Cleofas jaramillo biography of michael w

Cleofas Martinez was born on December 6, to a pioneering family who settled in the village of Arroyo Hondo, north of Taos. She was next to the youngest of seven children, who were raised in a large adobe home that include their own Catholic chapel. She left her home at the age of nine to start her formal education with the Sisters of Loretto in Taos, where she was a boarder.

Cleofas continued her studies in Santa Fe at the Loretto Academy. Since the school was quite a distance from Arroyo Hondo, an aunt who lived in Santa Fe would send for her on religious holidays so she could celebrate them with her family. She made sure she completed her studies before considering marriage.

Cleofas M. Jaramillo, Romance of a Little Village Girl (San Antonio: Naylor, ).

Venceslao was a wealthy businessman and landowner whose unusual courtship was regaling her with gifts, which he sent through the post office to her school, and finally even an engagement ring! Although they were married soon after in Taos, the trousseau and wedding feast were ordered in Denver and brought there. The couple started their married life in El Rito, and traveled a great deal, including many business trips to Denver.

The family eventually moved to Denver, where they had property and where all three of their children were born. Cleofas lost her first two children, and only her third child, Angelina, survived. Later, when Venceslao was elected state senator from Rio Arriba County, he helped draft laws for the brand new state in as a member of the Constitutional Convention.

In , four years after Angelina's birth, Venceslao died. He left his affairs in turmoil and nothing in Cleofas's name. Cleofas was astute enough to salvage some of his estate in Denver and New Mexico, and she relocated to Santa Fe.