Moreover, I beg you to please admit this petition

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1 113 0 Cross, SePior Alcalde Don Marcelino.Martines Petition I, Bachelor Don Fran. Manuel Polanof Don 1, priest of the villa of San Fernando Man. Poand the'province of Thexas, vicar and lan. ecclesiastic^?.. judge therein, appear before you in the best form acrding to law and in m^ own interest, to state that since the past year of one thousand seven hundred, forty-nine I have had a house which belonged to Juan Banul and which I, bought from Chrristbbal de los Santos, a vecino of the ;Villa of San.Fernando. It is, the same ^hou.se, which I had previously sold to the said Santos, from whom I bought. it subsequently, in order toreturn it to the aforesaid Banul, who is at.present living in it. Realizing that the said Santos would be.reluctant to grant the instruments pertainirig to the said house, lv I ask and beg you to please //summon him and order him to exhibit the instruments of the aforesaid house for the purpose of giving them to the said B-anul. In view of the foregoing, will you please grant my petition, for I shall thereby be benefited and shall, receive mercy with justice. I swear this petition is without malice and whatever is necessary, etc. Moreover, I beg you to please admit this petition

2 114 on the present mmon paper because paper within the limits prescribed there is no stamped by law; and I birid myself t& exhibit the same.. r B. Fran. Manuel Polan,Rubric, ^in A.D.S. F.,September 28, 1751, PP 1-lv,,i.N. in Fnglish, s 1751 unimpt.

3 115 In the villa of San Fernando on the twenty-eigth day of the month of September of the year one thousand seven hundred fifty-one, before Sefior Don Marcelino Martines, first-ranking ordinary alcalde of the said villa, the foregoing petition was presented by the sefior vicar, Don Fran. Manuel Polan. And by virtue thereof, the said sefior alcalde said, that he should order and he did order the present notary to notify Don Christ6val de los Santos Goi to exhibit the instruments of the house which the said sefior vicar had demanded of him in his petition or.to reply within the 2 peremptory time limit to the charge //made against, him. For which purpose a py of this petition and of the action taken by virtue thereof shall be given to him, and a receipt for the said py shall be.obtained from him. Thus did the said sefior alcalde decree, order, and sign before.me, the notary. I certify. Marcelino Martinez trubric, Before me: Fran. Joseph de Arocha,Rubric, Notary Public and cnotary, of the Cabildo,D.S. in E., September 28, 1751, pp. lv-2,

4 116 On the said day, month, and year, I, the said notary^,^ went to the house of Don Chrrixt6val de los Santos Coi and notified him, in person and in the manner stated in the decree, of the petition for restitution. When he had been informed of 'all the ntents of the ss.id,decree,, he said that he obeyed the order of the seftor judge but that he should by no means be mpelled to draw up the instruments for which the sefior priest had asked for the following reasons,,in view of the fact that he had given to the said seri.or priest three hundred pesos to be paid to Don Juan Vanul For the house and the stock which he had, and because he knew that the latter was selling the same for two hundred fifty in goods... Joseph Sevallos. Because the said priest had kept the said three hundred pesos for himself and had given him a house in the villa of Saltillo and because in the said villa he had learned that the said,.house,.was mortggged and had been donated to the stepmother of the said priest.. Because when the aforesaid priest appropriated the three hundred pesos, the responden.t charged him with the mortgage and. the donation of the house and the said sepior priest said that he would make 2v.it good, that he would de//fend the respondent in any suit with Juan Vanul that might be instituted, and that he would draw up the instruments. And he did this as is of rerd therein. And, by way of additional proof of the..foregoing,

5 117 when Juan Vanul had been informed of the mortgage and of the inferiority of the house, after he had started on his journey, he turned back from la Espada, made his mplaint to the said priest, and asked him for his money. He,the priest, replied that he would not give it by any means, that he had remitted the money, but, that he would make good the house in Saltillo. And although the respondent,urged him to give him the money, the said seor vicar refused to give it. And although the,said senor.priest had drawn up for the respondent the instruments for the house, the stock, and the branding, iron, using them as if they were his own, he tried to sell to Sergeant Don Asensio del Raso the stock that he had bought from Don Juan Vanul, the tithes cattle, and the rbranding, iron for the sum of one hundred sixty pesos. For this purpose, when the transaction, had taken place, he delivered to the said Raso the branding, iron and the legal. instruments. And after the said sergeant returned from Saltillo, where he had gone with the said Banul he brought letters for the senor priest and the respondent, with news of.the bad ndition of the house and of the mortgage. Fot this reason, the said Sergeant Raso withdrew from the deal for the cattle and returned the branding, iron. Wherefore, the respondent said that he went to the seor priest, told him that he did not want to sue for his money, and asked him to return

6 118 it in exchange for his house and stock. The said seftor priest refused tp do this, and then he proceeded to use his branding, iron and stock as the legitimate owner^ for which purpose ^sic, he.rthe respondent, made various protests to him the priest,, who always told him that the respondent had bought from him and not from Juan. Ba- 3 nul, and that if there was a lawsuit //it would not be between Vanul and the respondent, but the said seylor priest; because he knew for a fact that the said Vanul would not return and that even if he did me, he would have to deal wi-,^h him. Since protests were ineffective, as he the respondent, had saidl he used his house and the appurtenances thereto. When Don Juan Vanul came from Saltillo with his famil-y, the said sefior priest had a talk with the respondent for the purpose of buying back the house and the stock, The respondent told him that he would sell for the same,amount, stated above and the amount, which Sergeant Raso gave him for the stock that went, with the house' the tithes cattle,, and the branding, iron. When importuned by the said sefior priest to sell them for less in order that he uld repay seventy pesos which the said sepior had given to Vanul inthe villa of Saltillo, motivated by friendship9 he.,the respondent, gave him one head of cattle, and, for eighty pesos, he gave him, another one in the campo without saying definitely which

7 one it was. When the said sefior priest asked him which animal he uld have as tithe, he the respondent, replied by saying only that he had in the campo, exactly as he had bought them,, about twenty-eight or thirty head besides that of Musiu si.c, juan without definitely obligating himself to deliver or to sell. Likewise, he returned to the said.seftor priest everything that he had bought from him for the purpose of helping him, in order that the priest should, return them to the said Vanu1--and wthout interest at that, although he the respondent,.was without his money more than a year. Since this agreement had been reached, he did not draw up the instruments.until the draft was paid, which draft,... twice to Mexi but had not been paid. During all this time he uld have 3V made a profit from //his money to help himself along, but instead he had had to do without his house, his money' and his stock and any profit from the increase thereof. Today he was less willing thanever to draw up the instruments because he knew that instead of paying him his,money or returning his house and stock, efforts were being made to get him inv6lved in litigations; and although it was said that he the priest, did not have so many cattle, the respondent knew that he did have. And he the respondent, -vrould be satisf ied if h s house and stock zjere retur-- ned to him althozzgh he had IDeen deprived of the benefits

8 . 120,therefrom,. And if the said sefior priest was unwilling to return his house, Cbranding, iron, and stock to him, he the priest, should guarantee to the respondent his money without any disunt whatever as had been agreed. In view of the foregoing, he the respondent, entreated the said seylor judge to be so good as to protect him in the possession of his house, branding, iron, and stock because he was poor and burdened with obligations and he..did not havethe means for engaging in litigations, and he had been deprived of his cproperty,. He uld prove everything he had said above but, as he had stated, he did not have themeans with which to engage in litigations. And his dislike for litigations was made evident by the fact that although he should have sued for the benefits from the,property, he had boughtaor else from the money,^n order, to avoid litigations, he did not do it. This is the answer which he gave and signed with me, the.said notary. I certify. Xptfival de los Santos Coi,Ru.bri c,. Before me: Fran. Joseph de Arocha rrubric, Notary Public and. Notary,. of the Cabildo,D.S. in E., September 28, 1751, pp. 2-3v,

9 121 In the said villa on the sixth day of the month of October of this year of one thousand seven hundred fiftyone, //his honor, the sepior alcalde and judge oftthis cause said that, having seen the answer rerded herein, given by Don Christ6val Santos Coi, the said senor aicalde was.not nvinced that the senor priest, who was the plaintiff, had not paid him the defendant, for the house since from his the priest's, allegation.3.t,was of rerd that he had paid for it. For this reason,tthe party, Don Chrrist6va1, shall give evidence and proof that the said senor priest as not paid him. For this purpose, the present notary shall notify him r^santos Coi, of this my decree and shall append his reply thereto. And if he has been paid, he the notary, shall order him to deliver the instrument. Thus did the seplor judge decree, order, and sign this before me, the notary. I certify. Interlined: And if he has been paid,'he shall order him to deliver the instrument--valid. Marcelino Martinez zrubric, Before me: Fran. Joseph de Arocha Rubric, Notary Public arid rnotary, of the Cabildo,D.S. in E., September 28, 1751, pp 3v-4,

10 122 On the fifteenth day of the month of October of the daid year, I, the said notary, went to the house of Don Crixt6val Santos Coy and notified him of the foregoing decree. When he had been mpletely informed of the ntents of the same, he said that, in order to prove that he had not 1-jeen paid his money, he was exhibiting the draft that had been given to him by the said seplor riest, payable by Don Domingo de Gomendio, may. he rest in peace.,he said, also that his honor the said se2ior judge should take the deposition of Joseph Manuel de Santa Maria, who took it the dra.ft, to Mexi once. He the lattpr, should be asked to tell what he knows about the other time, that the said draft-went to M6xi,, and also if he knows whe-. ther the said seflor priest had written Captain Don Manuel )+v R,a,//mires to remit to him the draft that was in his possession--which was the same that he the defendant, was exhibiting--in order.to.make a disunt in it. He should be asked, also to tell whatever else he knows about the question in point. And the defendant added, that, as he has said in his preceding reply, he does not want litigations, neither does he have the means with,which to institute them; that the only claim he was making was that his money be given to him wihtout a disunt since there was no.reason for making any disunt, because it had been given in the last agreement they had made. And, if he

11 123 was not paid his money, he asked, the said sef^or judge to protect him in the possession of his house and cattle.,he said, thatthe reason he had sold it the house, to the said seylor priest was that he the latter, had told him how worried-he was about Don Juan Vanul and because at that time he.was,determined to leave the provirice. He added, that unless he was guaranteed either the money of the possession of the.house, he would protest and demand all losses, damages, and injuries to.which he might be subjected by virtue thereof. This is the reply which he gave and signed with me, the said notary. I certify. Fran. Joseph de Arocha Rubric, Notary Public and Notary, of.the Cabildo Xptbval de los Santos Coi Rubric,..rA.D.S.in E.1 September 28,.1751, pp.4-4v,

12 124 In the said villa on the sixteenth day of the month,5 of October of this above-said year, the said //seftor alcalde by virtue of the informacibn promised by Don Chrrixt6val de los Santos ncerning the unpaid draft which he showed me sic,, summoned before him. Joseph Manuel de Santa Maria residing in this villa. When he had appeared, he adm-i..nistered to him the oath, which he took in the name of our Lord God and a sign of the holy cross, acrding to law, under penalty of which he promised to.tell the truth knew and insofar as he/ might be quest_oned. When he had been informed of the foregoing reply of Don Chrrixt6val, had been shown the draft, and had been questioned, he said that he knew that the draft.that was shown to him, given by the senor priest, had been sent to Nl6xi twice, and that the last'time, a year ago, the deponent took it to Mdxi by order of the.captain of la Vadia to llect it. And he said, that when he took it to the executor of Don Domingo Gomendio, may he rest in peace, he the executor, told him to llect it from General Bustillo, to which the deponent replied that it the draft, had not been made payable by the said general. The deponent asked, that if it was not paid, it should be endorsed for him. The said executor told him'to take it as it was because there were three executo.rs, and it was necessary for all of them to ncur. And he the deponent, returned it to the said captain. The

13 125 5v deponent said, that he also knew that the afore//said captain had written the sef^or priest to give him another draft.,he added, that the said.sehor captain told the deponent that the sefior priest had written him to send it to him in order to make a disunt because Don Chrrisxt6val, to whom he had given it, was in debt to him. He said, that he knew that the said seftor never sent.it to him the priest,; and that.he also knew, because he had heard it, that the said..seftor priest had written to M6xi to stop payment of the draft. And he said, that this was all he knew.an.d had to say, under penalty of the oath he had taken, which he affirmed and ratified; that the general provisions of the law,,did not apply.to him with regard to any of the parties; and that he was thirty-five years old, more or less. And he signed this with the said sefior. judge before me, the notary. I certify. ta Marcelino Martines Joseph Manuel de S. Maria rrubric, Rubric, Before me: Fran. Joseph de Arocha,,Rubric, Notary P'ublic and Notary, of the Cabildo rd. S. in E. 9 Septer^ber 28,, 1751 ^ pp. ^-v-^v,

CCross, In the villa-of San Fernando, on the seventh day of the. SeYior Second-ranking Alcalde: Petition of o Don Bern.

1 S CCross, In the villa-of San Fernando, on the seventh day of the month of April of this year of one thousand seven hundred fif ty-two, before SePior Don Fran. Delgado, ordinary alcalde of the said villa,