Losing a Loved One

A little over a month ago, I received a call from my mom who told me that my great grandfather had passed away. That quickly I had lost the oldest family member from my line, my maternal great grandfather Narciso Meléndez. I was fortunate to have met my great grandfather and visit him in Puerto Rico while I was on vacation many times throughout my life. His lines were some of the more difficult ones to crack and to this day I continue to work on them. Yet, my great grandfather's passing brought along many interesting and new things as well. A picture of his father was found while looking through the home along with other old family pictures; I was also able to visit his grave where his wife my great grandmother is buried and I was able to find out the date when they were married.

My great grandfather was born in Coto, Manatí, Puerto Rico on the 29th of October 1922. I remember while I was growing up my grandmother always said her father never really knew his birthday was but they always celebrated towards the end of October. I was fortunate to find his birth record and confirm that he was actually born on the 29th of October which makes sense since it is the day of Saint Narcissus.

Manatí, Puerto Rico

Even though being born in Manatí, my great grandfather headed to San Juan to find work. It was there that he met my great grandmother, Epifania Dávila Orozco who was originally from Yabucoa. He ended up moving to Yabucoa with her for a while and my grandmother was born there. They then moved back to San Juan together and would stay there for the rest of their lives. My great grandfather mainly worked in construction but I remember that my grandmother told me that he used to work in the restaurant "Casa de España" in San Juan. My great grandfather would bring home things that were hard to find in stores for the family to have to eat. I imagine there was some economic hardship being that he probably worked here sometime in the late 1940s-1950s.

Restaurante Casa de España

Finding my great grandfather in the Census records was a bit difficult at first. I couldn't find a "Narciso Meléndez" living in Manatí. So I decided to ask my grandmother for the names of his siblings to see if any of them would appear. My great grandfather had a brother named Anacleto Meléndez Sánchez and it was by typing in his name that I found the family in the 1930 Census. Turns out that my great grandfather was recorded as "Carmelo Meléndez Sánchez", a nickname which my family knows he used for all of his life. Interestingly, only in the 1935 Census does my great grandfather use the name "Narciso".

Meléndez Sánchez Family in Manatí, PR- 1930

My great great grandparents were José Meléndez Moran and Anicasia Sánchez Arvelo, as you can see per the 1930 Census. I didn't know much about them since I never got to ask my great grandfather about them. All I know about them is information I've attained through records. I know that they married in Manatí in 1908 but they came from different towns- José from Vega Baja and Anicasia probably from Utuado. Which in itself is complex because Anicasia's dad was from Quebradillas and her mother from San Sebastián. José was one of MANY children, he had about roughly 14 other siblings (12 of which I have documented through birth/death certificates, the other two appear in census records)! He also worked most- if not all of his life- as a farmer/laborer on a farm. It's also interesting to note that on his WWII Registration Card he was marked as 62" of height, which makes him roughly 5'2".

There are many unanswered questions about my great grandfather's ancestors. On one side of the family there is a mess of last names which we used both officially/non-officially on records while on his maternal side no church records were microfilmed by the LDS church so any records I want to find on his mother's side of the family I probably have to write to the church or visit with permission to search through the books; sometimes this is difficult because they are a) don't grant permission to anyone or b) the books I want to use are no longer available to the public.

However, I was fortunate to take a DNA sample of my great grandfather which will hold and show so much information as time continues. For example, recently a cousin born in Zimbabwe came up!

4th-Distant Zimbabwean Cousin!

I hope to continue learning about my great grandfather's ancestors and their respective stories!

Hints to the Past?

Things have been pretty slow on my end here! I've been searching through church records in different towns in Puerto Rico trying to locate more ancestors and documentation. Just two days ago I found two sets of maternal 5th great grandparents which is awesome to add to the tree.

But more interestingly, the 23andme feature called "Countries of Ancestry" has given me some new interesting matches. Way back in the beginning I mentioned this feature and some of the interesting matches I've received. For example, my great grandfather tends to get some Irish matches while my dad's side has some Eastern European matches. Recently though, on my mom's side (specifically my maternal grandfather) I've gotten two very interesting matches.

Both are from Africa! Which is why I've titled this post "Hints to the Past"; the question mark, however, shows my uncertainty. The two places I've gotten in my grandfather's matches are Angola and Cape Verde. This was very interesting and a great surprise to me because these are my first matches to a Sub-Saharan area in Africa with their 4 grandparents born there. I've gotten Morocco but that isn't as surprising with my Spanish roots.

Angola and Cape Verde are very surprising for many reasons. We know that slaves were exported out of many parts of Africa, especially the western coast where they were taken to many different countries in the Western Hemisphere (as well as to Europe!). Angola was a Portuguese colony and gained independence in 1975. Cape Verde was also another Portuguese colony and also gained independence in 1975. Cape Verde on the other hand are a set of islands off the coast of Africa but were also important in the Atlantic slave trade because of their geographic location.

Here's a picture of the matches on the chromosomes!

Angolan cousin on Chromosome 7

Cape Verdean cousin on Chromosome 6

What's interesting to me is that these countries could be potential hints or clues to an ancestor's past. What I found the most interesting was that these cousins only matched me on my maternal side and specifically on my maternal grandfather's side who has Martinique ancestors. Could these be distant cousins to my slaves ancestors from Martinique? We know that Eglantine Lautin was from Africa, but whereabouts? If only these cousins were public so I could communicate with them about their families. What worries me though is that they'll be just Portuguese settlers who have stayed- but only time will tell! It would be amazing to find out that I have Angolan and Cape Verdean ancestors through my maternal family whether through Martinique or even through Puerto Rico.

This genetic genealogy adds SO much more interesting stuff that can not be seen through paper trails! Hopefully I'll learn more soon!!

1935 Social & Population Census of Puerto Rico

Recently (as in just yesterday), ancestry.com uploaded the 1935-1936 Census for Puerto Rico. I have been waiting for this census for a while and I'm glad it's been released! It adds another set of records available on ancestry for Puerto Ricans to use for researching their ancestors.

Here is some background information given by ancestry:

This census is particularly helpful because it's right between the 1930 and 1940 censuses so if someone died between those years you'll be able to find out if it was after or before 1935. Also, there is a 1935 agricultural census which if your ancestors owned land on the island they would appear on and give you information on that.

So far the 1935 census has helped me in a few ways. I've been able to find all of my direct ancestors that were alive for that time period in the records, except for one pair of great grandparents who I'm still trying to track down.

Before the 1935 Census, I wasn't sure when my 2nd great grandfather Nicodemus Vélez Ríos died. I knew that it was sometime between 1930-1940 but that was a pretty wide area to cover. Luckily, I was able to find his wife Domitila Mercado Cruz living in Arenas, Utuado, Puerto Rico with her children and widowed. Now I know that Nicodemus must have died sometime between 1931-1935 and probably in Adjuntas where they had lived for a little over 12 years. Now I'm trying to track his death record between those years. Here is the 1935 census record of Domitila as a widowed woman living with her children in Arenas, Utuado.

1935- Arenas, Utuado, Puerto Rico

Secondly, the 1935 Census gave me another piece to the life of my great grandfather Manuel Correa. Manuel Correa was born in 1920 as "Isidoro Correa Rivera"; his father would later die in 1929 and his mother in 1933 leaving him and his siblings orphaned. From the information I have, Isidoro, who went by the name Manuel lived in 1930 with his cousin in San Juan, Puerto Rico while his sister Modesta still lived with her mother in Río Jueyes, Salinas, Puerto Rico. It seems that 5 years later, Isidoro moved back to Salinas and lived with his sister and their aunt Senovia and her husband Francisco Alvarado. Also in the house was Luisa another aunt, mother of Celedonio. Later in 1940 he would move back to San Juan and work for a Luis Vahamonde-Sanchez and it seems that Manuel would stay there for the rest of his life until his death. Speaking with a great-uncle confirmed that I have the right family but I hope that Isidoro and Manuel really are the same person! Here is the 1935 Census of them in Río Jueyes, Salinas.

1935- Salinas, Puerto Rico

As I search for extended family, the 1935 Census will help with tracking movement across towns, births, deaths and even new relationships that formed between 1930-1940. Now for finding my missing great grandparents in this census!!

Cultural Exchange: A Piece of Germany in Puerto Rico

I'm always interested and amazed by the diversity our small island of Puerto Rico has! Every time I'm doing genealogy and I come across a person from Corsica, France, Italy, Spain, Guinea, or whatever other country they were from, I just go "wow, where are my cool Puerto Rican ancestors?"- which I have found through my Martinican line ;)

While searching through the Utuado birth records I ran into a child being born in 1892, and what caught my attention was that both of his parents were from Germany. So I decided to jot down the information and see how far I could trace this family outside of Puerto Rico with the information I have. (I like to challenge myself in genealogy as you can see).

Deutschland/Germany

The child born was Heriberto Leopoldo Hess Klinger in Santa Rosa, Caguana, Utuado, Puerto Rico. He was born on June 26th 1892, the legitimate son of Jorge Hess Jung, a mechanical engineer from Freiburg, Baden, Germany and his wife Elisabeth Klinger "Wetterolh", a native of Nieder-Modau, Hessen, Germany.

What surprised me (which it shouldn't have) was that the grandparents of Heriberto were listed. Since they were from Germany, I imagined that maybe there wouldn't be able to communicate names besides their own to the person jotting down the information. But a lot was provided very accurately and as I would soon find out.

The paternal grandparents were John Jorge Hess, from Freiburg where he passed away and his wife Anna Maria Jung, a native of Emmendingen, Baden, Germany but lived in Freiburg. Her maternal grandparents were John Adam Klinger and Anna Wetterolh, both natives of Nieder Modau, where they passed away.

So right away I knew that these families originated in Freiburg, Germany and Nieder Modau, with one grandmother a native of Emmendingen.

My search took me to FamilySearch where I tried to see if they had civil records for Baden, which they did but truly I could not navigate that part of the site since I don't know the proper provinces and what was what back in those times. But I did find Marriages, Death & Burials, and Birth & Baptism sections which would provide me the information for these families.

I began by typing in the last names Hess, Jung, Klinger and Wetterolh into the different sections. Hess and Jung haven't provided anything so far but through the mother's family I found a lot! I was able to find Elisabeth Klinger was christened on 27 January 1856 and born 13 January 1856, the daughter of Johann Adam Klinger and Anna Wetteroth which matches with (John Adam) Klinger and Anna "Wetterolh". As you can see they were also residents of Nieder Modau which was awesome to see since they had it right in Puerto Rico!

Elisabeth Klinger's christening record

Now that I knew Elisabeth's parents' "German" names I would check for their marriage. Awesomely, I found that Johann Adam Klinger married Anna Wetterroth on September 18 1851 in Nieder Modau and the record stated both of their parents' names! Johann Adam's parents being Johann Adam Klinger and Anna Maria Rodenhäuser (sometimes spelled Rodenhäußer) and Anna's parents were Georg Nikolaus Wetterroth and Eva Maria Hiller.

Johann Adam Klinger and Anna Wetterroth's Marriage

Also notice that it mentions when they were born. Johann in 1829 and Anna in 1831, how awesome! To take it a step even further I found Johann Adam's father marriage to Anna Maria Rodenhäuser. However, one record states they were married in 1839 while another says 1828. The 1828 marriage only mentions the dads while the 1839 mentions both parents (with the dads being the same from the 1828 marriage). The 1839 marriage says Anna Rodenhäuser was widowed but to who? Did she remarriage and to a brother of Johann Adam Klinger? None the less, Johann Adam's father was Georg Wilhelm Klinger and Anna's father was Peter Rodenhäuser. This traces the Klinger and Wetterroth to the earlier 1800s!

More amazing is that I was able to find Georg Nikolaus Wetterroth's marriage as well!!!

Georg Nikolaus Wetterroth & Eva Maria Hiller's Marriage

Georg Wetterroth was born in 1795 and Eva Hiller in 1811, Georg's parents were Johann Conrad Wetterroth and Sussanne Haas while Eva's were Johann Adam Hiller and Anne Marie Funck. Here you can also see they are living in Starkenburg, Hesse-Darmstadt. 

To tell you the truth I can even go a bit further with the Hiller family as I found Johann Adam Hiller being christened in 1787 while living in Altheim, Hessen, Germany and marrying Anne Marie in 1810- but I think you get the point. 

Just with the name of Heriberto's parents and grandparents I was able to push the family's pedigree to the late 1700s in Germany, and potentially could go a bit farther if I put more energy into it. Also, it shows you the AMAZING work that has gone into FamilySearch indexing and cataloging of records. From sitting in my home I could track down 5-6 generations of Heriberto's family without having to travel to Germany and sit for hours searching records. Of course, going to Germany and visiting the Baden region would be amazing to really get the feel!

Seems that the Hess family stayed in Puerto Rico (not sure how many Hess siblings stayed and spread out throughout the island). Heriberto himself did father a son named Jorge Francisco Hess Garcia with a Puerto Rican woman . Maybe a Hess descendant will find this post and either contribute, verify or even learn more about their Germany ancestry. 

Goes to show how a family with deep roots in Germany uprooted themselves and came to the tiny island of Puerto Rico helping to enrich our culture. I know that in my tree somewhere lurks families like these who I hope to one day uncover and push back like how I was able to do for Heriberto's family. 

I really had fun doing this and maybe I'll give it a go another time with a different family! But for now I'll shake my tree a little more and see what falls out! :D

Small World, Smaller Island!

It's always crazy when something finds you serendipitously, especially in genealogy! So far throughout my searches I've come across some interesting things that have made me say "WOW! What a small world!". I'll talk about 3 different events that have happened to me that showed me that not only is this a small world but that Puerto Rico is indeed a small(er) island!

Look up! 

Looking for baptisms of my umpteen grandparents can sometimes be a taxing job. Especially in a town like Toa Alta, Puerto Rico where in the early 1800s the baptism books were divided by race categories such as Blanco (White), Pardo & Moreno (People of color/Black) and Esclavos (Slaves). If you didn't know what category your family was placed under, you'd have to search and search until you found them.

Finding my 3rd great grandmother Feliciana Mojica González wasn't to hard of a task. I knew her family was usually categorized as "pardo" so I checked those books first and found that she was baptized in Toa Alta on the 14th of March 1813. Easy enough! But finding my 4th great grandmother, Martina Vásquez Fuentes wasn't too easy. Her descendants moved into Corozal, Puerto Rico where my great grandmother Mercedes Marrero Ortiz would be born. So I thought that she too was born in Corozal. Yet looking over Feliciana's baptism record and looking at all the names I noticed that right above her was a "Marta" being baptized- turns out to be my Martina!! Since Corozal originally started out as a part of Toa Alta, many families originally had roots in Toa Alta before moving into Corozal or just falling into the section of the new town. These two women are not related but Feliciana's grandson and Martina's great granddaughter would father my grandfather! It would be so funny if these women either lived near each other or were behind each other on a line to baptize their children in the church. Small world!! Here is the record of Feliciana and Martina!

Baptisms in 1813 of Martina Vásquez and Feliciana Mojica
Toa Alta, Puerto Rico

An odd reunion

While doing some genealogy at one of the centers I visit, I met a nice woman who's family was also from Puerto Rico. As we started to chat we realized that we both had family in Toa Alta but no similar surnames. She was stuck with finding some records and so I decided to help her out since I knew the Toa Alta church records pretty well. While searching for her great grandmother's baptism record, I came across a great-aunt of her's being baptized in 1856. While looking at the names, I noticed something super interesting- the godparents of this great-aunt of her's were my 3rd great grandparents! So our families 157 years ago gathered at a church to baptize her great-aunt. Finding that record revealed that we actually had the surname Rivera in common! So far I haven't been able to confirm that we are connected by blood but our families did know each other. How weird that 157 years later in a different town and a different country, two strangers would meet who's families once knew each other!

My 3rd great grandparents: Pedro Rivera & Eusebia Diaz
as godparents in 1856.

At last!

Earlier last week, I had one of the best moments of serendipity. While looking for my paternal 2nd great grandmother's birth certificate (or her sister's) in Utuado, Puerto Rico I came across very unexpectedly someone else. I saw the surnames "Sánchez Arvelo" and right away realized those names were on my mother's side of the family! Oddly enough I found a 2nd great granddaughter being born in Utuado, Puerto Rico despite her parents being from Quebradillas and San Sebastián. This whole time I was looking through Lares, San Sebastián, Quebradillas and Manatí for them when out of nowhere I find one of them in Utuado! Odds are my 2nd great grandmother was also born there but since the records aren't indexed I'll have to search 1 by 1. Finding this record gave me the name of 2 sets of my 4th great grandparents- I was so happy to find out more names in this family because I had searched for so long to find out more about them.

I'm constantly surprised by how small this world really is!

Exploring Maternal Haplogroups

In honor of International Women's day and because I was itching to write about a certain haplogroup, I decided that this was the opportune time for me to write!

So far with 23andme, I have been able to test 7 people in my family including myself and have been able to discover 4 different maternal haplogroups. What's interesting about our haplogroups is that they aren't from just one area- with the migration to Puerto Rico coming from many different areas and for many different reasons, our maternal heritage (just like our paternal heritage) tells many different stories. But the one I want to focus on mainly today is my great grandfather's European haplogroup U5b1b1b. First I'll talk quickly about the others.

My own personal maternal haplogroup came as a nice surprise to me when I first tested in 2009. When I got my results I was able to see that my maternal haplogroup was the indigenous C1b4. This group as you can see below is present in both Asia and the Americas. My guess is that somewhere along my maternal ancestress' line I descend from a Taíno/Arawak woman.

Similarly, another group found on the maternal side of the family that is also connected to Native Americans is called A2. A2 has a higher concentration up in North America near the Bering Strait. However, you can also see that it is evenly common and widespread throughout Central and Southern America. Again, this haplogroup was most likely introduced to my family through a Taíno/Arawak ancestress.

Found on my paternal side of the family is the only African Haplogroup I've discovered so far called L2a1. This haplogroup is found amongst African Americans seeing as how it is commonly found in Sub-Sahara Africa amongst the Bantu-speakers. Since it is so widespread it is difficult to pinpoint exactly where in Africa my ancestress would have originated from. Some speculate that its origin lies somewhere in Central Africa. Due to the Atlantic Slave Trade, many L2a1 carrying women entered areas such as the Caribbean, South America and North America which is why it is so commonly found there. I have not been able to figure out who my original L2a1 African born ancestress was, but hopefully one day I'll be able to know more about this line and haplogroup.

Lastly, my great grandfather is the only one in my family tested so far to carry a European haplogroup yet with an interesting history. His maternal haplogroup is known as U5b1b1b and can be found amongst the Basque and even amongst the Saami population in Northern Scandinavia.

U5b1b1b is part of the branch U5 which "arose among early colonizers of Europe around 40,000 years ago". But what's more interesting about this group is that is seems to have made its way back into Africa via Northern Africa where it can be found amongst people in Morocco and even as far south as Senegal. The big question for me is: Where did my U5b1b1b ancestress come from herself? Did she live in southern Spain before heading off to Puerto Rico? Was she a Moroccan woman who's family found their way to Spain and settled in Al-Andalus? Or was she just a European woman who's husband decided to head to the Caribbean and she agreed to the journey?

So far any of these stories and many others are possible. What's interesting is that my great grandfather does carry, according to Ancestry Composition, North African genes. Pictured below is his Chromosome 4 on "Standard Estimate" and the dark blue on the top is the North African he carries. There is a smaller chunk of it as well on Chromosome 7. Who he receives these genes from is still a mystery to me! Also in Ancestry Finder he receives a match with all 4 grandparents born in Morocco.

Chromosome 4- North African Genes

Chromosome 7- North African Genes

Chromosome 2- Moroccan Match

Hopefully one day I'll be able to name who these women were and talk about the lives they would have lived!

My Gustave-Lautin Family

This genealogical year has been off to a good start! The mystery of my Martinican ancestors is almost coming to a close (though there is still much to sort out!) Last week the Vieques church records I ordered to the LDS center arrived and I was pumped to search through them.

I knew that my 3rd great grandmother was, as far as I know, one of 7 children. She being the first born and the next 6 in chronological order being: Tomás, Valentina, Areopajita, Dionisio, Alberto Fermin, and Martina Isabel. I had Dionisio's (born in Fajardo), Alberto's (born in Salinas) and Martina's (born in Santa Isabel) birth/baptismal certificates but I didn't have my 3rd great grandmother, María Paulina or Tomás', Valentina's and Areopajita's. Here is a pedigree I made of the Gustave-Lautin siblings and family. 

The Gustave-Lautin Family who immigrated to Puerto Rico

Luckily in the Vieques church records I was able to find both María Paulina's and Tomás' baptism records. My 3rd great grandmother was born on the 15th January 1867 and baptized on 14th February 1867 in Vieques, Puerto Rico. While her brother Tomás (who's picture I found in the passport records) was born in Vieques as well on 28 December 1869 and baptized on 20th February 1870. What I found very interesting is that they both were surnamed "Charles" in these records. Also Tomás' middle name is "Octavio" and my 3rd great grandmother went by Octavia sometimes, so the name might be passed down from another family member! It mentions that the father's name was Gustavo Juan Charles, mixing around the order of the names. The paternal grandparents were listed as Juan Charles and María and the maternal as Eglantina Lotin. This helps me to solidify the Lautin line which I had theorized about in a previous post but had no solid proof. The baptism record helped to show that Juliana was indeed the daughter of a Eglantina Lotin (Eglantine Lautin) and helped to tie up all the loose ends. 

Now, the problem lies with figuring out the origins of Jean Charles Gustave. I fear that his surname might have been "Jean Charles" rather than "Gustave". Yet for now I will believe it is "Gustave" because he signed his name on the two documents I have as "Jean Charles Gustave". It could be plausible that his last name was "Jean Charles"; if his dad was a freed slave who was just named Jean Charles then his son would have taken his whole name as the surname. Which is most likely the origin of Gustave as well. Jean Charles Gustave's parents are listed as Jean Charles Gustave (which could mean he was named after his father or they didn't know the name of his father so they just duplicated his) and his mother appears as María Lucia, María Morianga and sometimes just María. So my guess is that she was Marie for certain but whether she was Marie Lucie or Marie-Ange (probably from Morianga) beats me!

We know Jean Charles Gustave (Juan Carlos Gustavo) appears in the the Catalog of Foreign Residents living in Fajardo in 1874. Juan Carlos Gustavo is listed at the age of 55 making him born circa 1819 and was married and "domestico" meaning he probably didn't work at the time. What's interesting is that there is a "Balbino Gustavo" also listed in the book with the age of 29 making that person born circa 1845. My guess is that the "Balbino" was actually my 4th great grandmother who's middle name was Balbina and she herself was born in 1844, it was probably transcribed incorrectly in the book. 

Here's a image I made from Google maps showing them hopping around Puerto Rico from Vieques, to Fajardo, to Salinas with years attached showing when they were living in those towns. Martina Isabel was born in Santa Isabel for whatever reason but the family lived for the most part in Salinas before spreading out along the southern coast. 

Gustave-Lautin family moving around Puerto Rico

I'm currently stuck on finding more about Jean Charles Gustave. So far I've checked all the towns of Martinique between the years of 1818-1820 for the birth of a Jean Charles Gustave. So far--- no luck! There is a Gustave family living in Ducos (previously known as Trou-Au-Chat) which could be promising though they were there towards the end of the 1800s. Also, there is a Charles Gustave being born in 1821 in Le Carbet to a Marie Olympe, he is the only closest match I have. My guess is that Jean Charles Gustave was of some kind of Mulatto mix born out of slavery (in the 1848 records of the slaves being entered, I found no Gustave-surnamed family that could match). I'm also not 100% sure that he was truly born in 1819. That would make him much older than Julienne, could be possible of course!

My next hope is to get the 1870s Catalog of Foreigners (I'm currently trying to get it through the interlibrary loan). The only thing that worries me is that because by 1867 they were already in Puerto Rico, they might not appear in it. Estela Cifre de Loubriel had to have seen their name in some type of document to jot them down in her book- the only thing is which document!!

Hopefully this mystery will be wrapped up soon enough! I wonder if Jean Charles was fixed with French/some European ancestor or just a descendant of slaves. I'll update once I figure out more!