Juan Miguel de Esparza

Juan Miguel de Esparza (1712 – 1766) was a Spanish military man and politician, who had a long career as a colonial official of the Viceroyalty of Peru, where he held the honorary positions of alcalde, regidor and procurador of Buenos Aires.[1] He also served as lawyer, merchant, treasurer and Alférez real in charge of carrying the Royal Standard during the day of Saint Martin of Tours.[2]

Captain

Juan Miguel de Esparza
Mayor of Buenos Aires
In office
1764–1765
MonarchCharles III of Spain
Preceded byJoseph Blás de Gainza
Succeeded byEugenio Lerdo de Tejada
Vice-Mayor of Buenos Aires
In office
1748–1749
MonarchFerdinand VI of Spain
Preceded byFrancisco Rodríguez de Vida
Succeeded byPedro Contreras
Personal details
Born
Juan Miguel de Esparza Cabral de Melo y Morales

1712
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Died1766
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Resting placeSanto Domingo Convent
NationalitySpanish
Spouse(s)María Eugenia Sánchez Gallanes
Occupationgovernment
politician
militia
law
merchant
Professionjurist
accountant
military man
Signature
Military service
Allegiance Spanish Empire
Branch/serviceSpanish Army
Years of service1732-1766
RankCaptain
UnitFuerte de Buenos Aires
CommandsMilicias Provinciales de Buenos Aires

Career
Officers of the Cabildo of Buenos Aires by Marià Fortuny

He was born in Buenos Aires, the son of Miguel Gerónimo de Esparza and Antonia Cabral de Melo, belonging to a noble family of the city.[3] He did his studies in the Colegio Nacional de Monserrat, and got his law degree at the University of Saint Francis Xavier. His first public office was in 1737 as Procurador General of Buenos Aires, being also entrusted to raise money for his Majesty the King of Spain. In 1738 he served as delegate of the Buenos Aires Cabildo in the 1738 census in the City.[4]

He made several trips to Spain, living for some time in Cádiz, where he dedicated himself to trade. He returned to the city of Buenos Aires around the year 1743, where he continued to fulfill commercial and governmental tasks.[5] In 1749 he denounced the illegal traffic of hides, made by foreign ships on the shores of the Río de la Plata.[6]

He served as vice-mayor of Buenos Aires in 1748, and was elected mayor of the city in 1764.[7] His works like head of the government of Buenos Aires, include the construction of a tower in the Cabildo of the city.[8] This tower was finished for the year of 1765, and included an expensive clock brought from Cadiz.[9]

He also held the position of regidor of the Ayuntamiento and treasurer of The Reales Cajas de la Real Audiencia de Buenos Aires,[10] and he took part in the debates produced by the conflict between Spain and Portugal (Spanish–Portuguese War) over the domain of the Colonia del Sacramento.

He had an outstanding service in ceremonial tributes to distinguished personalities of the 18th century. In 1747, he participated in the funeral honors held in Buenos Aires to the monarch Philip V of Spain, deceased in 1746. He carried the Royal Standard for various periods, including during the celebrations for the assumption of Ferdinand VI, being escorted by a Regiment of Dragons with sword in hand.[11]

In 1754, Juan Miguel de Esparza was legal representative of several creditors of Francisco de Escalada (merchant), among which was Patrick Lynch, a famous Irish merchant established in Buenos Aires.[12] He was also in charge of the legal defense of people without economic resources, including a black man named Felix, who had exercised the office of executioner of the city of Buenos Aires.[13]

In 1763, Juan Miguel de Esparza, appointed as his agent to Jerónimo de Angulo, caballero of the Order of Santiago and conde of San Isidro, who was in charge of his legal matters in the territories of the Viceroyalty of Peru.[14]

Juan Miguel de Esparza served for many years in the Plana Mayor of the Milicias Provinciales de Buenos Aires of the Spanish Army, taking an active part in the military campaigns against the Indigenous Pampas that attacked Spanish settlements in the area of Lujan. In 1752, he participated in punitive expeditions against the Calelián tribes, serving in the "La Valerosa", a militia of the Blandengues of the Frontier, under command Captain José de Zarate.[15]

Esparza participated in the establishment of various charities in the city, including the Hermandad de la Caridad (Brotherhood of Charity), a religious institution of colonial Buenos Aires.[16] Currently a street in the neighborhood of Balvanera, carries the name Esparza, in honor to Miguel Gerónimo Esparza, Joseph de Esparza (regidor), Francisco Esparza (priest), Juan Miguel and Martín Esparza, friar assassinated during the second British invasions of the River Plate.[17]

Family
His mother's will, with various genealogical data

Juan Miguel de Esparza was baptized on January 30, 1712, in the Cathedral of Buenos Aires by the presbyter Bernardino Verdún, being his godparents Miguel de Riglos and Josefa Rosa Alvarado. He was married to his cousin María Eugenia Sánchez, daughter of Francisco Sánchez and Sebastiana Zenarro, a noble lady belonging to the Third Order of Saint Francis),[18] He and his wife were the parents of numerous children, including Bernarda Catalina, Mariano Marcos Esparza, godson of Francisco Álvarez Campana, and Maria Anna de Esparza, goddaughter of Francisco de Cabrera and Antonia Saavedra.[19]

María Eugenia Sánchez Gallanos, was born in 1730 in Buenos Aires, and died on March 3, 1817, being buried in the Santo Domingo convent. In her will, she declared that she owned a house located in the Santo Domingo neighborhood, close to that of the Warnes ladies (daughters of Manuel Antonio Warnes) and Mariano Olier, a personal friend of the family. [20] Her maternal family was related to Juan de Zenarro, born in Pasaia, and Inés Esparza Rodríguez, born in Buenos Aires.[21]

Very few genealogical and historical data are found about his father, Captain Francisco Sánchez Gallano, a Spanish noble, belonging to the Third Order of Saint Francis.[22]

All the male children of Juan Miguel de Esparza died in Buenos Aires during the colonial period. His daughter Camila de Esparza (natural daughter), was married to Juan José Rocha, direct ancestors of Dardo Rocha, governor of Buenos Aires Province between 1881 and 1884.[23] His daughter Bernarda Catalina de Esparza, was the wife of Juan de Canaveris, one of the assistants to the Open Cabildo during the May Revolution.[24]

Juan Miguel de Esparza was a remote descendant of illustrious Spanish personalities who included the kings and queens of Castile and Navarre.[25] On February 15, 1612 Manuel Cabral de Melo, the great uncle of Antonia Cabral Morales, made a certificate of nobility (delivered by the King of Arms of Portugal).[26] Through his daughters his lineage was related to distinguished patrician families like the Porcel de Peralta[27] Ramos Mexía, Castro Castillo, Pueyrredón O'Dogan, Sundblad Sáenz and others.[28]

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References
  1. Acuerdos del extinguido Cabildo de Buenos Aires, Volume 27. P. E. Coni e hijos.
  2. Bandos de los virreyes gobernadores del Rio de la Plata, 1741-1809. Archivo General de la Nación (Argentina). Departamento Documentos Escritos.
  3. Buenos Aires-historia de las calles y sus nombres - Vicente Osvaldo Cutolo - Google Libros. Books.google.co.uk. Retrieved 2013-10-31.
  4. Acuerdos del extinguido Cabildo de Buenos Aires (1734-1738). Archivo General de La Nación Argentina.
  5. Expediente de información y licencia de pasajero a indias de Juan Miguel de Esparza. Archivo General de Indias.
  6. Revista del Instituto de Historia del Derecho "Ricardo Levene" (PDF). Imprenta de la Universidad.
  7. Acuerdos del extinguido Cabildo de Buenos Aires. Archivo General de la Nación Argentina.
  8. Todo es historia, Issues 33-38. Honegger., 1970.
  9. Historia cronológica de la ciudad de Buenos Aires 1536-2014. Contreras, Leonel.
  10. El Río de la Plata en el Archivo General de Indias de Sevilla: Guía para ... - Luis Alberto Musso Ambrosi - Google Libros. Books.google.co.uk. Retrieved 2013-10-31.
  11. Acuerdos del extinguido Cabildo de Buenos Aires (1745-1750) (PDF), Archivo General de la Nación Argentina
  12. Concurso acreedores de F.Escalada, comerciante Buenos Aires. Archivo General de Simancas.
  13. El Monasterio de Santa Catalina de Sena de Buenos Aires:. Pellegrini, 1955.
  14. Protocolos : Registro No. 6, 1754-1800. Archivo General de la Nación Argentina.
  15. Frontera ganadera y guerra con el indio durante el siglo XVIII, Fernando Enrique Barba
  16. Buenos Aires--historia de las calles y sus nombres, Volume 1. Vicente Osvaldo Cutolo.
  17. Calles porteñas mas bien extrañas. La Nación.
  18. Boletín interno, Issues 9-50. Instituto Argentino de Ciencias Genealógicas.
  19. Bautismos 1752-1775. Nuestra Señora de La Merced.
  20. Protocolos : Registro No. 1, 1757-1799. Archivo General de la Nación Argentina.
  21. Los vascos en América: Los vascos en Buenos Aires, 1713-1810 : ciudad y campaña. Fundación Vasco-Argentina Juan de Garay, Departamento Estudios Históricos, Jan 1, 1991.
  22. Protocolos : Registro No. 3, 1716-1800. Archivo General de la Nación Argentina.
  23. Estudios sobre historia argentina:. Juan Isidro Quesada.
  24. Genealogía, hombres de mayo. Instituto Argentino de Ciencias Genealógicas.
  25. Historia genealógica argentina. Narciso Binayán.
  26. Actas de la XI Reunión Americana de Genealogía: España y America :. Eduardo Pardo de Guevara y Váldes, Instituto Padre Sarmiento de Estudios Gallegos (Santiado de Compostela).
  27. El notariado en la colonia y la emancipación: los Rocha, un linaje porteño de fundadores. Tomás Diego Bernard.
  28. Genealogías argentinas, Volume 1. Lucio Ricardo Pérez Calvo.
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