Priests

Padre Kino and O'odham guide

The Jesuit Era

From January 1691, beginning with Padre Eusebio Kino, until the administration of Padre Custodio Jimeno in 1767, missionaries of the Catholic religious order called the Company of Jesus (Jesuits) operated the Missions of Guevavi, Tumacácori, Calabazas, and Sonoitac. Tumacácori and Guevavi were the first missions established in what is today Arizona, soon followed by Sonoitac. Calabazas was established later. Aside from those Jesuits who administered the missions from outside the area (home mission listed beside their name), each of them lived at Guevavi and visited the other three missions. Continue further down this page for more of this chronology.

Eusebio Francisco Kino (Dolores) January 1691 - March 1711
Juan de San Martín July 1701 - fall of 1701
Agustín de Campos (San Ignacio) 1711 - 1731
Luis Xavier Velarde (Dolores) 1711 - 1731
Juan Bautista Grazhoffer May 1732 - spring of 1733 (died at Guevavi)
Phelipe Segesser 1733 - 1734 (absent at least five months)
Gaspar Stiger (San Xavier) 1735 - spring of 1736
Ignacio Xavier Keller (Suamca) spring of 1736 - May 1737
Alejandro Rapicani June 1737 - fall of 1740
José de Torres Perea February 1741 - spring of 1744
Ildefonso de la Peña spring of 1744
Ignacio Xavier Keller (Suamca) summer of 1744 - May 1745
Joseph Garrucho May 1745 - November 1751

A revolt of O'odham people in the Altar Valley on Sunday, November 21, 1751 effectively closed the missions down, and Guevavi and its visitas did not get another resident missionary until the winter of 1753.

Francisco Xavier Pauer December 1753 - January 1760
Miguel Gerstner January 1760 - May 1761
Ignacio Pfefferkorn May 1761 - May 1763
Custodio Ximeno June 1763 - July 1767

The Jesuits were expelled from the northern provinces of New Spain in July of 1767 and it was a full year before the Franciscan order of Catholic missionaries began to replace them.

There were also two secular priests who visited Guevavi on a few occasions.

Joaquín Felix Diaz
Joseph Manuel Diaz del Carpio

Some of the other Jesuit missionaries who served in, or as superiors to those who served in the Pimería Alta and had an effect on the area are included below.

Luis María Marciano
Bartolomé Saenz
Luis María Gallardi
Alonso Ignacio Benito Espinosa
Bernardo Middendorf
Juan Bautista Nentvig
Jacobo Sedelmayr
Carlos de Roxas

 

Celebrating Mass

The Franciscan Era

Beginning with Juan Crisóstomo Gil de Bernabe in in the spring of 1768 and ending with Ramón Liberós in the spring of 1828, Catholic missionaries of the Franciscan religious order lived at Tumacácori and administered the missions of Tumacácori, Guevavi, Calabazas, and Sonoitac. After the expulsion of Padre Liberós by the new Mexican government because of his having been born in Spain, Tumacácori never had another resident missionary. Other Franciscans tried to keep the missions opperating by visiting them from a distance, but Guevavi, Sonoitac, and Calabazas were abandoned in that order. Eventually, in December of 1848, Tumacácori was also abandoned. Following is a list of Franciscan priests who served at Tumacácori:

Juan Crisóstomo Gil de Bernabé May 1768—March 1772
Francisco Sánchez Zúñiga Spring 1771—September 1771
Juan José Agorreta Mid-October 1771 for a few weeks
Bartolomé Ximeno July 1772—summer 1773
Gaspar Francisco de Clemente November 1772—early 1775
Joseph Matías Moreno October 1773—early 1775
Pedro Antonio de Arriquibar Early 1775—March 1780
Tomás Eixarch Early 1775—late summer 1776
Juan Bautista de Beldarrain Two months, late 1776
Joaquín Antonio Belarde September 1777—spring 1779
Baltazar Carillo April 1780—October 10, 1795, death
Narciso Guitérrez July 10, 1794—December 13, 1820, death
Florencio Ibañez December 1795—early 1796
Mariano Bordoy March 1796—late summer 1799
Ramón López March 1796—May 29, 1797
Ángel Alonso de Prado May 1797—January 1798
Manuel Fernández Saravia February 1804—mid-June 1804
Joseph Ignacio Ramírez de Arellano November 1804—May 1805
Gregorio Ruíz Late 1805—late 1807
Francisco Pérez June 1813-June 28, 1814
Juan Bautista Estelric December 1820—May 1822
Ramón Liberós Late May 1822—April 1828, expelled
Juan Maldonado Mid-June 1824—about November 1824
Rafael Díaz Late 1825—1841

After the expulsion of peninsular-born Spanish priests in 1828, Díaz resided at Cocóspera and rode the circuit to the presidio at Tucson and stopped at Tumacácori from 1837 until 1841 when he died. He was pastor to the entire northern Pimería, San Ignacio to Tucson.

Antonio Gonzalez Early fall 1841—1842 or 1843
Trinidad García Rojas June 20, 1844—1848

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Two Tumacácori Franciscans were disinterred twice and reburied after their death and initial burial beneath the floor of the Jesuit church at Tumacácori.

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Other Franciscan missionaries who served in the Pimería Alta and were familiar with Tumacácori and its visitas include:

Juan Marcelo Diaz
Pedro Font