|
|
Here are the notes of Louis
De Grace from his research trips to Mallorca,
Spain.
TRIP TO MALLORCA, NOVEMBER 1992
General
Shirl and I took a real vacation this year, our first since
1985. The original plan was to spend a few days in London,
adjusting to European time, then on to the World's Fair in
Seville, Spain for about 3 days. After that fly to Palma,
Mallorca, Spain, the city from whence came the founder of
the De GRACE clan in America, and where we had
already done some research on the family history. I had
intentionally planned to be at the Fair in its last days.
The death of my step mother about two weeks before we were
originally scheduled to leave, delayed the trip for about a
month eliminating the fair. Therefore, we reversed the order
of the trip, going all the way to Palma first.
Family History Research Activities
We spent most of the time in Palma doing family research. On
this trip most of it was done in the Archivo Provincial,
(Now identified in Catalan as "Arxiv del Regne de Mallorca")
located in the rear of the "Casa de Cultura" on the Calle
(street) Ramon Llull, near the church of St. Francisco. It
is on the 3rd floor or "Piso 2." (Remember, in Europe our
1st floor is their ground floor, and their 1st floor is our
second floor, etc.) This building is listed as a "museo" on
some maps, but the front upper floors are a public library,
and if there is a museum in it, I have not seen it in my
many visits.
In past visits, I found verification of information I
already had. This time we found some new material. By far
the most important was the will of the grandfather of
Antoine De GRACE the founder of the De GRACE
clan in America, born Pere Antoni GRAS in Palma de
Mallorca. Antoine and his grandfather had the same
name.
Pere Antoni GRAS the Sr.'s bequests to his daughters
for dowries indicated that he was well off. They totaled 550
Mallorcan Libras or Pounds (like pounds sterling). I believe
that in those days that would have been a considerable
amount of money. He left all of his other worldly
possessions to his wife, Juana MIRALLES. Thus the
will contained no inventory, and did not disclose the total
extent of his wealth. It was clear in this and several other
records of lesser importance that the family business was
the making of barrels, or cooperage. So the legendary
fortune literally "came in barrels."
The will was in poor physical condition, with the acid in
the ink having done a fair amount of damage, and since it
came through the paper, it was if the back of the page had
been overwritten on the front. It was also written in
Catalan. (A language common in those days, and increasingly
being used again in Eastern Spain, around Barcelona, the
region known as Catalonia, and in the Baleric Islands, of
which Mallorca is one). From what I have seen of it is
almost more akin to French and English than Spanish,
although there is a relationship to Spanish as well.) A
Xerox copy of this document was made, but because of its
condition did not come out well. I took color print
photographs of it, but then found a better, if more
expensive solution to the problem of getting a copy.
I reasoned that one of the local archivists would have a
better chance of deciphering this record than I, having a
knowledge of Catalan, and old damaged records. So I paid a
young man who worked there about $75 for a typed
transcription and a translation. Since he did not speak
English, the translation is from Catalan to Spanish. He did
the typing on a computer using "Word Perfect" a popular word
processor, so I also got a disc with the material on it, as
well as a printout. This will allow me to do things like
make double space copies for working out the translation
into English, etc. For the record, the will is in Book 375
folios (pages) 395-396. The Notario's name is Juan Llampart.
This notario's name was mentioned in the church death record
of this man. He died in January 1728, having made out his
will only a few weeks before.
Another record we ran across in the same book was that of
Juan MIRALLES, apparently the brother of
Juana, which mentions Pere Antoni GRAS very
clearly, probably to identify his sister, i.e. Juana
MIRALLES, wife of Pere Antoni GRAS. I have a
Xerox of this record, which is on page 288 of Libro #LI 375.
There is another listing, Magdalena RIPOL, widow of
Patro Juan MIRALLES, which also Pere Antoni
GRAS, which is in good condition -- p 308. There are no
other listings of obvious interest in the index of this
book. The index groups names by first letter of last names,
but the listing is not alphabetical beyond that.
There are no other notaries named in any of the death
records I have found to date. So finding other wills this
way may be a problem. I looked to see if there was another
LLampart(d)_ that might be the son of the notario who did
the will above, and who continued doing business with the
following generations of GRAS. Did find a "Llompard y
Miralles", which I hoped might have the records for Juana
MIRALLES, but no such luck. But we did find in Libro LI
482__ on page 221 a Joan (Juan in Sp., John in
English) GRAS, another son of Antoni GRAS and
Juana MIRALLES, i.e. an uncle of Antoine's.
Although the record itself was very difficult to read, there
was a mention of Anna GRAS, wife of Rafel MOTT or
MOLL. On page 273 of this same book, the will of
Joan (Catalan for Juan) MIRALLES which
mentioned Juana MIRALLES, but we don't know in what
context.
It is important for other researchers to know that it is
very difficult to find wills of that period unless you know
the name of the notario who wrote it. The documents belonged
to these functionaries, and were filed in a central archive
when they retired or died. They are only filed by the
notario's name. Furthermore, the organization of these
records is inconsistent from notario to notario. If you're
lucky, there will be an index either in the front or back.
This will tell you on what page a specific record will be
found, but the records themselves don't seem to be in any
order whatever. The best index you will find is one done by
last names. But then you will only find all the A's on one
page, all the B's on the next, etc. The A's will not be in
alphabetical order within themselves. Some of the records
are organized alphabetically by first name!? Only about half
are indexed at all. In those cases you must go through the
documents one at a time, which is extremely time consuming
because of the condition of many of the records, the fact
that they are written in Catalan, and the principal's name
is somewhat buried in the somewhat flowery words that are
introduce virtually all wills of that time.
In order to find out more about these notarios and their
records, we also visited the Palma court house (Palacio de
Justica), where I met a lawyer who could speak very passable
English. He told me that all lists or registers of probates
of wills had been moved to Madrid. He suggested that we
visit the "Colegio Notorial" or Society of Notarios. It was
not far away, so we did.
There, fortune smiled again, and we found another gentleman
who spoke very good English. (I know a few words of Spanish,
but no Catalan, and not enough to carry on a real
conversation.) He informed us that the Madrid Registry was
begun in 1933, and had no records previous to that. His
organization only had records from 1860 forward, the older
ones being in the Arxiu del Regne de Mallorca. It was he
that explained about the notarios prior to the mid 1800's
owning the documents.
When I showed this man the transcripts I have of the death
records of Antoine's father and mother, he suggested
that I look for more information in the records of a Father
Juan Morey at the convent of the church of San Francisco.
However, I got absolutely no help from the woman who
answered the door, when I showed her a written note
regarding what we were looking for, and was not too politely
ushered out the door, even though many people seemed to be
going into the place for something. (A good reason to know
Spanish or Catalan if you want to get deeply into this
research.)
It may be that the man was mistaken. The church mentioned in
the death records is the church of San Francisco de Paula,
which no longer exists. It was originally where the Plaza de
Reina is now. I have not been able to find out what happened
to the records, nor the graves. However, the records may be
stored in the archives located in the Episcopal Palace,
behind the Cathedral. Antoine's grandfather,
presumably his grandmother, and his parents were originally
buried there. This was probably the "eglesia Sta. Fransisco"
that Fr. Morey was connected to. This is probably the source
of the part of the legend about the fortune that says that
"The Church" was holding the money, and would not release it
to Antoine's heirs. Unfortunately, I did not find
where the probate records might be. They did have such
things, and a fairly complete inventory of a persons
possessions should be in those records.
At the Arxiv I also asked if they had anything like a "city
directory" in the days of Antoine's youth, i.e. the
mid 1700's. They showed me a huge book, about 500 x 330 x
150 mm (18 x 12 x 6 inches) in size. The book was titled
"REGISTRO DE DIPUTACIO." When trying to describe the book to
me, the archivist used the words "patrimony", which of
course means "inheritance", and "capitol", which means what
it means in English.
It appears that this book may be a list of valuables,
properties, money, etc. transferred from one person to
another. If so, it appears that either the giver or receiver
or both resided in the parish of Sta. Creu. Some of these
transfers may have been inheritances. As usual, the listings
were not structured in any obvious pattern, i.e. not by
street, family name etc. It contained two major sections,
St. Jaume parish, and Sta Creu (Cruz). The archive number
for the book is D1269 - 1. Sta. Creu starts on P 230. These
pages were difficult to read. They are in Catalan, are in
many different hands, many almost illegible. Just
concentrating on finding the names "GRAS" and
"MIRALLES", it took me 6 hours to get through the
Sta. Creu section.
The listings looked something like this:
YR.
DESCRIPTION OF PROPERTYPAGEMONETARY
AMOUNT
Appeared to be a description of the property and name of the
owner (as near as I could tell) Not clear if this was the
the value of the property or a tax. (* the "page" seemed to
refer to the location of a cross reference listed under the
other name involved in the transaction in the same
book.)
Arxiu del Regne de Mallorca, Protocolos notariales, registro
LL 375, ff. 395 - 396. PRIVATE
Transcripcion
Die 7 mensis octobris
anno a Nativitate Domini 1728.
En nom de la Santissima Trinitat: Pare, Fill y Esperit Sant,
amen. Com ninguna persona en carn humana posat pugue fugir
del morir y sia aconsellat per al profeta dient: dispon de
la tua casa perque tens de morir y no sempre viure. Per co
jo, Pere Antoni GRAS, boter, boter, fill llegitim y
natural de mestre Antoni GRAS, boter, y de
Catarina MAYOL, quondams, trobant-me detingut en lo
lit de malaltia corporal de la qual tem morir; estant,
empero, ab mon ple judici, fas aquest meu testament, en lo
qual elegesc y anomen en mermasors meus y de esta ultima
voluntad mia executors a Juana MIRALLES, muller mia,
Antoni GRAS, Juan GRAS, mos fills, y el doctor
Juan MIRALLES, prevere beneficiat en la iglesia
Catedral, tant conjuncts com dividits, los quals prega, etc.
Y para que Deu nostro Senyor tingue compatio de la mia anima
alegesc la mia sepultura al meu cos mort fahedora en la
iglesia de Sant Francisco de Paula, en la capella de nostra
Senyora de la Soledat; y la funeraria vull sia ab voluntat
de los meus mermasors. Y para que Deu nostro Senyor me
perdona mos pecats fas los llegats prosiguents:
Primo, lex al molt reverend Rector de alli hont sere
parroquia el dia de mon obit 5 sous per son dret parroquial,
una volta tantum.
Item, lex y selebrar mana en sufragi de la mia anima 150
misas baxes selebradoras, a saberes, 50 en la iglesia de
Sant Francisco de Paula a altar de privilegi, 25 en la
capella de Sant Pere de la Seu, 25 en la capella de nostra
Senyora del Roser del convent de Sant Domingo y les demes,
fins el compliment, alli hont voldran los meus mermasors,
totas ab la caritat acostumada, una volta tantum.
Item, lex per amor de Deu a la Terra Santa de Jerusalem 5
sous , una volta tantum.
Item, lex per tota part heretat y llegitima a Antoni
GRAS, mon fill, 5 sous, ab los quals hereu meu
particular instituesch, y ell premort a sos infants in
stirpe et non in capita.
Item, lex per tota part heretat y llegitima a Juan
GRAS, mon fill, 5 sous, ab los quals hereu meu
particular instituesch, y ell premort a sos infants in
stirpe et non in capita.
Item, lex per tota part heretat y llegitima a Magdalena
GRAS, ma filla 5 sous junctament ab aquelles 250 lliures
que li doni en contemplacio de son matrimoni que contrague
ab Juan LLEMPAYES, com appar ab acta rebut en poder
del notari infrascrit als 12 abril 1721, ab los quals hereva
mia particular insti tuesch, y ella premorta a sos infants
in stirpem et non in capita.
Item, lex per tota part heretat y llegitima a Juana Maria
GRAS, donzella filla mia, 150 lliures, moneda de
Mallorca, a ella pagadores a contemplatio de un matrimonio
en cas de pendre estament mes perfet, ab les quals hereva
mia particular instituesch, y ella premorta a sos infants in
stirpem et non in capita.
Item, lex per tota part heretat y llegitima a Anna
GRAS, donzella, 150 lliures, moneda de Mallorca, a ella
pagadores en contemplatio de un matrimonio prenint altre
estament mes perfet, ab les quals hereva mia particular
instituesch, y ella premorta a sos infants in stirpem et non
in capita.
Item, lex a tots mos infants postumos y del vuy al devant
naxedors 5 sous per tota part heretat y llegitima, ab los
quals hereus meus particulars instituesch, y ells premorts a
sos infants.
Pagades y cumplides totas les demunt dites cosas, etc., en
tots los altres, empero, bens meus instituesch hereva mia
usufructuaria a Juana MIRALLES, muller mia, durant la
sua vida; propietaris, empero, a Antoni, Juan y Joseph
GRAS, mos fills, per iguals portions entre ells
divididores a ses liberas voluntats, elegint en curedora a
los meus infants menors a la dita Juana MIRALLES, me
muller, attribuint en aquella tot el poder sia necessari,
sens que per lo dit effecta haie manester autoritat de
jutge. Hec [est] auctem ultima voluntas mea, quam
laudo, approbo, rattifico et confirmo et cassans irritans
revocans et anullans etc. Testament fet en la present Ciutat
los dia y anny dessus dits.
Testimonis rogats y per boca propia del dit testador pregats
son Jaume Salas, Pere Juan Fluxa, Matia Servera, flasaders;
Francesc Ripoll, Francesc Suau, Joseph Gaia y Francesc
Castanyer, boters; y yo, Juan Llompard, notari, qui,
etc.
Mori dit testador a 22 Octubre de 1728 sirca tres hores de
nit. Anima eius in pace requiescat, amen. Y fonch treta
copia de la obre pia als 6 de desembre 1730 a requisitio e
instancia de Juana MIRALLES, vidua del dit diffunt.
Se ha publicat per mi, Juan Llompard, notari, el present
testament presents per testimonis per dit effecta cridats
son Miquel Llompard, criat, y Pau Ximenis, torsedor de seda,
quare, etc.
Traduccion.
Dia 7 de octubre del ano de la
Natividad del Senor de 1728.
En nombre de la Santisima Trinidad: Padre, Hijo y Espiritu
Santo, amen. Como ninguna persona puesta en carne humana
pueda escapar a la muerte y sea consejo del profeta: "Dispon
de tu casa porque tienes que morir y no vivir siempre". Por
eso yo, Pere Antoni GRAS, botero, hijo legitimo y
natural del maestro Antoni GRAS, botero, y de
Catalina MAYOL, difuntos, hallandome en cama por
enfermedad corporal de la cual temo morir; estando, sin
embargo, en pleno juicio de mis facultades mentales, dicto
este mi testamento, en el que elijo y nombro como albaceas
mios y ejecutores de esta mi ultima voluntad a Joana
MIRALLES, mi esposa, Antoni GRAS y Joan GRAS, mis
hijos, y al doctor Joan MIRALLES, presbitero
beneficiado en la iglesia Catedral, tanto en conjunto como
individualmente, a los cuales ruega, etc. Y para que Dios
muestro Senor tenga compasion de mi alma elijo sepultura
para mi cuerpo en la iglesia de San Francisco de Paula, en
la capilla de Nuestra Senora de la Soledad; y la funeraria
quiero que sea a voluntad de mis albaceas. Y para que Dios
nuestro Senor perdone mis pecados hago los legados
siguientes:
Primero, lego al muy reverendo Rector de alla donde sere
parroquiano el dia de mi obito 5 sueldos por su derecho
parroquial, una vez solamente.
También, lego y mando celebrar en sufragio de mi alma
150 misas bajas, a celebrar, a saber, 50 en la iglesia de
San Francisco de Paula en altar de privilegio, 25 en la
capilla de San Pedro de la Seo, 25 en la capilla de Santo
Domingo y las demas, hasta su cumplimiento, alla donde
quieran mis albaceas, todas con la caridad acostumbrada, una
vez solamente.
También, lego por amor de Dios a la Tierra Santa de
Jerusalem 5 sueldos, una sola vez.
También, lego por toda parte de herencia y legitima a
Antoni GRAS, mi hijo, 5 sueldos, con los cuales le
instituyo heredero mio particular, y el premuerto a sus
hijos en estirpe y no en cabezas.
También, lego por toda parte de herencia y legitima a
Joan GRAS, mi hijo, 5 sueldos, con los cuales le
instituyo heredero mio particular, y el premuerto a sus
hijos en estirpe y no en cabezas.
También, lego por toda parte de herencia y legitima a
Magdalena GRAS, mi hija, 5 sueldos juntamente con
aquellas 250 libras que le di en contemplacion al matrimonio
que contrajo con Joan LLEMPAYES, asi como aparece en
el acta recibida en poder del notario infrascrito a 12 de
abril de 1721, con los cuales la instituyo heredera mia
particular, y ella premuerta a sus hijos en estirpe y no en
cabezas.
También, lego por toda parte de herencia y legitima a
Joana Maria GRAS, hija mía soltera, 150 libras
en moneda de Mallorca, pagaderas en contempacion a un
matrimonio o en caso de tomar estamento mas perfecto, con
las cuales la instituyo heredera mia particular, y ella
premuerta a sus hijos en estirpe y no en cabezas.
También, lego por toda parte de herencia y legitima a
Anna GRAS, soltera, 150 libras en moneda de Mallorca,
pagaderas en contemplacion a un matrimonio o tomando otro
estado mas perfecto, con las cuales la instituyo heredera
mia particular, y ella premuerta a sus hijos.
También, lego a todos mis hijos postumos y a nacer
desde el dia de hoy 5 sueldos por toda parte de herencia y
legitima, con los cuales les instituyo herederos mios
particulares, y ellos premuertos a sus hijos.
Pagadas y cumplidas todas las cosas citadas, etc., para el
resto de mis bienes instituyo heredera mia usufructuaria a
Juana MIRALLES, mi esposa, para el resto de su vida;
propietarios, sin embargo, a Antoni, Joan y Josep
GRAS, mis hijos, en iguales porciones a dividir entre
ellos a su libre voluntad. Elijo como curadora de mis hijos
menores a la citada Joana MIRALLES, mi mujer,
atribuyendole todo el poder que sea necesario, sin que para
dicho efecto sea precisa la autoridad de un juez. Esta es,
pero, mi ultima voluntad, la cual alabo, apruebo, ratifico y
confirmo, y casa, revoca y anula, etc. Testamento hecho en
la presente Ciudad el dia y ano arriba senalados.
Testimonio rogados y por boca del propio testador suplicados
son: Jaume Salas, Pere Joan Fluxa, Macia Servera, manteros;
Francesc Ripoll, Francesc Suau, Josep Gaia y Francesc
Castanyer, boteros; y yo, Joan Llompard, notario, que,
etc.
Murio el citado testador el 22 de octubre de 1728 cerca de
las tres de la noche. Su alma descanse en paz, amen. Y fue
extraida copia de la obra pia a 6 de diciembre de 1730, a
instancia de Joana MIRALLES, viuda del citado
difunto. Se ha publicado por mi, Joan Llompard, notario, el
presente testamento, presentes como testimonios citados al
efecto Miquel Llompard, criado, y Pau Ximenis, torcedor de
seda.
Sin confirmar por lectura dificultosa, a causa de
desperfecto del documento.
Mary Cronin Nichols comments:
"Pere Antoni GRAS the Sr.'s bequests to
his daughters for dowries "
While I'm not a scholar on Spanish (i.e. Civil) law,
especially from that century, Spanish law provided that a
woman could inherit her own property - quite different from
the Common Law of England and most of the United States -
then and now - so rather than a dowry - these may be actual
inheritances - rather than having them wait for the wife to
die.
"The Notario's name is Juan Llampart. "
A "notario" both then and today - both in Spain, Mexico and
France - is more akin to a lawyer than what we Americans
think of when we see "notary" - i.e. a witness to a
signature.
"records of a father Juan Morey at the convent
of the church of San Francisco. However, I got absolutely
no help from the woman who answered the door, when I
showed her a written note"
When it is possible, a letter sent to a parish prior to a
visit might engender more assistance. (g) If nothing else,
you'll know whether citing Canon law requiring a parish to
provide vital records information will be necessary to
stimulate a more fruitful response.
"This is probably the source of the part of the
legend about the fortune that says that "The Church" was
holding the money, and would not release it"
This is a story I have frequently heard. Just to
discourage treasure seekers, estates that are not
distributed usually become the property of the state sooner
or later.
"jo, Pere Antoni GRAS, boter, []
fill llegitim y natural de mestre Antoni GRAS,
boter, y de Catarina MAYOL,"
A crude translation of this, gives another generation of
the GRAS line: "I, Pere Antoni GRAS, cooper
(?), legitimate and natural son of master Antoni
GRAS, cooper (?), and of Catarina MAYOL,
"5 sous . . . parroquial
150 misas . . .
Terra Santa de Jerusalem 5 sous"
Gifts to the church, for masses and for Jerusalem.
"lex per tota part heretat y llegitima a
Antoni GRAS, mon fill, 5 sous, [ditto]
Juan GRAS, [ditto] Magdalena GRAS,
[ditto] Juana Maria [ditto]
Anna GRAS, . . . "
Possibly legally required gifts to children? "lex per
tota"
"lex a tots mos infants postumos y del vuy al
devant naxedors 5 sous per tota part heretat y llegitima,
"
Ditto for afterborn (posthumous) children.
"usufructuaria a Juana MIRALLES, muller
mia, durant la sua vida; propietaris, empero, a
Antoni, Juan y Joseph GRAS, mos fills, per iguals
portions entre ells divididores a ses"
Essentially an estate for life for his wife in all other
assets which will then go to his three sons upon her
death.
"Y fue extraida copia de la obra pia a 6 de
diciembre de 1730, a instancia de Joana
MIRALLES,"
Again, very rudimentary translation - but seems to be
only an extract of the will - where's the original??? -
recorded at the request of Juana MIRALLES a couple
years after Pedro's death - perhaps indicative of
some kind of dispute - there may be a court proceeding
somewhere else regarding her continued use of the
estate.
Hope this helps.
Mary Nichols
OWEN/CRONIN
Homepage
Wash.
Co., ME GenWeb
https://sites.rootsweb.com/~mnichols/deg/deg_notes.htm
6 Sep 2005
|