Francisco Perea Francisco Perea ( January 9 , 1830 – May 21 , 1913 ) was Union Army officer in the American Civil War and a cousin of Pedro Perea . He was a delegate for the Territory of New Mexico to the 38th United States Congress from Mary 4 , 1863 to March 3 , 1865 . Biography . Early life and education . Perea was born January 9 , 1830 in Los Padillas , New Mexico ( then in the United Mexican States ) in what is now Bernalillo County , near Albuquerque , New Mexico . He was the third child of Juan Perea and his wife , Josefa Chaves de Perea . He was a maternal grandson of Governor Francisco Xavier Chávez , the first Governor ( 1822 - 1823 ) of the " Departmento de Nuevo México " under the independent First Mexican Empire shortly after Mexican War of Independence from Spain ended in 1821 . Perea attended select schools in Bernalillo County from 1836 to 1837 and at Santa Fe from 1837 to 1839 . He enrolled at the Jesuit College , St . Louis , Missouri from 1843 to 1845 and received collegiate training at the Bank Street Academy in New York City 1847 - 1849 . Before returning home , he and other classmates met President Zachary Taylor . After his departure , he contracted Cholera , but was able to recover . Commercial pursuits . Shortly after his return from the east , Perea was married to Delores Ortero on March 15 , 1851 . They had a total of eighteen children , most of which died as infants . Throughout the 1850s , he was engaged in stock raising and commercial pursuits and in carrying merchandise by mule train along the Santa Fe Trail from St . Louis and Independence , Missouri , to Mexico . He also traveled to California and had an extended a trip to New York during the 1850s . In 1858 was elected to represent Bernalillo County in the Territorial House , but on December 31 of that year , he submitted the following letter : " To the Hon . José Guadalupe Gallegos Speaker of the House of Representatives : SIR : To the resolution of the House , asking me to give my reasons for declining to take a seat in that Hon . House , as a member from the county of Bernalillo , I have the honor to respond : In the first place , I never consented to my name being placed before the people as a candidate for the office to which l was elected and secondly , I would inform the House , that the health of my family , makes my presence absolutely indispensable . I was not aware that it was my duty to resign after I had been elected , or I would have done so , in order to give the people of my county an opportunity to elect another in my place . With assurances to the Hon . House , that I would be very happy to accompany them in providing for the good of our common country , if the matters above mentioned would permit me . I am , Mr . Speaker with much respect , Your Obd . Servant , FRANCISCO PEREA " The communication was adopted and Francisco Perea was excused from attending the House during the 1858 session . Civil War and territorial delegate . When the Civil War broke out , Perea travelled across the Territory of New Mexico to garner support for the union cause . President Lincoln authorized the establishment of two regiments and four battalions for the territory . Perea served as lieutenant colonel and in December 1861 , he organized one of the battalions , which came to be known as Perea ' s Battalion , which was stationed at Albuquerque during the winters of 1861 and 1862 . He commanded the battalion for the defense of New Mexico against the Texas Rangers and Navajo . He also took part at the Battle of Glorieta Pass in March 1862 . Perea resigned from the battalion and was engaged in repairing his home , which had been destroyed during the war . He was elected as a Republican to the Thirty - Eighth from March 4 , 1863 to March 3 , 1865 . In 1863 , he was selected as New Mexico Territory ' s delegate to the 1864 Republican National Convention . He traveled to Washington , D . C . where the Thirty - Eighth Congress met in its first session on December 7 . During the 1864 Republican National Convention , he was among those who favored the renomination of President Lincoln . He was among those present at Ford ' s Theatre when Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth . In the summer of 1865 , he was renominated for the Thirty - Ninth , but did not win the election . Later life . Perea was elected to the Territorial Council of New Mexico for a third time in 1866 , and a fourth time in 1884 . He moved from Bernalillo County to Jemez Springs , New Mexico , in 1881 . He served as proprietor of the springs and a hotel . He was also postmaster of Jemez Springs from 1894 - 1905 . He moved to Albuquerque , New Mexico , in 1906 and died there May 21 , 1913 . He was interred in Fairview Cemetery . Family . Perea was married twice . First to Delores Otero on March 15 , 1851 . They had a total of eighteen children , most of which died as infants . Delores died in 1866 . Perea married secondly to Gabriela Montoya in 1875 . With his second wife he had eighteen children , and ten survived him . Through his daughter Maria Cristina Perea , who married Donaciano Lovato , Francisco Perea is a great - great - great - grandfather of singer - songwriter Demi Lovato .