The Spanish Colonial Manuscript Collection(Conway)

The Spanish Colonial Manuscript Collection is comprised of The Conway Collection and other related manuscripts from the same period, for a total of 275 archival units which was also formerly known as the Hispanic Documents Collection.

What our collection contains:
The Spanish Colonial Manuscript Collection was collected by G. R. G. Conway, an Englishman who lived in Mexico for many years. Thomas Gilcrease purchased 125 volumes, folders and documents directly from Conway and is known as part of the Conway Collection. They include the records of Inquisition trials for heresy, for charges of Judaism and obeying the Law of Moses, investigations concerning Purity of Faith, relations with the Devil, cursing God, insulting the saints, and questioning the authority of the church. Many of these records are three or four hundred pages in length. Other trial records, not so lengthy, are for fornication, blasphemy, misconduct in office, bigamy, astrology, theft, debt, personal lawsuits over property and inheritance, and a few aimed at securing a title of nobility by proving family descent. A few petitions seeking appointment as commissioner of the Inquisition are included. There are another 150 Spanish Colonial volumes, folders and documents which were not acquired as part of the initial unit and are not mentioned in the Conway papers. However, all of the Spanish Colonial material is carefully cataloged under a separate cover, compiled by Dr. C. L. Strout of the University of Tulsa in the 1960s.