Torres Family Reunion 5 August 2007, Albuquerque, NM

Photo of Torres Family at the reunion on 5 August 2007

The reunion was a success. My father's cousins put it together as they do every year. The only problem was that my uncles and aunts did not make the reunion because of a miscommunication. I thought someone else was supposed to inform them; she thought I was supposed to inform them. Oops.

The reunion was actually for two families -The Torres' and the Baca's. The picture above is of the Torres' only. And no, it was my Baca family. "Baca" is a very common name in New Mexico. Anastacio Torres (son of Ignacio) married a woman by the name of Piedad Baca. This is the Baca family that was invited. On the other hand, Teresa Torres married a man by the name of Robert B. Baca. These were my grandparents. As far as know, Robert and Piedad were not closely related.

In case you are wondering which people in the photograph are my wife Nancy and me, look at the photo below:

That's us!

Torres Genealogy Presentation Board

I worked on the board above for about three days. It was a hit. Everybody loved the pictures and the stories I told of them. This is the first time I've tried creating a board like this. I'll probably do it again next year.

On the left panel, I wrote an abbreviated Torres Family History based on an articles that I wrote for last year's reunion and Maurine Pool wrote for the 1992 Torres reunion in California. On the bottom of the panel I placed a photo of Crespin & Andreita's 50th wedding anniversary.

In the center panel, I placed photos of Crespin and Andreita on the top row, and photos of their children on the next two rows. I put photos that I numbered 1 -5 on the bottom two rows. I numbered those photos for a game that the kids played at the reunion. I'll talk more about that later in this post.

The right panel is barely visible in this photo, which I guess is good because Maurine did not want me to post those photos. These photos were at the 1992 Torres family reunion in California and other photos of our California kin. Many family members, especially the older ones, were very interested in these. They definitely wanted know more about their California cousins and asked me how they could contact them. They would love them to come to next year's reunion.

On the table, I also had a Genealogical Portfolio of the Torres Family. I put this portfolio is in a loose leaf binder so that I can add and subtract items as needed. I began working on it last year. The portfolio contained:

* "A Genealogy of a New Mexico Torres Family" by Robert J. C. Baca. This is the article I wrote for last year's reunion.

* "The Torres Family" by Maurine Pool. This was the article that Maurine wrote for the 1992 reunion. I inserted photos of Crespin's children within the text

* "Andreita (Trujillo) Torres' Obituary", transcribed and translated by Patrick Moore. The original was published in an August 1926 issue of the El Defensor del Pueblo newspaper.

* "Crespin Torres' Death Certificate". A copy of the original certificate from 21 October 1937.

* "Crespin Torres' Obituary", transcribed and translated by Patrick Moore. The original was published in the 22 October 1937 El Defensor del Pueblo newspaper.

* "Torres" sections from Origins of New Mexico Families by Fray Angelico Chavez. Pages 107 & 294-295.

* "Belen" entry from The Place Name of New Mexico by Robert Julyan. Page 34.

* "Belen Land Grant Petition" from El Rio Abajo by Gilberto Espinoza. Pages 245-249.

* Spanish censuses of the Juaquin Torres family (1790 and 1802, Belen, NM) from The Spanish and Mexican Colonial Censuses of New Mexico: 1790, 1823, and 1845 and The Spanish and Mexican Censuses of New Mexico: 1750-1830. Both books were transcribed by Virginia L. Olmstead. Pages 45 and 137, respectively.

* "Socorro" sections from Rio Abajo: Prehistory and History of a Rio Grande Province by Michael P. Marshall and Henry J. Walt. Pages 248-249, and 285-286.

* Mexican census records of the Santiago Torres and Anastacio Torres families in New Mexico Censuses of 1833 and 1845: Socorro and Surrounding Area of the Rio Abajo, transcribed by Teresa Ramirez-Alief, et.al. Pages 24 & 75.

* Ancestors of Igancio Torres, and ahnentafel table created by Robert J. C. Baca. From my database, printed August 2006.

* Ancestors of Andrea Montoya, and ahnentafel table created by Robert J. C. Baca. From my database, printed August 2007.

* Two charts showing the relationship between Miguel Marquez and Ignacio Torres, the two husbands of Andrea Montoya. They were first cousins, once removed. From my database.

* Two charts showing the relationship between Casey Luna, former lieutenant governor of New Mexico, and my dad Robert C. Baca. They were second cousins. From my database.

I also had activity sheets for the kids on the table. There weren't as many kids at the reunion as I thought there would be, but a few of them had fun with the activities.

One of the activities was a contest. The kids had to answer questions about the numbered photos on the board. The kids that got the most questions right received books as prizes (I found a book about what it was like for people living a century ago. I thought it was appropriate since most of the photos were from that time period.) I gave small prizes to all the kids, whether or not they took part in the contest.

The other activity sheets had the kids drawing pictures of their families and creating a pedigree chart.

I had a lot of fun at the reunion. I only wish that I had time to ask genealogical questions of family members. Oh, well, maybe next time.