Tomasa Gonzales and Philip Bouguignon in the 1860 Census

A woman who marries a soldier often finds herself physically separated from him for substantial periods of time. Tomasa Gonzales is no exception.

Nineteen year old Tomasa Gonzales, the wife of Philip Bourguignon, can be found in the 1860 U.S. Census at Fort Craig, 30 miles south of Socorro, New Mexico. She was living in household #310, as head of family #222. She was a laundress. She is listed with three children: Abram (5 years old), Celsa (4) and Amado Gonzales (4 months.) Interestingly enough, it does not appear that any of these children were her own. She had been married just 3 years prior, and seems too young to have had 4 and 5 year old children. Also, I find no other documentation of her having children by those names. She should have had a daughter Margarita Bourguignon by this time. Margarita would have been born around 1858 or 1859, according to the 1880 and 1885 censuses.

Tomasa's 26 year old sister, Maria Ynes Gonzales, is shown in the same household, as the head of family #223. Maria Ynes is a laundress also. She is listed with two children: Margarita 2 years old, and Nestor 11 years old. Is this Margarita actually Margarita Bourguignon?

1860 Census of Fort Craig, Territory of New Mexico, p. 28

Meanwhile, Tomasa's husband is enumerated in a different military fort. Sgt. Philip Bourguignon is listed with his fellow soldiers of the 1st Regiment of the Mounted Rifles at Ft. Union in San Miguel County.

The couple had been married for only three years. What would it have been like to be living apart so early in the marriage?

1860 Census of Fort Craig, Territory of New Mexico, p. 127

Sources:
1860 U.S. Census, Socorro County, New Mexico, population schedule, Fort Craig, p. 28, dwelling # 310, families # 222 & #233, Tomasa Gonzales & Maria Ynes Gonzales; digital images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 29 October 2015).

1860 U.S. Census, San Miguel County, Territory of New Mexico, population schedule, Military Camp at Red River, Fort Union, p. 127, dwelling #1263, family # 1268, Phil. Bourginon; digital images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 17 October 2015).

1880 U.S. Census, Socorro County, Territory of New Mexico, population schedule, Palomas, enumeration district (ED) 45, p. 63, dwelling # 44, family # 44, Donaciano Montoya; digital images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 4 July 2015).

1885 U.S. Census, Sierra County, Territory of New Mexico, population schedule, Las Palomas, Precinct No. 4, enumeration district (ED) 30, p. 2, household # 17, family # 17, D. Montoya; digital images, FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org : accessed 4 July 2015).

Matrimonios: San Miguel del Socorro, 1 January 1854 - 31 December 1900; San Ignacio y San Cristobal, 1 March 1869 - 31 December 1900; San Marcial, 26 March 1883 - 31 December 1902; Our Lady of Sorrows of La Jolla, 1 January 1872 - 31 December 1900 (Alburquerque: Hispanic Genealogical Research Center of New Mexico, 1999), p. 20.

Jose Leon Benavidez

Sometimes I get comments about my blog posts within a day or two of posting them. That's the case of my article "Descendants of Ramon Baca".

 

Ramon Baca was my 2nd great grandfather on my mother's side (my mom being a Baca, too.) I recently discovered an 1885 census record of Ramon's family, and I posted that on my blog. (Click here to read.)

 

I decided to revise the information that I had on Ramon's family, and I linked a descendant chart to my "Descendants of Ramon Baca" post.

 

One of the people that was mentioned in the chart was Jose Leon Benavidez. Jose Leon Benavidez was the father in-law of one of Ramon Baca's grandsons, Hilario Gonzales, Jr.

 

Larry , a distant cousin of mine, responded to my post:

 

“Jose Leon Benavidez is my dad's maternal grandfather. I used to visit him in Lemitar, NM. I remember going over to see him and he had a wagon in the back that I used to play on. He only spoke Spanish so I never spoke to him since I don't speak Spanish. He would just rock on his rocking chair on the porch while my dad would visit with him. He was very old as I remember.

“He had a daughter named Prescilla Benavidez who married Hilario Gonzales who I am named after ... Hilario Gonzales died when my dad was only 1 1/2 years old. My grandmother Prescilla never remarried. Jose Leon Benavidez told his sons that whoever took in Prescilla and took care of her would get his property. My great-uncle Julian Benavidez had just lost his wife so he took in Prescilla and her children. So my dad was raised by his Uncle Julian....

“However, Benavidez is not the family name. I believe Gomocindo Benavidez who is Jose Leon Benavidez's father was taken in by the Benavidez family because they were abandoned by their father whose last name was Rael. I don't know his first name.... So if you try to look up the Benavidez family tree you will have to look for a Rael also.”

 

Based on this information, Larry is my 3rd cousin. BUT WAIT, let me go back to an article I posted on 15 March 2010: "My Maternal Baca Family: Part II".  In that article, I wrote this:

 

"Coincidentally, the younger Hilario Gonzales was my paternal grandfather's 1st cousin through their mutual grandparents Philip Bourguignon and Tomasa Gonzales. That would make Hilario and Prescila's grandchildren my double third cousins."  

 

Therefore, Larry is my DOUBLE 3rd cousin.

 

BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE! In an email giving me permission to post his comments on this blog, Larry reminded me that he had a photo of my great-grandparents Estevan Zimmerly and Delfina Torres' wedding. He is also descended from Delfina's parents, Jose Epitacio Torres and Maria Guadalupe Padilla! So he's a fairly close cousin to me three times - once on my paternal grandfather's side (Philip Bourguignon), once on my matenal grandfather's side (Ramon Baca), and once on my maternal grandmother's side (Jose Epitacio Torres!) I'm not sure if he is a triple 3rd cousin, or a double 3rd cousin and also a 2nd cousin or 3rd cousin, once removed, but it's an interesting coincidence that he is related to me so many times within five generations of my family.

 

When I finally meet Larry, I wonder if we'll look a lot alike.

 

 

Crespin Torres Family 1885 Census of Socorro, NM

Here is another transcription I did from the 1885 Census. This is of Jose Crespin Torres and his family. The record shows him simply as C. Torres, but I know that it is him based on the family information.

 

Source: 1885 U.S. Census, Socorrro County, Territory of New Mexico, population schedule, Precinct 1 and 24 City of Socorro, enumeration district (ED) 32, pp. 45-46, dwelling 540, C. Torres; digital images, Ancestry Library Edition (ancestrylibrary.com : accessed 29 September 2012).

Below is a descendant chart that I did for Jose Crespin Torres. The sources are within the document.



Both documents are copyright (c) 2012 by Robert J. C. Baca. 

Ramon Baca Family in the 1885 Luis Lopez, NM Census

Below is my transcription of my 2nd great grandparent's family in the 1885 Luis Lopez, New Mexico census. Ramon Baca was married to Anastasia (Padilla) Baca. The census shows that this couple had eight children. However, there are a few mistakes in the census record.

First, the record shows that Juliana is "male". Juliana Baca, the future wife of Jose Leon Benavidez, is most obviously female. Second, Gabriel, Serito, and Maximiano, although listed as male, are also listed as daughters of Ramon Baca. The last example, although not technically a mistake, is hard to read. Line # 10 on my transcription has what looks like Rouol, a duaghter who was what may be 3 years old in 1885. Is this actually Raquel? Later census records will show Raquel born in 1884. Maybe what looks like a 3 is not actually a 3, but another number. However, the enumerator did not write down the name clearly enough and there does not appear to be a "q" in the name.

The record shows that Ramon and his teenage sons Gabriel and Serito were farmers. This is not a surprise: I've found this information in many other documents. Gabriel and Serito probably worked on their father's farm.



Source:

1885 United States Census, Socorro County, (Territory of) New Mexico, population schedule, Precinct 21 Luis Lopez, enumeration district (ED) 32, p. 138, dwelling 28, families 29, Ramon Baca; digital image, Ancestry Library Edition (ancestrylibrary.com : accessed 29 September 2012).

Bourguignon descendants

Below is a PDF document that I created that shows the descendants of my 2nd great grandfather Phillip Bourguignon. It is not complete. However, I do believe it includes all of his children.

If you have any additional information that you would like to add to my research, please send me an email at abqbobcat@nmia.com.  - Robert J. C. Baca.

Descendants of Philip Bourguignon