San José de Queréndaro Hacienda records, 1543-1922 (bulk 1580-1883).

Open to research.

Two bound volumes containing files kept by the Jesuits, the original owners of the hacienda, relating principally to the areas surrounding the Laguna de Cuitzeo, Michoacán de Ocampo, Mexico. Records include correspondence, royal decrees and rulings, land grants, acts of land possession, lawsuits, estate inventories, wills and testaments, bills of sale, rental agreements, mortgage and loan material, and fiscal accounts. Subjects include the acquisition and sale of land, inheritance, legal procedure, ownership disputes and establishment of property boundaries, water rights, rental of property, Ramo de Temporalidades (the royal branch responsible for the sale of Jesuit properties), agricultural production, livestock and livestock brands, manufacturing activities, the role of women in estate operations, relations with the Indians of Mexico, the Colegio de Valladolid, and the impact of the Mexican War of Independence. Also includes correspondence and fiscal accounts with the local railroad company.

Individuals represented include Manuel Abad y Quiepo; Juan Bárcena; Miguel Bárcena; Sebastian de Heras Soto, first conde de Heras Soto; Ignacio de Heras Soto; Mariana de Heras Soto (b. 1791); Mariana de Heras Soto (b.1809); Tomás López Pimentel; José Antonio López Peña; and José Pimentel y Heras.

Collection material in Spanish.

Finding aid available in the Library of Congress Manuscript Reading Room and at

http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/eadmss.ms012056