Another Photo and Bio of Jose Epitacio Torres

Below is another photograph of Jose Epitacio Torres. This photo is from a book published in 1912 called "Representative New Mexico".

Jose E. Torres was my maternal grandmother's maternal grandfather. In other words, he was one of my 2nd great-grandfathers.

The text under his signature reads:

JOSE E. TORRES, tres. and collector Socorro Co., merchant, rancher and
stockraiser; educ. pub. and priv. schools Socorro; engaged in ranching several
years; engaged in retail liquor business for eleven years; became interested in
Rio Grande Supply Co., Socorro, 1908; Vice-pres. Rio Grande Supply Co.; city
marshal, Socorro 1889-90; mayor Socorro, one term; member city council, sixteen
years; probated judge, Socorro Co., 1897-1903; tres. & collector, Socorro
Co., 1905-11; mem. New Mexico Bureau of Immigration, 1898-1904. Address:
Socorro, N.M.

Source: Peterson, C.S. Representative New Mexicans: The National Reference Book of the New State Containing Photographs and Biographies of over Four Hundred Men Residents of New Mexico. Denver, Colo.: C. S. Peterson, 1912, page 304.

Below are other posts in my blog about Jose Epitacio Torres and his family:

* Death Certificate of Guadalupe (Padilla) Torres - Jose's wife.

* Wedding of Esteban Zimmerly and Delfina Torres - Delfina, my great-grandmother, was Jose's daughter.

* Short Biography of Jose Epitacio Torres.

Poole Family in 1930 U.S. Census

Viola Fern Poole was my wife's grandmother. Viola's parents were Thomas Watson Poole and Estelle Blanche Ryan. This family shows up in a 1930 Census of Redmond, Illinois. Click on this link to view this record.

I found this record at the Special Collections Library in Albuquerque, NM using the Ancestry.com website. Retrieved 20 October 2007.

Douglas Family in the 1930 U.S. Census

I discovered three census records from 1930 that show members of the Douglas family. Click on the underlined words below to pull up PDF files of these records.


* Hindsboro, Illinois, record # 1: This census includes the families of Ralph Douglas, Ray Douglas and William J. Douglas. Ralph was my wife's grandfather, Ray was Ralph's brother, and William J. was Ralph and Ray's father.

* Hindsboro, Illinois, record # 2: This census includes Bruce Douglas and his wife. Bruce was another of Ralph's brothers.

* Vermillion County, Indiana: This census includes Elmer Douglas and his wife Helen. This appears to be a record for another of Ralph's brothers.

I found these records at the Special Collections Library in Albuquerque using the Ancestry.com website. Retrieved 20 October 2007.

Marriage Record: Santiago and Pablita (Zimmerly) Baca

Below are two pages from the marriage records of the Immaculate Conception Church in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Entry # 6 is the marriage record for my maternal grandparents Santiago Baca and Pablita Zimmerly:

Page 1

Page 2

A transcription (in Latin) is as follows:

Numerus Carrens: 6

Datum Matrim: Feb 13(?) 1932

Nomina et residentae: Santiago Baca, Socorro. Pauline Zimmerly, Socorro

Datum et Locus Baptismi: Socorro, NM; Socorro, NM

Patres Sponsum: Rafael Baca, Josefina Padilla, Steve Zimmerly, Adelfina Torres (all from
Socorro, N.M.)

Testes: J. Torres; Lucie Torres

Nomen Sacerdotis: Rem ita se Habere Testor A. J. Snebelen, Parochus

Adnotiones Dispensatines Obtentae Locus Matrimanii, etc: am licentia Parochi

Notia Matrium: Inscripsi Ipae; Misi Notitium (no entries)

I apologize if I mispelled some of the Latin.

From this record, we know that Santiago Baca and Pauline Zimmerly were married on 13(?) February 1932. Their parents were, respectively, Rafael Baca and Josefita Padilla, and Steve Zimmerly and Adelfina Torres. The best man and matron of honor were J. Torres and Lucie Torres, who were probably a cousins of the bride.

See the wedding photo at this link.

Source: Archives of the Archdiocese of New Mexico, Roll # 16652, Albuquerque Marriages, Immaculate Conception Church, 13 February 1932.

Photo: Rafael and Josefa (Padilla) Baca and Family

Below is a photo of Rafael and Josefa (Padilla) Baca and their children Santiago (standing) and Ramona (baby sitting on Rafael's lap.) Santiago was my maternal grandfather. My great aunt Ramona is still alive.

Click on these posts about the family:

* Ramon Baca Family in the 1870 New Mexico Census. Ramon was Rafael Baca's father. Rafael is not listed in this census because he was not born yet.

* Ramon Baca Family in the 1900 New Mexico Census. Rafael is listed in this census.

* Rafael Baca's World War I Draft Card.

* Rafael & Josefa's Tombstone.

Photo: Juan and Carolina (Bourguignon) Baca

Below is a photo of Juan and Carolina (Bourguignon) Baca.

Click on the following posts about this couple:

* Juan Baca's Baptismal Record
* Marriage Record
* Tombstone

In Loving Memory: Maria Paublita (Zimmerly) Baca 12/10/1909 - 09/22/2007

My grandmother, Maria Paublita (Zimmerly) Baca, passed away last Saturday September 22, 2007. She was 97 years old. Her funeral was on Wednesday, September 26, 2007. I was one her pallbearers.

Below is her obituary from the September 26, 2007 edition of the El Defensor Chieftain, page A5. Click on the obituary to see a larger image of it. You may find the text for this obituary on the El Defensor Chieftain website.

Below is the cover and inside pages of Grandma Pablita's funeral memorial program. Once again, click on the images to view larger copies of them.

Link to the obituary.

This post was originaly published at 10:41 Am on 9/29/2007.

Wedding: Santiago and Paublita (Zimmerly) Baca

Below is a photo from my maternal grandparent's wedding. Santiago Baca and Paublita Zimmerly were married on 13 February 1932 at the Immaculate Conception Church in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Santiago was 24 and Paublita was 22 years old at the time.

My grandparents are the couple in the middle. The best man and matron of honor were J. Torres and Lucie Torres. J. Torres was probably a cousin of the bride.

See the marriage record at this link.

This post was originally published at 10:15 AM 9/29/2007. Revised at 10:37 PM 17 October 2007.

Maria Paublita Zimmerly's Ancestry

Grandma Paublita as a toddler.

Follow this link to view five generations of my grandmother Paublita (Zimmerly) Baca's ancestry. It is not complete; I am missing a few dates and probably some children of the respective families.

This post was originally published at 10:14 AM on 9/29/2007

Five Generation Photo

This is a photo of five generations of my family. Sitting left to right are my grandmother Paublita (Zimmerly) Baca, my great-grandmother Delfina (Torres) Zimmerly, and my mother Frances (Baca) Baca. Sitting on the floor is my sister Janis (Baca) Schwartzenberg. The baby sitting on my great-grandmother's lap is Janis' son Shawn Schwartzenberg. Based on the age of my nephew in this photo, it was taken around late 1977 or early 1978. My great-grandmother Delfina died soon after this photo was taken at the age of 85 on 7 May 1978. My grandmother and mother are also deceased.

Delfina (Torres) Zimmerly

mother of

Paublita (Zimmerly) Baca

mother of

Frances (Baca) Baca

mother of

Janis (Baca) Schwartzenberg

mother of

Shawn Schwartzenberg

Post originally published at 10:12 AM, 9/29/2007

Samuel T. Zimmerly's World War I Draft Card

Below is a copy of Samuel T. Zimmerly's World War I draft card. Samuel T. Zimmerly was the son of Juan Jose Zimmerly and Isabel Torres. Samuel was married to Juanita Torres, the daughter of Candelario Torres and Gregoria Orinez.

The draft card display's the following information about Samuel Zimmerly:

* He was born on 21 January 1889 in Socorro, New Mexico, USA
* He was a natural born citizen
* He was a self-employed farmer
* His dependants included his wife, child and brother
* He believed that he should be exempted from the draft because of his dependants
* He was of medium height, slender build, had brown eyes and hair, was not balding, and was missing any appendages
* He signed his card

Click on the image below to get a larger view:

I retrieved this document on 23 April 2007 from Ancestry.com.

See also Ricardo Zimmerly's and Estevan Zimmerly's draft cards.

Ricardo Zimmerly's World War I Draft Registration Card

Here is a Ricardo Maximiano Zimmerly's World War I Draft Registration Card. The card states that he was born on 6 May 1878. He was the assessor for the county of Socorro, New Mexico. He was married to Lizzie Stackpole Zimmerly.He was tall, slender and had brown hair and brown eyes. The card was completed on 12 September 1918. Click on the image below for a larger view:

Ricardo was my great-grandfather Estavan Zimmerly's brother. I found this document on Ancestry.com on 6 October 2007.

See also Samuel T. Zimmerly's and Estevan Zimmerly's draft cards.

Flora (Zimmerly) Salazar's Death Certificate

Below is the death certificate for Flora (Zimmerly) Salazar, a daughter of Juan Jose Zimmerly and Isabel Torres. According to the record, she was born on 2 January 1895 in Socorro, New Mexico and died on 4 January 1935 in Albuquerque, NM. Her residence was 901 North 15th Street, Albuquerque, NM. She was married to Ramon N Salazar, who was also the informant for her death certificate. Click on the image below to get a larger view.


This record was given to me by B. Mares.

Corrido Compuesto al Joven Edy Zimmerly

Below is a song titled "Corrido Compuesto al Joven Edy Zimmerly". It is a funeral song written about the untimely death of Eduardo Zimmerly, son of Juan Jose Zimmerly. B. Mares, who allowed me to copy these lyrics, explained to me that Eduardo Zimmerly died as a teenager when he was accidently shot while exiting a car. According to my records, Eduardo was born on 4 December 1897 and died on 30 October 1914 when he was only 16 years old. There are two pages to the song; click on the images below to get a larger view.

I do not understand spanish well, so I will leave this to you the viewer to try to translate - if you can.

The lyrics were written by Avelino Lopez.

Estevan Zimmerly's Baptismal Record

Below is the baptismal record for my great-grandfather Estevan Zimmerly. The record shows that he was baptised on 3 November 1887 at the San Miguel Parish in Socorro, New Mexico. He was born 6 days prior to Samuel Zimmerly and Paula Torres. His godparents were Estevan Baca and Catalina Baca. Someone wrote in the record later that he married Delfina Torres on 22 April 1905. Click on the image below for a larger view.


Once again, this record was supplied to me by B. Mares.

Camp Latham and the California Column

As I have mentioned in previous posts, my 2nd great grandfather Samuel James Zimmerly joined the union army at Camp Latham, CA. Below are links about Camp Latham and the California Column:

* The Civil War Archive: Union Regimental Histories

* Historic California Posts: Camp Latham

* Camp Latham Marker Unveiling (scroll down to find the article)

See also "Samuel Zimmerly Living in Visalia, California?", "Samuel Zimmerly - California Civil War Roster", "Samuel Zimmerly and Maria Paubla Torres", and "Website Link: Fort Craig National Historic Site"

Samuel Zimmerly Living in Visalia, California in 1860?

B. Mares shared with me the record below. It is from the 1860 California census, county of Tulare, township of Visalia. This record apparently shows Samuel Zimmerly living in that town at that time. He was living in the household of James P. Atkinson. Click on the image below to get a larger view:

I've highlighted in yellow his name on the image. The men in the dwelling # 302 include the following:

James P. Atkinson, 24 years old, occupation: moulder, from Ohio.
Josiah Joiner, 39 years old, occupation: mason, real estate $1,800, personal estate $300, from Kentucky.
William, 43 years old, occupation: mason, from Kentucky.
Samuel Cimerlee, 21 years old, occupation: common laborer, from Switzerland.
George Eichler, 29 years old, occupation: cook, from Saxony.

Although Samuel's last name is misspelled, it does appear to be him. He was from Switzerland. His birth date on the census was given as 1839, which is very close to the 1837 birth date that is indicated in other records. Samuel Zimmerly joined the 1st California Infantry at Camp Latham, California on 9 October 1861, a little over a year after this census was taken. Camp Latham, which was near Culver City, was nearly 190 miles from Visalia. Driving Directions from Visalia, CA to Culver City, CA

James B. Atkinson and George Eichler both joined the Union Army at later dates. Atkinson enlisted in the 2nd Regiment of the California Calvary, company I on 14 January 1863 in Camp Babbit, California and mustered on 4 March 1864. He was discharged on 14 January 1866 at Fort Churchill, Nevada. Eichler enlisted in the Seventh Regiment of the California Infantry, Company D at Dutch Flat, California on 11 November 1864 and mustered 6 days later. He was discharged on 22 May 1866 at the Presidio in San Francisco, California.

More research needs to be done in order to prove that this census actually shows my 2nd great grandfather Samuel Zimmerly.

Although B. Mares gave me a copy of this record, the image above is actually from Ancestry.com. I retrieved this on 6 October 2007 from the Internet using one of the Special Collections Library computers.

See also "Camp Latham and the California Column".

A Productive Zimmerly Family Genealogical Meeting

Today I met with a third cousin of mine, B. Mares, at the Special Collection Library in Albuquerque. She is the daughter of Justin Zimmerly, who was a grandson of Juan Jose Zimmerly. Juan Jose was the oldest son of Samuel and Paubla (Torres) Zimmerly. She found me through a posting that I made on this site about her father.

It was a very productive meeting. We both had items to share with each other. I showed her photos of my great-grandfather Estevan Zimmerly from my website, which included one from his wedding day. I also shared a descendancy chart of Samuel and Paubla (Torres) Zimmerly and an ahnentafel table of Paubla (Torres) Zimmerly. However, B. Mares shared with me some stuff that was really good.

Since Mrs. Mares is a descendant of Juan Jose Zimmerly, she has access to some important family artifacts. When Samuel Zimmerly died, Juan Jose and his mother took over running the family grist mill. B. Mares had a ledger that was used in the business. Entries in the ledger include names of Socorro residents. Also, at the back of the book someone recorded the births of selected family members. B. asked me if I thought those birth records were reliable. I told her that although these were not primary documents, the fact that these births appeared to have been recorded soon after the actual events made them somewhat reliable. I mentioned that she should still try to verify the information elsewhere, but that it would be okay to use it for her initial research.

B. said that in the future she would allow me to copy pages from the ledger. I will try to post those pages on this blog once I copy them.

B. also shared with me a number of documents. She showed me a photo of her great grandfather Juan Jose. We compare his photo with a photo of his brother Estevan. There was a definate family resemblance. She also allowed me to copy my great-grandfather Estevan's baptismal record. Although I probably have the document somewhere, it was nice to have it immediately so that I could post it on this blog.

Other items included:

* an 1860 California census that appears to show Samuel Zimmerly in Visalia, California.
* a corrido (funeral song) written for one of Juan Jose's sons Eduardo Zimmerly who died when he was a teenager.
* a death certificate for Flora (Zimmerly) Salazar.
* an ancestry chart that shows B.'s ancestry.
* a family group record that shows the children of Samuel T. Zimmerly, son of Juan Jose and grandfather of B. Mares.
* she also mentioned that her family has certain artifacts such as Samuel James Zimmerly's Knights of Pythias sword and scales that were used in the grist mill. I asked her to have photos taken of those objects so that I may post them on this blog.

I will share some of these items in this blog.

How to Navigate This Blog

Maybe you're not familiar with how a blog works, or maybe my blog is a little different from other blogs that you are used to. In any case you are confused. This guide will help you navigate my blog.

What the heck is a "blog"?

The word "blog" is short for "web log". Blogs are basically Internet journals or diaries. As with paper journals, entries are posted in chronological order. Usually the most recent entries show up on the top, while earlier entries are displayed lower down on the screen. Most blogs only show a certain amount of entries at a time. For instance, my blog will only display the seven (7) most recent entries.

So where did all those other entries go?

Although blogs often only display limited amount of entries, it does not mean that these entries have disappeared from the site. They are still there; they are just hidden. One way to access these entries is to find the blog archive.

The "Blog Archive" on this site is on the right margin, about a quarter to a half way down the screen. Notice that that dates and titles are displayed. This archive automatically displays only the entry titles of the most recent posting month. To access titles for other months, click on the month desired. The archives also only shows the months of the current year. To access months for previous years, click on the year desired. Once you have found the specific entry that you are looking for, click on the title to access that article.

There are two other ways of finding articles on this site: searching by category and using the search engine.

Below the "Blog Archive" is the heading "Categories in this Blog". These are labels that I've set up to make it simpiler to find specific content in this blog. For instance, if you wish to find out about my family click on "Robert's Family". If you wish to find out about my wife's family, click on "Nancy's Family". You can also find "Census Records", "Death Certificates" and many other types of articles on this site.

This site also has a search engine. On the top of the page, you can find a blank box with the words "search blog" next to it. Much like "Google" and other search engines, all you have to do is put the desired term or terms that you wish to search for in the box and click on "search blog." For instance, if you put in the word "Zimmerly" and click you will get the search results that are displayed on this link.

What is all that other stuff on the right margin?

On the blog's right margin, there are a number of links to other sites. I have chosen sites that I feel complement this blog. They include "Genealogy Sites" that you may use to do your own research, "New Mexico Genealogy" and "Other States' Genealogy" are sites more specific to those states, and "Family Websites" are sites created by people who have family links to either Nancy or me. I also have links to "My (other) Genealogy Websites".

The right margain also has links to special "mini-blogs" such my memorial to my grandmother Paublita and the "Torres Family Reunion". Lastly there are advertisements on the margain, including one for my own "Genealogy Bookstore".

Other things you should to know about

* As you can see, there are many photos on my blog. You can get larger views of those photos by clicking them.

* There are many links within the text of the articles. Words that are in different colors from the rest of the text are usually links. Click them on to access the link.

* You may post your own comments to my blog! On the bottom of each article, click on the word "comments." A form will pop out. Complete the form to post your comment. Since I moderate the comments, they will not be posted immediately on the blog. However, as long as it is appropriate I'll post it within a couple of days. I'll even post criticism!

* You may E-mail articles to friends and family. Click on the little envelope on the bottom of the article.

* You may subscribe to my site! Click on the "RSS Feed" on the top of the right margain, pick a web-based feed reader, and enjoy!

Thank you for having a interest in my blog. I hope that you enjoy it. If you have any questions or comments please send me an E-mail. Or post on this blog!

-RJCB