Casaus
The Casaus family can trace its roots to Carlos de Las Casas, born around 1200, was a member of the court of Doña Blanca de Castilla. When Doña Blanca married Louis VII of France in 1224, Carlos went to France with Doña Blanca. There his name was changed from Casas to Casaus. In 1246 two of his sons came back to Spain during the reign of Fernando, the Saint. The brothers Guillen and Bartolome fought under the command of King Fernando during the siege and capture of Seville from the moors. In 1252 Bartolome was killed in the final battle of 15 month siege, and the surviving Casaus shared in the apportionment of its spoils, and founded there a family, whose descendants were destined to become numerous and illustrious. The name Casaus assumed with time back to its original Spanish form of Casas, though it continued to be spelled in both ways for several centuries.
This family ranked among the nobility of Seville and mention is found of the confirmation of Guillen’s son Guillen II by King Alfonso XL to the office of regidor of the city in 1318. This same Guillen became Alcalde Mayor of Seville, and when he died his body was buried in one of the chapels of the cathedral. His son, Alfonso, is stated in the chronicles of Don Juan IL (1409) to have been appointed by the Infante, Don Fernando, to the lieutenancy of Castillo de Priego, "because he was a valiant man who could hold it well."
In 1495 Alfonso’s Son Franscisco accompanied Columbus on his second voyage to America and acquired profitable interests in the island of Hispaniola. He returned to Spain in 1496, bringing
with him an Indian lad whom he sent as a present to his son, Bartolomé, who was then a student at Salamanca.
Bartholome Casaus (De Casas)
Bartolomé spent 50 years actively fighting slavery and the violent colonial abuse of indigenous peoples, especially by trying to convince the Spanish court to adopt a more humane policy of colonization. And although he failed to save the indigenous peoples of the Western Indies, his efforts resulted in several improvements in the legal status of the natives, and in an increased colonial focus on the ethics of colonialism. Bartholome is often seen as one of the first advocates for universal Human Rights. His brave stand against the horrors of the conquest and the colonization of the New World earned him the title “Defender of the Indians.”
In 1598 Bernabe Casaus de Las Casas came to New Mexico with Onate as one of the permanent European settlers. The expedition consisted of 129 settlers and their wives and children, 71 soldiers and wives and children, eleven hundred cows and bulls, three hundred sheep, one hundred rams, one hundred goats, one hundred fifty colts and one hundred fifty mares. The military provided them with three field pieces, one hundred quintals of lead, (10,000 lbs.) thirty quintals of powder,( 3,000 lbs.) and a dozen coats of mail.
Don Roque Casaus, the antecedent of our families in New Mexico, came to New Mexico in 1625 as a military officer escorting wagon trains. He remained in Santa Fe, where he held high military and public positions. Don Roque de Casaus was a member of the Santa Fe Council in 1629 and in 1640 because Capital General under Governor Rosas. After he retired from public office he established a sheep ranch near La Cienega, south of Santa Fe.
In 1680 Medardo Casaus, one of Don Roque's descendents, along with the Gonzales family escaped the Indian revolt. They took their families east to the Pecos river valley, moving southward along the river they led a nomadic life until the revolt was over.
In 1824,Teodoro Casaus, a descendent of Medardo Casaus who lived at Los Tanques, 15 miles south of Santa Fe was given a portion of the Tecolote Land Grant. One of his sons, Jose Antonio Casaus successfully petitioned for the Las Vegas Land Grant. Another son, Jesus, became an Indian fighter and died at the age of forty from wounds inflicted by the Indians. He left three sons and one daughter: Manuel, Carlos, Teodoro, and Manuelita.
Carlos Casaus was a Lt. in the New Mexico Militia and fought with the Union Army against the Confederacy during the Civil War. After the war he was elevated to the rank of Captain in the New Mexico Irregulars charged with the disarming and rounding up the Plains Indians. Carlos and his brothers Manuel and Teodoro and their mother settled at the junction of the Salado Creek and the Pecos River. The family prospered, owning and controlling thousands of acres of grazing land, over 20,000 sheep, over 2,000 head of cattle and a large number of horses.
After their mothers' death the brothers went their separate ways. Manuel founded Las Tortolas which was later named Guadalupe. Teodoro founded the town of Delia and Carlos founded Elvira on the upper Salado Creek.
The Son of Carlos and Teresita (Sena) Casaus, Jesus Maria Casaus was born in San Miguel County in the town of Elvira on the family ranch on December 30, 1867. Jesus was educated by private tutors and attended ?? Collage. When he finished school, he joined the family Sheep and Cattle ranching business. When he turned 18, it had been arranged for him to marry Cleofas De Baca, a member of the historic Romero and De Baca families of Eastern New Mexico. He moved to Santa Rosa shortly after that. In Santa Rosa, Jesus held many positions. He was bank executive, Sheriff and politician. He was on the selective Service board during World War I and eventually became Mayor of the City. As a territorial representative, he was key in helping convince the United States congress that the population of New Mexico was fully assimilated into American culture. And when New Mexico became the 47th state to join the Union on January 6, 1912, He became a State representative. He was also the New Mexico Delegate to the Democratic Convention in St Louis in 1916. In his older years he devoted his life to helping others.
His Wife Cleofas Baca was also educated by private tutors and graduated by the sisters of Charity Educational Institution. She was a talented Singer and played the harp, piano and mandolin Guitar when she went to her ranch home as a bride, her piano accompanied the couple.
Cleofas became a ministering angel. She administered to the sick during the small pox epidemic ordering vaccines from as far away as Mexico to save hundreds of lives in her community. She became a teacher of Children in the vicinity and gave them religious instruction. She became blind and unsteady in walking in her later years but still played her piano as well as she did was first married.
Carlos Casaus, the father of Jesus, was a business man and famer with over 80,000 acres of land, 20,000 head of sheep, over 2,000 head of cattle and a number of horses. A shrewd business man, he along with his two brothers, open a Mercantile store to save cost on what was needed for his ranch. With the sale of goods and services, he could provide his ranch and family with what was needed for little or no cost.
Jesus and Cleofas had seven children. Margarita (1894-), Carlos (1895-), Rebecca (1896), Jacabo (1897-), Maria (1902-), Eliza(1902-) and Elvira (1905-1983). Elvira never married but followed in her mother’s footsteps becoming the angel of the community. She cared for her parents until their deaths and lived in the house until her death in a tragic car accident in 1983.
The house was then passed to Orlando Vito Gallegos. Elvira’s nephew and the Son of Isadore Vito and Rebecca Casaus Gallegos. Orlando Gallegos was one of the oroginal founders of the NSA in the late 1950s and after retiring in 1968, became a politician and university professor.
This family ranked among the nobility of Seville and mention is found of the confirmation of Guillen’s son Guillen II by King Alfonso XL to the office of regidor of the city in 1318. This same Guillen became Alcalde Mayor of Seville, and when he died his body was buried in one of the chapels of the cathedral. His son, Alfonso, is stated in the chronicles of Don Juan IL (1409) to have been appointed by the Infante, Don Fernando, to the lieutenancy of Castillo de Priego, "because he was a valiant man who could hold it well."
In 1495 Alfonso’s Son Franscisco accompanied Columbus on his second voyage to America and acquired profitable interests in the island of Hispaniola. He returned to Spain in 1496, bringing
with him an Indian lad whom he sent as a present to his son, Bartolomé, who was then a student at Salamanca.
Bartholome Casaus (De Casas)
Bartolomé spent 50 years actively fighting slavery and the violent colonial abuse of indigenous peoples, especially by trying to convince the Spanish court to adopt a more humane policy of colonization. And although he failed to save the indigenous peoples of the Western Indies, his efforts resulted in several improvements in the legal status of the natives, and in an increased colonial focus on the ethics of colonialism. Bartholome is often seen as one of the first advocates for universal Human Rights. His brave stand against the horrors of the conquest and the colonization of the New World earned him the title “Defender of the Indians.”
In 1598 Bernabe Casaus de Las Casas came to New Mexico with Onate as one of the permanent European settlers. The expedition consisted of 129 settlers and their wives and children, 71 soldiers and wives and children, eleven hundred cows and bulls, three hundred sheep, one hundred rams, one hundred goats, one hundred fifty colts and one hundred fifty mares. The military provided them with three field pieces, one hundred quintals of lead, (10,000 lbs.) thirty quintals of powder,( 3,000 lbs.) and a dozen coats of mail.
Don Roque Casaus, the antecedent of our families in New Mexico, came to New Mexico in 1625 as a military officer escorting wagon trains. He remained in Santa Fe, where he held high military and public positions. Don Roque de Casaus was a member of the Santa Fe Council in 1629 and in 1640 because Capital General under Governor Rosas. After he retired from public office he established a sheep ranch near La Cienega, south of Santa Fe.
In 1680 Medardo Casaus, one of Don Roque's descendents, along with the Gonzales family escaped the Indian revolt. They took their families east to the Pecos river valley, moving southward along the river they led a nomadic life until the revolt was over.
In 1824,Teodoro Casaus, a descendent of Medardo Casaus who lived at Los Tanques, 15 miles south of Santa Fe was given a portion of the Tecolote Land Grant. One of his sons, Jose Antonio Casaus successfully petitioned for the Las Vegas Land Grant. Another son, Jesus, became an Indian fighter and died at the age of forty from wounds inflicted by the Indians. He left three sons and one daughter: Manuel, Carlos, Teodoro, and Manuelita.
Carlos Casaus was a Lt. in the New Mexico Militia and fought with the Union Army against the Confederacy during the Civil War. After the war he was elevated to the rank of Captain in the New Mexico Irregulars charged with the disarming and rounding up the Plains Indians. Carlos and his brothers Manuel and Teodoro and their mother settled at the junction of the Salado Creek and the Pecos River. The family prospered, owning and controlling thousands of acres of grazing land, over 20,000 sheep, over 2,000 head of cattle and a large number of horses.
After their mothers' death the brothers went their separate ways. Manuel founded Las Tortolas which was later named Guadalupe. Teodoro founded the town of Delia and Carlos founded Elvira on the upper Salado Creek.
The Son of Carlos and Teresita (Sena) Casaus, Jesus Maria Casaus was born in San Miguel County in the town of Elvira on the family ranch on December 30, 1867. Jesus was educated by private tutors and attended ?? Collage. When he finished school, he joined the family Sheep and Cattle ranching business. When he turned 18, it had been arranged for him to marry Cleofas De Baca, a member of the historic Romero and De Baca families of Eastern New Mexico. He moved to Santa Rosa shortly after that. In Santa Rosa, Jesus held many positions. He was bank executive, Sheriff and politician. He was on the selective Service board during World War I and eventually became Mayor of the City. As a territorial representative, he was key in helping convince the United States congress that the population of New Mexico was fully assimilated into American culture. And when New Mexico became the 47th state to join the Union on January 6, 1912, He became a State representative. He was also the New Mexico Delegate to the Democratic Convention in St Louis in 1916. In his older years he devoted his life to helping others.
His Wife Cleofas Baca was also educated by private tutors and graduated by the sisters of Charity Educational Institution. She was a talented Singer and played the harp, piano and mandolin Guitar when she went to her ranch home as a bride, her piano accompanied the couple.
Cleofas became a ministering angel. She administered to the sick during the small pox epidemic ordering vaccines from as far away as Mexico to save hundreds of lives in her community. She became a teacher of Children in the vicinity and gave them religious instruction. She became blind and unsteady in walking in her later years but still played her piano as well as she did was first married.
Carlos Casaus, the father of Jesus, was a business man and famer with over 80,000 acres of land, 20,000 head of sheep, over 2,000 head of cattle and a number of horses. A shrewd business man, he along with his two brothers, open a Mercantile store to save cost on what was needed for his ranch. With the sale of goods and services, he could provide his ranch and family with what was needed for little or no cost.
Jesus and Cleofas had seven children. Margarita (1894-), Carlos (1895-), Rebecca (1896), Jacabo (1897-), Maria (1902-), Eliza(1902-) and Elvira (1905-1983). Elvira never married but followed in her mother’s footsteps becoming the angel of the community. She cared for her parents until their deaths and lived in the house until her death in a tragic car accident in 1983.
The house was then passed to Orlando Vito Gallegos. Elvira’s nephew and the Son of Isadore Vito and Rebecca Casaus Gallegos. Orlando Gallegos was one of the oroginal founders of the NSA in the late 1950s and after retiring in 1968, became a politician and university professor.
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