A Personal Research Adventure of a
Scots-Irish Mexican American
by Marge Vallazza
For most of my life, I knew little of my
personal Mexican heritage. I knew a lot about Mexico and its history
but because my Scots mother was our primary caretaker, I knew and cared
more about my Scots and Anglo-Irish heritage than my Hispanic one.
After my trip to Mexico last
week, it's a neck to neck race.
I had been looking forward to this trip for a long time. Its
preparations including hours of research at the local Family History
Center here in Overland Park; several hundred dollars worth of books,
microfilm copies, xerox copies; extensive communication with travel
agents, international airlines, Mexican national bus lines, Mexican
archivists, and the like. Why? All because my maiden name had been the
equivalent of Mary Smith, my father's mother's maiden name was the
equivalent of Jones, her mother-in-law's was the equivalent of
Brown...well, you get the picture.
I wanted to find something different about me (other than I have a
unique background of being a Scots-Irish Mexican American! Not too many
people have THAT kind of background!) and find something I did. My
father's mother's mother had an uncommon surname and my grandmother and
her parents came from a place in the central highlands in Mexico called
Zacatecas. The capital of Zacatecas state is also called Zacatecas and
is listed under UNESCO's Cultural Heritage treasures for its lovely
16th and 17th century colonial architecture.
My grandmother's hometown was Jerez, located about 45 Km from
Zacatecas. In my research, I have gotten as far as the early 1700s but
have stopped to gather data on my multi-great grandparents and their
siblings and their children. However, on my trip, I had an interview
with the author of a book I had purchased here in Kansas City over the
internet from a bookstore in San Antonio (Borderland Books, owner,
George Farias) that specializes in Hispanic genealogy and history
books. I wanted Bernardo del Hoyo Calzado to autograph my copy of his
book (Panteon de Dolores, which translates to Cemetery of Sorrows),
which documents many of the mausoleums and tombs of the wealthy in 17th
and 18th century Jerez, Zacatecas.
In his book, had run across some of the
same surnames, I have discovered in my own family tree! Included in
that family tree was the name de Llamas, which means the Flames and
Saldivar, which is a Spanish name from the Basque region of Northern
Spain. De Llamas was the maiden surname of the maternal grandmother of
one of the most famous poets in Mexico, Ramon
Lopez Velarde, who was also from Jerez and is buried in the Cathedral
in Mexico City.
When I finally got a hold of Bernardo, I stammered out who I was and
why I was calling. He graciously invited my husband and me to his home
and said to me that, based on my surnames, especially the Saldivar, he
and I were related. Upon our arrival in his home at the appointed time
the next day, I discovered that he was a professional genealogist. He
rolled out this tablecloth sized tube of paper covered with an immense
minute, detailed chart. He asked me how far back I had gotten and then
asked me if my Saldivars were Spanish or mestizo at that point. I
showed him a copy of a microfilmed baptism certificate that showed my
ancestor is listed as Spanish, which would only occur if the parents
were European. He looked over his chart, zeroed in on a name, and said,
"This is likely your ancestor--he is a descendant of the union between
Hernan Cortes and Montezuma's daughter." I guffawed and replied that I
found that hard to believe...my goal had not been to link to them but
to learn something of the family in that part of the country. He was
adamant that this was so. He also said to me that I needed to provide
the links back at least 100 more years. It shouldn't be difficult once
I cross back from the year 1700.
Lastly, because my grandmother's
provincial town was so small, families have intermarried over the
centuries. However, I have read a quote that "war is the great
equalizer" or words to that effect...several revolutions in Mexico have
provided new blood (despite the shedding of it as well) and scattered
the people as they fled north for their lives. That's what happened to
my grandmother and her family.
They appeared in Cuidad Juarez across the border from El Paso, Texas
around 1913...that's the time a huge, bloody battle occurred in Jerez
during the Mexican Revolution--this was lasted from 1910 to 1920.
Another battle took place in Zacatecas in 1914...it was a hellish time
for
everyone. But by then my grandmother and her family were away from
there. Who knows when my grandmother met my grandfather, who came from
Chihuahua City? My father was born in Juarez in 1923 and who would have
guessed that 22 years later, thanks to another war, he'd be thousands
of miles away in Scotland, where he met and married the love of his
life? Once again, thanks to another "great equalizer" yours truly is
here to tell this tale.
Marge
Vallazza teacozygran@...
This article was first published in:
MISSING LINKS: RootsWeb's Genealogy Journal
Vol. 5, No. 52, 27 December 2000, Circulation: 739,842+
(c) 1996-2000 Julia M. Case and Myra Vanderpool Gormley
MISSING LINKS and ROOTSWEB REVIEW are free, weekly e-zines.
Editor-at-Fault: Julia M. Case
Co-Editor-to-Blame: Myra Vanderpool Gormley, CG
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