Francisco Reyes who accompanied the Portola party to discover Monterey, Alta California was born in 1747 in a small village called Zapotlan el Grande in the State of Jalisco, Mexico. (Today it is a city named Cuidad Guzman) His father was Juan Jose Dias and his mother was Gertrudis Reyes. It is unclear to us why he used the Reyes name when he journeyed to Alta California.
We have Reyes marriage investigation, signed by Padre Serra. After serving as a soldier protecting Serra in Carmel, Reyes was assigned to the SB Presidio to fulfill his period of enlistment. He retired to Pueblo de Los Angeles where he served twice as Alcade. Reyes was the recipient of a Spanish Land Grant called Encino. It encompassed today's Encino, but also contained the entire San Fernando Valley. As with all European land grants, when the Crown wanted his Rancho back to be given for a Mission at San Fernando, the land was.....reluctantly.....returned. Reyes was given a substitute land grant rancho called Lompoc.
As part of La Senora's Rancho Descendants outreach, we have traced his descendants through five generations. We are now seeking information on his ancestors and on his activities in Mexico---most likely in the shipyards -- during the period in which the Alta California exploration ships were being readied for the journey. La Senora is devoted to research and education on the Cultural Heritage of these individuals so it's not just genealogical information we seek.
After Independence, Reyes grandson Ysidro Reyes (a young vintner in the Pueblo) and a friend Francisco Marquez (operator of the large blacksmith shop in the Pueblo) moved to Rancho Boca de Santa Monica in 1839 when they received that Mexican Land Grant. We will post DNA info from Francisco Reyes great, great, great grandson (the Historian for La Senora Research Institute and Rancho Boca de Santa Monica) and will be delighted if someone can help us to understand what these tests mean. Ernest Marquez is the great grandson of both Ysidro Reyes and Francisco Marquez as the two land grant families intermarried.
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Zapotlan el Grande, Jalisco Mexico
My ancestors were also from Zapotlan el Grande (Ciudad Guzman).
My Great Grandfather x7, Antonio Rodriguez married Theresa Ramires July 06, 1706, Zapotlan El Grande. They had a son by the name of Thomas who decided to carry on his mothers surname "Ramires". Thomas is also identified as "hijo legitimo" de Antonio Rodriguez.
Not sure if carrying on your mothers surname was custom throughout Mexico but in some areas it was. I also have read that if a couple had many children it was expected for at least one of them to carry on the mothers surname. We will let the experts comment and educate us on that.
I just wanted to also add that I am a participant in the Family Tree DNA project and have my results to share with anyone. My YDNA is I-M223 I2a2a (I believe its the same as I2b1). Wish more people from Southern Jalisco would participate in the DNA project.
I am a native of Southern California and very familiar with the San Fernando Valley. I got married in Encino, CA. I have read about the Sepulveda, Bandini, De La Guerra y Noriega, Pico and other surnames (families) that lived and owned land in S. California.
I will follow your story
Juan Francisco Reyes 1747
That's interesting information. I'm willing to help with the DNA results. However, there is a limitation on what can be determined based on the type and level of testing and how well documented the trees of the matches are and how much Y-DNA SNP testing the matches have done. The Y-DNA STR test should be at least 37 markers, but 67 markers are much better, to find matches. If there are no matches then the results will be limited to providing information on the haplogroup which would likely need additional SNP testing for anything conclusive for a region and time period for when the SNP first appeared based on ancient remains and/or calculated estimates.
Any autosomal testing would be limited to ethnicity results since that too long ago to prove a connection to any families in Jalisco.
Information from mtDNA results depend on the level of testing, haplogroup, matches, and trees of the matches. If it isn't Full Sequence testing it will be harder to find matches of significance. If the haplogroup is common in a lot of people of the same ethnicity of the maternal line then it will also be hard to provide any information other than a large geographical region where the haplogroup is most common.
Armando