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Connection of Menendez Marquez to Pedro Menendez de Aviles
Source: The Menendez Marquez Cattle Barony at La Chua and the Determinants of Economic Expansion in Seventeenth-Century Florida #163
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In the contract Pedro Menendez entered into with the King to conquer and settle North America he was promised a marquisate over a large tract of land, twenty-five leagues squared, or close to 4,000 square miles. He probably selected these properties near Santa Elena, which was the Florida capital until 1587 and the place to which he took his family. (Po Menendez to Po Menendez Marquez, Santander, September 8, 1574.) At one time it was Menendez's intention to give this marquisate to his illegitimate daughter Maria, and the lieutenant governorship of Florida to Diego de Velasco, as her dowry upon their marriage. But the Adelantado died, Velasco fell into disgrace, and Santa Elena was abandoned. (Po Menendez Will, San Lucar, January 7, 1574; Consejo, April 11, 1579.) The claims of the heirs against the Crown passed to a collateral line through a nephew called Pedro Menendez the "One-Eyed." He was killed in Florida after a career of intrigue which included charging the King freight on the illegal goods he was smuggling in His Majesty's ships.(Auto on Guale Rebellion, January 12, 1598.) For seventy-five years the Menendez Florida inheritance, if any, remained in doubt. When the lawsuits were finally settled in 1648, all that was left was the title of Adelantado, one fishery, and a seemingly uncollectible note for 40,000 ducats. There was no marquisate and no land. (Martin Menendez de Aviles, January 8, 1646; Consejo, August 6, 1648.) The Menendez Marquez family of Florida came from a separate collateral line (see table on p. 413). Pedro Menendez Marquez was the first royal accountant for Florida. He was also the first royal governor (1577-1589), the greatest of what might be called the "Asturian Dynasty." Pedro was a nephew of the Adelantado on his mother's side. (Consejo, October 21, 1579.) Pedro's sister, Catalina, lived in Florida for forty years and ran a hospital for soldiers in her home. By her second husband, treasurer Juan de Posada, she had a daughter, Maria Menendez y Posada. When the latter was twelve years old Pedro and Catalina betrothed her to a veteran Indian fighter named Juan Menendez Marquez, who called Pedro his cousin but who may have been his son. Juan returned to Florida in 1593 to succeed Juan de Posada as treasurer, and three years later he married Maria. It is from this union that the Menendez Marquez family of Florida descended. They were related to the Adelantado on both sides: on the one through a grand-nephew whose legitimacy was uncertain, and on the other through females for three generations. (Maria Menendez y Posada, Madrid, October 23, November 3, 1629. Marquez, May 24, 1622; Brme Arguelles, March 18, 1599; Ju Mendedez Marquez, January 5, 1608.) [Note: Juan was on the expedition from Florida to Roanoke (Axacan) in 1588... Francisco, son of Juan, called himself a grandson of Pedro Menendez Marquez. The King understood that Maria was Juan's niece. (Cedula to Governor Mendez de Canzo, July 7, 1596.)] If the Adelantado did leave lands in Florida, any claim these relatives could make would seem farfetched. CHART: MENENDEZ MARQUEZ OFFICEHOLDERS AND RANCHERS Juan Alonso Sanchez de Avilds m. Maria Alonso de Arango -Pedro Menendez de Avilds Alvaro SAnchez de Avilds Maria Alonso de Arango la moza m. Ana Maria de Solis m. Berenguela de Vald6s m. Alonso Marquez el mozo Governor Factor Juan Menendez (drowned) Pedro Menendez el mozo Accountant Maria Menendez (nun) m. Mayor de Arango Treasurer Ana Menendez (murdered) 1565- Catalina Menendez (childless) Pedro Menendez de Avilds 1592 m. 1 Hernando de Miranda m. Ysavel de Porras m. 2 Hernando de las Alas Alvaro Menendez de Aviles Porras Maria Menendez (illegit.) Gabriel Menendez de A. Porras m. Diego de Velasco Martin Menendez de A. Porras Pedro Menendez Marquez m. Maria de Solis Catalina Menendez Marquez m. 1 Diego Londoiio de Otalora (Factor) m. 2 Juan de Posada Treasurer 1593- 1649 dMaia Menendez y Posada _m. 1596 Juan Menendez Marquiz (illegit.?) Alonso Menendez y Posada Francisco Men Marqu&z m. 2 Juana Sanchez de Uriza m. 1 Antonia de Pedroso Juan Menendez Marquez II Antonio M. Marquez Thomas Menrndez Marquiz m. Teresa Sotolongo m. Maria Mejia de los Angeles Accountant 1664- 1743 Maria Isidora M. Marquez Antonia M. Marquez Francisco Menendez Marquez II m. Francisco Romo de Uriza m. Juan de Hita m. 2 Francisca L6pez de Toledo m. 3 Catalina de Avila y Saavedra m. 1 Antonia Basilia de Le6n Francisco Menendez Marquez III m. Juana Benedit Horruytiner (accountantcy denied him in 1720) (Bushnell MM)
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