Celedonia Robledo, the Mexico-Born Sister My First-Generation Grandfather Never Knew

A couple weeks ago, I wrote about my recent discovery of a third child born to my great-grandparents in Mexico, before they immigrated to the United States in 1915. My great-aunt Celedonia Robledo was born 3 March 1913 to Jose Robledo (1875-1937 ) and Maria Hermalinda Nieto (1887-1974 ).² Celedenia was the second of three children born in Mexico to my great-grandparents. Her birth was reported to local civil authorities three days later in the municipality of Armadillo de los Infante, state of San Luis Potosí, Mexico.

That birth registration record was the first time I ever heard the name of this child, or heard of her existence. Same with my Dad, who was raised by my immigrant great-grandmother, mother to Celedonia. I mentioned in my last post that I suspected the child died before my family immigrated in 1915.

That is indeed the case.

A civil death registration record confirms that baby Celedonia died at just 18 months of age.

The Death Record

Although generally not as rich in genealogical information as Mexico Catholic church records, civil registration records do also provide highly valuable information and clues.

The Original Record

Just as with her birth record, the death registration entry for Celedonia is handwritten across two folio pages. It begins on the back (recto) side of folio 34, in the volume for 1914 deaths, and ends on the front (verso) of folio 35. For ease of reading and translation, I cropped each section to display a larger image and merged them together below.

Translation

Once again, my Spanish-fluent speaking/reading/writing Dad provided the translation.

In the village of Armadillo on the 12th day of September, 1914, in my presence, Memorio Alvarado, judge of the civil state of this village, Decidero Estrada, married 40 years of age, a resident of Temescal, appeared to report that the day before at 10 AM, Celedonia Robledo died of pneumonia at the age of 19 months, the legal [legitimate] daughter of Jose Robledo, married age 39 and of Maria Nieto, married age 28. Eulalio Alvarez, married witnessed this report. The body was sent to be buried in the Temescal Levantando [cemetery]. This report was read to the interested persons by me, Memorio Alvarado.⁶

Analysis

What genealogical information does this record tell us?

• Celedonia Robledo died at just 19 months old [per the birth and death records, she was not quite 19 months] of pneumonia on 11 September 1914.
• She was the legitimate daughter of husband and wife Jose Robledo, age 39 [born about 1875], and Maria Nieto, age 29 [born about 1885].
• She likely died in the village of Temescal, where the informant lived [Temascal is a village in the municipality of Armadillo de los Infante, state of San Luis Potosí].
• Celedonia was due to be buried at the cemetery in the village of Temescal.

What doesn’t this record tell us?

• It does not directly state that Celedonia or her parents lived in the village of Temescal. Further evidence would need to be evaluated to make a firm indirect claim, but at this point in the research process, Temescal is indeed the likely place of residence since the informant lived there and since Celedonia was to be buried there.
• Who is the informant Decidero Estrada? Is he a relative, or is he a friend or neighbor?
• The record does not confirm that Celedonia was buried in the Temescal cemetery or provide a burial date; that information is generally not reported in civil death registrations.

Next Steps

What comes next in learning about Celedonia?

• I need to look for a burial record from the local church parish. I know that my great-grandmother (Celedonia’s mother) was a staunch Catholic, and Mexico was/is a Catholic country. A Catholic burial would have occurred.

Sources