My Maternal Grandparents and Their Businesses

With the release of the 1950 Census today, I've already found a few interesting facts about my ancestors. I knew that my maternal grandparents, Santiago and Paulita (Zimmerly) Baca, owned a number of businesses. I didn't realize that they would have indicated in the census that they operated the businesses separately.

Both are listed as self-employed. My grandfather Santiago is listed as working in his retail grocery store, while my grandmother Paulita (or Pablita) is listed as working in her retail appearal store. Santiago worked 54 hours in the previous week; my hard-working grandmother worked 57 hours.

My mother, uncle and aunt are also listed in the household. My mother was listed as 14 years old, although she was actually 15 years old going on 16 (August.) 

Interestingly enough, my father Robert "Bobby" Baca worked in my maternal grandparents' grocery store. I believe he was working there at the time of the census, since he is listed as a employed as a grocery clerk. His father Robert, was working as a postal clerk for the U.S. Postal Service. Elder Robert worked 40 hours in the previous week, while his son worked only 17 - assumedly because he was still going to school.

One last thing: my parents both had the surname "Baca" but were not closely related through the Baca line.

Sources:

1950 U.S. Census, Socorro County, New Mexico, population schedule, Socorro, enumeration district (ED) 28-2, sheets 2 & 3, dwelling # 24, Santiago Baca; digital images, National Archives (1950census.archives.gov : accessed 1 April 2022).

1950 U.S. Census, Socorro County, New Mexico, population schedule, Socorro, enumeration district (ED) 28-1, pp. 32-33, dwelling # 227, Robert Baca; digital images, National Archives (1950census.archives.gov : accessed 1 April 2022).

Gonzales and Montoya Marriage Reveals Complex Relationship

On September 27, 1845, Jose Sebastian Gonzales married Maria Victoriana Montoya in the San Miguel Mission, Socorro, New Mexico. He was the legitimate son of (Jose) Manuel Gonzales and Margarita Montoya; she was the legitimate daughter of (Jose) Bauptista Montoya and Mariana (or Maria Antonia) Garcia. The screen shots of two separate pages in the San Miguel Mission marriage book shown below is the record of their marriage. 1. 

Recently, I found that the ThruLines (tm) program in Ancestry.com misidentified Maria Victoriana's parantage. It suggested that she was the daughter of Juan Montoya, my ancestor. However, she is actually the daughter of his brother Juan Bautista Montoya.

My ancestor Juan Montoya was married to Maria Manuela Garcia Jurado (among others.) He was the son of Antonio Montoya and Maria Guadalupe Salazar; she was the daughter of Francisco Xavier Garcia and Maria Josefa Sanchez. 2. 

On the other hand, Victoriana's parents are siblings of Juan Montoya and Maria Manuela Garcia Jurado. Juan Bautista Montoya was the son of Antonio Montoya and Maria Guadalupe Salazar. Mariana (or Maria Antonia) Garcia was the daughter of Francisco Xavier Garcia Jurado and Maria Josefa Sanchez. 3. In other words, two Montoya brothers with similar names married two Garcia Jurado sisters with similar names. 

As further proof, below are two separate census records from Socorro for the different families. Please note that Victoriana is listed in the Bautista Montoya family:

C(asado)* Juan MONTOYA ................... 39

                Maria Manuela GARCIA ........ 35

                Felipe ...................................... 11

                Pedro ........................................  7

                Juan de Jesus ............................ 4

* "Casado" means "married". 4. 

Bautista MONTOYA  ......................... 34

Mariana GARCIA ................................. 28

Victoriana ............................................... 13

Eugenia ....................................................  8

Casimira ...................................................  6

Maria Micaela ........................................  3 5.

Sources: 

1. "Microfilm # 16996," database of digital images, San Miguel Mission, Socorro, New Mexico, Archives of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org: accessed 19 March 2022), marriage record: Jose Sebastian Gonzales and Maria Victoriana Montoya, 27 September 1845, images 92 & 93.

2. This relationship is shown through their children's baptisms. For example: Juan Nepomuceno Montoya, born 14 March 1822. Source: Lila Armijo Pfeufer, Margaret Leonard Windham, and and Evelyn Lujan Baca, New Mexico Baptisms San Miguel de Socorro Church: 1821-1853 (Albuquerque: New Mexico Genealogical Society, 1998), p. 4.

3. This relationship is shown through ther chidlren's baptism. For example, the baptism of Victoriana Garcia herself. Source: Lila Armijo Pfeufer, Margaret Leonard Windham, and and Evelyn Lujan Baca, New Mexico Baptisms San Miguel de Socorro Church: 1821-1853 (Albuquerque: New Mexico Genealogical Society, 1998), p. 4.

4.  Teresa Ramirez Alief Jose Gonzales and Patrica Black Esterly, New Mexico Censuses of 1833 and 1845: Socorro and Surrounding Communities of the Rio Abajo (Albuquerque: New Mexico Genealogical Society, 1994), p. 4.

5. Teresa Ramirez Alief Jose Gonzales and Patrica Black Esterly, New Mexico Censuses of 1833 and 1845: Socorro and Surrounding Communities of the Rio Abajo (Albuquerque: New Mexico Genealogical Society, 1994), p. 5.

 

Marriage Record of Francisco Antonio Garcia and Maria Guadalupe Torres

                                       

 Marriage Record: Francisco Antonio Garcia and Maria Guadalupe Torres, 23 February 1825, San Miguel Church, Socorro, New Mexico. 

Source:  "Microfilm # 16996," database of digital images, San Miguel Mission, Socorro, New Mexico, Archives of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org: accessed 5 March 2022), marriage record: Francisco Antonio Garcia and Maria Guadalupe Torres, 23 February 1825, image # 14.

Above is the image of my 4th great-grandparents marriage record. The record indicates that Francisco Antonio Garcia, 27 years old (single), was the son of Francisco Gabien (Xavier) Garcia, dead, and Maria Josefa Sanches, also dead. He married Maria Guadalupe Torres, 13 years old (single), the daughter of Santigo Torres and Maria Barbara Ortis, who were living in Socorro. The padrinos (best man and matron of honor) were Jose Antonio Baca* and Maria Manuela Barreras. The witnesses were Antonio de Jesus Marques, Jose Rafael Lopes, and Diego Antonio Belesques. A prenuptial investigation (diligencia)  was performed on the couple. Click on this link to view the marriage record. You may have to search for image # 14.

A transcription of the prenuptial investigation (diligencia matrimonio) can be found at this link.**

* Jose Antonio Baca was Francisco Antonio Garcia's half 2nd cousin, once removed through their mutual ancestor Ramon Garcia Jurado. See the chart below. (Sources available upon request.)

** After clicking the link, scroll down to "Fray Angelico Chavez’s New Mexico Roots (1678 - 1869)". Click on Volume IV, and search for page 626. You'll find the investigation there.

Source: Fray Angelico Chavez, New Mexico Roots, Ltd.: A Demographic Perspective from genealogical, historical and geographic data found in the Diligencias Matrimoniales or Pre-Nuptial Investigations (1678-1869) of the Archives of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe. (Santa Fe, New Mexico: typescript, 1982), Volume 4, p. 626.

Zuni Pueblo Ancestor: Josefa de Hinojos, wife of Diego Montoya

Certain words and phrases in this article have links to articles and a video on the Internet. Click on the underlined words to review these site.

Josefa de Hinojos is a common ancestor of many New Mexicans. She was the wife of Diego Montoya, and had at least seven children. My research shows that I descend from her at least 22 times, with all four of my grandparents being descendants. 

In the prenuptial investigation of her descendants, Josefa de Hinojos is alleged to be a coyota of the Zuni people. A "coyota" was a woman of mixed Spanish and Native American ancestry. She is also noted to be the sister of and Indian named Ventura.1.

DNA tests analyzed by the New Mexico Genealogical Society DNA Project Team has identified five Josefa de Hinojos's matrilineal descendants as being in the mtDNA Haplogroup C1b11, a Native American haplogroup. Researcher Miguel A. Torrez wrote that DNA research technology is not able to identify which specific tribe their ancestor is from. 2. 

New Mexican Hispanics will find that they most undoubtably have Native American Ancestry. When the Spanish conquered Mexico, they paired off with and had children with Native American women. Their descendants of mixed race came to New Mexico and mingled with various Pueblo tribes here. Captured native children, known as genizaros - sold to and raised by Spanish families - were freed and blended in with the growing mestizo population of New Mexico.

My ancestry includes all of these people. The paper trail frequently lists my forebears as  "mestizo", "indio" and "genizaro". My DNA results show from 18% (FamilyTreeDNA) to 23% (Ancestry.com) indigenous American blood. When I began understanding the true nature of my ancestry decades ago, I began celebrating the diversity of my family. This fact is not unique to me. The only uniqueness of my ancestry is that only my sisters and I have the specific combination of our pedigree. However, all Nuevo Mexicanos can tell this mestizo story.

In his presentation "Nuevomejicano Ancestors with Spanish & Indian Antecedants", Jose Antonio Esquibel profiles Josefa de Hinojos. I linked the video at the 8 minute, 46 second mark when he begins talking about Josefa. However, I suggest you rewind the video to the beginning. Earlier in the video, Esquibel explains how our mestizo ancestors helped negotiate with their Indian cousins to end the 17th Century Pueblo Revolt and allow the Spaniards to occupy New Mexico once again. There were definite close familial bonds between the Spanish and Pueblo residents of the Kingdom. 

Endnotes:

1. Fray Angelico Chavez, New Mexico Roots, Ltd.: A Demographic Perspective from genealogical, historical and geographic data found in the Diligencias Matrimoniales or Pre-Nuptial Investigations (1678-1869) of the Archives of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe. (Santa Fe, New Mexico: typescript, 1982), volume 2, p. 316. Prenuptial Investigation of Jose Vicente Duran y Chaves and Maria Concepcion Aragon.

2. Daria Celeste Landress, Henrietta Martinez Christmas, and Miguel A. Torrez, "Josefa de Hinojos: Colonial-period matriarch of New Mexico and Haplogroup C1b11," New Mexico Genealogist, 60 (March 2021): pp. 30-42.

My Grandmothers and Charlemagne

In the past few years, genealogists have discovered a link between the Montes Vigil family of New Mexico and Charlemagne, Holy Roman Emperor. If this link is accurate, it allows many New Mexicans to trace their ancestry back 40+ generations. In my case, I can trace both of my grandmother through that line. I have not found a link for either of my grandfathers.

I used a website called "Beyond Origins of New Mexicans Families" to connect my ancestry to Charlemagne. This website is very reliable, and I trust its conclusions. Click on the link below to read the genealogy that leading researchers have developed. 

Montes Vigil Royal Lineage

I have created two charts that show the relationship between Charlemagne and my paternal grandmother Maria Teresa Torres and my maternal grandmother Maria Paublita Zimmerly. (You may need a Google account to access these charts.)

Relationship between Charlemagne and my paternal grandmother Maria Teresa Torres

Relationshiip between Charlemagne and my maternal grandmother Maria Paublita Zimmerly

Brent A. Cruz has done extensive research connecting the Montes Vigil line to Charlemagne and other notable ancestors and relatives. Click on this link to view his presentation to the GSHA on YouTube.

Obituary: Marjorie Louise Barnett Douglas

Obituary

Marjorie Louise Barnett Douglas, 96, of Clinton, Indiana and formerly of Champaign-Urbana and Hindsboro, Illinois, passed away at 10:00 a.m. April 28, 2020, at Clinton Gardens Nursing Home in Clinton, Indiana.
Born September 14, 1923 in Douglas County, Illinois, she was the daughter of John Will and Lena Pribble Barnett. There were six children in her family and she was the last surviving member.
She attended high school in Hindsboro but graduated from Rantoul High School in 1941.
She was employed most of her adult life in retail sales and retired as a library aide in the Champaign-Urbana school districts.
She attended the Hindsboro United Methodist Church and the Clinton First United Methodist Church. She was active in many organizations including many community and church functions.
Preceding her in death were her parents, three brothers, and two sisters. Her husband, Howard Leon Douglas, preceded her in death on December 4, 2009, after 61 years of marriage.
Surviving is one song: Robert John Douglas of Urbana, Illinois; and one daughter: Brenda Alabaugh and her husband Robert of Clinton, Indiana; three grandchildren: Avada Marie Douglas and her wife Katie Sharp; Andrea Alabaugh Deitchley and her husband Matthew; and David Alabaugh. She leaves two great-grandchildren: Jack and Violet Deitchley along with a step-great-grandchild: Fergus Savage; several sisters-in-law, and many beloved nieces and nephews.
Graveside services provided by Krabel Funeral Home will be held for the family only at Van Voorhis Cemetery in Hindsboro, Illinois on Monday, May 4, 2020 at 2:00 p.m. (Illinois time). No visitation or funeral services will be held.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made either to the Hindsboro United Methodist Church or Clinton First United Methodist Church in Clinton, Indiana.

2020 New Years Genealogical Resolutions

Last year I made a resolution that I would have 12,500 names on my genealogy database by the end of the year. Well, I surpassed that by nearly 1,000 names. I now have 13,473.

This year's resolution is that I will surpass 15,000 names. I think I can do it.

I also wish to publish something this year - whether it's a book or an article. I haven't written an article for a genealogical journal in years. I think I will be able to at least accomplish that.

Have a good year and happy hunting - find those ancestors you are looking for!

Collection of Socorro Family Obituaries

Click on this link: Collection of 419 Obituaries for a list of obituaries that I gathered on Evernote. Most of the obituaries for Socorro families. However, there are a few from my wife's family in the Midwest U.S.

If you wish me to email you a copy of any of these obituaries, please send me an email at info@socorrogrant.org and I'll email you a weblink to the particular obituary that you want. Please type "Evernote obituary request" in Subject line.


Collection of 419 Obituaries

2019 New Year's Resolution

So my 2018 New Year's Resolution was to have 12,500 names in my database by the end of the year. Well, it didn't happen. Mostly because I stopped working on my genealogy in the Spring or Summer. I also was supposed to try to publish volume one of my Socorro Land Grant book. Well, that didn't happen either, for pretty much the same reason.

My 2019 New Year's Resolution is to get to 12,500 names and publish my book. Let's see if it happens this year.

2018 New Year's Resolutions

For the past couple of years I have made a few genealogical resolutions. This year, I'm going to make only two. Last year I said - among other things - that I would have at least 10,000 names on my database. As you can see, I surpassed that goal:

I have 10,403 people on my database. My 2018 resolution is to have 12,500 names by the end of the year.

Last year, I said that I would publish the first volume of my Socorro Land Grant book. Well, I sort of did it. I published an "Advance Copy" of "The Socorro Land Grant, Part I" on Kindle. My 2018 resolution is to publish a print version of the book. I have to do a little more research on about four families, clean up some stuff, and write a narrative. I hope to publish the book by late Spring or early Summer. Meanwhile, enjoy the Kindle version of my (uncompleted) book.

See you next year!