Antonio de Silva

  Noted events in his life were:

• Original Settler, 1695, Santa Cruz de la Cañada, Nuevo Méjico, Nueva España. ¹⁵¹⁰

• Dates & Events. ²⁵²
Antonio de Silva, the son Salvador de Silva, joined the colonest who had returned to New Mexico after the Pueblo Revolt in 1693, when he was 23 years of age. He had a round dark face, large eyes, and a sharp nose. His wife was Gregoria Ruiz. Gregoria was the daugther of Juan Ruiz, and was born in Mexico City. She was 23 when they came to New Mexico. They brought their three year old daugther, Gertrudis, along with them.

Antonio was a blacksmith. He and his family first settled in Santa Cruz de la Cañada where he had received a land grant. He also bought additonal property between Santa Cruz and Chimayó.

By the early 1700s, he moved to Bernalillo first, and then to Alburquerque. He and his wife lived in Alburquerque until their death.

~Origins of New Mexico Families, p. 288

• Census: Fray Francisco Farfán's list of New México colonists recruited in México City, On or Before July 1693, Ciudád de Méjico, Nueva España. ²⁸⁷
Antonio de Silva, blacksmith; his wife, Gregoria Ruiz; with daughter, Gertrudis, three years.

Royal Crown Restored, p. 248

Antonio de Silva, son of Salvador, native of Querée, twenty-eight years old, sound body, round face, dark skin, large eyes, a pointed nose.

Royal Crown Restored, p. 277

• Dates & Events. ⁵⁰⁹
Possible reasons why Antonio and hsi wife, Gregoria, left the region near Ciudád de Méjico were a measles epidemic struck the nearby region of Pueblo de los Ángeles, and a drought causing failure of wheat crops, which resulted in food shortages, high prices and rioting in Mexico City.
In these troubled times, the offer on new land and financial support in the distant land of New Mexico may given the couple the hope for a better life.

Antonio de Silva participated in a campaign against the Faraón Apache under the command of Capitán Félis Martínez. After moving the Alburquerque, he became one of the first militia soldiers in Alburquerque. He served as a notary on numerous occasions during his life in Alburquerque. Not only was this position an honored position, it gives proof that he was literate.

~Aquí Se Comienza, p. 421

Antonio married Gregoria Ruíz, daughter of Juan Ruíz Soltero de Castañeda and Josefa de Morales Santos, on 8 Nov 1688 in Santa Vera Cruz, Ciudád de Méjico, Nuevo Espána ²⁵⁰.^,451 (Gregoria Ruíz was born in 1671 in Ciudád de Méjico, Nueva España ²³⁹ and died on 8 Dec 1736 in Alburquerque, Nuevo Méjico, Nueva España ²⁷⁹.)