Call Number:

C1349

Repository:

Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division

Extent:

• 1 box
• 0.4 linear feet

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Hacienda San Diego (Mexico) Rcords, Box and Folder Number; Special Collections, Princeton University Library.

Date:

1634-1902 (inclusive)

Form:

Estate records -- Mexico -- San Luis Potosí.

Abstract:

Consists of two volumes of certified copies of land titles and estate records of the estate known as Hacienda San Diego, situated in the Armadillo Valley of the northern state of San Luis Potosí (Mexico), a silver mining region, covering the period from its origin, in a 1634 grant from Viceroy Pacheco y Osorio to Diego del Castillo, to 1902, when John A. Wright bought the estate on behalf of George W. Brackenridge, a prominent citizen of San Antonio, Texas.

The estate had its origin in a 1634 grant from Viceroy Pacheco y Osorio to Diego del Castillo of a sitio for sheep and two caballerias of land for other agricultural purposes. As the documents show, successive owners added even more land to the initial and subsequent holdings so that by the end of the 19th century, the Hacienda San Diego was a great estate, or latifundium. In 1902, John A. Wright, a merchant resident in San Luis Potosí , acting on behalf and with the power of attorney for George W. Brackenridge, a citizen of San Antonio, bought the estate. In 1905, Brackenridge sold the estate to Edwin Chamberlain for 95,000 pesos. Brackenridge was a prominent citizen of San Antonio, donor of the land that is now Brackenridge Park, and Chamberlain was the president of the San Antonio Loan and Trust Company.

The collection consists of two volumes of certified copies of land titles and estate records of the estate known as Hacienda San Diego, situated in the Armadillo Valley of the northern state of San Luis Potosí (Mexico), a silver mining region, covering the period from its origin, in a 1634 grant from Viceroy Pacheco y Osorio to Diego del Castillo, to 1902, when John A. Wright bought the estate on behalf of George W. Brackenridge, a prominent citizen of San Antonio, Texas. Over that period the estate grew to become a great estate, or latifundium. Volume 1 compiles the documentary tale from the 17th through the 18th century; volume 2 takes it to the early 20th century. In addition to sales transactions and deeds, the documents include copies of rental agreements, leases, legal documents presented in court cases when land ownership was challenged, and wills (including two of women). Some accounting of the hacienda's operation is also present. All documents are in Spanish, and most are comtemporary notarial copies of originals held by notaries or by the estate owners; a few are orignal documents. Approximately 1000 pp., including 4 drawings (maps/plans) of portions of the estate, two in color. Bound in modern sheep.