José Francisco Chaves José Francisco Chaves ( June 27 , 1833 – November 26 , 1904 ) was a nineteenth - century military leader , politician , lawyer and rancher from the New Mexico Territory . Biography . Family . José Francisco Chaves was born on June 27 , 1833 in Los Padillas , New Mexico ( then in the " Departmento de Nuevo México " of the United Mexican States ) in what is now Bernalillo County , near Albuquerque , New Mexico . His father was Don Mariano Chaves and his mother Dolores Perea was the daughter of Don Pedro Jose Perea of Bernalillo . She later married Dr . Henry Connelly , who became Territorial New Mexico governor during the Civil War . José ' s father , Don Mariano Chaves , was chief of staff under Governor Manuel Armijo in the revolution of 1837 and inspector general of all the military forces of New Mexico . Don Mariano later served as " pro - tem " governor under Mexican rule in the absence of governor Armijo . José Francisco was a paternal grandson of Don 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 . José was also a first cousin of Francisco Perea and of Pedro Perea . Early life . José Francisco Chaves attended schools in St . Louis , Missouri , studied medicine at the New York College of Physicians and Surgeons and engaged in livestock raising in the New Mexico Territory . He married Mary Bowie in 1857 , who died in 1874 , leaving two children , Lola and Francesca . The former married Mariano Armijo , descendant of a prominent family of Bernalillo county , NM . The latter died in 1895 . Chaves served as a soldier in campaigns against the Navajos prior to the Civil War . At the outbreak of the Civil War , Governor Connelly commissioned Chaves as major when the 1st Regiment NM Volunteers for the Union Army formed . After Ceran St . Vrain resigned his commission with the 1st , Kit Carson was appointed colonel and Chaves was promoted to lt - colonel . In 1862 he took part in the Battle of Valverde . He was recognized for gallant and meritorious services , and later helped establish Fort Wingate , of which he was post commander for a long period . He was honorably mustered out of the service of the United States in 1865 . Political career . Returning home he began the study of the law and in due course was admitted to the bar . In politics he was a staunch republican and in 1858 , while absent campaigning against the Navajos , was elected a member of the house of representatives of the territorial legislative assembly , taking his seat in 1860 . In 1865 he was elected delegate in congress from New Mexico Territory to the United States House of Representatives and served in the 39th and 40th congresses from 1865 to 1867 . He was elected back to the House of Representatives in 1868 and successfully contested the election of Charles P . Clever in 1869 , serving again until 1871 , being unsuccessful for reelection in 1870 . In 1875 he was elected a member of the legislative council from Valencia County and was reelected to every succeeding legislature . Chaves was president of the New Mexico Territorial Council for eight sessions . Chaves continued in farming and livestock raising . He was district attorney of the second judicial district from 1875 to 1877 and was a member and president of the in 1889 . He was New Mexico Superintendent of Public Instruction from 1903 to 1904 and was appointed New Mexico State Historian in 1903 , but his career was cut short by an assassination in Pinoswells , New Mexico on November 26 , 1904 , where he was shot through a window while dining in the home of a friend . He was interred in Santa Fe National Cemetery in Santa Fe , New Mexico .