52 Ancestors – #3 Mercedes Ortiz Marrero (1903-1984)

I want to focus on an ancestor in this post that I've been learning a lot about recently through stories. This ancestor is my great grandmother Mercedes Ortiz Marrero. I unfortunately never got to meet my great grandmother but hearing stories about her has gotten me as close to knowing her as possible.

My father's grandparents growing up were always shrouded in mystery as I had never met any of them. I always would hear that his grandmother, Mercedes lived in Carolina and died the same day as her daughter who they called "Tía Toña". At that point I knew so little, and it wasn't until a death certificate, a blog post, and a visit to a museum began to open up this side of the family like I wouldn't have imagined. 

Mercedes Ortiz Marrero [Personal Family Photo]

My great grandmother, Mercedes Ortiz Marrero, was born in Corozal, Puerto Rico (most likely in the barrio of Palos Blancos) according to her death certificate on the 15th of November 1903. Oddly enough, I haven't been able to find her proper birth record. I do however know that her parents were Martin Ortiz Pérez and Antonia Marrero Marrero, both natives of Corozal, Puerto Rico themselves. Mercedes came from a big family, 12 siblings so far counted (13 including her), and was the first daughter born out of all of her siblings. 

In 1910 and 1920, Mercedes was living with her parents and siblings together in a home Martin owned. In 1910, Martin and Antonia's already 10 year old marriage had produced six children ranging from Martin Jr. (aged 9) to Fermina (aged 1) – both Martin Ortiz and Antonia Marrero could not read or write and Martin was employed as a laborer on a sugarcane farm while Antonia was a domestic housewife. 

In 1920, Mercedes was still living at home with her parents and now seven children household (some might have passed away but four more were born). None of the children were able to read or write and it seems that none attended school either. All were unemployed except Martin who was still employed as a farmer on an agricultural farm. 

In 1922, Mercedes' life would begin to change. During this year, Mercedes would marry Alejandro Rivera González (my direct Rivera ancestor) on the 31st of March. Alejandro had been previously married two other times – his first wife Brigida Hernández Vélez passed away, while his second marriage to Petrona Ortiz Nieves ended in a divorce by the Tribunal District on the 17th of February 1922 (he married pretty fast between his 2nd and 3rd marriage). Both of his previous marriages produced three children from each wife. 

I don't know the story of how Mercedes and Alejandro met but I can make a pretty darn good guess with the 1920 Census – Alejandro's older sister was next door neighbors to my great grandmother! Alejandro lived in Toa Alta, an adjacent town, and probably met Mercedes while visiting his older sister. Below you can see Valentina Rivera González living with her husband right next door to my great grandmother and her parents:

Love at First [next-door] Sight!

I'm not sure if Mercedes moved in with Alejandro or lived with her parents until they found a home but in the 1930 census, Alejandro and Mercedes are shown living in La Perla in San Juan, Puerto Rico. They would live here throughout the 1930, 1935 and 1940 Census. Mercedes had eight children (which includes my grandfather, Felipe Rivera Ortiz) bringing the total of children Alejandro had to 14!

Growing up I only knew two stories of my great grandmother – the first was that she had died the same day as her daughter and the second was that she had worked for the mayor of Puerto Rico, Felisa Rincón de Gautier. Who would have thought that these two stories were actually completely true!? Blogging about the mystery of my great grandmother, I was fortunately blessed with the serendipitous meeting of my cousin, a granddaughter of Mercedes. She was able to confirm that my great grandmother had worked for Felisa Rincón de Gautier (The first female mayor in the Americas might I add!) and had passed away after finding out about the death of her own daughter, Antonia Rivera Ortiz, both on the 1st of December 1984. My great grandmother not only worked for the mayor, but they were great friends. She was devastated when she heard about the death of my great grandmother and couldn't believe that she had not only lost a worker but a dear friend. 

Pictured L-to-R:
Ana Rivera, Mercedes Ortiz, Tomasita Maldonado (back row)
Inocencia "Chencha" Maysonet, Felisa Rincón, "Chita" Maysonet, y Julia Cortijo.
Photo circa 1958
[Personal Family Photo]

While visiting the Felisa Rincón de Gautier museum in San Juan, I was able to meet a lady who remembered my great grandmother fairly well and even remembered that she made the best arroz con dulce and harina de maíz desserts, which she made for parties held in the home of Felisa Rincón. When my aunt Toña bought her home in Carolina, her children wanted her to retire and live with Tía Toña which they did until they both passed away.

I have been fortunate to uncover these stories of my great grandmother, giving me a better picture of the woman she was and the life she lived. I have also been blessed with the meeting of my cousin who was able to supply me with stories and pictures, debts I could never repay to her and her family for being the keepers of these important valuable things. I can only continue to pass along the stories I have been given to the future generations and hopefully my own children. This 52 Ancestors Challenge has really gotten me pumped about documenting the stories that go along with my ancestors, I've been so inspired by the other blogs I have been reading!

52 Ancestors – #2 Jean Charles Gustave (1819-1891)

This second post will be about a challenging ancestor of mine who I have mentioned a lot before but I
want to dedicate a post to him since he has been a troubling ancestor to pinpoint. This post will be about my 4th great grandfather Jean Charles Gustave.

Jean Charles Gustave has been very elusive since the first moment I set eyes on his name in a birth certificate of his grandchild, Julio Correa Gustavo (my 2nd great grandfather). When Jean Charles was registered in Puerto Rico with his wife, he was registered as living in Fajardo, Puerto Rico as a "domestico" from Martinique, married, and 55 years old. They were registered on the 30th of May 1874 as domiciled in Fajardo but were still French subjects. In his registration his name became "Juan Carlos Gustavo" and in subsequent documents his name remained in the Spanish form. Yet every time Jean Charles Gustave signed his name in documents he consistently used the French form of his name.

Jean Charles Gustave's Signature

We also know that by the time he was registered in 1874, he was already living at least 7 years in Puerto Rico because his first child and my 3rd great grandmother, María Paulina Gustavo Lotten, was born in 1867 on the island of Vieques, a municipal of Puerto Rico. Jean Charles and his wife "Juliana Balbina Lotten" who I later came to learn was Julienne Malvina Lautin, a native from Rivière Salée, Martinique had 7 children (to date) that I know of. I've decided to use the surnames "Gustavo Lotten" because it is the most similar to its original form, Gustave Lautin. There have been many variations of both surnames used throughout documents and the family eventually switched over to the surname "Charles". Here are the children in order:

1) María Paulina Gustavo Lotten 1867 – 1948
2) Tomás Octavio Gustavo Lotten 1869 – 1957
3) Valentina Gustavo Lotten 1878? – 1938
4) Areopajita Gustavo Lotten 1879 – 1900
5) Dionisio Gustavo Lotten 1880 – 18??
6) Alberto Fermin Gustavo Lotten 1882 – 1953
7) Martina Isabel Gustavo Lotten 1886 – 1888

Gustave Lautin Family

I have been able to track five out of the seven children from the Gustave Lautin line but I don't know what ever happened to Dionisio and Martina Isabel. Dionisio was born in Fajardo while Martina Isabel was born in Santa Isabel yet they never appear in census records and I have not found death records for them yet.

Something very interesting that I have noticed (and probably literally just right now), is that the family has always stuck by the ocean. For whatever reason, in whatever town they lived in, it was always by the coast. Vieques, Fajardo, Santa Isabel, Salinas, Guánica, Ponce – all coastal towns of Puerto Rico. Jean Charles Gustave was a carpenter by trade, so wouldn't he have found better work in San Juan? The family would later become fishermen with some carpenters here and there but I think it's interesting that they were always near water (most of their children and grandchildren were born in parts of the town called "playa" – in Santa Isabel, Ponce, and Salinas). Could Jean Charles Gustave originated from a coastal town in Martinique?

Despite knowing where Jean Charles Gustave has lived I have yet to find his death certificate. I know that his death had to have taken place between November 1887 – August 1891, with the help of his grandchildren's records. The question is where?! This span of 4 years is a pretty small gap to look for someone yet I have had no luck finding his death record in Salinas, Yauco/Guánica or Ponce (I'll be double checking again shortly!)

Jean Charles Gustave always seemed to me to be of a créole background for various reasons. 1) He didn't appear in the Actes D'individualités in Martinique – This could mean he was born free or freed before 1848. 2) He was able to sign his name in 1885 – which I think is a big feat for a black man in the mid-1800s from a colonial island. 3) His wife was much younger than him which makes me think she married "up" for a better life – either love brought them together or his status did.

After researching the Gustave line for quite a while, I was able to find a cousin who shared a connection with me. Her great grandfather, Alberto Fermin, and my 3rd great grandmother, María Paulina, were brothers and sisters. This 3rd cousin, 2x removed is more connected to the Charles family and thus was able to find a male descendant of Jean Charles Gustave who was willing to take a Y-DNA test to figure out our Martinican male haplogroup.

I was able to get a Y-DNA test through FTDNA from a 2nd cousin, 3x removed, the grandson of Alberto Fermin Gustavo Lotten. I was very excited when the results started coming in this week. I was caught between hoping it was an African haplogroup and a European haplogroup, but my gut feeling was that it would come back European – due to the créole theory. The group came back R-M269 (shorthand) also known as R1b1a2, which turns out to be part of one of the biggest European haplogroups. Hopefully I'll be able to pinpoint a surname through FTDNA which would give me a clue for my male ancestor in Martinique!

Haplogroup R1b Distribution [Wikipedia]

Take a look at this new blog post called "A New Piece to the Puzzle! The Jean Charles Gustave Mystery Continues…" with some new information regarding my 4th great grandfather!

52 Ancestors – #1 Felix Vélez Mercado (1905-1953)

I guess I'll start this challenge with a man who I know both some about but yet know nothing about. This man is my great grandfather Felix Vélez Mercado. Felix's family photo was what catapulted me into genealogy and it was featured in my first post ever in my blog!

L-R: Felix (standing back), Carmen (kneeling),
José (standing), Rosalia (sitting w/ baby)
[Personal Family Photo]

Felix Vélez Mercado was born on the 17th of November 1905 in Salto Abajo, Utuado, Puerto Rico. Interestingly, when my great grandfather was born, he was listed as an illegitimate child since his parents hadn't yet married. His father, Nicodemus (sometimes written as Nicodemo) Vélez Ríos, was the one who registered his son's birth yet no mother was listed! His father later married in the same town on the 14th of December 1906, just a little over a year after Felix was born, to Domitila Mercado Cruz. I worry about this not being his mother since he was born out of wedlock but being that the parents married soon after his birth and we always knew his last names were "Vélez Mercado", therefore I assume that Domitila is his biological mother. 

The reason why Nicodemus and Domitila probably weren't married during Felix's birth is evident in their marriage record. When Nicodemus Vélez and Domitila Mercado appeared to get married, it stated the Nicodemus Vélez was 32 years of age while Domitila Mercado was only 15 years old!!! In Puerto Rico, since many people weren't literate or properly knew their birth years, ages were either exaggerated a few years or people scratched a few away here and there. Nicodemus during his marriage was actually 26 years old- this I know because I have his baptism record from Adjuntas, Puerto Rico where it states he was born in the year 1878. I have yet to find Domitila's birth record but it's probably somewhere in the 1890s. What's also interesting is that according to the 1910 Census record, Felix had an older sister and younger sister both named "Amelia" yet in the column where it asked how many children has the wife had and how many of them are alive it only states "1" and "1". So something there isn't adding up. Could it be that it only states "1" because that was the number of children born "officially" since their marriage?

"who has 15 years of age"- Domitila's marriage record

Felix appears in the 1910 Census living with his parents and two sisters in a rented home in Arenas, Utuado, Puerto Rico. However, in the 1920, 1930 and 1935 Census Felix has disappeared! My great grand-aunt told me that Felix would travel around selling goods and so this could potentially be the reason why he doesn't appear with his family. In 1940 he resurfaces in San Juan, Puerto Rico living in the Santurce area already living with my great grandmother and one of his children. It seems that his profession of selling is still with him since he is listed as "vendedor de billetes"and as "ambulante" which means he travels.

My family says that Felix Vélez Mercado passed away around 1953 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Which means my grandmother was about 13 years old when her father passed away leaving her mother widowed with three children (there was another child born around the 1940s but passed away in his infancy). Despite Felix coming from a gigantic family I know very little about his family. In totally I have about 17 different children listed for Nicodemus and Domitila, including Felix himself. 

1) Amelia Vélez Mercado 1902-?

2) Ramón Vélez Mercado 1904-?

3) Felix Vélez Mercado 1905-1953

4) Amelia Vélez Mercado 1912- 1942

5) Amelio Vélez Mercado 1911-1936

6) Ana Vélez Mercado 1914-?

7) Juana Vélez Mercado 1918-?

8) Evaristo Vélez Mercado 1919-?

9) José Miguel Vélez Mercado 1922- ?

10) Jesús María Vélez Mercado 1925-?

11) José Vélez Mercado 1926-?

12) Nerco Vélez Mercado 1926?-?

13) Ramón Vélez Mercado 1927-?

14) Jesús Vélez Mercado 1928- ?

15) Monserrate Vélez Mercado 1930-?

16) María Mercedes Vélez Mercado 1931- ?

17) Juan Moises Vélez Mercado ?-?

Seems like the family also spent time moving between Utuado and Adjuntas, the parents' respective towns of origin. So while Felix was born in Utuado, Puerto Rico, his sister Ana Vélez Mercado was born in Adjuntas, Puerto Rico in 1914. His daughter (my great-aunt) says that he met my great grandmother while traveling which means he might have met her in her hometown of Lares, Puerto Rico. Hopefully I can learn more about Felix, his life and his siblings. I wonder if there are more pictures of Felix somewhere in my family's possession? 

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge: Accepted!

Every time I log into my ancestry.com account I always check the sidebar for recently added blogs and yesterday I stumbled upon one called "The 52 Ancestors Challenge". I was intrigued so I decided to read the post and find out what exactly it was about.

The 52 Ancestors Challenge Post

I was excited to read that Amy Johnson Crow was challenging the genealogical community to post about 1 ancestor every week creating this 52 Ancestors Challenge. Amy Johnson Crow states "So to challenge myself and others to write at least once a week, I started the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge. The premise: write about one ancestor each week this year. It could be a story, a photograph, a document, a pesky research problem - anything, as long as it involves one ancestor. The next week, write about another ancestor." So I decided to accept this challenge! I think it would be a great way to focus across various different lines each week and it will force me to write at least once each week. That way when the year is over I'll hopefully have 52 different posts about different 52 ancestors! I know I've written probably extensively about certain ancestors through the few years I've been writing but hopefully I won't have to repeat their stories.

52 Ancestors Challenge ACCEPTED!

Hopefully this post will serve as a place to keep all of my links for future reference so I'll try and update this page as I continue to write throughout the year. I'll probably continue to post about other things as well outside of this challenge but I am very excited to get started! Luckily I caught this on early and won't have to play catch up too much! This is also a great way to "Cousin Bait" which I didn't know was a term until I read it in one of Amy's posts. Ultimately these posts will hopefully help us find other cousins out there (which happened to me with one post about two years now!) If you have also accepted the challenge, best of luck!

Week #1: Felix Vélez Mercado

Week #2: Jean Charles Gustave
Week #3: Mercedes Ortiz Marrero
Week #4: Pedro Dávila Ruiz
Week #5: Manuel Correa Rivera
Week #6: José Avilés Magraner
Week #7: Benito Orozco
Week #8: Bernardina Sepúlveda Román
Week #9: Ramona Rivera Rivera
Week #10: Hernán Pérez

A Volcano, a Man, a Typo?

A Volcano

Researching Martinique, I have come across many different events in history including the tragedy of the eruption of Mount Pelée in 1902. Saint Pierre, located to the north of Martinique, suffered a terrible eruption which would completely wipe out the town and most of its 28,000 inhabitants (higher estimates say that over 30,000 people perished from the volcano's eruption).

Remains of St. Pierre after the eruption [Wikipedia.com]

What I found interesting was that only two people survived (some say three) the eruption on the night of May 8th, 1902. The two main survivors of this event known as the worst volcanic event in 20th century were Léon Compère dit Léandre and Louis-Auguste Cyparis. Some say that the third survivor was a young girl named Havivra Da Ifrile- but I want to focus mainly on Louis-Auguste Cyparis because of his story.

A Man

Louis-August Cyparis [Wikipedia.com]

During the eruption of Mount Pelée, it was Louis-Auguste's drunken stay in a jail cell that is credited for saving his life. Some reports say that he was put in the solitary cell after a drunken fight with a friend whom he attempted to stab. The cell he was placed in was "a single-cell, partially underground, bomb-proof magazine with stone walls. His cell was without windows, ventilated only through a narrow grating in the door facing away from the volcano. His prison was the most sheltered building in the city, and it was this fact that saved his life. The cell in which he survived still stands today" (Wikipedia). After surviving four days in the cell, he was finally rescued and despite being burned Louis-Auguste was able to survive the eruption. You can read more in the Wiki article or research more about him and how he survived, he apparently urinated his shirt and wrapped it around his face to prevent himself from breathing in much of the ashes. Interestingly enough, he later joined the Barnum & Baily Circus as Ludger Sylbaris retelling the tale of his survival. Here is a picture of his jail cell:

Cachot de Cyparis [Wikipedia]

A Typo?

I became really interested in this man and his life, I thought "wow, had he not been drunk and gotten into that fight, he probably wouldn't have survived the eruption!". I wanted to learn more about this man; he was said to be about 28 years old during the eruption and in a letter written in 1902 from Fort-de-France, Martinique it describes a little bit more about Louis-Auguste. The letter states: "Louis Cyparis (dit Souson) était un travailleur du Prêcheur, tantôt marin, tantôt cultivateur". This tells us that he was a worker originally from Le Prêcheur, a bordering town to the north of Saint-Pierre. Also, he sometimes worked as a sailor and sometimes as a farmer. Knowing his age, we know that he was born about 1874-5 when the volcano erupted and his life changed forever. The question now became: Could I find Louis-Auguste Cyparis' birth record in Le Prêcheur and learn more about him?

1902 letter mentioning Louis Cyparis [stpierre1902.org]

Searching through the birth indexes of Le Prêcheur in the 1870s I didn't come across any "Cyparis" or even Ciparis but interestingly I did come across the birth of two "Cypriani" children in the late 1870s. Both were the children of a Marie Etiennette Cypriani, who lived in Saint Pierre and was working as a "marchande" or a trades woman, however no father is listed for the children. The first child was born in 1878 and was named Louis Marie Alphonse Cypriani, and their first and last names no doubt have a resemblance! I even checked in the Saint-Pierre 1870s birth indexes but didn't find any name closely resembling "Louis-Auguste Cyparis". There is however also the slight possibility that he was born as Louis-August and later picked up "Cyparis" as a last name but being that former slaves had already acquired last names by 1848 I don't know how likely this option is.

Louis Marie Alphonse Cypriani- Birth Record 

Louis Marie Alphonse Cypriani- Birth Record 

I do wonder if this is the same man, Cyparis and Cypriani are very close in spelling and there were no other last names that could be clumped with "Cypriani" as a possibility from what I have seen. We do know he went to jail once, so could he have changed his last name slightly to avoid the law? Or did they simply write his name wrong by mistake? I can't find anywhere an actual birthdate or year for him, all of them seem to be estimates, so it could be because there is no actual "Cyparis" but this was his birth record? Or maybe he was born in another town altogether and just said he was born in Le Prêcheur because he spent most of his time there? As we can see there are a lot of questions surrounding Louis-Auguste Cyparis before the eruption!

Until more information is found I can't tell whether these two men are one and the same. It's interesting when you try and tie together history and genealogy, especially with those who are both famous/infamous in history! Hopefully more will come of this man!

A Change in the Past, A Change for the Future

I haven't blogged in a while and with the holidays being both a busy yet relaxing time, I've decided to write a post!

Recently, a day passed in December that wouldn't have meant anything special to me until recently. December 21st would have been any other day for me this year; it was a Saturday, the first official day of vacation for me and a marker that Christmas was only four short days away. Yet, this year it meant much more to me. It was the day my 4th and 5th great grandmothers were officially recognized as French citizens (or people for that matter) after receiving the surname Lautin and being freed from slavery. This year marked 165 years of freedom between my 5th and 4th grandmothers and myself.

Anse Cafard Slave Memorial - [Britannica.com]

Slavery's end came to the island of Martinique in 1848 in various stages. A decree is signed on April 27th but was only publicly announced on the 3rd of June, about a month and a half later. Guadeloupe also at this time was becoming an island free of slavery, thanks to it being a territory of France as well. Emancipation Day is celebrated on both islands in late May (the 22nd and 27th).

As the slaves became free, they were to receive last names- something which many didn't previously have since they were to work fields rather than be identified in high ranking positions. Each person was to report to registrars which had been set up in their towns in order to document the "new" people. These documents are known as Les Actes D'Individualités.

Luckily for me these documents have been placed online and I have blogged before about using these records to discover my 4th great grandmother who immigrated to Puerto Rico and her mother who was originally from Africa and brought over to Martinique as a slave. My 5th great grandmother appeared before Charles Fouchet to register herself and her two daughters, Julienne Malvina and Pauline - the former my 4th great grandmother and the latter my 4th great grand-aunt who sadly passed away in 1855. Their acts were taken on the 21st of December 1848, where they all received the last name "Lautin" most likely from Charles Fouchet himself. The previous slave owners were not surnamed Lautin but this was the surname they received for whatever reason.

Here are their Actes D'Individualités again:

Eglantine Lautin- 5th Great Grandmother

Julienne Malvina Lautin- 4th Great Grandmother

Pauline Lautin- 4th Great Grand-Aunt

I wonder a lot about my ancestors, their thoughts, their moods, their aspirations. I wonder what was running through my 5th great grandmother's mind the morning of 21st December 1848.

I imagine her raising early at the crack of dawn from having to work the fields so early after so many years. She stretches by the door of her home as she stares out onto the plantation has worked on for many years. She would take a deep breath and muster in her best French: Aujourd'hui nous sommes françaises. (Today we are French!) She would wake her daughters from their slumber, today they longer would be considered slaves but free people. Would Eglantine remember a past life in Africa when she was free and went by another name? Would she dream of returning to that land or would she look forward to her daughters' futures? Would she find this a joyous occasion or one of hard ship as she would have to look for work elsewhere now?

I am blessed to have a strong ancestress who physically and mentally prepared herself each day for the work that was to come, not knowing when it would end. This single event in history changed the future of her family and ultimately mine as well; who knows what sort of freedom Julienne would have been allowed if she would have to had live the rest of her life as a slave rather than a free woman. She probably would have never taken the journey to Puerto Rico.

Always remember those that came before you and their stories, their struggles and their lives for one day you shall join that chain of ancestors. 

Día de los Muertos- Recognizing One's Ancestors

From November 1-2, a popular holiday from Mexico also known in the USA due to its closeness in date to Halloween was celebrated- Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). And even though it's been a week since the holiday, I've been thinking a lot about how we remember our ancestors and the importance of remembering them.

Serendipitously, as a few members of 23andme chatted about our African results from AncestryDNA, someone posted a few links which I found interesting. They all dealt with remembering our African ancestors and how passing traditions along helped these communities remember their past.

The first article I read dealt with the Cuban town of Perico and how their strong connection to Africa allowed them to reconnect with their slave past. I'll post the link below and let you read about it, I don't want to ruin it for you too much!

How Cuban Villagers Learned They Descended From Sierra Leone Slaves.

The next two videos deal with the Gullah people near the Carolinas, Georgia and the sea islands nearby. This one was truly amazing because they were able to connect to their past both by music and lifestyle.

The first one I saw was "The Language You Cry In"which was AMAZING to watch! And the second one was "Family Across the Sea" (Both deal with the same topic and overlap a bit). They are a little over 50 mins in length so make sure to set up some time aside if you plan to watch them!

They made me think a lot about my African past- which I have discussed in length on some other posts, mainly about my Martinican connection.

However, it is also makes me think about Puerto Rico and its past. Are there places on the island where language is tied strongly to certain dances and traditions? I know of Bomba and Plena but have never heard of certain African languages being used to sing the songs. I know there are words in Puerto Rico that originate in Africa but how strong is the overall connection?

There are many questions that I would love to research and learn more about. Just as our history is connected to the native Taíno and the Spanish, we must remember that our history is just as connected to Africa and we must reconnect there as well!