RELUCTANT DAWN: A Biography of Padre Antonio José Martínez, Cura de Taos

by Juan Romero

Padre Antonio José Martínez, Cura de Taos (1793-1867) was a significant liminal figure who lived during the three eras of New Mexican HIstory--under the governments of the Kingdom of Spain (until 1821), the Mexican Republic (until 1846), and the United States of America. When he was eleven, his family moved from Abiquiú to Taos where he remained the rest of his life. After studying five years in Durango, he was ordained a priest in 1822--a year after Mexican Independence from Spain. He was a Mexican nationalist, but in 1846 he helped broker the occupation of the United States. He served several terms on the Territorial Legislature for New Mexico as he had done for the Asamblea del Departamento de Nuevo Mexico of the Republic of Mexico.He published a speller for children, a bilingual ritual (Latin and Spanish--first book published in NM)), a short-lived newspaper, several religious and political tracts, and his autobiography. In 1846, Stephen Watts Kearny used the Padre's press to publish the Kearny Code of Laws for New Mexico. The Padre's passion was he established in his home an elementary school for girls as well as boys, succeeded by a seminary and then a law school. In 1856, now under a new bishop, he was suspended and in 1858 (unjustly) excommunicated not for any immorality but for publicly disagreeing with his bishop on the matter of tithing. As a young priest, Martínez was instrumental in abrogating the policy that he held was too heavy burden on the poor.In his Last Will and Testimony, Padre Martínez asserts,, "I have tried to fulfill my ecclesiastical ministry with oonsacy and fidelity...to serve my God, creator and savior.....I have done as much as I can to enlighten the minds of my fellow citizens, to cause them temporal good, and before everything else, their spiritual good.... My conscience is restful and tranquil, God knows this is certain."When he died on July 27, 1867, the Territorial Legislature of New Mexico engraved on his tombstone him "LA HONRA DE SU PAIS", The Honor of His Homeland.

132 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 23, 2021