By Mary Davis, Corrales Village Historian
Did you know that the first school in Corrales was founded by a Presbyterian pastor who had roots in Corrales? A 2020 master’s degree thesis at the University of New Mexico, El Pastor: The Life and Ministry of José Ynéz Perea, 1837-1910, by Benjamin Ransom Davis (no relation) describes Perea’s trials and tribulations as he slowly turned away from his family and the Catholic church to become an evangelical minister seeking to establish the Presbyterian faith in northern New Mexico.
José Ynéz’ parents were Don Juan Perea and Doña Josefa Chavez de Perea. Sandoval County Historical Society records state that Don Juan was born in 1802 in Corrales, as was his father Pedro José Perea (born 1780); José Ynéz was born in Bernalillo, where many of his relatives lived. His father and his uncle—the “sheep king†José Leandro Perea—were wealthy merchants in the Santa Fe trade and two of the most powerful men in the Rio Abajo.
Like many of the sons of wealthy New Mexican families, José Ynéz was sent to far away Catholic schools, first in Mexico and later in New York. Finally, in order to qualify for West Point, he was sent to a preparatory school in New Jersey. Unbeknownst to Don Juan, the school was run by a Presbyterian minister and here young Perea became increasingly convinced that he needed to leave the Catholic Church. He was admitted to West Point, the first student from New Mexico to do so, but he hated the Academy and resigned after a few months
His father was reluctant to have his unorthodox son return home, so he sent him away to work in a dry goods store in St Louis where he could learn “the American way of business.†But here again, a devout Presbyterian turned up, this time a partner in the store. He befriended the young man from New Mexico and soon Perea began to attend the local Presbyterian Sunday School.
In 1855, in a shocking move, he abruptly left St. Louis, traveled to New Orleans and signed on as an abled-bodied seaman to sail the world on merchant ships for nearly five years. In a later letter Perea wrote, “Fearing my parents continued and growing opposition, I thought the better part of valor would be to flee.†On his return, he learned that his family would “tolerate†his religion and he spent the next decade reunited with them and pursuing traditional New Mexican activities such as fighting the Navajos, building herds of cattle and sheep, and marrying a girl from a prominent Hispanic Albuquerque family (sadly she died only a year later), but he did not give up his new faith.
In 1869, in the course of tending the family herds in San Miguel County, he met Reverend John Annin, a Presbyterian home missionary newly arrived in Las Vegas, New Mexico. Working with Annin, Perea began a career of evangelical preaching.
In 1879 he married Susan Gates whom he had met when working at Zuni Pueblo. The couple decided to evangelize in Corrales, where they were able to start a school in someone’s home with the support of several residents. Perea’s 1880 ordination as a Presbyterian pastor (the first Hispanic to hold the position) catalyzed Catholic opposition to his work; within two months the Archdiocese sent Jesuit fathers to Corrales, who for nine days preached the dangers of such a school. Their mission was reported in far-flung newspapers; Catholic papers cited the threats to salvation as well as to Hispanic culture while Protestant-leaning papers vaunted the coming of the “daylight of a Christian civilization†to “dark†and “desolate†regions.
Perea’s hopes to form a church were dashed; the school faltered but remained in Corrales with fewer than twenty students. In 1886 their teacher was Miss Celia Morgan who reported from the school:
Every parent requests me to teach his child to read and write in Spanish…. I always insist upon teaching English, but many say, ‘No; if you teach English I shall not allow my child in your school.’ What can I do, but comply…. Few of the parents can read and, as they understand no English, if their children are not taught Spanish they cannot read their Bibles, Spanish tracts, etc., to them.
Two years later she writes:
I have spent a sad winter. Diphtheria has been in the community the entire season and the Angel of Death has taken ten of my dear pupils…. Sixty-six have died in the community. Oh such distress!
It was a difficult decade for Perea as well; besides failing to find a church in Corrales, he lost two of his children to scarlet fever, driving his wife to despair. In 1890 he left Corrales to settle in and successfully evangelize Pajarito in Albuquerque’s South Valley. In 1895 the Corrales school closed. In 1896, according to local historian Florencio Garcia, a new school was built, but whether it was a Presbyterian school is unknown.
Perea’s influence on the community must have remained with some local families, however. In the 1920s Corrales patriarchs Teofilo Perea Sr. and José Felipe Silva sent their sons to Presbyterian Menaul School in Albuquerque.
Information provided by Corrales Historical Society (CHS) Archives Committee. Want to learn more? Visit www.CorralesHistory.org for all the interesting things the Historical Society has to offer. New members are always welcome!
