Valentin and Jose Epitacio Torres Household Census Records

Sometimes I discover interesting and mysterious facts on census records. For instance, it appears that my 3rd great grandparents Valentin and Josefa Torres had a servant by the name of Refugia Chaves (1860 census) and later had two wards: Nestor and Josefa Abeyta (1880 census.) Valentin's son, my 2nd great grandfather Jose Epitacio Torres, also had a servant: an 11 girl by the name of Antonia Escamios (1900 census.) There is no indication who these servants and wards were. In addition, these censuses list children of Valentin and Jose Epitacio that I did not discover through other types of records.

As with any other type of record, I'll need to do further research to verify the information that I found here. If you have any other information about this family that may help me with my research, please add a comment to this blog or send me an E-mail.

Click on the images below to view the census records

1860 United States Census: Town of Socorro, County of Socorro, Territory of New Mexico, page 13, dwelling # 107, family #105.

The household of Valentin and Josefa (Ortiz) Torres may be found on the bottom of the page. Twenty-four year old Valentin Torres was a laborer who had $250 in real property and $100 in personal property. No occupation was indicated for his wife. Their children included a daughter Dolores, a son Jose, and another daughter whose name is undecipherable. The Jose Torres listed on this record is most likely Jose Epitacio Torres. The record for this family continues on the next page....

1860 United States Census, Town of Socorro, County of Socorro, Territory of New Mexico, page 14.

On the next page of the same census record, one final name is listed for the Valentin Torres household: an 11 year old female servant by the name of Refugia Chavez. The only other information for this young lady was that she was born in New Mexico. There is no indication to her relationship to the family, if any.

1880 United States Census, Precinct #1 Town of Socorro, County of Socorro, Territory of Socorro, sheet 19, dwelling # 209, household #239.

This record shows Valentin and Josefa Torres, who were 44 and 41 years old respectively, and their son Jose Epitacio, who was 22. Two wards are also listed: Nestor Abeyta, 12, and Josefa Abeyta, 16. I do not know what was the relationship between the Abeyta children and the Torreses. It is possible that they may be related to the next family listed on the page: Jesus and Maria Abeyta.

1900 United States Census, City of Socorro, County of Socorro, Territory of New Mexico, Sheet # 12, Dwelling # 288, Family #288.

Jose Epitacio's family is enumerated as: head Jose E. Torres, 41; wife Guadalupe P., 41; daughter Josefina, 8; daughter Delfina (my great-grandmother), 7; son Valentin, 5; son Esteban, 3; and daughter Marienila (?) 1 year old. There was also a female servant listed: Antonia Escamios, 11 years old.

1910 United States Census, Precinct # 1, City of Socorro, County of Socorro, Territory of New Mexico, Sheet 22 A, Dwelling #20, Family #21.

Jose Epitacio's family is listed as follows: head Jose E. Torres, 51; wife Guadalupe 41; daughter Josefita, 18; son Valentin, 14; son Estevan, 12; daughter Mariana 10; son Felipe, 9; daughter Juana Maria, 7; and daughter Guadalupe Jr., 4. By this time, my great-grandmother Delfina was married and living in a different household.

1920 United States Census, Precinct # 1, City of Socorro, County of Socorro, State of New Mexico, p. 2A

Jose Epitacio's family is listed in dwelling #19, family # 26 on page 2A. The family is enumerated as such: head Jose E. Torres, 60; wife Lupe P, 49; son Valentin, 24; son Estevan, 22; son Felipe, 19; daughter Jennie, 17; daughter Lupe, 13; son Jose E, Jr., 7.

I found these images on Ancestry.com.

My father mentioned on another person's blog?

I believe that I found a blog post that mentions my dad, Robert Baca. On a post titled Strike Up the Band, the author mentions a "Bobby Baca" who apparently played coronet. My dad did indeed play the coronet and/or trumpet. Other items on the site indicate that the author is from Socorro, New Mexico, including names of some of the Zimmerly family. Remember, my maternal grandmother is a Zimmerly.

It would be interesting if this author knew my father. I hope he finds my post and we are able to connect via the internet.

Who is Justin(e) Zimmerly? World War II serviceman.

I found a World War II Army Enlistment record for Justine Zimmerly on Ancestry.com today.

The record shows that he was born in 1922 in Bernalillo (city or county), New Mexico. He enlisted on 2 September 1942 in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He had four years of high school education. He was single, with dependents. He was 5'8", 152 pounds. His civilian occupation was either a crane operator, power shovel operator, or hoist operator. He enlisted as a private for the duration of the war or other emergency, plus six months.

If you know who this man is, please post on this site.

Too many women named Nancy Hanks?

As I mentioned in a blog entry that I made last year, my wife may be a distant cousin of Abraham Lincoln through his mother Nancy Hanks. The only problem proving this, however, is that there were many different women named Nancy Hanks that could have possibly been his mother. There is no definate way of showing my wife's relationship to this American president.

A discussion about the true identity of Nancy Hanks can be found on the webpage Will the Real Nancy Hanks Please Stand Up?

For more information about the Hanks Family, check out Hanks for the Memories.

Wait a Second, Those Bacas Aren't My Bacas, Nor Are Those Torreses My Torreses.

No, I have not heard any stories of an ancestor who was born with a tail. However, that doesn't mean that my family's gene pool is not a bit shallow. There weren't many Spanish families who immigrated to New Mexico in its first two hundred years. Therefore, many surnames appear numerous times in my lineage. This has caused confusion when I've discussed my genealogy with others. Three surnames in particular show up more than once in the most recent generations of my family tree: Baca, Torres and Padilla.

Both of my parents were Bacas. My dad Robert C. Baca was the son of Robert B. Baca and Teresa Torres. My mom was the daughter of Santiago Baca and Paublita Zimmerly. I can trace my dad's family back to the orignal Baca family that arrived in New Mexico in 1600. My mother's family doesn't go back quite as far. I can only definatively prove her family lineage going back to my 3rd great grandfather Jose Rafael Baca. Beyond that is pure speculation. Regardless, it does not appear that my parents were closely related through the Baca lines.

I have three major Torres lines in the first five generations of my family tree. My paternal grandmother was Teresa Torres. My maternal grandmother's mother was Delfina Torres. Lastly, my maternal grandmothers paternal grandmother was Paubla Torres. The two lines in my maternal grandmother's ancestry were related. Her parents Estevan Zimmerly and Delfina Torres were 2nd cousins, once removed. However, my paternal Torres line does not appear to be closely related to my maternal Torres line.

The Padilla family only shows up in my maternal grandfather's line. Santiago Baca's parents Rafael Baca and Josefa Padilla were 1st cousins, once removed. In this case, that means that Rafael's maternal grandparents, Jose Miguel Padilla and Altagracia Silva, were also Josefa's great grandparents. It makes you wonder what the family thought when those two got married. Of course at that time (the turn of the 20st century) people didn't care much about family marrying family. There weren't that many choices in Socorro at that time; who would you marry during that period other than someone closely related to you.

The Baca, Torres and Padilla surnames show up more than once in the recent history of my family. This is something important to know if you are going to try to understand my ancestry. If one day you see a certain Torres family in my tree and realize that it does not relate to your family, you will still have two more chances to find a link. Thank goodness for the Bourguignon and Zimmerly families. Neither of those families show up more than once in my family tree.

So you think that it's unusual for cousins to marry cousins? Well, not really. Read this article about Marrying Cousins.

Post updated at 2:00 PM on 14 October 2007.