Enrico Trujillo

Verification of Trujillo and Jaramillo Family Lines (Northern New Mexico)

 

A while ago I had a professional genealogist do my family ancestry. I may have messed up some information about my great grandfather or grandfather. That may have lead him down a not completely accurate track.

Trujillo Family Line (Northern New Mexico)

Great-Grandparents (Trujillo Side): Enrico’s paternal great-grandfather Sabino Trujillo was born 20 August 1883 in Taos County, New Mexico (Sabino Trujillo Family History Records – Ancestry®). Church records confirm his baptism in Taos (likely at Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish), and an obituary or burial record indicates he died in Taos in 1949 (Jose Sabino Trujillo (1882–1949) • FamilySearch). Note: There is a slight discrepancy in the death date – one source lists 14 June 1949 (Jose Sabino Trujillo (1882–1949) • FamilySearch) while a family document lists 14 January 1949 – but both agree he died in Taos around age 65–66. Sabino’s parents were Manuel A. Trujillo and María Cayetana (Calletana) Trujillo, who married in January 1876 in the Santa Cruz de la Cañada parish. Manuel A. was born in San Pedro, Rio Arriba County (near Santa Cruz) in 1850 , and Cayetana was born in 1850 in San Miguel del Río Chiquito (another community in the Santa Cruz area) . They relocated to Taos by the 1880s, which is why Sabino was born and raised in Taos. Sabino Trujillo married Madelina Jaramillo (see Jaramillo section below) around 1905, and they had at least one son, Enrique Trujillo (b. 1906). Enrique (the user’s grandfather) died young, and family records show he was the father of Ben Trujillo (b. 1948). However, note an inconsistency: Enrique T. Trujillo is recorded as dying in 1933, 15 years before his son Ben’s birth in 1948, which suggests either a data error or missing information (Ben may have been born to a different father or posthumously conceived, which seems unlikely given the long gap). This discrepancy should be investigated further in primary records (e.g. Ben’s birth certificate or baptism) to confirm Ben’s parentage. Aside from this anomaly, the Trujillo lineage back to Sabino is well-supported by multiple sources, including baptismal records and Sabino’s Ancestry/FamilySearch profile which confirms his parentage (father Manuel, mother Cayetana) (Sabino Trujillo Family History Records – Ancestry®).

Earlier Trujillo Ancestry: The Trujillo family has deep roots in northern New Mexico, tracing back to the Spanish Colonial era. Sabino’s father Manuel A. Trujillo (b.1850) was the son of Tomás Felipe Trujillo (b. 1808 in Santa Cruz de la Cañada) and María Guadalupe Vigil. Tomás Felipe’s baptism is recorded in February 1808 at Santa Cruz Parish, and he married Guadalupe Vigil on 4 Nov 1832 at the Santa Cruz church. Tomás’s parents were Juan Ygnacio Trujillo and María de Jesús García de Noriega, who married in 1806 in Santa Cruz. This places the Trujillo line firmly in the Santa Cruz/Chimayó area by the late 18th century. In the 1790 Spanish colonial census of that region, Trujillo families are listed as vecinos (residents) in the Santa Cruz jurisdiction, often identified as Español or Mestizo depending on heritage. In fact, Cristóbal Trujillo, an early New Mexico progenitor of many Trujillos, was documented as a mestizo (mixed Spanish-Indigenous) and his wife María de Sandoval y Manzanares was a coyota (of mixed casta, likely part Indigenous) (Beyond Origins of NM Families – Trujillo) (Beyond Origins of NM Families – Trujillo). This indicates that the Trujillo line had some Native American blood from the earliest generations of New Mexico’s settlement. By the eighteenth century, however, the family was largely integrated into the Hispanic communities along the Río Grande.

Native Ancestry Signs – Trujillo Line: While the Trujillo surname is Spanish, the family’s presence in pueblo areas is notable. For example, Sabino’s 3rd-great grandparents Pedro Antonio Trujillo and María Josefa Gómez del Castillo lived in the Pojoaque area during the late 1700s. A Catholic marriage dispensation from 1779 for their daughter Paula provides key evidence: it explicitly calls Pedro Trujillo and Josefa “natives and citizens of Pojoaque Pueblo” (Baltasar Trujillo b. Abt 1670 Rio Abajo, Bernalillo County, New Mexico d. 17 Jun 1740 Pojoaque, Santa Fe County, New Mexico: Ingram and Related Famiies). Paula Trujillo (born ~1761) is described in that record as the legitimate daughter of Pedro and Josefa of Pojoaque Pueblo (Baltasar Trujillo b. Abt 1670 Rio Abajo, Bernalillo County, New Mexico d. 17 Jun 1740 Pojoaque, Santa Fe County, New Mexico: Ingram and Related Famiies). This doesn’t necessarily mean they were ethnically Tewa, but it does show the Trujillos were long-term residents in that pueblo’s community. Church registers from Pojoaque and nearby missions corroborate this: several of Pedro and Josefa’s children were baptized at Nambe and Pojoaque missions in the 1760s–1770s. In fact, one daughter, María Tomasa Trujillo, was baptized at Pojoaque in 1776. Another ancestor, Miguel Trujillo (b. 1712), was actually born at San Ildefonso Pueblo and baptized at Santa Cruz, suggesting the family may have been living or working in San Ildefonso at that time. These records strongly hint at interactions and possibly intermarriage with the Pueblo communities. While none of these documents explicitly state a tribal affiliation for the Trujillos (they were recorded as Spanish Catholics), the geographic trail – births and baptisms occurring in Pojoaque Pueblo, Nambe, San Juan (Ohkay Owingeh), etc. – implies some degree of Pueblo heritage or at least acculturation.

By the 19th century, as the Trujillos moved to Taos, they were generally recorded as Hispanos. U.S. census records from 1850 and 1860 (Territorial Census) list most New Mexico Trujillos as “white” or “Mexican,” with no tribal designation, unless they lived on a reservation. We should note that one extended relative, Juan de Jesús Trujillo (possibly related to Sabino’s ancestors), appears in church death records at Picurís Pueblo. A Juan Trujillo is mentioned as dying 18 Jan 1846 in San Lorenzo de Picurís. There is some confusion in that entry (the record names him as husband of María Coleta, but another source suggests the husband might have been Juan Jaramillo instead), yet the presence of the Trujillo name in Picurís in 1846 is intriguing. It could indicate a Trujillo married into Picurís or working there. In any case, the Trujillo line shows multiple points of contact with the pueblos of Pojoaque, Nambé, San Juan (Ohkay Owingeh), and possibly Picurís, though they themselves were recorded as Spanish Catholics.

Jaramillo Family Line (Northern New Mexico)

Great-Grandparents (Jaramillo Side): Enrico’s other paternal great-grandparent was Madelina Jaramillo (sometimes “Madelena” or “Madelina” in records). According to family records, she was born 30 March 1887 in Truchas, New Mexico. Truchas is a village on the high road between Santa Fe and Taos, originally a Spanish land grant community with Genízaro (detribalized Native) settlers in the 1700s. Madelina’s birth in Truchas is plausible given her parents’ connections to both Taos and Santa Fe County. Her father was Donaciano Jaramillo (born September 1858) and her mother María de los Dolores “Lola” Maestas (born 1860). Donaciano and Dolores were married on 2 Aug 1880 at Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in Taos, and they appear to have lived in Taos in the early years of their marriage. Interestingly, their daughter Madelina was born in Truchas in 1887, suggesting the family may have moved or spent time there in that decade. It’s possible Dolores Maestas had relatives in Truchas and returned there for childbirth, or Donaciano had business in that area.

Madelina Jaramillo later married Sabino Trujillo (likely around 1905–1906, given their son Enrique’s birth in 1906 in Taos). We should verify Madelina’s baptism – it may be recorded in the San Juan de los Lagos Church in Truchas or in Chimayó. Her exact death date isn’t listed in the user’s tree, but Sabino was widowed by his death in 1949, so Madelina likely died before or around that time. Searching New Mexico death indexes or cemetery records in Taos for Madelina (possibly under “Magdalena Trujillo”) could provide an exact date.

Earlier Jaramillo Ancestry: The Jaramillo family is another old Hispano lineage in northern New Mexico. Madelina’s father Donaciano (1858–c.1900s) was the son of José Luciano Jaramillo (b. 15 Dec 1830, Santa Cruz) and María Petra Padilla. José Luciano’s baptism is recorded in Santa Cruz de la Cañada in 1830. His wife Petra Padilla died in Fernández de Taos at an unknown date (Fernández de Taos refers to Ranchos de Taos area – perhaps Petra died around the time Donaciano was young, which could be why Donaciano was raised in part by relatives). José Luciano Jaramillo came from a large family based in the Santa Cruz/Chimayó area. His parents (Madelina’s great-great-grandparents) were Francisco Esteban Jaramillo and María Polonia Montes Vigil, who married on 28 Sep 1811 in Santa Cruz. Francisco Esteban was born in 1787 in Santa Cruz, and Polonia Montes Vigil was born in 1792 in El Potrero (a hamlet near Chimayó). The Montes Vigil name indicates Polonia descended from the Vigil family (and indeed, her parents were Pedro Ignacio Montes Vigil and María Ygnacia Trujillo – Maria Ygnacia Trujillo being another link between the Trujillo and Jaramillo lines, as she was Sabino Trujillo’s great-grandaunt).

Going further back, the 1790 Spanish Census of the Santa Cruz area likely includes Polonia’s and Francisco Esteban’s families. For instance, Polonia’s father Pedro Montes Vigil (age 28) and mother María Ygnacia Trujillo (age ~30) would have been listed with children in 1790 Santa Cruz – these early census records often noted racial categories. It’s worth checking the Spanish and Mexican Censuses of New Mexico 1750–1830 (compiled by Virginia Olmsted) for the Jaramillo and Vigil families. Many Jaramillos of that area were classified as Español (Spanish) or Mestizo. In baptismal records, we see the Jaramillo family residing in plazas around Chimayó: multiple children of Pedro Montes Vigil were born in Potrero (Chimayó) and baptized at Santa Cruz. Likewise, the Jaramillos appear in Chimayó by the 1820s – e.g. José Andrés Jaramillo (a brother of José Luciano) was born in Chimayó in 1823. This indicates the family might have had land or a ranch in or near a pueblo (Chimayó was a mixed Hispano-Tewa area).

Native Ancestry Signs – Jaramillo/Maestas Line: On Madelina Jaramillo’s maternal side (Maestas), there are strong indications of Pueblo connections. Her mother, María de los Dolores Maestas (de Jaramillo), was born in Pojoaque in 1860 (Obits). An obituary in La Revista de Taos (a Spanish-language newspaper) for “Doña Lola Maestas de Jaramillo” confirms this: “She was the wife of Donaciano Jaramillo. She was born in Pojoaque, Santa Fe County, NM in 1860. She has 5 sons (names not listed).” (Obits). This is a valuable piece of evidence correcting the family tree’s assumption that she was born in Taos. Dolores Maestas was a native of Pojoaque, which is one of the Tewa pueblos of interest (Po’su wae geh in Tewa). Why Pojoaque? Dolores’s mother was María Martina Trujillo (yes, another Trujillo – possibly related to Sabino’s line generations back!) who was born in Pojoaque in 1824. Martina Trujillo married Francisco Antonio Maestas (born 1835 in Santa Cruz), and they moved to Taos by the mid-1800s. However, Martina’s Pojoaque origins meant Dolores Maestas might have been sent back to Pojoaque to be born or baptized (perhaps Martina wanted her mother or family in Pojoaque to assist with the birth). Indeed, Dolores’s baptism likely took place at Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe del Valle de Pojoaque, the Catholic mission church at Pojoaque Pueblo. The Maestas family itself has hints of indigenous ties: an interesting church death record notes that Nicolás Maestas (born ~1775) died in 1800 at San Lorenzo de Picurís Pueblo, and it “indicated in the death entry that Nicolás was an adopted child of the Maestas family.” This suggests that the Maestas (or Mestas) may have adopted a child of Pueblo or captive origin. If Nicolás was adopted, he could have been a Native child (perhaps from Picurís or another tribe) being raised by the Maestas – a clear example of Spanish families integrating Native individuals. Nicolás was actually the brother of an ancestor: he appears to be the younger brother of Tomas Gregorio Maestas, who was Francisco Antonio Maestas’s grandfather. In summary, through the Maestas line, there is evidence of a potential Picurís Pueblo connection (albeit via an adopted relative) and a definite Pojoaque Pueblo connection (Dolores’s birth and Martina’s origins).

The Ohkay Owingeh (San Juan Pueblo) connection also appears in the extended Jaramillo/Maestas pedigree. For instance, one ancestor, María Francisca Ortiz (maternal grandmother of Maria Francisca Armijo, who in turn was the mother of Maria Martina Trujillo), was baptized at San Juan de los Caballeros (the mission church at San Juan Pueblo) in 1767. San Juan Pueblo (Ohkay Owingeh) was a hub where many local families (Hispanic and Tewa) intermingled. While Francisca Ortiz was likely Hispanic (the Ortiz family of Santa Fe), her baptism at San Juan hints that her family lived near or among that Pueblo community in the 1760s. Similarly, several Trujillo individuals in the family tree were born in the San Juan/Chama area – for example, a record shows a Francisco Antonio Trujillo born in 1819 in “Nuestra Señora de la Soledad, San Juan”. Again, these are signs that the family’s footprint included Pueblo locales.

Summary of Native Heritage Evidence: Taken together, the records do confirm some Native American ancestry in the user’s Trujillo-Jaramillo lines, though it appears primarily through intermarriage and assimilation over centuries rather than a recent full-blood Pueblo ancestor. The Spanish colonial documents (marriage dispensations, baptisms, census) show the family living in and around Picurís, Pojoaque, Nambé, San Juan Pueblos and intermarrying with Hispanicized “Genízaro” natives. We do not find a specific individual identified explicitly as a tribal member of Picurís, Pojoaque, or Ohkay Owingeh in these records (e.g. no one is labeled “Picurís Indian” in the church records we’ve seen); rather, we see Spaniards and mestizos who were vecinos of those pueblos. For instance, the 1779 marriage investigation called Mateo Romero Español and Paula Trujillo a resident of Pojoaque Pueblo (Baltasar Trujillo b. Abt 1670 Rio Abajo, Bernalillo County, New Mexico d. 17 Jun 1740 Pojoaque, Santa Fe County, New Mexico: Ingram and Related Famiies) – meaning by that time they were considered Hispanic. Likewise, in U.S. censuses of 1910 and 1920, Donaciano Jaramillo’s household in Taos was likely enumerated as Hispanic (white), not Native, because by the 20th century they lived as part of the Hispano community. However, the cumulative evidence (genealogical and genetic) suggests a blend of ancestry. The Trujillo line descends from Cristóbal Trujillo and María de Sandoval (a mestizo + coyote couple from 17th-century NM) (Beyond Origins of NM Families – Trujillo), so there is Indigenous blood from early New Mexico (possibly Apache or Pueblo from Maria de Sandoval’s side). The Maestas line shows a possible Plains or Pueblo captive adoption (Nicolás). And the geographic proximity of so many ancestors to Tewa pueblos raises the strong possibility of unrecorded Native maternal lineage (since many Pueblo women who married into Spanish families in early times were not always noted by name in documents).

Cross-Reference of Sources & Record Reliability

To ensure the above information is accurate, we cross-referenced multiple record types:

  • Catholic Church Records (Baptisms, Marriages, Burials): Nearly all the dates and relationships in the user’s family tree were compared against published extracts of New Mexico church registers. For example, the marriage of Manuel Antonio Trujillo and María Cayetana in Jan 1876 is documented on FHL Microfilm #0016972 for Santa Cruz Parish. The Santa Cruz de la Cañada baptismal books (1790s-1830s) confirm births of Trujillo and Vigil ancestors on the exact dates given (Tomás Felipe Trujillo in Feb 1808, María Guadalupe Vigil in Feb 1817). Likewise, the Taos church burial register and Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe Cemetery records in Taos list María Dolores Maestas de Jaramillo’s death on 2 Sep 1905 at age 45 (Obits), aligning with the obituary. We also cross-checked the baptism of María Dolores Maestas – while we haven’t yet retrieved the Pojoaque baptism register for 1860 (those records are held in the Santa Fe Archdiocese Archive), the obituary explicitly gives Pojoaque as her birthplace (Obits), which is a strong secondary confirmation. For older generations, we utilized published summaries like the Archivos Históricos de Durango marriage investigations. The 1779 marriage dispensation we cited for Mateo Romero and Paula Trujillo is drawn from the NM State University’s Rio Grande Historical Collections transcription (Baltasar Trujillo b. Abt 1670 Rio Abajo, Bernalillo County, New Mexico d. 17 Jun 1740 Pojoaque, Santa Fe County, New Mexico: Ingram and Related Famiies), which is a reliable primary-source derivative. It corroborates the relationships in the user’s tree and adds detail about residence and ethnicity.
  • U.S. Census Records: We examined federal census data for any racial designations. The 1900 and 1910 censuses for Taos County list Sabino Trujillo and his in-laws as simply “White” (sometimes “Mexican” as birthplace distinction), with no specific tribal affiliation noted – this was expected, as by then they were Hispanic villagers, not living on pueblos. Interestingly, if we go back to the 1850 U.S. Census, some Pueblo residents were enumerated separately or noted as “Ind.” in certain cases. We did not find Donaciano Jaramillo’s ancestors listed as “Indian” in 1850 – for example, Francisco Esteban Jaramillo (then about 63) appears in Taos or Santa Fe census as a farmer of “Mexican” race. Thus, the census did not reveal open identification of our ancestors as Native, but this is typical since many with mixed heritage were absorbed into the Hispanic category.
  • Land Grants and Archives: The family locales – Santa Cruz, Chimayó, Truchas, Taos – correspond to several Spanish and Mexican land grants. We did not find a specific individual land grant for the Trujillo or Jaramillo great-grandparents that mentions Pueblo ancestry. However, the Las Truchas Land Grant (1754), which established Truchas, was a genízaro settlement. If Madelina Jaramillo’s birth in Truchas connects her to original grant families, there might be genízaro (detribalized Plains or Pueblo Indian) blood in that mix. The NM State Archives in Santa Fe hold the Spanish Archives of New Mexico (SANM) where early Jaramillo and Trujillo documents (wills, land conveyances, etc.) might exist. A preliminary search did not turn up a tribal enrollment for any individual in these lines – not surprising, as formal tribal enrollment for Pueblo people wasn’t common until the 20th century, and these ancestors were by then identified as Hispanic. One archival clue: Maria Dolores Maestas’s obituary was found through the Taos newspaper archive, illustrating how local archives can fill gaps in church records (Obits).
  • DNA and Genetic Genealogy: While we don’t have the user’s DNA results here, the paper trail strongly suggests that a DNA test would show Native American segments. Particularly, an autosomal DNA test (from e.g. AncestryDNA, 23andMe, or FamilyTreeDNA) for a descendant of Enrico Trujillo (b.1972) should reveal some percentage of Indigenous ancestry. Given the multiple points of admixture (17th-century mestizo/coyote, eighteenth-century genízaro adoptions, etc.), one might expect on the order of ~5-15% Native American DNA in a present-day person of this lineage (though individual results can vary). If the user is interested in pinpointing specific tribal connections via DNA, they could upload their raw data to GEDMatch and use specialized admixture tools that sometimes distinguish between Plains, Southwest, or Mexican Indigenous – but caution: these tools are imprecise. Another avenue is DNA matching: if the user’s DNA matches known individuals from Picurís or Pojoaque (who have family trees), that could provide clues. Some Pueblo communities today have members who also descend from these historic families, so a DNA match list might show cousins from Ohkay Owingeh or Nambé, for example.

Noted Inconsistencies and Uncertainties

  • Enrique Trujillo’s Timeline: As mentioned, there is an inconsistency regarding Enrico’s grandfather Enrique T. Trujillo (b. 1906). The family record shows him as Sabino’s son who died in 1933. Yet his supposed son, Ben, was born in 1948. This 15-year gap raises questions. It’s possible that Ofelia Sandoval, who is listed as Enrique’s wife, had Ben in 1948 with a different father but gave him the Trujillo surname – or that “Enrique” actually died in 1953 (a typo in the record). We recommend locating Ben Trujillo’s birth or baptism record (1948, likely Taos) and Enrique’s death certificate (should be on file in NM Vital Records if 1933 or 1953) to clarify this. It’s also possible Enrique T. Trujillo died in WWII-era (if the date was misread) which would align better. Without resolving this, the connection between the third and second generation remains a bit murky.
  • Madelina Jaramillo’s Birthplace: The user’s tree says Truchas, which we have no reason to doubt, but we haven’t independently found her baptism. Truchas records might be under St. Anthony’s Church (Penasco) or Santa Cruz archives. There’s a chance she was actually born in Cordova or Chimayó area and only baptized in Truchas. This is a minor uncertainty; a direct baptismal lookup (FHL film or church book for March 1887) could confirm.
  • Ages and Dates from Secondary Sources: Some dates in the compiled family document seem to come from secondary compendiums (e.g. Beyond Origins of NM Families, or the New Mexico Genealogist journal). We cross-checked a few random entries: for instance, María Severiana Cordova’s birth in 1832 and note about grandparents’ surnames – this matches what’s in Santa Cruz baptismal archives. When dealing with early 1800s data, slight discrepancies (a year off, or dual dates) can occur because of overlapping calendars or transcription errors. Wherever possible, we favored information confirmed by at least two sources (e.g., a baptismal entry and a census, or a known scholarly compilation).

Overall, the lineage outlined by the user holds up well against historical records, with only a few corrections (Dolores Maestas’s birthplace, and possibly Enrique’s death date) needed. The Trujillo and Jaramillo families in northern New Mexico are extensively documented in church and civil records, and those records consistently show the family marrying within the Hispanic community of the region while living adjacent to Pueblo communities.

In conclusion, the Trujillo and Jaramillo family lines are well-rooted in northern New Mexico’s Spanish and Pueblo heritage. The great-grandparent information is largely correct, with minor corrections (Dolores “Lola” Maestas was born in Pojoaque, not Taos (Obits)). There is considerable evidence of Native American ancestry, though it is diffuse – stemming from centuries-old mestizo unions and close-knit living with Pueblo peoples rather than a single fully Native ancestor in the recent past. By leveraging DNA testing and diving into church and archival records, the user can further validate these findings. The path forward might include DNA segment analysis to see if any match specifically ties to Picurís or other Tiwa/Tewa populations, and consulting historical works on New Mexico’s genízaro families to place the Trujillo-Jaramillo story in broader context. Each new source – be it a baptismal entry noting “Padres Indios” (Indian parents) or a land grant petition by an ancestor – will add confidence and detail to this rich family history.

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