I have recently come across a ancestor who went by the surnames either Ruiz de Esparza, Esparza or Salado. It seems to originate from Bernardo Ruiz de Esparza who married Catalina Losano in the early 1600's In some cases he is called Esparza, Salado or Ruiz de Esparza. His one son Agustin does this as well and possibly another son Christobal. I know about the Lope Ruiz de Esparza's family as I already decend from them, but now I have this monkey wrench thrown in. Does anyone have an idea to why they went by Ruiz de Esparza and Salado?

The Ruiz de Esparza family goes back almost to the beginning of Aguascalientes itself (a quarter century later, actually). The state of Aguascalientes (“Hot Waters”), located between the states of Zacatecas and Jalisco, is part of the central plateau and was named for the thermal springs located throughout the area.

The capital of Aguascalientes is the city by the same name which had been founded as a mining settlement in 1575. It has been called La Ciudad Perforada (City of Holes) because of the labyrinth of tunnels dug in Pre-Hispanic times by an unknown Indian tribe.

When the Spaniards arrived in the 1520s, this area was located inside of Chichimec country near the frontier between the Cazcan farmers and the warlike Guachichile Indians. To the north lived the Zacatecos Indians. As early as the 1550s, Spaniards from Guadalajara received grants for establishing cattle estancias in Guachichiles territory.

A decree of October 22, 1575, created the Villa de Aguascalientes. However, as the intensity of the Chichimec War increased, the small settlement found itself under siege in the war zone.

In spite of the presidio (military garrison) founded at Aguascalientes, Mr. Powell writes that “the increased fury of Chichimeca raiding during the first decade of Aguascalientes’ existence” caused the town’s population to dwindle to one caudillo (military leader), sixteen soldiers, and two residents in the period from 1582 to 1585. But, in the next decade, the threat of Indian attack diminished considerably. The last Chichimec raid took place in 1593, after which the Indian threat soon subsided altogether. “Peace,” writes Mr. Gerhard, “brought a tide of Spanish settlers beginning in the 1590s, mostly cattlemen and farmers.”

By 1610, the small town of Aguascalientes had some 25 Spanish residents, about fifty families of mestizos, at least 100 mulatos, twenty Black slaves, and ten Indians. Many of these twenty-five Spanish inhabitants had the surnames Ruiz de Esparza, Alvarado, Tiscareno de Molina, Luebana, and Delgado

The The Registros Parroquiales (Parish Registers) for La Parroquia de la Asunción (Assumption Parish) in Aguascalientes are available through the Family History Library are contained on 458 rolls of film and range from 1601 to 1961. .

Ruiz de Esparza Connection
Extensive research by Ms. Connie Dominguez, Ms. Mary Landers, Dr. J. Leon Helguera, Mr. Mariano Gonzalez Leal, John Schmal, and the late Jaime Holcombe have contributed greatly to our knowledge of the early families of Aguascalientes and their relationships to one another.

Using Dr. Helguera’s Probanza de Hidalguea, the Ruiz de Esparza family can be traced back to its earliest ancestor who was probably a contemporary of Cristobal Colón (Columbus): Simon Ruiz de Esparza and his wife Graciana de Vici were born about 1495 in Pamplona, Navarre, Spain.

The Esparza de Ruiz family is a well-known Basque family. The surname Esparza is said to mean one who came from Esparza (a barren place or a place where feather grass grew) in Spain. The word was derived from the Latin sparsus (spread abroad, scattered), probably referring to land that yields little. Esparza is the name of a village near Pamplona in Navarro, Spain (which is where my Esparza ancestors lived in the Sixteenth Century).

The Ruiz de Esparza surname is distinctive and the earliest bearers of that name in New Spain made sure it continued as purely as it could. Back then, and through at least the 1700s, it was Ruis de Esparsa.

The patriarch of this family in Mexico was Lope Ruis de Esparsa. According to Pasajeros a Indias: Libros de Asientos, Lope, who was the son of Lope Ruiz de Esparza and Ana Dias de Eguino, is documented by the Catalago de Pasajeros a Indias (Vol. III - #2.633) as having sailed from Pamplona to New Spain on Feb. 8, 1593. He came as a servant to Don Enrique de Manleon. He appears to have married c. 1594/5, because by 1618 he was having his 11th child.

According to the researchers Connie Dominguez and Mary Landers, Lope Ruiz de Esparza’s wife, Francisca Gabay, was also known as Francisca Gabai Navarro de Moctezuma, who was the daughter of Martin Navarro and Petronila Moctezuma. Francisca Gabai de Moctezuma is believed by some to be a direct descendant of Moctezuma II.

Their descendancy was quite large and influential in Aguascalientes. His family intermarried with 3 other prominent Spanish families in early Aguas.: the Romo de Vivar, the Tiscareno de Molina, and the Macias Valadez (aka Guerra Valadez) families.

Lope and Francisca had at least eleven children, including Lorenza Ruiz de Esparza, born circa 1602 in Aguascalientes. It was around this time that the Aguascalientes church began to keep records of its parishioners.

By 1610, some 24 or 25 Spaniards were living in Aguascalientes and it is possible that as many as half of these people may be my ancestors. One of the earliest and most important documents is the May 16, 1623 marriage record of Luis Tiscareno de Molina and Lorenza Ruiz de Esparza. This record states that Luis Tiscareno de Molina, the son of Juan Tiscareno and Elvira Marquez, natives of Triana in Sevilla Reynos de Castilla (Spain) was married to Lorenca (Lorenza) Ruis de Esparza,

The Ruiz de Esparza family has been prominent in Aguascalientes for a long, long time.

John Schmal, from contributions of the above-named researchers.

Thank you for your reply, but I already know and have all the documents and information regarding the Tiscareno and Ruiz de Esparza family as I am directly related to these families.

The mystery I have is still unsolved as it is in regards to the Salado family and why Bernardo took on the name of Ruiz de Esparza when there is no documentation of who his parents are. There is a Bernarbe Ruiz de Esparza, the son of Lope Ruiz de Esparza, but he is not the same person.

I would like more information on the Salado family. I know that there was a Bernardo Salado who married Juana de Siordia and had a daughter Bernarda Salado who was accused of being a witch by the inquisition (I have copies of this document). Bernarda married Gaspar de Aguilar in 27 April 1625 in Aguascalientes. Juana de Siordia, the daughter of Maria Gabay and Pedro Fernandez de Vaulus (the neice of Francisca Gabay who married Lope Ruiz de Esparza) remarried in 1620 to Francisco Rodriguez Ponce.

Bernardo Ruiz de Esparza/ Salado married Catalina Lozano on 28 February 1634 in Aguascalientes at Lope Ruiz de Esparza's hacienda. Generations down from this Bernardo Ruiz de Esparza/ Salado the children and grandchildren use different last names such as Ruiz de Esparza, Esparza and Salado. My guess would be that Bernardo took on the surname Ruiz de Esparza as his father died when he was a young boy and possibly was adopted into the Ruiz de Esparza family. It's a guess only and without proper documentation, it's still a mystery.

Thank-you for sharing your information with others researching the Ruiz de Esparzas.

I and My wife Maria Guadalupe Conover y Lazo de la Vega are Ruiz de Esparzas I have not been able to conect our famly, so if you have information on the subject I would be gratefull, I do go to Lope Ruiz de Ezparza and to the Eguinoa

I presently still owne The Banos de Ojocaliente, and my famly still owns the Hacienda de Ojocaliente, that gave the name of Aguascalientes to the sity and the state.

I am related to Lope Ruiz de Esparza through his daughter Lorenza Ruiz de Esparsa who married Luis Tiscareno. I am related to them twice, one through their daughter, Maria Tiscareno and through their son, Juan Tiscareno. I am currently working on a book regarding my Aguascalientes ancestors. Is there a cemetery marker of Lope Ruiz de Esparza? If so, I would love to have a photo of it. I would love to have a see the the region of the Ruiz de Esparza's.

The Ruiz de Esparza and Salado mystery still remains unsolved. Some people think that Bernardo Ruiz de Esparza who married Catalina Losano is the son of Lope, but I have documents that also have him, his children and grandchildren having both surnames of Salado and Ruiz de Esparza. There is a Bernabe Ruiz de Esparza, HE is the son of Lope but he is not Bernardo. Bernardo's marriage record has him as Ruiz de Esparza, but the baptism documents of his children have him either as Ruiz de Esparza or Salado. And the same goes for his children and grandchildren.

Other people think that Bernarda Salado,the daughter of Bernardo Salado and Juana de Siordia is the mother of the above the Bernardo. But she is not, Bernarda married Gaspar de Aguilar on 27 April 1625 in Aguascalientes and Bernardo married Catalina Losano on 28 February 1634 Aguascalientes. Bernarda did have a son, but they are not the same.

Now Juana de Siordia, the mother of Bernarda is related to the Ruiz de Esparza's. She is the daughter of Pedro Fernandez de Vaulus and Maria de Gabadi. Maria de Gabadi is the sister to Lope Ruiz de Esparza's wife, Francisca. That is how the Salado's are related to the Esparza's but it does not explain why Bernardo had taken on both surnames.

I do not know where Lope Ruiz de Esparza is burried. but if you do go to Aguascalientes go to the Banos de Ojocaliente and the Hacienda de Ojocaliente where Lope must have been.
Ask for Yvon Loyola y Escobedo at the old Baths if they are cloused, and she will take you around.

can you help me find the ties to my last name as well? I believe it came from Spain

This is in response to Mr. Miguel S. Escobedo's message posted in this forum. My great-grand-mother María Josefa Frías Esparza (Ruiz de Esparza) was born in Rincón de Romos 19 March 1848 to Antonio Frías Jaso and María del Refugio Ruiz de Esparza y Escobedo. I have been able to trace her roots to Lope Ruiz de Esparza and Ana Francisca Gabai de Moctezuma. Refugio Ruiz de Esparza y Escobedo was the daugher of José Francisco Ruiz de Esparza Trillo y Delgado and María Gertrudis Escobedo y Escalera. María Gertrudis was the daugher of José Manuel Escobedo Guevara and María Antonia Escalera Martínez de Sotomayor. José Manuel Escobedo and María Antonia Escalera married in Rincón de Romos 21 June 1769. I have traced these families for several generations. They were all from Aguascalientes. Now here is my question: Are we related? Have you been able to trace your family way back to Lope Ruiz de Esparza and Ana Francisca Gabai? Incidentally, I met other close relatives in Guadalajara in 2003 and 2004, and plan to visit Aguascalientes in 2006.

we are related more than once on practicly all your sir names.
If you have a high spead conection I can send you my gad work but it has over 10 000 names ad is bigg. fi not I can send you a disc.
but I would like you to add on to it.

Thanks for your quick response, Miguel. It was a great surprise to hear from you and to find out that we are definitely related. I didn't expect to be so lucky to find a relative in Aguascalientes who is also interested in genealogy. By all means, please send me your GED file which I promise to return with additional family members. I have been working on my genealogy for many years with a concentrated effort in the Ruiz de Esparza line for the last two years. I am missing one link to Lope Ruiz de Esparza and Ana Francisca Gabai, which I will explain by email. My research is not complete, but hopefully I will be much closer in the months ahead.

In answer to your question, I am happy to tell you that I do have fast Internet at home. However, I would prefer a CD if that is okay with you. I will send you a separate email with my address and telephone number. Incidentally, I was born and raised in Guatemala, so my primary language is spanish. I will explain in future correspondence how a Ruiz de Esparza ended up in Central America in the late 19th century. Un saludo, Guillermo.