Elena Ramírez de Mendoza

   Another name for Elena was Elena de la Cruz.²⁵⁰

  Noted events in her life were:

• Family Background. ^250,276
Verification of the lineage of Elena de la Cruz can be found from 8 Aug 1625 when Tomé Domínguez and Elena de la Cruz, citizens of México City and were giving power of attorney to Francisco France in regard to traveling to the city of Vera Cruz in New Spain for the purpose of obtaining proof of Elena's heritage. While testimony was given between 30 Aug - 10 Sep 1625 in Vera Cruz, six witnesses declared that Elena de la Cruz was the daughter of Bentio Paris and Leonor Francisco. Both of Elena's parents were deceased at this time and were former residents of Vera Cruz. Elena's maternal grandparents were Francisco de Mendoza and Leonor de Grisaldos, citizens of Puerto de Santa María, Spain, and her paternal grandparents were Juan Gonzáles and Isabel Gallega, former residents of Vera Cruz

The Mendoza surname that Elena Ramírez de Mendoza (also referred to as Elena de la Cruz) contributed to the Domínguez de Mendoza family name came from her maternal grandfather. This is a perfect example of how early New Méxican family surnames often didn't follow in straight lines from father to son.

From Beyond Origins, Vol 4
Researcher: France V. Scholes, Ph.D.
Sources: Biblioteca Nacional de Madrid, MS 19258 (photos 106-12); typescript of this record by France V. Scholes as found in: France Scholes Papers, MSS 360, Box 11, folder 1.


"The information on the proof of lineage of Elena de la Cruz was discovered by Professor France V. Scholes many years ago. The document had been preserved in the archives of the Biblioteca Nacional de Madrid in Spain. Scholes made an English typescript of the pertinent information in the document which is now part of the collection of the France Scholes Papers housed at the Southwest Reading Room at the University of New Mexico's Zimmerman Library."

~The Honorable Don José Antonio Esquibel

• Dates & Events. ²⁵²
Elena Ramírez de Mendoza, wife of Tomé "el Viejo," and who gave the "Mendoza" name to this family, was already dead by 1661, as was also her husband. She had a sister, Juana de la Cruz y Mendoza, who was Governor Peñalosa's housekeeper; her son, Luis de Ulloa, was the Governor's page.

Elena married Tomé Domínguez, son of Tomé Domínguez and Lenor González, on 29 Aug 1616 in Puebla de los Ángeles, Nueva España. (Tomé Domínguez was born about 1596 in Cartagena de Levante, España and died in 1656 in Nuevo Méjico, Nueva España.)