The Spanish-Mexican Records
of the San Jose Pueblo (1792-1850)
at
History San José & San Jose Public
Library
Cate Mills
Project Archivist, History San Jose
cmills@historysanjose.org
About History San José
Poster given to Clyde
Arbuckle in 1966 by
students visiting his
museum at the Santa
Clara County Fairgrounds
(History San José
Collection)
About History San José
About History San José
Founding of the Pueblo
This 1 June 1781 map of Pueblo de San
Jose de Guadalupe is the first known map
of what is today San Jose, California. It
represents the original site of the pueblo
from November 1777 to approximately
1797.
Document creation
-- Hubert Howe Bancroft
Volume 6, page 714
November 30, 1807
Itemized account of taxes
collected in kind and cash for the
year 1807. Items covered include
wheat, corn, bean, other farm
products, cattle, and sheep.
Producers and amounts are
listed. Signed Luis Peralta, San
Jose.
Volume 6,
pages 703-704
July 12, 1799
Call to arms in
case of invasion
by English
frigates reported
off coast. Signed
Hermenegildo
Sal, Monterey
Volume 3,
pages 550 - 553
October 25,
1800
Antonio
Hernandez is
drunkard and
troublemaker;
crop disposal by
settlers vs. retired
soldiers. Signed
Hermenegildo
Sal, Monterey
Volume 4,
pages 654-657
February 20, 1802
Expresses concern over
the welfare of the
Indians in the San Jose
area. Many have died in
an epidemic, and it is
feared that the Indians
are being mistreated.
Signed Raimundo
Carrillo, Monterey
Copy of Surveyor General’s
certificate included in original
bound volumes of archives,
1858.
Document chronology
Bancroft, Bibliography of Californian History
Previous projects
● 1930s: WPA project translated 166
documents
● 1959: Microfilming at Bancroft
● 1966: Print index created with English
language summaries. Example:
1792: Oct. 15; v. 3, p. 332. A proclamation imposing
payment of 3% taxes in Alta California. Addressed to
all presidio commanders. Signed José Joaquín de
Arrillaga, San Diego.
Previous projects
1995-2005: Jose Pantoja and
Patsy Castro Ludwig arrange
documents in chronological order
and update the 1966 index
1998: “A Year in the Life of a
Spanish Colonial Pueblo”
2004: Select documents available
on Calisphere as part of Silicon
Valley History Online project
Current Project
Objectives
● Catalog each record
● Increase awareness of the records
● Provide search access and high quality images
● Create digital surrogates to reduce use of originals
Partners/Users
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General public
History San José
California Pioneers of Santa Clara County
Mexican Consulate
Spanish language scholars at SJSU, SCU
Other disciplines - history, social sciences, law, Latin
American & Mexican studies
● Digital surrogates make research and remote
collaboration much easier !
Issues
● No Unique IDs or numbering system - needed to match up physical
documents to the digital index
● Language barrier - handwriting, abbreviations, 18th/19th century usage
● Standardizing names
o spelling variants (Ygnacio/Ignacio, Chaboya/Chabolla)
o full names/inconsistent middle names
 Arrillaga, José Joaquín or de Arrillaga, José Joaquin?
 José Antonio de la Guerra y Noriega uses a combination of
names in his signature. The LC authorized name is Guerra y
Noriega, José de la, 1779-1858
● Numbering and matching transcriptions and translations to the originals
Choosing a platform
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PastPerfect Online
OAC/Calisphere
CONTENTdm
Google/Cloud-based documents
Google Cultural Exhibits
Making sure that whatever scanning specs
we use can be re-used for other services
Online access
San Jose Public
Library (40 papers):
http://digitalcollections.
sjlibrary.org/cdm/landingp
age/collection/
pueblodocs
Online access
History San José
website:
http://historysanjose.org/wp
/research-collection/
collections/pueblo-papers/
Online access
PastPerfect Online
http://historysanjose.pastperfect-online.com
Online access
PastPerfect Online
http://historysanjose.pastperfect-online.com
Future and Ongoing
● Physical and online exhibits
● Ongoing work to complete
transcripts/translations
● Incorporate into educational programs
● Work with other institutions to increase
access and awareness of Spanish-Mexican
era records
● Duplicate project with City of San Jose
records