Cristobal Mestas (abt. 1725 - )             Cristóbal Mestas was the father of Aparicio Mestas and grandfather of María Manuela Mestas, who married Cayetano Hipolito de Jesus Serrano.  We know this from the 1755 baptismal record of Aparicio at the Catholic Church in Santa Cruz, Santa Fe County, New Mexico.  Cristóbal was born about 1725.  He was married to Maria Josefa Archuleta [baptized July 24, 1743, in Santa Cruz, NM]. Josefa was the daughter of Asencio Archuleta and Lugarda Quintana.  Cristobal had a prior marriage, but we do not yet know her name. We are not descended from Maria Josefa; she was too young to have been the mother of the children listed below.  The mother may have been María Rosa Gonzáles.  Cristobal was a godfather with María Rosa as godmother at the baptism of José Antonio Sandoval, son of José Sandoval and Antonia Romero, on February 14, 1756. In 1752 Cristóbal and his father, Mateo Mestas, sued Ventura de Mestas in the Santa Cruz de la Cañada jurisdiction over a question of lands.  Governor Tomás Velés de Cachupin was the governor who settled the case.  Ventura seems to have been an uncle.       In the 1750 Spanish Census of Santa Cruz, New Mexico, Cristóbal’s family is listed as himself, his wife, two children, and one brother-in-law.   CHILDREN OF CRISTÓBAL MESTAS AND HIS FIRST WIFE:   [1]   Juan Cristóbal Mestas, baptized April 10, 1747, Santa Cruz, NM [2]   Francisco Quiteria Mestas, baptized May 23, 1750, Santa Cruz, NM [3]   Cristóbal Clemente Mestas, baptized November 26, 1753, Santa Cruz, NM [4]  Aparicio Mestas, born Nov. 17, 1755, Santa Cruz, NM; married Maria Antonia Varela. [5]   Juan Ascencio Mestas, our ancestor, baptized May 20, 1757, Santa Cruz, NM   Submitted by Donald Rivara, June 23, 2009. Copyright © Genealogy Trails All Rights Reserved with Full Rights Reserved for Original Contributor