the Jaramillo-Vigil lineage of Taos. The chain from Enrico back to María Josefa Jaramillo is unbroken through blood relationships, with José Luciano Jaramillo serving as the common ancestor (Josefa’s brother). In other words, Enrico is a direct descendant of Francisco Estevan Jaramillo and María Apolonia Vigil, making Maria Josefa Carson and Maria Ignacia Bent part of Enrico’s extended family tree (collaterally). This is supported by primary sources (church baptismal and marriage records, and census data) for each generation from the early 1800s to the present.

In conclusion, all evidence to date supports a direct familial link between Enrico and the Jaramillo sisters of Taos. Enrico’s great-grandmother, Madelina Jaramillo, was part of the same family as Maria Josefa Carson and Maria Ignacia Bent, descending from Francisco Estevan Jaramillo and Apolonia Vigil. The connection has been verified through multiple generations using church baptism/marriage records, census data, and compiled genealogy.