John Gonzalez wrote:
I can give a very brief account of
what I've been doing, but I feel that being able to go back about 455
years was mostly luck and the fact that my ancestors stayed in the
same town (Jalostotitlan, Jal.) for that whole period. From about
1550 to 1917 , when my Grandfather brought his family to California.
I got started with the family tree
about 5 months ago, not knowing anything at all about findings roots
and doing research. I was surfing the internet one day and just
happened to run into the Ranchos web site. I noticed that the area of
research being done by the group was mainly in Los Altos and
sorrounding areas. I only had one piece of information when I started, and that was that my grandfather was
from Jalisco and that he had been born in 1875.
I went to visit a cousin, who is
80 plus years old, to see if I could get him to tell me something
about the family. I found out that the family was from Jalostotitlan,
and that they had come to California around 1917. I also have a
picture of my grandfather standing next to his truck. I noticed the
license plate: California-1928.
see what I mean that others could learn. I have this picture of my Dad
next to a vehicle and wanted to learn more. So you're saying that the
DMV has records for old license plates available? What was all
the information they included and How can I from NC find the
information? Is there an address I send my request to? I guess I can do
that research on the net to come up with something but if you wouldn't
mind calling an asking if there is a certain website or department I
could call that would be great.
I went to the Census records and
found the family living in Fullerton, California. Information about my
family for the period, 1917 to the present, was collected from living
relatives at family reunions and family visits. Now, anytime I see a
relative, I bug them to tell me as much as they know about our family.
I started by searching the LDS
files. I found out that they have a mountain of information on
Jalostotitlan. My next step was to visit the local LDS Family Research
Center to order films to locate my grandfather. Once I found him, it
was just a matter of trying to follow the thread as far back in time as
possible. Some of the records were a tough challange to read, not only
because of the handwriting, but on some of them, the writing from the
back side was also visible, reversed, and mixed with the writing on
the front side. I guess the ink had "bled" through the paper . Many
times I felt like giving it all up. I am sure I am not the only one
that has come across this type of problem.
have a look at this page (http://home.nc.rr.com/puentes/) for some
before and after examples of how I can clean up these fotos. I'm really
busy these days but if you are really patient like in "months" send me
that "one" record you would love to have restored and I'll try to do a
before and after on it. Sometimes the records are restorable sometimes
they are not I'd have to see them. I went through and did my abuelos
and bis abuelos etc. Don't send me any originals but photocopies and a
Scan in an email would be best. Send them via email to me directly or
to:
Joseph Puentes
PO Box 12123
Durham, NC 27709
My wife is from Teocaltiche,
Jalisco. Last June, we went to visit her family and spent two weeks in
the area. I had visited Teocaltiche quite a few times before, but I
never bother to look anything up, until this last trip. My interest
had not been stimulated until I joined the Ranchos group a few months
ago. We went to Jalostotitlan and found the "Rancho Los Portales"
where my family originated. It is just about 3 miles out of town. I
found and talked to some of the descendants of other original settlers
who rememberd their grandfather talking about my grandfather. They
pointed out the house where my granfather was born. I don't have the
words to describe the thrill and excitement that I felt when I stood
there, in the same place where my grandfather and great -grandfather
lived . Needless to say, I was overwhelmed with emotion...
Upon our return, I was determined
to keep on searching as far as I could. I've spent a lot of hours
searching through the LDS records and now, I don't regret any minute of
it. It has been a very exciting everytime I found a new grandfather,
11 generations so far...
My last grandfather (my first
grandfather?) was married in 1570 to a lady from Mexico City, from
there on down, all of the descendants were married in Jalostotitlan.
It looks like my search from now on will have to be from Mexico City.
no matter you will probably find better records available from there
including information possibly found in the AGN.
Great items that I have found out
so far:
1.-My family has beeen in
Jalostotitlan since 1550.
2.-I am third cousin, once removed
to a saint. Santo Toribio Romo.
3.-I am also , possibly, related
to Jose Maria Gonzalez de Hermosillo. He was one of the "Insurgentes"
who fought for Mexican independence from spain in 1810-1819. The
capital of Sonora, Hermosillo , was named in his honor. He fought in
Jalisco, Nayarit, Sinaloa and Sonora. I said, possibly related ,
because the records are not very clear. Teocaltiche claims him, but so
does Jalostotitlan, where he lived with his family.
4.-My wife's last name is
Vallejo. There might be a connection there to General Mariano
Guadalupe Vallejo. He was the last Mexican Governor of Northern
California. There is a lot of information about him and the founding
of Sonoma Mission, just North of San Francisco, and the Napa, Sonoma,
Mendocino wine country. There is hardly any information about his
father and mother. So far, I have found some contradicting reports in
the LDS films...some have him getting married in San Diego, and some in
Monterrey In one, they list it as Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico! The
Montrerrey where he was born is just south of San Francisco!. In one
film they got him getting married in San Diego and Monterey on the same
day!
That is an entire different story
that I'll try to tackle after I get a little further back in time with
my side of the family.
In conclusion...I can't thank
enough: The Ranchos Group members, the LDS for providing such valuable
records and service. Irma Gomez Lucero, and of course, Joseph, who
makes the Ranchos Group what it is.
GRACIAS A TODOS POR LA GRAN
EXPERIENCIA.
Did I say I was going to be
brief? sorry if I over extended the invitation, Joseph.\
You were brief. this account could easily have been 5 more pages and I
would have gladly welcomed it. You are a great example of what can be
done. You used many resources and have been successful. Not to say that
even those that use all the resources will be as successful, but how
will we ever know unless we dig in all the corners and have a look,
just like you did. Great job and if you want to expand it a bit and
turn it into audio I would welcome your story in the "oral history"
section of the Nuestra Familia Unida podcast project. Let me know off
the list.
Amazing!
joseph
ps: I'm sure others in the group have similar stories of how
they went from Zero to what they now know. I would think that most of
those stories would describe a time frame of years rather than John's
months (amazing!), but still they would be interesting and others could
learn from them. If anyone else would care to tell your story please
do. I think others will find interest and possibly do like I did and
find a "nugget" that can be used for their own research.
-----
Original Message -----
Sent:
Saturday, November 26, 2005 1:59 PM
Subject:
[ranchos] 1550: Suave!!!
John Gonzalez wrote:
Br. Pbro. Diego Gonzalez de Hermosillo
was in charge of the Church ( Templo San Jose) in Teocaltiche, Jal.
But my guess is that he was either a son or a brother of my ggggg
granfather. I'll probably find out later. I am related to Santo
Toribio Romo. Third cousin, once removed. Have you ever heard of this
Saint? Santo Toribio Romo was from Santa Ana, Jalisco, just outside of
Jalos. They have just placed some of his relics in the new (remodeled)
Cathedral in Sacramento! He is the patron saint of the immigrants.
By the way...Last week I was able to
trace my ancestry all the way back to about 1550 !!!
Suave! 1550. . .wow. give us the details. You don't have to tell every
little detail but some of them would be great. Maybe some could pick up
some points in doing their own genealogy research.
. . .and just a thought. I don't believe that you can say you have hit
a wall until you have thoroughly examined all those records you
discovered this past week leading you back to 1550. After you do that
and then examine collateral lines related to this research you might
could say you hit the wall. but even if you did its a wall built 400+
years ago! Cool!
joseph
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