1731. Carta de Tomás Sánchez para Ana de Campos.

Letter from Tomás Sánchez to Ana de Campos.

The author informs Ana de Campos of some news and of his plans to win some money for helping her family.

In July 1732, following an accusation of non-compliance with a marriage promise, Ana de Campos, a widow resident in Coria del Río, initiated a litigation against Tomás Sánchez, also a widow from the same locality. On her petition, Ana declared she was living with her parents and having an honest conduct when Tomás courted her and promised her they would marry. Besides, he asked her father for her hand and gave her several presents and letters that she presented before Court. Her testimony was verified by some witnesses who assured their relationship had been developing over the past year. Ana decided to bring the claim once she knew Tomás´ attempts to achieve a marriage license in order to marry María de Quinta, a single young woman from the same locality. When Tomás Sánchez was found in Sevilla and questioned with regards to the lawsuit, he stated he never gave his word to marry, he doubted the reliability of the witnesses and also the nature of the letters, which according to him did not mislead to think about the existence of a marriage proposal. Likewise, he expressed his intention to marry María de Quinta, who after knowing about Ana de Campos´ tries, brought the exact same lawsuit against Tomás Sánchez. She stated she had more right than the other woman since he had proposed to her in 1730, no long after he widowed. She assured there were several witnesses who could confirm it, amongst which she mentioned Alonso Payán, María Payán, her mother and one of her sisters. The wedding had been postponed due to family circumstances and to her fiancé´s trips. At that point, Ana de Campo´s lawsuit was preventing the marriage from happening. In addition, María de Quinta presented several letters proving the communication among them and she also related the presents she had received from him. Unlike what happened with Ana´s lawsuit, Tomás did not denied the charges brought by María de Quinta and he assured his intention to marry her was intact. Despite Ana de Campo´s efforts to obstruct their marriage pretentions, the ruling was favourable to Tomás and María, who obtained the marriage license in 1735.

Although the letter transcribed in here seems dated in 1721, due to the context of the proceeding we believe it is a mistake and the real date was 1731.