Taos County NM Archives Photo Tombstone.....Martinez, D. Antonio Jose 
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Jennifer Sanders catfarmer_80421@yahoo.com October 21, 2007, 3:37 pm

Cemetery:           Kit Carson Memorial Cemetery
Name:               D. Antonio Jose Martinez

Date Of Photograph: October 20, 2007
Photo can be seen at:
http://www.usgwarchives.net/nm/taos/cemph/kitcarsonmemoria/martinez148gph.jpg
Image file size: 112.4 Kb

Kit Carson Memorial Cemetery
Taos, Taos County, New Mexico
En memoria del Presbitero D. Antonio Jose Martinez Cura de Taos N. Mexico 
Nacio en 1793
Murio el dia 27 de Julio A.D. 1867
La legislatura de Nuevo Mexico le llamo al tiempo de su muerte 'la honra de su 
paiz.' Sirvio la administracion espiritual del curato de Taos por cuarenta y 
dos anos.

Additional Comments:
Adjacent plaque reads:
Antonio Jose Martinez -- "Curate of Taos"
Padre Antonio Jose Martinez was born in Abiquiu New Mexico in 1793, and became 
one of the major religious leaders in Taos and northern New Mexico. Following 
the death of his wife and child, when he was 23, Martinez entered the seminary 
in Durango, and began a life of laborious study and religious scholarship. 
After first serving as a priest in his native Abiquiu, he moved to Taos, where 
he became a dominant spiritual force for many years. 

In the 1830's, Padre Martinez established the first co-educational school in 
New Mexico, published several textbooks and one of the first newspapers in New 
Mexico, and was instrumental in obtaining the abolition of tithes. 

Always active politically, Padre Martinez served in the assembly that helped 
organize the New Mexico territory in 1848, although he was said to have been 
involved in the revolt of the Taos Indians the previous year. In 1851 and 1852 
he was a deputy in the Territorial Legislature. Martinez was a controversial 
figure and his religious differences with Bishop Jean Baptiste Lamy caused him 
to be defrocked and excommunicated in 1856. Undaunted, Martinez formed a 
schismatic church with another priest, and maintained his vast popular 
following until his death on July 27, 1867.

File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/nm/taos/cemeteries/photos/kitcarsonmemoria/martinez148gph.txt

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