Fernando de Oñate, 1612 
451 
Don Fernando de Oñate, the younger, whom the witness knows to be 
cousin to the aforesaid lady, and that the said marriage was contracted by 
dispensation, as was public and well known. This witness knows it to be a 
thing certain, and not to be doubted, that the said Don Fernando de Oñate 
is of the rank and pure lineage stated in the question, for this witness has 
seen that they are held and regarded as well-known gentlemen; and he 
has seen that the said Don Fernando, the younger, in his own person is 
moral, discreet, and of laudable habits. From all that has been said this 
witness knows that he is worthy and deserving, if his Majesty please, that 
the favor he is asking for be granted him, confirming in his person what 
should have been given to his father for his merits and services. And he 
affirms that what he has said is true and well known to the public. He 
signed it with the said señor oidor , the licentiate Diego Núñez Mosque- 
cho, Baltasar Rodríguez de los Ríos. 
Before me, Juan de Quiros, clerk and regidor of the City of Mexico, 
on the fifteenth 90 day of the month of March, 1612, the said señor oidor 
caused to appear before him Alonso López de Bocanegra, provincial and 
chief justice of the holy brotherhood in this New Spain, from whom 
was taken the oath by our Lord God and the sign of the cross, under 
promise to speak the truth. Being questioned by the said interrogatory, 
he made the following declaration: 
To the first question he declared that he knows the parties and has 
knowledge of the purpose for which this evidence is being taken, and as 
to the general questions respecting competence declared that he is nowise 
disqualified and is sixty-eight years of age. 
To the second question he declared that he knows and has seen that 
Don Fernando de Oñate, the elder, and Doña Leonor de Ribadeneyra are 
legitimately married and veiled according to the order of the Holy Mother 
Church, for this witness saw them married; that he knows that from their 
legitimate marriage they have had and procreated as their legitimate and 
eldest son the said Don Fernando de Oñate, the younger; and that they 
have treated and reared him as such, calling him “ son ” and he calling 
them “ father ” and “ mother.” And this witness knows that the said 
Don Fernando de Oñate, the elder, is the same mentioned in the proofs of 
merits stated in this question, which have been shown to this witness, for 
this witness remembers that they were presented; he does not know that 
in virtue of them any favor has been granted, although they were sent to 
the court of his Majesty, and if any remuneration had been given this 
witness would know it, as the said Don Fernando, the elder, was his 
friend, and a person so well known in this kingdom that the said favor 
could not remain hidden. This he affirms. 
To the third question he declared that he knows and saw how, after 
the said Don Fernando de Oñate had presented the said proof of merits 
mentioned in the question, the corregimiento of this city having become 
vacant in the time of the administration of the viceroy, Marquis of Montes- 
claros, because the said Don Fernando de Oñate was a person so suitable 
for the said office, not only for his known rank but also for his great talent 
