52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Social- Newspaper Familia Fernandez Mystery

If you’re into family history, you may or may not be aware of the fun weekly themed blog challenge that was started by Amy Johnson Crow awhile back, 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks. Each week, bloggers are invited to write about an ancestor using various prompts. Over the years I’ve contemplated joining, but for one reason or another, never have. I decided to do it this year, but have been a bit busy with my kids, work, life, etc. I’m just a tad more than fashionably late to the party for 2022, but this month’s prompts look fun, so I’m going to hop in. This week’s theme is “Social”.

The first thing that came to mind, when I read the theme “Social”, were the sociales in the Spanish language newspapers from Mexico. Sociales were the equivalent of the social sections with various announcements including weddings, christenings, visiting family members to town, social events, etc. Awhile back, my Fernandez side of the family had a family group on social media where we shared photos and memories. One of my mom’s cousins had found a bunch of old family photos that belonged to his mother, and among them, was one that was a newspaper clipping.

The photo is captioned “Familia Fernandez en 1929”. Fernandez Family in 1929.

“Familia formada por el senor Luis Fernandez y la senora Ermila Fernandez de Fernandez, a quienes vemos en esta foto de 1929 con sus hijo: Jose Luis, Angel y Ana Maria.”

“Family formed by Mr. Luis Fernandez and Mrs. Ermila Fernandez de Fernandez, whom we see in this 1929 photo with their children: Jose Luis, Angel and Ana Maria.”

Luis and Hermila were my great grandparents, and Jose Luis was my grandfather who is the oldest little boy in the photo, seated in the middle. Our family group was intrigued as to why our family was in a newspaper.

Driven by curiosity, I decided to make an inquiry in the Mexican Genealogy group on Facebook for help in locating the source of the newspaper clipping photo and someone found it. This gentleman also had family from Torreon in Mexico, where my family had lived prior to moving to the US, and he CALLED HIS COUSIN WHO LIVES THERE! His cousin had a subscription to a newspaper called El Siglo which allowed him to access digitized archives of the newspaper. This happened many years ago already, but I remember just being floored that someone was willing to pick up the phone for an international phone call to help a stranger. Even the other members of the Mexican Genealogy group were excited for me. It was kind of funny, but also very indicative of the goodwill and generous nature of family history enthusiasts.

Here is a screenshot the kind researcher had sent me of the original page. It is from El Siglo de Torreon, March 30, 1975, Page 19. It appears to be part of a collection of old photos of Torreon from the 1920’s.

Of course, at that point I couldn’t just stop there, I had to know more. I was able to obtain a link to search the archives myself, and was able to locate the original newspaper in its entirety. Ecstatic, I posted in my family group:

“Newspaper Familia Fernandez mystery update:

I obtained a link to the full newspaper issue featuring the photo of our family! I went page by page through the whole thing and oddly enough there is no explanation for why the historic photos were printed in the 1975 edition of the paper. There are other social photos and announcements as there would be in any local paper but they are from that year. Very strange. I am wondering if the publishers/printers just needed to fill space and selected previously published photos. So my next task is to search the whole archive to see if maybe our family turns up in other issues of El Siglo. Here is a link to the pdf of the paper. It’s on page 19.”

http://h.elsiglodetorreon.com.mx/Repository/EDT/1975/03/30/091-EDT-1975-03-30-001-SINGLE-ORIGNAME_00303.PDF?fbclid=IwAR20m955oqwJHgTBtE7g3PSZLjigoa7sROrb6yuVjq7IR_5EFGKagT26Kz4#OLV0_Entity_0019_0016

I did an archive search, and there were other mentions of members of the Fernandez family, but no explanation ever materialized as to why the 1929 picture appeared in the 1975 edition of El Siglo. Luis and Hermila had long passed, and three of their five children had moved to the United States many years before. It’s possible one of two children who stayed and raised a family in Mexico may have submitted the photo, or perhaps the negative was in the newspaper’s media archive, and the editors needed to fill some space, so they decided to add some old photos just for kicks, and my Fernandez familia just happened to be one of them. It remains a mystery.

Why blog for genealogy in 2022?

It’s safe to say that generally speaking blogging isn’t quite as popular as it used to be. With all the various research tools and platforms out there, most folks in the genealogical community seem to use either a cloud based platform such as Ancestry for their research, or software such as Legacy or Roots Magic to maintain a personal private database. Or, if you’re like me you might like to use both. So what is the point of blogging for genealogy and why would I recommend it?

1. It’s a great way to share tidbits of family history with known family members. Not everyone is tech savvy enough or frankly, cares enough, to try to figure out how to use Ancestry (or other sites such as MyHeritage). Especially for elderly family members, it can be a barrier to reading the research work you’ve spent many long hours working on. However, I’ve found that most people know how to click on a link and scroll to read something. Not to mention, there’s no need to create a log in and there’s no pay wall.

2. It’s an easy low-pressure way to get your work out into the world. Would it be great to write and publish a book about your ancestors? Sure. Is that actually going to happen between work, family, life, etc.? For me, probably not. But any time I’m in the mood, I can simply hop on my blog and start typing, format then and there or come back to it later, hit “publish” and voila. Some of my work is now out in the world. I feel good knowing that even if I never publish the hundreds of hours of research findings, at least something I’ve worked on is out there for posterity.

3. Your blog can potentially show up in a google search. Everyone uses google, and if you play it smart, distant cousins and researchers will stumble upon your blog while doing their own research. This has been proven to me many times, as I’ve been able to connect with distant cousins who’ve found my blog and contacted me. The key seems to be to use as many key words as you can. Include surnames and place locations whenever possible. Providing as many specific details as possible in each post increases your key words and thus the likelihood of your blog showing in a list of search results. Happily, I’ve also had professional historians contact me about some of my blog posts because it intersected with their academic research. For a humble family historian, let me tell ya friends, that is a good day!

4. It can serve as a way to mentally process your findings. I love entering new info to my tree and my database. But I’m only human and sometimes I miss details or make mistakes. When I write, it’s easier for me to see holes in my research. It can also trigger ideas of specific things to research. For example, whatever happened to my ancestor’s sister? Or what did my ancestors grow on their family farm? Names and dates are important, but often it takes a lot more digging to get real glimpses of our ancestor’s lives and how they were affected by the world around them– or even in some cases how your ancestor affected the world. It feels like using a different part of my brain when I’m writing to present my research, versus when I’m engaged in fact collecting. In this work, that’s a benefit.

My Sanchez Family- The Sanchez family in the 1930 US Census

In 1930, the Sanchez family was listed in the US Census living in the city of Los Angeles in Los Angeles County, California. I don’t know the timeline of how long they were in El Paso, Texas, before they went to Superior, Arizona, or when or how they ended up in Los Angeles, but there they were. I hope to learn more of the recent family history from living family members more familiar with the Sanchez family story.

What’s interesting to me is that Lupe and his brother Isaias stuck together. When we look closely, we see that Isaias is living with several of his siblings on East 2nd Street, and Lupe and his family are on Garey Street. They are close enough to be listed on the same page within just a few households. I wonder if Isaias and the other siblings stayed in the US or if they moved back to Mexico as Lupe eventually did with his young family.

Isaias, Andres, Mariam, Gregoria, and Cecilia Sanchez, all brothers and sisters lived together at 720 East 2nd Street, Los Angeles, CA. Isaias was listed as the head of the house. He also happens to be the youngest. They are all able to read and write, and are from Mexico, as are both of their parents.

Lupe and his family are living at 215 Garey Street, Los Angeles, CA. Lupe, 39 years old, is listed as head of household living with his wife Cristina, 32, and children, Lucy (13), Ramon (12), Luis (10), Lupe (9), Ernestina (8), Daniel (7), Hortensia (6), Daniel, Amelia (5), Rodolfo (4), and Ester (2 1/2). The first column with yes and no is in answer to the question of whether they were in school. This shows that Lucy, Ramon, Luis, Lupe, Ernestina, and Daniel, and Hortensia had all been to school. My grandmother Amelia and her younger siblings Rodolofo and Ester had not been to school that year. We can also learn from this document where everyone was born. Lupe and his wife as we already know were born in Mexico, as were Lucy, Ramon, and Luis. His daughter Lupe was born in Arizona, which I can confirm through her grandson. Ernestina, Daniel, Hortensia, Amelia, Rodolfo, and Ester are all listed as having been born in California. They must have been baptized somewhere in LA I’m guessing, but I don’t know where. I would love to find my Grandma Amelia’s baptism record. Some day, hopefully.

From the other part of this census page we also learn the occupations of the adults.

Isaias and Andres were both laborers who did odd jobs. Isaias was consistently working. Cecilia was also a laborer and it looks like the industry column says lamp shade. They all spoke Spanish, and a detail I hadn’t paid attention to until now is that they had all arrived in the US in 1911, which is nine years before my great grandfather Lupe arrived.

This shows that Lupe and his wife and three oldest children spoke Spanish as their language before coming to the United States. For the children born in the US, it’s blank. It says that they arrived in the US in 1921, but his immigration document shows 1920 for the date stamp. Lupe was a cement laborer in the building industry at the time of the census.

Out of curiosity, I googled the addresses where they lived, and they were indeed, right around the corner from each other. Now they are apartment buildings, but who knows what they were back in the day. All we know is that they rented. But a two minute walk, not bad for getting to see their siblings whenever they wanted!

My Sanchez family- The baptism of Guadalupe Sanchez Morales, 1891

 

Above is the baptism of my great grandfather, Guadalupe Sanchez Morales. As the reader can see, whoever filmed this book of baptisms did not focus enough, so the record is difficult to read since it’s so blurry. I tried to clean it up a bit in Photoshop, but this is as good as it’s going to get, unfortunately. I searched long and hard for this particular record, not knowing exactly when he was born.

I can read the record just enough to do a basic record extraction.

Extraction:

Guadalupe Sanches, en la parroquia de Nazas, [day and month illegible] 1891, hijo legitimo de Ramon Sanches y Pioquinta Morales; abuelos paternos: Tomas Sanches y Margarita Martines; abuelos maternos: Rosalio Morales y Rosalia Renteria; padrinos A? Gallegos y Antonia Gallegos

Translation:

Guadalupe Sanches, in the parish of Nazas, [day and month illegible] 1891, legitimate son of Ramon Sanches and Pioquinta Morales; paternal grandparents: Tomas Sanches and Margarita Martines; maternal grandparents: Rosalio Morales and Rosalia Renteria; godparents A? Gallegos and Antonia Gallegos. 

The great thing about this record is that we learn the names of both sets of grandparents, which will help in continuing research.

 

Citation. 

“México, Durango, registros parroquiales y diocesanos, 1604-1985,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-D12Q-7M5?cc=1554576&wc=3PZX-N38%3A107796701%2C107796702%2C110333003 : 20 May 2014), Nazas > Santa Ana > Bautismos 1880-1918 > image 987 of 2943; parroquias Católicas, Durango (Catholic Church parishes, Durango).

My Sanchez Family- The arrival of Guadalupe Sanchez and his family in the USA

My great grandfather Guadalupe Sanchez and his wife Cristina appear on this immigration document from the US Department of Labor. We learn from this document that he came through El Paso, Texas, and planned to meet his brother Isaias Sanchez in Superior, Arizona, and that the reason for his arrival was to seek work. It says that he was accompanied by his wife Cristina Aguilar and three children. He was 29, a laborer, and was able to read and write and his language was Spanish. He is listed as Mexican by nationality and race. His last residence was Torreón, Coahuila, Mexico. He had seven dollars and had never been to the US before. He did not intend to return to the country he came from and the length of his stay is listed as indefinite. To the question of whether he had been deported or excluded within a year, he answered no. His health is listed as good. He was 5’7, had a dark complexion, had black hair and brown eyes. It lists his place of birth as Torreon, Coahuila, but that’s inaccurate, as we know from his baptism record he was born in Nazas, Durango. We see his signature as standing out from the rest of the handwriting on the document. He and his family were admitted October 4, 1920. Ancestry’s website has this document dated as 1921, but the stamp on the page says 1920.

Below is the reverse side of the document. We see the names of the three children that accompanied Lupe and his wife: Luz, 3, Ramon, 2, and Luis, 1. Below their names it says “All born in Torreon, Coah. Mex.”. For some reason there is also a fingerprint of his son Daniel in the middle of the page, taken at a later date.

 

My Sanchez family- the family of my grandmother Amelia Sanchez de Fernandez

My Grandma Amelia was the daughter of Guadalupe Sánchez Morales and Cristina Aguilar Castrellones.

She was born in the United States of America on July 10, 1925. Her parents and some of her older siblings were born in Mexico. She was one of thirteen children.

I am uncertain as to the spelling of her mother Cristina’s second apellido since it is spelled differently in almost every record she appears in. Below are some portraits the family has shared, Cristina on the left, and Lupe on the right. I have not seen any younger photos of Cristina, though Lupe looks quite young in his portrait.

Guadalupe, who went by Lupe, and Cristina were married 23 May 1916 in Torreón, Coahuila, Mexico according to their civil marriage record. Below is their marriage record from a civil registration book.

Transcription: 

Acta numero 235 doscientos treinta y cinco. Presentacion matrimonial del señor Guadalupe Sánchez y de la señorita Cristina Aguilar. 

En la ciudad de Torreón, a los 23 ventitres dias del mes de Mayo de 1916 mil novecientos diez y seis a las 5 cinco y la media de la tarde, ante mi, Felipe Lopez de Nava, Juez del Estado Civil ? con el fin de probar en aptitud legal para unirse en matrimonio, segun los leyes del pais, el señor Guadalupe Sánchez y la señorita Cristina Aguilar; el primero es originario de Nazas, Durango, de 25 venticinco años de edad, célibe, contratista y vecino de este lugar hace 4 cuatro años, con su domicilio en la calle Galeana número 109 ciento nueve, hijo legitimo del señor Ramón Sánchez y de la señora Pioquinta Morales, finados, la 2a segunda es originaria y vecina de esta ciudad, celibe, de 16 dieciseis años de edad, con su domicilio en la calle Galeana, numero 19 diecinueve, hija legitima del señor Miguel Aguilar, finado y de la señora Luz Lancastrellon, que vive, originaria de esta ciudad. Y con el fin ya indicado el pretendiente presente como testigos a los señores José Camacho y Gregorio Avila, mayores de edad, casados, el 1 primero empleado, el 2 segundo jornalero, y vecinos de este lugar, quienes examinados que fueron previa presenta que hicieron de conducirse con verdad, contestaron unanismemente que los expresados contrayentes estan libres de todo impedimente legal, que las prohiba la union que intentan celebras. En ? virtud siendo el pretendiente mayor de edad y habiendo la pretensa la licencia materna, se asentó esta acta que los interesados y testigos ? leer, y conformes que fueron con su ? la firmaron los que ?. Doy fé Guadalupe Sanchez = Cristina Aguilar. Ezequiel D. Rizados? 

Translation:

Act number 235 two hundred and thirty five. Matrimonial presentation of Mr. Guadalupe Sanchez and Miss Cristina Aguilar. 

In the city of Torreón, on the 23 twenty third of May of 1916 nine hundred and sixteen, at five thirty in the afternoon, before me, Felipe Lopez de Nava, Judge of the Civil State, with the purpose of proving legal aptitude to join in marriage, according to the laws of the country, Mr. Guadalupe Sanchez and Miss Cristina Aguilar; the first is originally from Nazas, Durango, 25 twenty five years old, single, contractor, and citizen of this place for four years, with his residence on Galeana street number 109 one hundred and nine, legitimate son of Mr. Ramon Sanchez and Mrs. Pioquinta Morales, both deceased, the second is originally from and a citizen of this city, single, of 16 sixteen years of age, with her residence on Galeana street number 19 nineteen, legitimate daughter of Miguel Aguilar, deceased, and of Luz Lancastrellon, who is living, originally from this city. And for the purpose already presented, the groom presents as witnesses Mr. Camacho and Mr. Gregorio Avila, adults, married, the first employed, the second a laborer, and residents of this place, who were examined and previously conducted themselves with truth, answering unanimously that the expressed couple are free of all legal impediment, that would prohibit the union that they intend to celebrate. In virtue of the groom being of legal age and of the bride having permission from her mother, I assent to this act of the interested and of the witnesses, having read and confirmed that they were contracted, those who signed, I attest, Guadalupe Sanchez = Cristina Aguilar. Ezequiel D. Rizados?

So the important details we glean from this record are that Guadalupe was from Nazas, Durango, he was 25, and a contractor and had been living in Torreón for 4 years. He was the son of Ramon Sanchez and Pioquinta Morales both of whom were deceased at the time the marriage license was granted. We learn that Cristina was from Torreón, and that she was 16, and the daughter of Miguel Aguilar, who was deceased, and Luz Lancastrellon, who was living, and gave permission for her daughter to marry. We also see that the bride and groom happened to live on the same street in Torreón. With Lupe’s parents deceased, and Cristina’s father also gone, it seems unlikely that the marriage would’ve been arranged. It makes me wonder what their courtship was like. What was life like in 1916 Torreón? There are archives of the newspaper El Siglo which was the main newspaper in Torreón, and I wonder what headlines would be found in a search of 1916. Perhaps an interesting side project.

This is the beginning of the completed research I’ve done on the Sanchez family, and I’ll continue to post more for the purpose of documenting this family line.

Making my way to my Navajo line- The End of the Line: My Navajo Ancestor Mathias Montaño

My 6th great grandfather was a man named Mathias Montaño. He was Navajo.

In this blog series, Making my way to my Navajo line, I have traced my lineage starting with my great grandmother Adelina Ortega Rael, all the way back to Mathias Montaño, using Catholic church sacramental records and US Census records. When you get past the 1850’s in New Mexico, you have to rely only on the sacramental records, and boy, your Spanish better be pretty good. I speak Spanish terribly ( but that’s a story for another time) but by buckling down with my research from the beginning 6 years ago, and putting the time and effort in to learn, I’ve learned how to read the old Spanish church records quite well. I learned from several very kind and generous experienced genealogists how to decipher them, and it has been the gift that keeps on giving. I must also give credit to my dear friend Daria Landress on this particular family line, because she helped me connect the dots much more quickly than I could have done on my own, and she is a gifted researcher who’s intuition and research experience I have learned to trust.

Here is an example of what I’ve had to learn how to decipher, haha! This is the full page spread from a book of sacramental records, that my ancestor’s marriage happens to appear on.

Below is a cropped version to see the individual record. This is for the marriage of Mathias Montaño and Juana Maria Silva in October 1775. Yep, that’s right, folks, 1775. Before the US was even a country, my family was living in New Mexico. At that time it was known as Nuevo Mexico, Nueva España, as it was still a colony of Spain.

Transcription:

Matias Montaño, y Juana Ma Silva, Belen

En esta Mission de Sn Agn de Isleta, en ? de dias del mes Ocb.e ano de mil setecientos y setenta y ? haviendo presentado  ? ante mi Mathias Montaño indio criado de Bernabe Montano. qn presento a Juana Ma Silva india genizara de Bel ? viuda de Juan Salasar. del fin de contraer el sto matrimonio les hize sus dcho a regladas del Sto Concilio de Trento y no haviendo resultado impedimento alguno, los case in facie e ig.a siendo testigos Ph.e ? Baca y Ma Pasquala , (a mas del comun) y pa qu conste lo fir. 

Rubric ? Jph Eleutherio Jun.co y Junqxa ? 

Translation: 

Matias Montaño and Juana Ma Silva, Belen

In this Mission of San Agustin de Isleta, en ? of days of the month of October of seventeen seventy and ? (paper is crinkled in this spot) having been presented before me Mathias Montaño indian servant of Bernabe Montaño, who presents himself to Juana Maria Silva indian genizara of Belen, widow of Juan Salasar, to the end of contracting in holy matrimony they followed the regulations of the Holy Council of Trent and not having resulting any impediment, I marry them in the face of the church having for witnesses Phelipe Baca and Ma Pasquala, and for this I sign. 

Rubric Jph Eleutherio Jun.co and Junqxa? (I’ll be honest I don’t know what on earth names these are lol, but they would be the priest’s names). 

As I was typing this out, I realized I had forgotten that his wife was an indian genizara. So we learn from this record that not only is Mathias an indian, but he is a servant, and we are actually given his master’s name, which is Bernabe Montaño. Bernabe Montaño was quite wealthy and had a ton of land, and I intend to go through his land grant case file at some point to see if there are any mentions of my Mathias there. But back to my main point with Mathias– to not only discover my ancestor was an indian servant but to also know who his master was, and to see it in black and white, is just…astounding. I’m pretty sure my jaw actually dropped the first time I saw this.

There is also a translated diligencia matrimonial from Fray Angelico Chavez’s Roots, Ltd. The diligencias were from when investigations were done by the church to see if there were any impediments to a couple getting married, such as a blood relation, relation by marriage, etc. There were other reasons that could be impediments to marriage, but those were the typical ones. Mathias and Maria Juana did not have any impediment as stated in their marriage record, and as the below diligencia shows.

The information on which tribe he came from was found in the 1790 Spanish census, where Matias and his wife were living in Plaza #3 in Belen. Below is an excerpt from the book New Mexico Spanish & Mexican Colonial Censuses: 1790, 1823, 1845: Revised Edition 2nd Edition by Virginia Langham Olmsted. 

Below is close up of the original record showing my ancestor Mathias and his wife Juana Maria Silva. If you look closely, it reads, Mathias Montaño, Yndio de Nacion Navajo, cardador de 49 anos, casado con Ma Silva, Genizara de 50 anos, un hijo varon de 8 anos. 

Below is the full page of the original census record from 1790.

So, there my friends, is the evidence for Mathias Montaño, my Navajo ancestor.

 

 

Making my way to my Navajo line– My Why and My Who

I decided I needed to finish out this blog series on my Navajo ancestor connection. I have this connection through “Ina”, Adelina Ortega Rael, my dad’s paternal grandmother. I was originally so excited when my friend Daria helped discover this with me (actually if I think back, I think she was the one who connected the actual dots while we worked together– I need to give her credit!) because my ancestors with Spanish or mestizo origins are in most cases well documented because they were part of the Spanish culture and very much involved in the Catholic church as part of their lives. The Catholic church documented every major life event, and so when the records survive, there is often quite a nice paper trail to lead you from one ancestor to the next.

For those with New Mexico roots, I’m including myself and my dad’s family here, finding our Native ancestors can pose quite a challenge. Unless our Native ancestors adopted Spanish culture at some point and were baptized in the church, or registered with tribes in recent times, we can only guess or draw upon family lore. Personally, I really enjoy finding evidence. When I can see a document with my own eyes with my ancestor’s name on it, they become more real to me. They were an actual person that lived, and they live on in me. I would not be here if not for my ancestors. Doing this research is a way for me to appreciate and honor those who came before me. And I believe that every one of their lives had worth. Though the Spanish connections are fun to find, as are the Mexican ones, there is something special about uncovering my Native connections. Because I know that for them adopting a new culture was a way to survive, and who knows what they had to give up, or what their parents had to give up. They were strong people.

So that’s my why.

As seen in the last post from 2018 on this series, Bartolome Montano, my 5th great grandfather was listed as coyote, which meant one of his parents was fully Native American. It is Bartolome’s father, Mathias Montano who is my Native ancestor. In the next post, I will show the evidence for Mathias Montano, my 6th great grandfather who was Navajo.

Making my way to my Navajo line– The marriage of Bartolo Montano & Dolores Ulibarri in Belen, New Mexico, 13 June 1802

This is the follow up post on the Montanos. In my last post I had confirmed that Juana Maria Montano’s father was Bartolo Montano. Below is the image of the original marriage record from Nuestra Senora de Belen for Bartolo Montano and Dolores Ulibarri, who in Juana’s baptismal record is listed as a Serna. This is quite possibly one of the lengthiest and most wordy sacramental records I have seen and attempted to translate. I’m definitely not a professional translator so my translation is a bit wonky, but you get the general idea.

Of note in this record are the caste designations given for the couple. Bartholo is listed as “coyote” which typically is a term used to describe a person with one mestizo parent and one indigenous parent. Dolores is listed as “española” meaning her parents are Spanish.

Transcription:

Bartholo Montano y Ma Dolores Ulibarri

Vecinos de los Jarales y Belen

En el año del Señor de mil ochosiento y dos, en cinco de Junio; Ante mi Fr. Cayetano Jose Bernal, Mtro de esta de N. S. de Belen, se presento Bartholo Montano coy.te de diez y ocho al hijo legitimo de Mathias Montano, y de Ma Silva d.tos. vezinos en la Plaza de los Jarales, a fin de contraer matrimonio S. O. D. N. S. Ma. Yglesia con Maria Dolores Ulibarri de diez y siete, al española e hija legitima de Juachin Ulibarri, y de Juana Ma Duran, vecinos en los Bacas, todos de esta jurisd.n. de N. S. de Belen, a quienes haviendoles practicado todas las Dilig.s. de el Sto. Concilio de Trento, ordena y manda, y no haviendoles resultado algun legitimo impedim.to, por palabras de presente, y haviendo tenido antes su mutuo consentimiento, haviendoles amonestado en tres dias festivos inter missarum solemnia, a la vez, la prim. el dia seis la segunda el dia siete, y la tercera el dia ocho de dho mes de Junio, y no haviendo resultado algun impedim.to de ellas, los casse, y vele in facie ecclesie, el dia trese del expresado mes de Junio, siendo los padrinos Juan Antonio Atencio y su herm.a Barthola Silva, y testigos de su informa.n Ysidro Peña, de mas de setenta a.s Fran.co Xavier Garcia, de quarenta y seis a. Feliciano Romero, de mas de setenta a.s, y a veerlos casar todo el concurso por sez dia festivo ? y pa que conste lo firme. 

Fray Cayetano Jose Bernal

 

Translation:

Bartholo Montano and Ma Dolores Ulibarri

Citizens of Los Jarales and Belen

In the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and two, on the fifth of June; before me, Father Cayetano Jose Bernal, Minister of this Our Lady of Belen, were presented Bartholo Montano coyote of eighteen, the legitimate son of Mathias Montano and of Maria Silva, both deceased, citizens of the Plaza of los Jarales, in order to get married S.O.D.N.S (not sure what this abbreviation is for) Maria Church with Maria Dolores Ulibarri of seventeen, Spanish, and legitimate daughter of Juachin Ulibarri, and of Juana Maria Duran, citizens of los Bacas, all of this jurisdiction, of Our Lady of Belen, to those who have practiced all of the Diligences of the Holy Council of Trent, orders and commands, and not having resulted any legitimate impediment, by present words, and having had previously their mutual consent, and having warned them in three festive days during mass, at the time, the first the sixth day, the second the seventh day, the third the eighth day of the said month of June, and not having resulted any impediment from them, I married them, and veiled in the face of the church, the thirteenth day of the expressed month of June, being the godparents Juan Antonio Atencio and his sister Barthola Silva, and witnesses of their information Ysidro Peña, of more than seventy years, Francisco Xavier Garcia, of forty six years, Feliciano Romero of more than seventy years, and to see them marry, the entire course for six festive days and for which I sign. 

Father Cayetano Jose Bernal

Making my way to my Navajo line– The baptism of Juana Maria Montano, 3 December 1815 Tome, New Mexico

It’s been way too long since I last updated this blog. I had every intention of posting the records in succession to get to one of my Navajo ancestors, and then life happened.
But to review, my great grandmother Adelina Ortega Rael was the daughter of Jose de los Reyes Ortega and Juliana Molina. Jose de los Reyes Ortega was the son of Atanacio Ortega and Cecelia Velasquez. Atanacio Ortega was the son of Francisco Ortega and Juana Maria Montano, as was seen in the last post which included his baptism record.
In Atanacio’s baptism record, both sets of grandparents were also named. Last night I was looking through my records trying to find the marriage of Francisco and Juana, but it appears I don’t have it. My memory is a bit fuzzy, but I believe my friend Daria and I already looked for it. Sometimes certain records are missing or maybe they never existed. I need to review my research notes to see if I did in fact already comb through the marriage books from Nuestra Senora de Belen which was the ancestral church of this family.
However, despite missing the marriage record of Francisco Ortega and Juana Maria Montano, I still know who their parents were because of Atanacio’s baptismal record. The next record I have on file to lead us down the path is the baptismal record for Juana Maria Montano, which I am including below. She was baptized on December 3, 1815 at the Mission of Tome.

Transcription:

Juana Maria vecina de Tome

En tres de Dbre de 1815. yo Fr. Jose Ygnacio Sanches Mntro de esta Mission de Tome, baptise solemnemente y puse los Stos Oleos a una nina de tres dias de nacida a q.n puse por nombre Juana Maria hija legitima de Bartolo Montano y de Dolores Serna, fueron padrinos Antonio Sanches y Juliana Montano a q.s adverti su obligacion y parentesco spiritual y por q.e conste lo firme ut supra Fr. Jose Ygnacio Sanches Mntro.

Translation:

Juana Maria citizen of Tome

On the third of December of 1815, I Father Jose Ygnacio Sanches minister of this Mission of Tome, baptize solemnly and place the Holy Oils on a female child of three days old to whom was given the name Juana Maria legitimate child of Bartolo Montano and of Dolores Serna, the godparents were Antonio Sanches and Juliana Montano to whom I advised of their obligation and spiritual relationship and for which I sign below Father Jose Ygnacio Sanches, Minister. 

The above image of the baptismal record was found on the Family Search website, and is from a book from Purisima Concepcion, Tome, Valencia, New Mexico. FHL film #17026 image 472. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G9DX-8F4Q?i=471&cat=431525

As we compare the names of Juana’s parents here to the baptism record for Atanacio, we see that Bartolo and Dolores are both listed and that matches, however Dolores is a Serna here rather than a Ribali. I have learned from other researchers that part of the Spanish naming tradition is that historically an individual could choose which apellido or surname to use. Sometimes an ancestor could have used their father’s name, or their mother’s name, or even a grandparent’s name. This can become confusing when you expect to see one name but your ancestor shows up in a document by another name. There is also the tradition of the padrinos being the ones presenting a child for baptism, and they may not always accurately provide the surnames of both father and mother. So you have to look at all of the pieces of the puzzle in these instances. I can see that the year this Juana was born is within a reasonable time frame to qualify as being the mother of my ancestor Atanacio and they are in a community with close ties to Belen. There are no other Juana’s during this time frame with the right names and location, so I can reasonably assume that this is my Juana, and that Dolores is most likely being listed by one of her ancestor’s surnames which may prove to be a helpful clue later in determining Dolores’ lineage.

For the purposes of the Montano line, however, we have confirmed that Juana’s father is Bartolo Montano.