Gómez Farías Family

Born in 1781 in Guadalajara, Valentín Gómez Farías practiced medicine in Aguascalientes before being elected vice-president under Antonio López de Santa Anna in 1833. In 1833, 1834, 1846, and 1847, he served intermittently as interim president in Santa Anna's absence. Valentín led the movement known as the First Reform, which attempted to diminish the power of the church in civil affairs and to establish public education and other reforms. In 1850, he ran unsuccessfully for the presidency of Mexico. After the rebellion of Ayutla succeeded in overthrowing Santa Anna definitively in 1855, Valentín was elected again to the Congress. Valentín died 1858 in Mexico City.

Valentín married Isabel Lopez in 1817 and together they had four children. His son Benito Gómez Farías was born in 1828. Like his father, Benito was involved with politics and government. Benito spent much of his adult life abroad, especially in London where he served as his father’s business agent and then with the Mexican diplomatic legation there. In 1891, Porfirio Díaz appointed Benito Minister of Finance. Benito returned to the Mexican Consulate in London as Ambassador and Plenipotentiary Minister from 1892-1893, then was appointed to Secretary of the Treasury and Public Finance from 1893-94. Benito also served for a time as a Senator. He moved his family to the Hacienda El Molina de Pedreguera (also called San Roque) in Xalapa, Veracruz, in 1905. Benito died in 1914.

María Luisa Gómez Farías was the youngest of the six children of Benito Gómez Farías and María de la Concepción Cañedo. Born in 1880, María Luisa married Ramón Dehesa, son of Veracruz governor Teodoro Dehesa, in 1911. She inherited the Hacienda El Molino de Pedreguera from her parents.

The youngest of five daughters of María Luisa and Ramón, Valentina Dehesa Gómez Farías, was born in 1918. She devoted most of her life to the reconstruction and maintenance of the Hacienda El Molino de Pedreguera, which she inherited from her parents. Valentina died in 2005.

From the guide to the Gómez Farías Family Papers 2005-40. 312182488., 1807-1990, (Benson Latin American Collection, The University of Texas at Austin)