My 200th Post- 8 Years of Blogging, 15 Years of Genealogy

July 4th, 2019 marks 8 exact years since I began blogging. It all started when I was 21 years old and home from college over the summer. I was inspired by Cece Moore who runs Your Genetic Genealogist and has become a common name in the genealogist household with all the work she has done with DNA, adoptees, and even working on "Finding Your Roots". In June of 2011, she herself had completed her first year of blogging and so I decided to trace my own family via a blog as well. Who would have thought that 8 years and 200 blog posts later, I'd still be on this journey!

Though I don't have many official followers for my blog (as I haven't dedicated myself full-time to running it/putting it out there), I really started doing this for two reasons:

1) Personal Motives - To keep track of my own progress, hurdles, difficulties, breakthroughs, and as of recently analyzing my DNA in conjunction with my paper trail/genealogical searches. In a sense it would serve as a digital journey for which I could refer to and keep track of my finds and brick walls.

2) Visibility - While initially researching my family, I hadn't found too many blogs that covered a wide range of Puerto Rican topics in regards to genetics and genealogy and I ultimately wanted to be a contributor in order to make Puerto Rican Genealogy more visible. There is a big misconception that genealogical records from Puerto Rico have been burned, lost, or destroyed by hurricanes and people give up without even realizing all of the amazing resources available for Puerto Rican research there are out there.

5 years ago, I posted my Post #100 and I actually really liked the style I wrote in so I think I'm going to mimic it for Post #200! Feel free to read post #100 to compare and contrast now that I have 100 more posts and 5 more years added!

What I've Learned

My first blogpost was titled "What Started it all - Part I", where I write about the typical Puerto Rican love story of a "Spanish man" and a "Taíno woman" who had fallen in love in Lares, Puerto Rico - my 2nd great-grandparents. By the time I had written that post I had about 7 years of genealogical research under my belt but I had only just begun to scratch the surface of research. There were many doubts about my tree and definitely many, many ancestors' names yet to be discovered. When I began at the age of 14 there were no known (to me) family trees out there, none created by my grandparents, uncles/aunts, parents, or cousins. All I knew at the time when I began my tree were 2 out of 2 parents, 4 out of 4 grandparents, 6 out of 8 grandparents, and 7 out of 16 great-grandparents - though it's a little, it's also a lot compared to what some people start out with.

My First Blog Post - July 4th, 2011 [Personal Photo]

I've been very fortunate that since I started my research and blog I have come pretty far with my pedigree, which I am both fortunate and blessed to have. Various of my lines reach the early 1700s with a few reaching the 1600-1500s and very few the late 1400s when they came over from Spain. A few lines stop at the 1800s due to the lack of records for slaves - these being my lines from Martinique and Guadeloupe. However, "Rome wasn't built in a day"! It's been 15 long years of painstaking research where I have put in literally thousands of hours to search for my ancestors. I have been blessed to be able to travel to Puerto Rico to continue my searches various times, as well as traveling to Mallorca to research my ancestors. I have also been able to visit towns in Spain where my ancestors lived/were from before heading to the New World. Recently, I have been able to continue to test various family members with DNA and across various companies to help triangulate and find new information about who we are on a genetic level.

I've linked above and below various posts to the different themes I've discussed over the years! 

Advances in Genetic Testing

There have been many advances in genetic testing since I first started researching my family, to believe when I first tested with 23andme back in 2010 the cost was somewhere near $600 for one single DNA test! Nowadays, genetic DNA testing has become much cheaper and fairly accessible to many, not only here in the US but in various other countries. Here are some of the more recent posts that highlight these advancements throughout the years. 

• Exploring my X-Chromosome
• Establishing an African-American Connection via Chromosome 7
• Deeper analysis of European Ancestry
• Deeper analysis of African Ancestry
• Using DNA Painter Tool to narrow down DNA inheritance

My Favorite Discoveries

Since 2014, there have definitely been some exciting finds! These discoveries are a combination of things: from DNA testing, finding new genealogical documents, to discussing/receiving help from other genealogists. There were a wide range of discoveries made, from very intimate ones to discovering my Dávila line's origin in Spain in the 1700s. Listed below are some of the recent discoveries I've been able to make! 

• How a RAOK (Random Act of Kindness) helped me learn more about my 5th great-grandfather, Jean-Charles Gustave
• Learning via 23andMe that my dad had a half-brother we had no idea about
• Tracing my Dávila line back to Spain via genealogical records
• Finding out I was related to another genealogist I had met in Spain with ties to Sóller, Mallorca

Words of Advice

I would tell myself keep doing what you're doing! I have come a long way since my initial searches and there is still a lot to find out! Researching my family has brought me much closer to Puerto Rico and my identity as a first generation mainland American born citizen. To those of you budding genealogists - it's never too late! Ask family members questions, document what they have to say, and search online to see what you can find. If you're interested in genetic genealogy - test those family members (with permission, of course!) who might be willing to help you learn more about your family's past.

Hopes, Dreams & Aspirations

Reading my post from 2014 it was interesting to see where I was amongst my hopes and dreams for genealogy. There are some I have been able to check off and some that are still on my genealogical "bucket list". For example, being able to travel to Puerto Rico and go around the island to discover the towns, barrios my ancestors lived in, and the churches my ancestors would have married in. I have been fortunate to travel to distinct parts of the island and as of recently meet cousins in Lares, Puerto Rico. I have also been able to travel to Mallorca which was amazing. I still haven't become a professional genealogist, though I'm sure there is still plenty of time and I also haven't been able to travel to Martinique and Guadeloupe yet. I haven't brushed up on my French though hopefully that is in the works and I am still interested in bringing genealogy to my everyday life and profession.

I still dream about connecting Eglantine Lautin to a certain country/tribe in Africa and it would be amazing to have DNA cousins that confirm my ancestors are connected to Martinique and Guadeloupe (I have one potential lead with a cousin but nothing solid yet!). I also want to continue collecting stories and record them to have a digital audio database of stories from my current living family members that I could look back on years from now and listen to. A genealogist's work is never done as you can see!

Here's to 2024 when I complete 20 years of genealogy! Let's see what's in store! 

A Puerto Rican Look at: Y-DNA67 (Avilés/Magraner)

***Si eres descendiente de los Magraner de Sóller, Mallorca, especialmente a través de Damián Magraner Morell o uno de sus hermanos, me gustaría hablar con usted para ver si podemos establecer una conexión genética. Puedes dejar un comentario aquí en este blog para contactarte conmigo. ¡Muchísimas gracias!***

While in Puerto Rico for Spring Break, one of my goals was to test various family members through various companies. Since I don't have easy access to men who carry Avilés and Correa Y-DNA like I do the Rivera line (myself being a carrier of this Y-DNA group) since those members live in Puerto Rico, I decided I would focus on getting a male cousin from my Avilés family and my Correa grandfather to test. I decided to buy two Y-DNA67 exams for them from FTDNA. Recently, they had a DNA day sale and I decided to myself a Y-DNA111 exam to test my Rivera branch as well. So those are boxes I can check off on my genealogical goals for 2019! This blog will focus solely on my Avilés Y-DNA results.

Buying a FTDNA Y-DNA test is not cheap! I would recommend to get these tests if you are an experienced genealogist interested in learning more about your Y-DNA group or an amateur genealogist trying to crack a wall in your direct paternal family. I have been fortunate to test various branches and I have done so for genealogical purposes such as: Establishing whether I have an African or European Guadeloupean Y-DNA group (Charles family), potential Jewish/Arab Y-DNA group (Correa family), Mallorcan connection to the Magraner family (Avilés family), and trying to establish a stronger connection for a relatively uncommon haplogroup (Rivera family). 

Family Tree DNA Home Page [FTDNA]

Background

For anyone that has been following my blog (thank you kindly!), you have probably seen the surnames Avilés and Magraner various times throughout many old posts. My trying to solve this family's mystery dates back to the beginning of my blog in 2011, wondering about my 2nd great-grandfather's origins. I spent time researching and writing about José Avilés Magraner in 2014 for the 52 Ancestors Challenge. I learned the name of my potential 3rd great-grandfather, Damián Magraner Morell, and traveled to Sóller, Mallorca a year later in 2015, his hometown, to learn more about the man who made his way to Río Prieto, Lares, Puerto Rico. The closest I've gotten to confirming this on paper has been José's brother Lorenzo Avilés who mentions Damián Magraner  on his Social Security Application as his father. I stepped on Lares land for the first time in many years in 2017 but didn't make it up to Río Prieto. This year though I did! 

Also, having a DNA match with a fellow genealogist with a grandmother  from Sóller, Mallorca through various family members connected to the Avilés family helped me to help prove that genetically there is something there! 

Collecting DNA

With my grandmother and great-aunts in tow we headed over to Río Prieto by car, my great-aunt wasn't too comfortable driving up the steep and narrow roads so I took charge of getting us there. The ride ended up not being too bad and I got to visit a few members connected to my paternal grandmother and great grandmother, I was introduced to the family as "el nieto de Carmen" (the grandson of Carmen) since they had never met me before and my dad spent his childhood between San Juan and New York and not in the mountain town of Lares. The ride over was amazing and here are some photos of getting to and being in Lares, it was amazing to see the land transform as we made our way up the mountain! 

Driving up the mountain [Personal Photo]

Nature at its best! [Personal Photo]

The view from my cousin's land [Personal Photo]

The "two way road" near my cousin's land [Personal Photo]

Our first stop was the house of my 1st cousin 2x removed. After seeing his land, talking about the effects of Hurricane María, and being gifted many fruits, I gathered up the courage to ask if he was willing to take two DNA tests for me. I was a bit scared he would say "no" for fear of not knowing what the test would do, but he was very willing to help out. I collected his DNA, wrote down some important information, and when we got back to San Juan mailed off the DNA test. 

My reason to test this line was because I wanted to know where in the world it was connected to and whether or not it could prove that my family was related to the Magraner family. The test results came back pretty quickly and so I took a look at them!

Interpreting results

Magraner Haplogroup? [Personal Photo]

Getting a Y-DNA67 gave me basic results, in the sense that R-M269 is a fairly common group and doesn't give too many specifics into the smaller, more recent branches of this Y-DNA branch. My next step would be to upgrade the test to get more detailed results and potentially make more educated results of my connection in R-M269. Under matches, I currently have 2 matches at the Y-DNA67 level but at a genetic distance of 5 and 7, this would mean that our connection is much farther back in history versus having a genetic distance with a smaller number which would mean having a closer relationship in generations. My genetic cousin at the "genetic distance 5" reached out to me and we quickly chatted and noticed our relation was too far to discover at the moment but interestingly noticed that our surnames both had to deal with fruits - Magraner being a surname connected to the pomegranate tree! Lowering my markers to 37 for example gives me more matches but again, at a pretty far distance. The cousins seem to be wide spread across various countries in Europe, I do have some matches from Puerto Rico but they are at Y-DNA12 which is fairly distant as well. As you can see below my Y-DNA67 match has recent roots in the US but he said his family has older roots in southern France.

Y-DNA67 Match [Personal Photo]

My goal is that by hopefully writing about this branch and taking a Y-DNA test I'll be able to confirm my connection to the Magraner family of Sóller, Mallorca. If you descend from this branch, I'd love to chat and see if we can figure out our potential connection!

Conclusion

Though in a sense my results were "inconclusive", there still is hope! Y-DNA usually takes longer from what I know to establish stronger connections because it's such a specific group that is being tested versus for example autosomal DNA. 23andme has given me a bit of a deeper glance into the R-M269 group and hopefully as I upgrade to Y-DNA111, I will have stronger/clearer results and hopefully a Magraner descendant tests as well. This will in turn allow me to make a genetically educated guess about my Avilés family and whether our roots really are in Mallorca. 

Haplogroup R-Z209 [Personal Photo]

Here's to hopefully solving a 128 year mystery in the making! 

Sóller, Mallorca [Google Images]

A DNA Connection to Sóller, Mallorca

My journey to discover more about my Mallorcan roots has been a long one! It started with a simple story about an ancestor from Spain (Part I & II), learning about the surname Magraner, going to the archives in Puerto Rico to learn about a man named Damián Magraner and ultimately traveling to Mallorca to learn more about his life. All links above are to old blog posts throughout the years with different forms of research I have completed to learn more about this family branch.

My first time to Mallorca was back in 2015 where I visited Sóller for the first time. Two summers ago I traveled again to Mallorca to complete some more research into this branch. I spent a little over a week in Palma pouring over records from Damián's family in Sóller from the 1800s-1700s. The rest of my time in Mallorca was spent traveling around the island getting to know other towns such as: Fornalutx, Manacor, Pollença, Sineu, and of course Sóller.

Completing research through microfilms [Personal Photo]

Traveling around the island - Fornalutx, Mallorca [Personal Photo]

On Facebook I am a part of a group of people who have ancestry from Sóller and there are ton of people from different parts of the world - but mainly there are a bunch of people from different parts of France whose ancestors from Sóller immigrated over. In asking for advice about research and records, I began chatting with someone who like me had ancestry on the island and like me was a young researcher - his name is Jérôme. Since Jérôme had been living in Madrid at the time and I was completing research over the summer, we decided to meet up for some drinks and chat about Sóller. While in Madrid we chatted about our heritage; his a mix of European countries and mine a mélange of ethnicities found/brought to the New World. He had been interested in DNA testing to help with research and we chatted about that as well. That evening we parted ways but kept in contact about research, Sóller, and the prospects of traveling to Mallorca for more research. 

A few months later, Jérôme had told me that his brother had tested on 23andme and he was excited to receive his results, but little did I know that I would become excited about these results as well! 

Surprisingly, Jérôme's brother matched some of my profiles on 23andme! He matched my father, two of my paternal uncles, and my paternal great-uncle - all of them connected to my paternal grandmother who was a descendant from the Avilés Magraner line. I was shocked to see this connection! Jérôme's family is a mix of Italian, French, and Spanish ancestors but specifically his grandmother was from Sóller, Mallorca! So here was DNA proof that along my paternal grandmother's line there was a definite connection to Sóller, Mallorca confirmed through a match to Jérôme's family.

Comparing his brother to my dad, my paternal uncles, and my great-uncle you can see that all of that DNA shared overlaps on Chromosome 2!

DNA Match on 23andme [Personal Photo]

Jérôme and I chatted about our connection and our surnames, since we share such a small amount of DNA we imagine our connection is far back, probably somewhere in early 1700s. Sóller is a fairly small town (pop. 13,791 in 2016) and a lot of surnames repeat themselves in our family trees so we're fairly sure if we sit down and start tracing our lines to find this ancestor we would find them buried in our older branches.

Since the match is far back, my brothers and I did not inherit this piece of DNA but it seems to have made it all the way down to my dad's generation. I am wondering if I test other cousins who are related to the Avilés Magraner line, will they also have this piece of DNA? 

Interestingly, on AncestryDNA I did match Jérôme's family again and this time it was my paternal great-aunt, sister of my grandmother. If I had to take a wild guess, this set of 8.2 shared centimorgans would be found on Chromosome 2 as they were on 23andme. 

AncestryDNA Match [Personal Photo]

So here we see that the DNA was picked up by two separate companies - both 23andme and AncestryDNA. Again, though it is a small fragment of DNA the fact that four members of my family connect with two separate members of Jérôme's family I think it is much more than just a coincidence or statistical noise.

We were pretty surprised to see that we shared ancestry and the fact that we had decided to meet up in Madrid while our time overlapped and then months later found out that we were related was pretty funny! It's definitely a small world and technology has made it much smaller for genealogists. 

Moving forward my goal is to test other cousins on my paternal side, especially those along the Avilés Magraner line to see who else matches with Jérôme and potentially new matches in Sóller will appear as well. Hoping that one day I am able to establish a connection again with the Magraner line that returned to Mallorca. 

Another Mystery Solved?

As you can tell by now I've been away for a while but I'm happy to say I have finally completed my last semester and I officially have my Master's degree! But enough about that, more importantly I am here to update something I have been searching for a LONG time now and I think I have finally come to the end of that search. I've had many searches and brickwalls throughout my genealogical years and some have been tough, for example like searching for my ancestors in Martinique and Guadeloupe. This mystery though has been with me since the beginning of my searches in 2004 and even from before when I was being told tales of my ancestors; but today (hopefully finally) I have written proof on the father of my ancestor José Avilés Magraner.

For those who have been reading for my blog (many thanks and I hope you are enjoying my posts!) you know by know the mystery that surrounds José Avilés' father. And for those of you who don't a quick recap: José was said to be the son of a Spaniard who lived in Río Prieto, Lares and that his said surname was "Magraner". After searching for some years through various records, I was able to bring it down the potential father to Damián Magraner or one of his brothers who owned land in Río Prieto, Lares. I deduced that Damián had to be the father for multiple reasons: 1) My 2nd great grandfather and his brother Lorenzo both carried the surname Magraner after their mothers, 2) There were tales in the family about the relationship between a Spaniard and a Puerto Rican woman that produced José, 3) My ancestor worked Damián's land, therefore there was some sort of connection there already in place, and finally, probably the most important 4) Both José and Lorenzo named a son "Damián".

Now the problem lied in proving this relationship. In NO document that I have does Damián appear as the father of the children. This I ended up deducing had to deal with the fact that Damián was a married man back in Sóller, Mallorca to an Antonia Morell Pons and that a man of his status could not recognize bastard children. I was pretty convinced that Damián was the father and even traveled to Sóller, Mallorca while I was abroad to learn more about Damián, his family, and his life on the islands (both Puerto Rico and Mallorca). But I left with no real clue, still with just coincidences and theories in my head. But recently I discovered a single document that could finally piece it all together!

Recently I learned about the "U.S. Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007". At first glance I thought it was just the SSDI but when I typed in the search engine family names, I was getting information that the latter didn't have. For example, the Applications and Claims Index sometimes provides names of parents which the SSDI (Social Security Death Index) does not do. So I wondered, could these new documents shed light on my Avilés Magraner ancestors? At first, I started searching just for José Avilés Magraner with both surnames and just one, but I couldn't find anything. I actually have been having a lot of trouble finding his SSDI and death date since no one in my family is too sure when it was. My next best thing was Lorenzo Avilés Magraner who I did have a death record and date for, so I decided to give it a shot. My first results gave me a Lorenzo Avilés from Lares, Puerto Rico and I figured it definitely had to be my 2nd great grand-uncle.

Search for Lorenzo Avilés Magraner [Ancestry]

Even though it didn't mention a Magraner surname, I figured I should just click on it and see what the results would yield. There were the odds that nothing would come back besides his name and his birth and death date, so I crossed my fingers. Keep in mind that I've been constantly faced with a blank spot in the section of "father's name" so I really didn't expect anything new. Except this was the FIRST time that I was thoroughly surprised and completely elated. This time there WAS a father's name! And it mentions exactly who I thought it was: Damián Magraner!

Granted there is always room for error, and that goes without saying for everyone, not just me when dealing with names and genealogy. But I'm happy to FINALLY see a name for a father and that it was the one who I have been betting my money on this whole time. I've ordered Lorenzo's Social Security Application (form SS-5) and I'm hoping that there it does mention Damian Magraner as his father. I really am glad that I now have a record which mentions Damian as the father! I guess I can officially say I have a third great grandfather from Spain and that the tales that were told had some truth to them! 

I would still love to find an Avilés descendant and test their Y-DNA to hopefully one day find a Magraner descendant and see if they match up, this would truly be the only way to once and for all close shut this mystery. Until then, I'll wait for Lorenzo's social security application and be happy with how far I have gotten.

Take a look at those documents, you never know if they can answer some questions for you as well! Just remember the years are from 1936-2007! Happy hunting! 

Travel Tuesday – Sóller, Mallorca

This post will be about my visit to the island of Mallorca, specifically about the town of Sóller, where the Magraner family originally came from before arriving to Río Prieto, Lares, Puerto Rico. I came to Sóller to learn more about Damián Magraner Morell and his life before and after Puerto Rico. I believe that Damián is possibly my 3rd great grandfather on my paternal side of the family.

I headed to Sóller from Palma on the touristic train hoping to catch some views of the island as I headed to the northern town of Sóller. Every time I visit a town where my ancestors lived there's a weird feeling of euphoria. Not only because I am visiting a new place, but because of this deeper connection with the town. Knowing that an ancestor lived their lives in a certain town, gives new meaning and appreciation to being able to travel there. One of my first views as I stepped off the train and towards the main square was the church of Sant Bartomeu, where Damián would have been baptized circa 1846.

Iglesia de Sant Bartomeu [Personal Photo]

While in Sóller I was able to learn more about Damián's life; he served as mayor for two years in the mid-1880s and was able to learn that he passed away in 1910. I was fortunate to see the "padrones" showing him and his family in Sóller. Since two of his sons traveled to Puerto Rico in 1911, they listed their mother's address in Sóller allowing me to easily find them listed by their address. Also, since the address still exists I was able to visit the street and the houses they would have lived in. I was told the addresses could have moved up or down one house since 1910, but generally they were in that same vicinity. Here is a picture below of the house(s) which were listed in Damián's death certificate where they would have been living since about 1880. I asked in the supermarket across the street if there was a Magraner family here in these houses but I was told the houses were currently being rented out.

Calle Sant Jaume [Personal Photo]

I also headed to the cemetery in search of Damián's tomb since the archives don't have him listed, most of their records start after his death and so there is no evidence of where exactly he would be buried though he is buried there. I walked around the cemetery looking for any Damiáns or Magraner tombs and I couldn't find many that really that tied into my family. I was, however, lucky to find the tomb of a Nicólas Magraner Morell, most likely the brother of Damián. Unfortunately, it doesn't list who else from his family is buried in the plot but it was nice to see at least one person's tomb. Here are pictures of the view as I walked up towards the cemetery (absolutely amazing!) and a picture of the tomb itself. 

View near the cemetery [Personal Photo]

Tomb of Nicólas Magraner Morell [Personal Photo]

Conclusions

Even though I learned a lot more about Damián, his family, and his life in Sóller I am still unsure of his connection and whether or not he is my third great grandfather. Damián spent some time coming back and forth between Puerto Rico and Sóller and so knowing whether or not he was officially in Puerto Rico to be José's and Lorenzo's father is a bit difficult. He was listed as living in Puerto Rico around 1887, but there is no proof (that I know of) that he was there in the years of 1891 and 1894. We do know that Damián would eventually return to Sóller, helping the town during the time of the Spanish-American War. In Palma, I tried to retrieve Damián's last testament/will to see if there was any mention of land being given to a José Avilés, but unfortunately I would have to prove my connection to Damián via a paper trail in order to see his will. Which, as we know, would be impossible since I am basing this on family lore, information from census records, and coincidences (which don't sound like too much to rely on really!)

Recently, while looking at the 1910 and 1920 census records and José Avilés' WWI Registration Card I was able to finally figure out who the "Ramón Magraner" on his WWI card was! It seems that there was a mistake on various WWI cards for a "Ramón/Raimundo Rullán Pons", who was the administrator of a coffee farm. Ramón Rullán Pons was living with Damián in the late 1880s and it is highly likely that he was working on the Hacienda Margarita de Magraner, which belonged to the Magraner Morell siblings -- Damián being one of them. So we know that José and Lorenzo did work on Damián's lands before owning their own; which helps to establish a connection between both families. 

While I was in Sóller, I began to think a bit more of Damián and the probabilities of him being my 3rd great-grandfather. It seems that Damián held some sort of status in Sóller: he helped build the Banc de Sóller, was mayor for 2 years, and probably held other positions before his death. If Damián truly was the father of José and Lorenzo, I think there were little odds back then for him to recognize his illegitimate children. Imagine a man of status and married, accepting these two children as his own -- there would have been much stir in Lares, Puerto Rico and Sóller, Mallorca about his relationship with a Puerto Rican woman and would have probably been scandalous. As we know, many of our ancestors did things that either were unearthed then or are being unearthed now by us genealogists. If I were able to establish a firm connection to Damián I really don't know how the Magraner family would react to this. Did the family know about it? Could the descendants already be informed about potential Puerto Rican cousins? Hopefully I'll be able to answer these questions one day and the million others surrounding my ancestors! 

I hope to return to Sóller one day and do more research. I would love to visit during the summer and stay a month to learn and research more about the Magraner family. Hopefully I'll able able to find some descendants of Damián and see my theory proven or disproven, and I'm really hoping for the former! 

52 Ancestors – #22 Damià Magraner Morell (1846-1910)

Today I want to focus on an ancestor who could potentially be or not be my 3rd great grandfather. The reason I decided to add him to the 52 Ancestors series is because I would like to work out the kinks of this theory. Whether it was possible for him to be the father of my 2nd great grandfather José Avilés Magraner and his brother Lorenzo, or if I'm just pulling straws here trying to make strange connections. Here is what I know about Damià Magraner, his connection to the town of Lares where my family lived, and how he could potentially be my 3rd great grandfather.

Damià is the Catalan spelling for the name Damián giving us some hints as to his origins. From records in Puerto Rico, we can tell that Damià was originally from Sóller, Mallorca - an island of Spain, on its eastern coast. Mallorca is considered one of the Balearic Islands also known as Islas Baleares in Spanish and Illes Balears in Catalan.

Spain & Balearic Islands [Wikipedia]

Mallorca, Balearic Islands [Wikipedia]

Backtracking a bit, there was always a tale in my family about a Spaniard arriving to Puerto Rico during the time of war. He settled in the town of Lares, specifically the barrio of Río Prieto. There he would meet my 3rd great grandmother a "native Taíno woman". He would father my 2nd great grandfather but never officially recognizing him, therefore he would take on his mother's surname of Avilés. José would later attach the name Magraner as his second surname.

After hearing this story, I wanted to search the Magraner family in Lares and try and find José's father. Since José and Lorenzo were born out of wedlock, there was no way to know for sure if the story was correct or not. Even now, the name of Magraner could have been simply a false attachment of who he thought was his father.

While visiting the AGPR (Archivo General de Puerto Rico), I decided to look for records of Lares. There I found a census record from 1897 -- I specifically wanted to find my Avilés family there and also see what Magraner man could potentially be the father of José and Lorenzo. Even though José and Lorenzo had two other sisters and a brother, they were the only two who took on the surname Magraner and mentioned in the census records that their father was from Spain. Their sister María Isabel who was born in between José and Lorenzo also could have been a Magraner daughter but she passed away at the age of 4. Potentially another daughter born named Ysabel about 1899 could have been a Magraner daughter but that time frame is iffy for a few reasons.

I was able to find a Damián Magraner Morey (Morell) living in Río Prieto, Lares, Puerto Rico in 1897 as an owner of land and a home. There were a few other Spaniards listed living with Damián who probably immigrated to work the lands of Puerto Rico and find new opportunities. My 2nd great grandfather and his siblings were born in the years 1891, 1892, 1894, and 1899. Their other brother was born in 1904 and passed away the same year. Damià was said to have immigrated to Puerto Rico circa 1863, meaning that he was living in Lares, Puerto Rico for about 28 years before José was born. I'm not sure however if he migrated back and forth between that time.

Damià Magraner Morey [sic] – 1897 Río Prieto, Lares, Puerto Rico

Damià however wasn't the only Magraner to live on the island and also not the only one from his family. So far I have been able to trace three others brothers arriving to Puerto Rico from Mallorca: Nicolás, Cristóbal, and Gabriel. Two of the three (Nicolás and Cristóbal) also appear to be living in Río Prieto on early census records. If my records are correct, Gabriel Magraner Morell passed away on the 5th of May 1871 in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Interestingly, when you search for Damián Magraner Morell you can find a few things on him online. For example, a search on Google Book for Damián Magraner gives you a few hits of landing owning in Lares, Puerto Rico. In a book titled "Congressional Serial Set", there is a mention of Damian Magraner owning land in partnership with Nicolas Magraner, Cristobal Magraner, María Magraner; all from Spanish nationality living in Spain and their property is located in Lares. 

Congressional Serial Set [Google Books]

This book is interesting because it was published in 1918. It seems that the Magraner brothers moved back to Spain during the time of the Spanish American War, which is a bit different from what the story in my family says. Recently while I was speaking to my great-aunt about the Magraner connection she mentioned that her grandfather's father, the unknown Magraner, was said to have been married at the time he had his relationship with my 3rd great grandmother -- who was said to have been a Taíno woman, but likely she was mixed and just had prominent Taíno features. In the 1897 Census record, it does mention that Damian was married. He never appears in any of the census records past the 1897 record I found and we know that Puerto Rico was handed over to the United States in 1898, which means he probably migrated back to Sóller sometime in between 1897-1900 (I say 1900 because I don't have the exact date he migrated back). However, another search for Damian Magraner gives me a result to a Catalan written article about elections during the "second stage of restoration". From my understanding, it seems that Damian was voted as the president of a local party.

Damià Magraner Morell (president) – 1901 [Google]

My guess is that Damià had a strong connection for his homeland of Spain and Mallorca, ultimately pulling him back when the territory of Puerto Rico was handed over in 1898 to the USA. However, it seems that by 1917 he and his siblings were still owning land in Río Prieto. The plantation was named "Hacienda de Café Margarita de Magraner". I had never heard of this place until I began searching for the Magraner family. What interest me, however, is how José and Lorenzo acquired land in 1925. Could parts of the hacienda been broken up and José and Lorenzo received some land? José had 10 cuerdas and Lorenzo 8 cuerdas which they both began using in 1925 and it seems that they had many coffee trees. I don't know however how they really acquired the lands, whether just through hard work or through a will which included them as heirs to plots of land. I don't know when Damià died so I can't be sure of anything.

Why do I believe that Damià is the father of José and Lorenzo? A couple of things match up for me that make it a bit more than coincidence that Damià could be the father. Not only do both José and Lorenzo claim to have a Spanish father, Damià does appear to be living in Río Prieto in 1897. Interestingly, José and Lorenzo both give the name "Damián" to one of their sons. Damián Avilés Vargas was born in 1920 but unfortunately passed away a day later, and Damián Avilés López was born about 1939. Damián definitely isn't too common of a name on the island back in the days and I have rarely come across the name while searching records. Could they have given their sons the name "Damián" in honor of their own father? 

Damián Avilés Vargas – Defunción 1920 [FamilySearch]

Damián Avilés López – 1940 Census [Ancestry]

Unfortunately, I have no records to directly tie Damià and José together. There is always the possibility that another Magraner man fathered my 2nd great grandfather or even that he just took the name on for whatever reason (though this doesn't happen too often from my understanding). I would love to visit Sóller, Mallorca and find out more about Damián and his time in Sóller after returning. Maybe he left behind other descendants in Mallorca that still live there now? Hopefully some time in the near future I'll be able to test a male descendant of the Avilés men from my family to find out more about their Y-DNA, and potentially find a connection a Spanish family/man surnamed Magraner. This however would take a lot of time, research, and of course money. Hopefully, one day I will be able to solve this mystery once and for well -- whether my 3rd great grandfather really was a Spanish man from Mallorca who traveled to Lares, who owned land, and who would eventually migrate back to Mallorca to serve his home country during its time of need. Or if not a Magraner descendant, then a descendant from what man?!

Fun Fact: "Magraner" means pomegranate tree in Catalan!

52 Ancestors – #6 José Avilés Magraner (1891-1990?)

My 2nd great grandfather, José Avilés Magraner, has been to me the quintessential Puerto Rican ancestor. Growing up I had always heard José Avilés was tall, white and had blue eyes. Stories were passed down to me about him that turned out to be typical myths heard in stories passed throughout the generations in Puerto Rico (but with him there might be some truths to it). The same way Americans in the United States have stories about European settlers marrying native "Indians", we too in Puerto Rico have similar stories.

José Avilés Magraner [Personal Family Photo]

In Puerto Rico, many Puerto Ricans are told that so-and-so in their family was from Spain and the story of how they came to Puerto Rico, fell in love with a Taíno woman and stayed on the island and had many children. I have heard and seen this story commonly told not only between my own family members but from other Puerto Ricans that I have met. Of course, it is not their fault that they believe these stories. They have been told these stories sometimes from childhood, and who wants to imagine that their mother/father/grandmother is telling them false stories? But these stories are beginning to irk me because they are wrongly telling Puerto Ricans to believe that their ancestors are only from Spain (I too believed these stories growing up and ate them up thinking they were true). Through research I have learned that Puerto Rico is much more than just a place filled with "Spanish" ancestors.

I was told José Avilés came to Puerto Rico during the Spanish American War where he settled in Lares and met a Taíno woman, fell in love with her and had my great grandmother. This was one of the main stories that propelled me into genealogy, wanting to know the truth and wanting to find out more. Knowing that José Avilés lived in Río Prieto, Lares, Puerto Rico where I still have distant cousins I turned to the census records to find him.

The first census record I found was the 1930 census that listed my 2nd great grandfather with his daughter, my great grandmother Rosalia and her brother Pedro. After some initial confusion I found out that his wife at the time Ramona López was actually his second wife and not my 2nd great grandmother, Dionisia González Padilla, who died from Influenza in 1918.

1930 Census- Río Prieto, Lares, Puerto Rico [Ancestry]

I also noticed that my José Avilés had a weird named attached "Magraner". In Puerto Rico, usually the first surname belongs to the father while the second surname to the mother. Therefore, Avilés would technically be his father's and Magraner his mother's. When I asked my great-aunt about her grandfather and brought up the name "Magraner", she told me that the family was actually supposed to be "Magraner Avilés" and that Magraner was the surname of the father. She also told me that his father was from Spain and had come to Puerto Rico during the time of war. So the story was an intergenerational hodgepodge of information. I just needed to find out what was right and what was wrong.

Finding out about the Civil Registry of Puerto Rico in 2010 I was able to search the Lares records for José's birth record. Would it mention his father with the surname Magraner? Now I could strike out one part of the tale, that José was originally from Spain. I was able to find José Avilés' birth record in Río Prieto, Lares, Puerto Rico, where he was born on the 8th of May 1891 and was reported to be born out of wedlock to a woman named María Inocencia Avilés a native of Lares. Nowhere in the record did it mention she was Taíno (and for good reasons because by the 1800s the Taíno population had been integrated pretty well in Puerto Rican society). No father was listed for José and the according to the record the witnesses were Salvador Ferrer and Clemente Millán. 

What's interesting is that by the 1910 Census I can not find a Magraner male to be the potential father of my 2nd great grandfather. Interestingly, the 1920 Census listed my recently widowed 2nd great grandfather living with his brother Lorenzo Avilés and both listed their father's place of birth lists "Spain". Could they have known their father and known of his identity? 

1920 Census- Río Prieto Lares, Puerto Rico [Ancestry]

With research that I did a couple of summers ago in the AGPR in San Juan, Puerto Rico, so far I have lowered the search down to a man named Damián Magraner Morell originally from Sóller, Mallorca. He appears to be living in Río Prieto, Lares, Puerto Rico at the time of José's birth but then seems to have moved back to Sóller during the time of the Spanish-American war. Could the story in my family have changed, instead of coming to Puerto Rico he left it? Interestingly, in a recent conversation with my great-aunt she mentioned that José's father was a married man at the time of his birth. Damián does appear to be married, my guess to a woman back in Spain, in the record I found of him. Both Damián and Lorenzo in their WWI Registration Cards mention working with a "Ramón Magraner" yet there is no man found either in the 1910 or 1920 census records with that name at all. 

No one apparently knows the name of José's father, but maybe it's buried in someone's memory waiting to be dug up. My 2nd great grandfather and his brother Lorenzo both named a son "Damián", could it simply be a coincidence? I have learned that many-a-times, coincidences do happen in genealogy but sometimes things are done conscientiously by our ancestors. 

I have no real way of telling if Damián is Jose's father, or maybe a brother of his seeing as he was one of four brothers to venture off to Puerto Rico. Hopefully I'll be able to test a Y-DNA male descendant and it will tie and trace back to the Magraner family from Sóller. Or maybe more records from Lares will give me some new clues. Much it still to be learned about my 2nd great grandfather. 

José Avilés Magraner [Personal Family Photo]