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chapter 2 For the Sake of Tranquility Marriage and Consensual Unions In the late fall of 1839, an Indian woman named Doña Josefa Tanon journeyed from Alamos to Batuc, two pueblos in the western Sierra Madres, to file a complaint against her brother, Menecio Tanon. She presented herself to the local justice of the peace as the widow of Juan Gonzáles, and accused her brother of conspiring to take away property she had rightfully inherited from her husband. Josefa Tanon was convinced that the family of Juan’s deceased first wife had turned Menecio against her over a piece of land and some livestock. According to Tanon, Gonzáles had left the property to her in his will.1 Josefa Tanon lost her suit before Judge José Antonio Silvas of Batuc and never received the inheritance Juan Gonzáles left for her in his will. A local parish priest came forward and reported that the property had actually belonged to Gonzáles’s deceased wife, Cristina. More importantly , he pointed out that Juan and Josefa were never actually married, although they presented themselves that way to the community. According to the priest, it was their “notoriously public,” adulterous relationship that had hastened the death of Juan’s legitimate wife, Cristina.2 The laws of inheritance, the counsel of a local priest, and the weight of public scandal assured that Josefa’s status as a mistress would prevent her from ever having access to her lover’s estate, even if Juan Gonzáles referred to her as his wife in his will. The case of Josefa Tanon demonstrates how local courts played an active role in enforcing marriage laws and moral conduct, although in this case the testimony of a disapproving priest was also pivotal. At the same time, Josefa’s sense of entitlement to her lover’s estate and Gonzáles’s reference to Josefa as his wife in his will suggests a more informal understanding of marriage. Perhaps their ideas were informed by indigenous practice, but Mexican couples seem to have shared the notion that couples could enter into consensual unions and present themselves to their communities “as though they were married.” Sonorans such as Juan Gonzáles and Josefa marriage and consensual unions 51 Tanon embraced an emphasis on conduct and buenas costumbres instead of an honor code that stressed legitimate marriage. These arrangements allowed couples in consensual unions to garner a measure of respect from neighbors and relatives, provided they practiced the same obligations expected of married couples, such as monogamy, education of children, and deference to partners. In contrast, republican judges reacted to such flexibility with rigid court decisions that privileged legitimate marriage. In this chapter I explore the tensions between the informal acceptance of consensual relationships in the community and the enforcement of legitimate marriage as a marker of civilization among judges. During the early republican era, Sonoran lawmakers made no changes to colonial legal codes that governed marriage and property rights. This continuity in the law, however, veils subtle changes and contestations that occurred as the region faced a new wave of violence and rebellion after the collapse of the presidio system during the 1820s. As indigenous resistance swelled among Apaches, and Yaqui leadership refused to recognize the new republican government, women’s obedience to husbands and fathers became a vital symbol of civilization, community tranquility, and public order. In court testimonies, Sonorans linked “marital tranquility” to the welfare of the extended family, the community, and the maintenance of civilization as a whole. In the midst of rebellion and territorial loss, fathers and court officials portrayed a daughter’s elopement or a wife’s disobedience as a threat to the community and to civilized order. These efforts to fashion a relationship between legitimate marriage and civilization in court testimonies were more than rhetorical flourishes. They suggest a growing tension in local Sonoran society between the need to hold up marriage and Mexican women’s moral conduct as a symbol of civilization , and the willingness of wives, sons, and daughters to disregard these strictures in the pursuit of their own fulfillment or security. Courtship: A Community Affair In 1843, Vicente Calvo, a French traveler who spent an extended period of time living in Sonora, rendered a vivid portrayal of mid-century courtship among young residents from the port of Guaymas: On summer nights, when the sky is serene and the sea is calm, the pier provides a place for walks and is busy...

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