Hispanic – Page 3 – Colleen & Jeff's Roots

Manuel Nieto Project: His Birthplace Does Not Jive with My Nieto Ancestry

As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, I have embarked upon the “Manuel Nieto Project” — an attempt to either prove or disprove a relational connection between my Nieto family and Spanish soldier / Alta California explorer and ranchero Don Jose Manuel (commonly referred to as Manuel) Perez-Nieto (1734-1804), because my father’s family claims we are descended from this Spanish/Mexican-era-California landed “nobility” and explorer.

Starting Source

The most authoritative source readily available in print (without requiring visiting any particular archive) that chronicles the families of these early Spanish/Mexican-era settlers of California is Marie Northrop’s Spanish-Mexican Families of Early California: 1769-1850, Vol. I, published in 1976. The library at which I work owns two copies, a non-circulating one available for reading in our Special Collections, and another circulating copy that is currently lost. But, I was able to quickly obtain another copy via interlibrary loan. Northrop’s work incorporates research previously done by early California historian Thomas Workman Temple, II (manuscripts owned by the Bancroft Library at U.C. Berkeley), as well as Early California Catholic Mission primary source records.

The Los Angeles City Historical Society describes Marie Northrop as:

a longtime member of LACHS and widely respected genealogist who had specialized in tracing the lineage of early settlers of the original El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de Los Angeles.

And the Archival Center at San Fernando Mission steers researchers towards her work:

Searchers are encouraged to check the three volumes by Marie Northrup on the sacraments performed at the California missions. She was a meticulous scholar whose books have withstood the passage of time.

Northrop provides basic biographical details about Manuel Nieto, his wife, and their children.

Don Manuel’s Birthplace

According to Northrop, Jose (she uses Josef) Manuel Perez Nieto was born in Sinaloa, Mexico about 1748. Other sources, such as the less-credible Wikipedia claim a 1734 birth. Now a sovereign Mexican state, Sinaloa was part of the Spanish-conquered Viceroyalty of New Spain when Nieto was born there. Regardless of whether he was born in 1734 or 1748, Nieto was born under Spanish rule. Mexico did not obtain its independence until 27 September 1821.

My Nieto Ancestral Homeland

My Nieto ancestors come from what is now the state of San Luis Potosi, Mexico, from the village of Temazcal (also spelled Tomascal and Temescal) and the larger municipality of Armadillo de los Infantes (“larger” being purely relative) outside the city of San Luis Potosi. The oldest Nieto ancestor I have identified is my 2nd great grandfather Rafael Nieto, who died before his wife Maria Aurelia Compean (1858-1963) and at least some of their children immigrated to the United States in the 1910s.

Doubtful Descendancy

Where my Nietos lived in San Luis Potosi is over 1,000km away from where Manuel Nieto was born. That is quite a distance apart, especially in the days when travel was done by horse or on foot. This makes it very highly unlikely that my family is descended from Don Manuel, since his marriage, young family life, and career travels with the Spanish Army did not take him or his family to Alta California via a big southeastern detour through the area of San Luis Potosi.

There is still the possibility that my Nietos are related to Don Manuel, sharing a common ancestor, even though we are not direct descendants. I don’t know where my 2nd great grandfather Rafael Nieto was born. I may discover that he was born closer to Sinaloa and made the 1,000+ kilometer migration to San Luis Potosi (SLP). Or that his parents or grandparents did. This is doubtful though, since I find the Armadillo de los Infantes area of SLP so heavily filled with other Nietos going back at least to the late 1700s.

However, direct descendancy may still be a far off chance. We could be directly descended through one of the collateral families into which Don Manuel’s children married.

My best hunch at this very early stage of research is that if we are indeed related, it is through a common ancestor much further back. Possibly from earlier in the Spanish conquest and colonization of Mexico, or all the way back to old world Spain.

Still, any and all discoveries will be a grand adventure!

#52Ancestors: King’s Soldier and Alta California Ranchero Manuel Nieto

Drawing of a soldado de cuero. Cavalry Uniform Design Drawn by Ramón Murillo, August 26, 1804. Public domain image via Wikimedia. Drawing details via the New Mexico History Museum. — Drawing of a soldado de cuero. Cavalry uniform design drawn by Ramón Murillo, August 26, 1804. Public domain image via Wikimedia. Drawing details via the New Mexico History Museum.

My 2nd entry in Amy Johnson Crow’s “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks” family history blogging challenge for 2015.

The challenge: have one blog post each week devoted to a specific ancestor. It could be a story, a biography, a photograph, an outline of a research problem — anything that focuses on one ancestor.

Amy’s 2015 version of this challenge focuses on a different theme each week.

The theme for week 2 is King — January 8 is Elvis’ birthday. January 15 is the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. Do either of these “Kings” remind you of an ancestor? Or, taken another way, do you have a connection to royalty? Did you ancestor flee from an oppressive king?

My 2nd ancestor is someone whom I am not sure is even related to my family at all — Jose Manuel Nieto (1734-1804). Nieto was part of the Gaspar de Portolà expedition of 1769 into Alta California, which was the first recorded Spanish land entry into and exploration of present day California. In 1784, Nieto was awarded one of the largest Spanish land grants in Alta California — what would become Rancho Los Nietos, located in present day Los Angeles and Orange counties.

Rancho Los Nietos Map, National Park Service — Nieto land grant. Courtesy of the National Park Service. Click image to view a larger copy.

The king reference? Nieto was a soldier (soldado de cuera, “leather jacket soldier”) in the Royal Army of Spain. His efforts in the 1769 expedition helped expand the Spanish Empire. And his name is revered almost like royalty among Southern Californians who descend from these Spanish/Mexican founding Alta California families.

Nieto Family Claims

My father is a Nieto, through his paternal grandmother Maria Nieto (1887-1974). My entire life, I have heard his family claim that we are descended from THE Manuel Nieto, this Manuel Nieto. There is still a huge population of Nietos — including many of our cousins — living in Southern California. The obituary for my 2nd great grandmother — Maria Aurelia Compean (1858-1963), the mother of Maria Nieto — makes claim to this heritage through marriage to my 2nd great grandfather Rafael Nieto. There is a big Nieto reunion in Long Beach, California every year (I have not yet attended), where I am told everyone there claims this same heritage. Any time I talk about family history with my grand aunt (married to Maria Nieto’s last living child), she is adamant that we are descended from Manuel Nieto, and she always seems a bit annoyed (rare for her, she has the sweetest more cheerful disposition) that I don’t just accept this “fact”. I have to gently explain that as a historian and librarian, while this connection may be true, I cannot accept things as historical facts until I can verify through actual documented evidence. We repeat this conversation every year at our family’s big annual Christmas tamale party.

So, after this past December’s conversation with my grand aunt, I decided that I am going to try to prove or disprove our connection to the famous Manuel Nieto — to once and for all verify if we are directly descended from or related to, via a common ancestor, Manuel Nieto.

Robledo-Nieto Christmas 2014 — Christmas 2014 wine tasting with my grand aunt and grand uncle. Left to right: My sister-in-law and brother, my grand uncle and aunt, me and my husband, my parents. The Nietos are my grand uncle, my dad, me, and my brother.

Proving Famous Lineage

If you are a regular reader of Colleen & Jeff’s Roots, you will recall that I did this last year with my husband’s family’s “cousin claim” to Revolutionary War hero Major General Nathanael Greene — I was able to verify through documented evidence that my husband is a 3rd cousins7x removed of the hero. The Nathanael Greene project was a laborious one, but was fairly quick and easy due to how heavily documented Nathanael’s own family history is in various print and online publications. This saved me from having to research and create Nathanael’s family lines myself. I “only” had to continue my existing work of researching and building my husband’s Greene genealogy, then find concrete matching connections with Nathanael’s genealogy. Once I found those key matches, I was able to easily trace back to a shared common ancestor.

I am starting from scratch with Manuel Nieto. I have not yet found a published documented family history for this famous Nieto, only references to the names of his wife, their children, and the spouses of those children. So in all of my “spare time” I now have to build Manuel Nieto’s family tree as a starting point for my investigation into a shared connection with my Nieto family. I have created a new Manuel Nieto tree in my main Family Tree Maker and on Ancestry, on to which I am adding his relations as I discover them. When and if I do find a shared ancestor, I can them merge that Manuel Nieto tree into my own main family tree.

To make matters more complicated on this new Manuel Nieto Project, much of the records and publications are in Spanish, whereas the Nathanael Greene Project files were all in English. I don’t speak, read, or write Spanish — my 2 years of high school and 2 years of college Spanish were so long ago that I can now only ask where the bathroom is located or order a drink at a bar in Mexico. This is where my Spanish-fluent father, who is now retired and has the time to help, will need to be of big time assistance to me.

My hope is to complete the Manuel Nieto Project while my sweet wonderful grand aunt is still alive. And I do hope that my investigations uncover confirmation that my aunt and the family are correct…that we are indeed descended from our related to Manuel Nieto. Because they have believed and been proud of this “fact” for generations. If my investigations prove otherwise, I think it will make me a bit less popular at Nieto family gatherings.

The Manuel Nieto Project

I plan to write about my efforts and discoveries on this blog, under the title “Manuel Nieto Project”. Who knows, maybe I’ll even get a journal article out of this work.

If you are a Nieto who has proven this documented connection to your own family, are a historian who is aware of an already published documented family history for Manuel Nieto, know of any leads for me to trace Manuel Nieto’s family history, or are just an expert in Spanish/Mexican records from the Alta California period, please let me know. I welcome any and all help!

#52Ancestors: A Fresh Start for Immigrant Great Grandfather Jose Robledo (1875-1937)

My 1st entry in Amy Johnson Crow’s “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks” family history blogging challenge for 2015.

The challenge: have one blog post each week devoted to a specific ancestor. It could be a story, a biography, a photograph, an outline of a research problem — anything that focuses on one ancestor.

Amy’s 2015 version of this challenge focuses on a different theme each week.

The theme for week 1 is: Fresh start — Seems appropriate for the beginning of the year. What ancestor had a fresh start? What ancestor has been so confusing to research that you’d like to have a fresh start?

My 1st ancestor is my great grandfather Jose “Joe” Robledo (1875-1937). Great Grandpa Joe was the 8th ancestor I profiled in last year’s challenge.

I discussed in that post how he was my biggest brickwall at that point in February 2014. That remains true today. It is incredibly frustrating that I have made no further real progress on his history.

I also mentioned in that post that I had recently ordered a DNA kit to test my dad in hopes of identifying some cousin relationships that might provide clues about my great grandfather. It’s even more frustrating that the DNA relations Ancestry has identified for me have no as-yet identified connection to the Robledo surname — just to the Nieto and Compean side (Joe’s wife’s ancestry). I suspect that I won’t make progress on Joe unless I go down to the small town of Armadillo de los Infante in which the family lived in the state of San Luis Potosi, Mexico…which I am hoping to do with Dad this year.

So, what’s with the fresh start?

A New Country

Jose Robledo, his wife Maria Nieto (1887-1974), and Maria’s extended family immigrated to the United States with nothing, after losing everything — including the family hacienda — during the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920). According to Jose and Maria’s children, the family had been well to do in Mexico. I have no idea if the family were supporters of President (and dictator) Porfirio Diaz, or if they were simply guilty of being members of the landed class. But, the family was forced to escape Mexico and start over.

Wife Maria in 1915 crossed over the Laredo footbridge on 27 October 1915 with their infant son Refugio Rafael “Ray” Robledo (1915-?). Husband Joe is not listed as traveling with Maria, and I still have not been able to find a border crossing record for him.

Home in California

According to Joe’s WWI draft registration card, by 1 September 1918, Joe and his young family were living in Long Beach, Los Angeles County, California at 123 E. 4th St. (rear house) where Joe worked as a laborer for the San Pedro Habor Department. They were still here at the time of the 1920 U.S. Census, living with five families all in the same rear house (all seemingly related), with great grandfather Joe employed as a laborer doing day work. At time time of the 1930 U.S. Census, the growing family lived on their own in Los Angeles city, but did not own the home, and Joe — previously a laborer in a pottery factory — was unemployed. City directories list Joe and Maria living in Glendale, Los Angeles County from 1931 until 1936, with Joe still identified as a laborer. Joe died on 4 July 1937.

Dad, born after his grandfather died, says that his father (Joe’s son) told him stories about traveling with Joe as a child working as migrant laborers.

Fresh Start Legacy

Although Joe died — according to family — never recovering from losing everything and having to juggle poor sporadic menial work, he did indeed provide his family with a successful fresh start. Joe just didn’t live long enough to witness most of these successes. His wife and oldest daughter became U.S. citizens. His wife and most of his children would go on to own their own homes. At least three of his sons served in the U.S. armed forces and fought for his new country during wartime. My dad (Joe’s grandson) became the first in the family to graduate college, and most of Joe’s great grandchildren are college graduates. Among Joe’s great grandchildren are educators, a nun and pastor, a nurse, and business professionals. Many of his grandchildren, great grandchildren, and now great great grandchildren remain a tight close loving family.

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#52Ancestors: Tracking Down My Great Grandfather Estevan Salas

My 28th entry in Amy Johnson Crow’s “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks” family history blogging challenge.

The challenge: have one blog post each week devoted to a specific ancestor. It could be a story, a biography, a photograph, an outline of a research problem — anything that focuses on one ancestor.

My 28th ancestor is my great grandfather Estevan “Steven” SALAS (b. 1888). I did not even know the name of my great grandfather until the May 2013 discovery of the marriage records for my grandmother Rosie SALAS and my grandfather Benjamin ROBLEDO (1919-1990). He is identified on that marriage record as Steven Salas from New Mexico.

I blogged in January about Estevan’s wife, my great grandmother Victoria JIMENEZ (b. ca. 1891), which provided some discoveries and details about Estevan. I do not have a marriage record for them.

Estevan and Victoria show up together on the 1920 U.S. Census, living in Deming (Luna County), New Mexico with Victoria’s sons Richard and David from a previous marriage. Their daughter Rosie is not born yet. Estevan is described as:

33 years old, white, male, married.
Unable to read or write. Able to speak English.
Born in New Mexico, with both parents also born in New Mexico (both Spanish-speaking).
Employed as a laborer in a building.

1920 U.S. Census showing Estevan Salas, wife Victoria, and stepsons Richard and David. Image courtesy of Ancestry.com.

By 1921, Estevan and Victoria had moved to Phoenix (Maricopa County), Arizona, where they show up in city directory records (Estevan’s name is spelled “Esteban”).

A bit more detail is available about Estevan from his World War I Draft Registration.

Estevan “Steven” Salas registered for the draft on 05 June 1917 in Luna County, New Mexico. He states his date of birth as 24 January 1888, and claims to be a natural-born U.S. citizen (New Mexico became a U.S. territory in 1850, and state in 1912), born at the Mimbres River, near Deming, New Mexico. Estevan was employed at this time as a laborer at the Deming Smelter. Estevan claims no prior military service. He notes that his wife and two children (this would be Victoria and her sons,) are solely dependent upon him. The draft board describes Estevan as medium height, slender build, with brown eyes and hair, no baldness, and no physical disabilities.

Word War I Draft Registration. Estevan’s signature is at the bottom. Courtesy of Ancestry.com.

Word War I Draft Registration. Courtesy of Ancestry.com.

I have no information about Estevan beyond 1921, including a date of death.

But by the 1930 U.S. Census, Victoria and the children were living in Orme (Maricopa County), Arizona. Son Richard is listed as the head of household, and Victoria is listed as widowed. So, if she was indeed widowed by 1930, Estevan died sometime between 1921 and 1930.

#52Ancestors: My 3rd Great Grandmother, Maria Eutimia Sanches Nieto

My 9th week in Amy Johnson Crow’s “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks” family history blogging challenge.

The challenge: have one blog post each week devoted to a specific ancestor. It could be a story, a biography, a photograph, an outline of a research problem — anything that focuses on one ancestor.

This week’s ancestor is my 3rd great grandmother, Maria Eutimia Sanches Nieto. Our family knew her by the name of Eutimia, although none of us actually new her. And none of us even know much about her. I have almost zero genealogical information on her.

Eutimia was the mother of Maria Aurelia Compean (1858-1963) — Aurelia to her family — who I believe was the oldest member of my father’s family to immigrate from Mexico in the mid-to-late 1910s. I do not think Eutimia immigrated with the family. Since her daughter Aurelia was already in her late 50s or early 60s when she immigrated, Eutimia would have been awfully old at that time. Although, her daughter Aurelia lived to be 105 years old, so it’s possible her mother Eutimia had those same hearty long-living genes and could have made the trip. I just don’t think she did. None of the 1920s documents I have found of her family in California list Eutimia living with her children or grandchildren.

Neither my father nor I had ever heard Eutimia’s name until 2003, when my dad called the mortuary that handled her daughter Aurelia’s burial here in Southern California to find out if they had any information about Aurelia’s birth or parents. The kind mortuary employee told my father that Aurelia’s records list parents Eutimia Sanches and Santiago Compean. We already knew Aurelia and her own daughter were from San Luis Potosi, Mexico.

I immediately sought help from my local Family History Center. They steered me to towards the Mexico church records on microfilm. Which were all in Spanish (I took 3 years of Spanish ages ago, no help now). These records are now digitized through FamilySearch, but not yet indexed. I spent several Saturdays bent over a microfilm reader desperately looking for my family names. And I managed to find the marriage record entry for Eutimia Sanches and Santiago Compean. Eutimia and Santiago were married either 14 September or 24 September (the date is hard to read) in 1859 in Armadillo de los Infante, San Luis Potosi, Mexico. The same Mexico municipality from where all of my Nieto family seems to have lived. No church or parents names.

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That was the extent of information I had on Eutimia until November of last year, when I started searching on FamilySearch again for her unique name of Eutimia. I scored on finding a baptism record for her. Eutimia was baptized 30 December 1835 at Santa Isabel Church in Armadillo de los Infante, San Luis Potosi, Mexico. This is the same church where Eutimia’s granddaughter Maria Nieto married Jose Robledo in 1908. And it lists her parents’ names! An even bigger score. Eutimia’s parents were Diego Sanches and Maria De Los Delores Nieto. Again with the Nietos. It seems my entire Mexico family kept marrying into Nietos.

Present day photo of Santa Isabel Church. Not sure if this is the same structure that existed when Eutimia and Santiago married there in 1835. Photo courtesy of Armadillo de los Infante.

This baptism record lists Eutimia’s full name as Maria Eutimia Sanches Nieto. It appears that like her daughter Aurelia, Eutimia was given the first name of Maria, but went by her second unique given name. And I had forgotten about the Mexican tradition of using the father and mother’s surname. Sanches is her father’s name, Nieto is her mother’s name.

Searching further for other records referencing her parents’ names, I find a baptism record for what appears to be a sister, Maria Apolinaria Sanches Nieto, baptized at the same church six months earlier on 30 July 1834. Since Apolinaria was baptized first, I assume she is an older sister. And since the two girls were baptized just six months apart, I feel confident Eutimia was born sometime after 30 July 1834 since the two daughters were not christened on the same date. This would place Eutimia’s birth between 30 July 1834 and 29 December 1835 (she would not have been baptized the same date she was born).

Continued research on my Mexico line is going to be difficult. I need to get more familiar with what types of online records exist, and where, apart from what FamilySearch offers (Ancestry offers little more). And I will need my fluent Spanish-speaking/reading/writing dad to help me locate physical records in Mexico, and correspond with those agencies. Dad retired last year, though, so he’s got the time to help me now 🙂

#52Ancestors: My Great Grandfather Jose Robledo (1875-1937), Still a Brick Wall

My 8th week in Amy Johnson Crow’s “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks” family history blogging challenge.

The challenge: have one blog post each week devoted to a specific ancestor. It could be a story, a biography, a photograph, an outline of a research problem — anything that focuses on one ancestor.

This week’s ancestor is my great grandfather Jose Robledo (1875-1937). Jose was married to Maria Nieto (1887-1974), my great grandmother who raised my father. Jose “Joe” died before my father was born, so Dad never knew him and knows very little at all about Jose. We do not know his birth place or his parents’ names. Unlike his wife Maria, I have not been able to find any record of him on any of the Mexico parish or civil registers, except for his marriage record.

Jose married my great grandmother Maria Nieto in 1908 at Santa Isabel Church in Armadillo de los Infante, a municipality in San Luis Potosi, Mexico. That is the only record I find of him in Mexico. Searching for records is a bit tough without parents’ names to cross-search by.

While I have his wife Maria’s border crossing record (October 27, 1915, in Laredo, Texas), Jose does not appear to have crossed with her and their baby Refugio. I have been unsuccessful in finding any immigration records for him, and my family does not believe he became a U.S. citizen. His wife Maria didn’t become one until 1955.

The first U.S. record I find for Jose is his 1918 World War I draft registration card. I blogged about that in 2012. He lived in Long Beach, California at this time. He was employed as a laborer with the City of Los Angeles, working for the San Pedro Harbor Department.

Joe still lived at this same Long Beach address with his family at the time of the 1920 U.S. Census. He and his family moved to Los Angeles by the 1930 U.S. Census.

He apparently died 4 July 1937. The wife of his sole living child told me that Jose died of pneumonia. She also told me that Joe and Maria lived on a large hacienda in Mexico, and that he never recovered from losing everything and having to settle for menial jobs to support his family when he came to the U.S.. Dad has told me that his father told him stories about traveling with his own father (Jose) as a child seeking migrant laborer jobs.

Because Jose has been a brick wall for so long, I recently ordered an Ancestry DNA kit to test my dad. While this won’t identify Jose’s parents, it will hopefully tell us a bit more about our Robledo origins.

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Found My Great-Grandmother Victoria Jimenez (b. ca. 1892) on the 1910 Census in Historic Mogollon, New Mexico

1910 U.S. Census record for Victoria Jimenez and her husband David Coleman.

I am still organizing and analyzing records I have found the last couple years for my great grandmother Victoria Jimenez (b. ca. 1891). In May 2013 I found this 1910 U.S. Census record, during which time she was married to David Coleman, the father of her two boys Richard and David Coleman. She later married Estevan Salas, my great grandfather, the father of Rosie Salas (b. ca. 1923).

About the Family

Per the 1910 U.S. Census (taken April 1910):

The family lived in Mogollon, Socorro County (became Catron County in 1921), New Mexico in a rented home. The street address and name are not legible.
Victoria is listed under her husband’s surname Coleman, Mexican, 19 years old, married for 6 months, no children, speaks English, can read and write, not in school, and a housewife. Reportedly born in New Mexico, father born in Mexico, mother born in New Mexico.
Her husband David Coleman is the head of household, Mexican, 36 years old, married for 6 months, a miner who had been out of work for 26 weeks, speaks English, and can read and write. Reportedly born in New Mexico, both parents born in New Mexico.
David’s 21 year old brother Charlie and 67 year old father Richard also lived with them.

Since Victoria and David had only been married six months at the time of this census, they must have been wed in late 1909.

About Mogollon

Mogollon is now a ghost town, and old mining town that is a historic district. According to Wikipedia, Mogollon was founded in the 1880s and was one of the wildest mining towns in the west in the 1890s. The Little Fanny mine provided most of the town’s employment. The town was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1987 as the Fannie Hill Mill and Company Town Historic District.

Wikipedia describes what Mogollon was like in 1909, the year before the 1910 census.

In 1909, the population of Mogollon was about 2,000. That same year the town boasted five saloons, two restaurants, four merchandise stores, two hotels and several brothels located in two infamous red light districts. The town also had a photographer, the Midway Theatre an ice maker and a bakery. The Silver City and Mogollon Stage Line provided daily service, hauling passengers, freight, gold, and silver bullion eighty miles between the two towns in almost fifteen hours.

Cinco de Mayo celebration in Mogollon, 1914. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

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