Sunday, March 9, 2014

Town Blacksmith

Jan. 18, 1902.  Socorro Chieftain, Pg.1

The previous post about Juan Julian Trujillo spotlighted just one of Andrea’s brothers.

While the eldest brother, Juan Julian, was a respected educator and our matriarch Andrea was a midwife/nurse known throughout Socorro, another of the brothers, Atanacio Trujillo, was the town’s blacksmith.

Among the three of them, the Trujillos served Socorro well at the turn of the 20th Century. Andrea helped bring babies into the world and kept them healthy. Juan Julian gave those children an education. 

And Atanacio helped the townsfolk thrive, making and repairing their equipment and fitting their horses with hardware. A blacksmith often was the heart of a town. He was a craftsman and a master with tools, metals and engineering. Atanacio followed in the footsteps of his father, Jose; his grandfather,  Juan Antonio; and even his great-grandfather, Agustin. Agustin was listed as a blacksmith in the 1790 Spanish census in the town of Belen.

 Atanacio was mentioned briefly in a Socorro newspaper clipping at the time of his death in 1902. (see above)

Atanacio was born Aug  13, 1850 in Socorro and died there in January 1902. He married Telesfora Chaves and had sons Pedro, Moises, Manuel, Jose and Juan.


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  2. According to the 1790 Census of Belen, Atancio Trujillo's great-grandfather Juan Agustin Trujillo was also a blacksmith. Also, Juan Agustin's brother Blas was listed as a blacksmith, as were other Trujillo men in Belen who were possibly related to the two brothers. Juan Agustin Trujillo and his wife Lucia Montano were probably among the first settlers of Socorro, New Mexico in 1815.