Breaking a Brick Wall

It's been a while, I have so many things I could write about. Today I want to write about a new brick wall that's slowly been uncrumbling for me the past week or so. 

I've written about my great grandfather named Primitivo before. You can read more about him here. Records-wise, the man is tricky! Can't tell you how many times, I've reviewed all my records for him & then said to myself "He's killing me". Let me explain why.

When I started my search for him a few years back, I only knew his name was Primitivo Rodriguez, lived in Gurabo & had a son by the name of Antonio Rodriguez Torres. I did know he had other children, I knew most of their names which helped a ton. This helped me locate census records for Primitivo all they way from 1910 to 1940. On these census records, Primitivo is always recorded with the second surname of Cuevas. That second surname was always consistent. This told me that Primitivo's mother, whomever she was, held the surname Cuevas. Then I slowly started to uncover records for Primitivo. This is where the trickiness comes into play. 

I knew from Primitivo's son (my grandfather's) death record that Primitivo's wife was named Maria Ana Torres Torres. So I searched for a Maria Ana marrying a Primitivo Rodriguez Cuevas & came up with nothing. However, I did find a very close match, except the spouse is Primitivo Rodriguez de la Cruz. Close enough, I reviewed it & I was 99% sure this was the same Primitivo. Sure enough, it was but for some reason that  I cannot fully explain why Primitivo's mother is recorded as Maria de la Cruz. There are so many Maria's with that last name but none fit the same profile. That's what's killing me, I don't know for sure. I figured it had to be some kind of error on the recorders part, maybe. Then I learned Primitivo was married once before my great grandmother, to a lady named Manuela Davila. His marriage record to Manuela also has him recorded as "Primitivo Rodriguez de la Cruz". That's twice now. Why the Cruz? I had all sorts of theories running through my mind about his mother. I thought perhaps she was an illegitimate child & sometimes used her mother's surname & other times was recorded with her father's surname. Then I thought, maybe Primitivo had the order of both her surnames mixed up. Maybe she died when he was young, & so he wasn't sure which of her surnames came first. 

Then I tried to examine all the birth records I had for Primitivo's seven children. On these records, the name of grandparents are usually always listed. On them Primitivo's mother is recorded differently for each kid. Most times she is found as Maria de la Cruz. Other times Maria Cruz Cuevas. Every time I searched for either of those two name combinations I came up empty. I felt like I had exhausted all the digital public records I could find with evidence of her.  At this point, I figured to locate more answers, I would have to go downtown to the Family History Library & dig through all the microfilms for this time period & town for myself. Which I dreaded doing, because it's so time consuming. Going through one roll of microfilm has taken me a few hours in the past. Going through several would take me days that I don't really have at this present time in my life.  This happened a few years ago. Every once in a while I would get the itch to search again & every time I came up with no results. It killed me that I couldn't find anything beyond my great grandfather. Why couldn't he been more accurate about his mother's name. Why was he being so tricky? It was frustrating. I knew he probably had siblings, but without the name of his mother I couldn't confirm for sure if they were his siblings.

However for some reason, a few days ago, I did what I had always done before when that itch returned to search for Primitivo's mother. I reviewed all the records I had for him again. Trying to observe closely to see if I had missed anything before.  This time I noticed something that was in plain sight that for some reason I never paid attention to. How could I have missed this? It's just plain foolishness on my part. 

 You can see here that on Primitvo's oldest child's birth record his mother is recorded as "Maria Cuevas Berrios". This is the very first time I have ever encountered the surname Berrios on my family tree. It was exciting & I couldn't wait to search for this new name combination. As soon as I did, I got a few hits. 

Primitivo's mother's name is recorded on all other records, besides Primitivo's as "Cruz Cuevas Berrios". what makes sense to me is that, Maria is probably part of her first name, but since their were so many, many Maria's at this time, she went by the first name of Cruz instead. She was born in Hato Grande, Puerto Rico, which is now known as San Lorenzo, PR. She is the daughter of Pedro Cuevas & Rosario Berrios also from San Lorenzo. She married & had 5 children with Jose Rodriguez Cuevas. 

Maria Cruz dies at about 70 years old in 1908 in Juncos. Primitivo would of been about 37 years old at her time of death. He was already married to his first wife Manuela & has fathered 5 children at this point. I assume his mother knew them, probably met her 5 grand kids from Primitivo. I wonder how involved they were in each others lives. A part of me thinks they were probably close, but seeing as how Primitivo had trouble recording his mother's full name, maybe they were not. I could be wrong, hopefully I am but I still wonder.

Maria Cruz must have moved to Juncos, sometime before her death. Two years after she dies her husband Jose also passes in 1910. Primitivo is listed as their second child on both of their death records. 

 If there is anything I can pass on from this experience, it would be two things. First don't give up. Sometimes we hit walls, that seem like a complete dead end. It's super frustrating. When these times come up, because they always do, take a break. Even a year long break, but when you get the itch to return & try again, listen to that feeling. 

Second, review is key in these tricky situations. Paying attention to those small details is what will save you when you're stuck. Why this took me so long when the answer was right in plain sight the entire time, I don't know. I even had a cousin in Brooklyn review the same records a few years back & she also missed that Berrios name.

I'm grateful I didn't come up empty this time. Grateful that this part of my tricky search is over. Hoping all the new information I have now on Primitivo's parents & siblings will open more doors for my search into his line. I'm grateful, always grateful.

Worker in the Cane

I recently read a biography called: "Worker in the Cane-A Puerto Rican Life History", written by the late Sidney W. Mintz that opened my perspective on living in Puerto Rico in the 1930 to mid 40's. 

The reason I choose to read this book is that my grandfather Antonio (whom you can read more about here), died before I was born. Antonio worked most of his life for an American sugar cane plantation in Puerto Rico that controlled five sugar mills, called Eastern Sugar Associates. 

Although, the book takes place in a different part of the island, the town of Jauca, it still takes place in the same time period my grandfather was alive & working. I only know bits & pieces about my grandfather, which is why I thought reading this would give me more insight into some of the things he may have dealt with.

Worker in the Cane, is a well written biography about a lower-class Puerto Rican man named Juan Eustaquio Zayas Alvarado born in 1908. Juan goes by the nick name of Don Taso, Taso works from the time he is eight years old in a Sugar cane field/ plantation. It explains the struggles Taso faces from early childhood, being fatherless & then loosing his mother early on in his childhood. It was easy to find myself stirred by what I came to understand about life back then. People on the island lived so hard & suffered so much, even for just the basic necessities to sustain themselves, such as food. 

What makes this time period unique is that this was the time that BIG new political & economic changes were taking place on the island. The island was slowly becoming more developed & modernized with a new American / English speaking twist. This new generation of Puerto Ricans (also now American citizens), were born into a rapid change that served many pros & cons. Medical facilities were improving. Education was being made available to everyone regardless of color or class. Transportation & communication was starting to modernize. New religions were allowed to penetrate the island & many for the first time were exploring something other then Catholic traditions. Sugar had already been an incredible valuable commodity in the Caribbean. For a while Puerto Rico was the second major exporter of sugar. It didn't last too long & soon the demand for sugar slowed down tremendously. Cane fields that were quickly expanding & replacing forests were not in need so much anymore. By this time the United States' introduction of industrial agricultural system was in full swing.  Mechanical devices were essential in the fields & the need for manual skilled labor was declining. No independent small-scale haciendas were left. All these small-scale haciendas sold their companies to the US. Many workers were speaking up & participated in work unions & political parties.

These changes were so drastic because before the US occupation, most towns in Puerto Rico moved at a slow pace. Most work was done by hand. I like the way the author Mintz, puts it best in his book, when he says: 

"One was born to work in the cane, to come to know the feel of dirt in every cane field. One made due without a formal education. One lived in a straw or wooden shack, watched one's siblings be born & die of ill-defined illnesses, ate rice & beans & drank black coffee, eloped with a local senorita at an early age & fathered children in a rapid succession. In 1899 "the Americans" came , & then life rapidly began to change. Older people remember another special period of change, at a time of Emancipation (in 1873). But even the freeing of slaves had been a gradual process compared with what happened after 1899."  

As I read this book & got to know Don Taso & his family. Each chapter made me wonder about how much of Taso's life story relates to my grandfathers. I wonder if he joined any work union or political party. Or what his thoughts were on those who did participate in them.

The book mentions that their were various jobs on the cane fields. Things like feeding the animals were jobs that children took care of (till the child labor laws were created & enforced). The most difficult & dangerous job & also the lowest in pay, was that of cutting cane. That's the job my grandfather held, possibly for most all his life. Wonder if he tried to move up. Or if he felt like this was all he was skilled enough to do. Seeing how it was so labor intensive & low in pay, I imagine he couldn't have been satisfied in this position his whole life. Wish I knew more about his work history.

My father mentioned that when he was in elementary school, him & some of his brothers attended school shoe-less. The school had dirt floors & some of the classes were held outside. He remembers delivering his father's homemade lunches that his mother prepared for his father in the cane fields. He said his oldest brother Efrain, stopped attending school at 4th grade to join his father Antonio at sugar cane work. He remembers his father coming home with a burlap sack around his shoulder full of food from the market after work. Like most in their town, they didn't have indoor plumbing yet. He remembers well having an out house for most of his childhood. His mother walked daily with all the children to the river, to there bath them & do the families laundry. He says that while his mother sat upon a rock by the water to wash, the children played in the water while she worked. With living conditions such as these it's no wonder that once Puerto Ricans were granted US citizenship in 1917 that so many migrated to the mainland US, seeking a better life.  

I guess I should point out that I know neither Don Taso nor my grandfather Antonio were public figures, nor famous nor distinguished. Instead they were husbands & fathers trying to hold it together for their families, doing whatever was needed to provide. They were forced under these circumstances to be diligent & make the best of the circumstances they were born into. I respect them greatly for that. 

More on Angelina

I've written a post on my great aunt Angelina Rodriguez Davila, a while ago. You can find it HERE.  Back when I wrote that post I didn't know as much about Angelina as I do now. Angelina is special to me. Through Angelina, I was able to connect with distant cousins of mine that I discovered in Brooklyn.  Through her descendants I was able to learn more about my father's paternal side that I didn't think would be possible. I'm so grateful for her. So grateful she left so much behind for me to uncover. Most ancestors aren't as easy. 

A few months ago I was searching on Ancestry.com's "U.S. Passport Applications, 1795-1925". On here, a familiar name popped up. I clicked on it & although everything about the passport application pointed towards my great aunt Angelina, there was one portion of it that seemed odd. 

It shows that Angelina was making plans to travel to Venezuela to join her husband. I had no idea they ever left the country or how they were connected to Venezuela. I assumed it had to be work related, but I couldn't find a passport application for Angelina's husband Jacobo Gomez. I also found it odd that when I met Angelina's family a while back in NYC that they never mentioned Venezuela. So I contacted them with what I found, sent them over the photo of what at the time would of been Angelina at about 20 years old. They confirmed that this was indeed Angelina's passport application, but like me, had no idea of any trip to Venezuela. They also highly doubted, if she was going to leave Puerto Rico, that it would be to join her husband. This is why...

Early on in their relationship Jacobo became abusive. Jacobo was so violent that Angelina believed that if she ever attempted to leave him, Jacobo would find her & kill her. Possibly even hurting their girls as well. I was told after their first child together in 1914, Jacobo apparently takes their sleeping baby girl, places her inside of a dresser draw & leaves without telling Angelina where he's put the baby. He was known for riding away early in the morning, on his horse & not coming home for days at a time. Angelina didn't know where he went or when he'd return. These were times where most everyone on the island was financially struggling . So Jacobo's absence put Angelina in a rough spot. She often times didn't have enough to eat & lived off the fruit trees on their property. It's while all this is taking place that Angelina discovers she is pregnant again. This time with twin girls. She makes a brave choice to leave Jacobo after the twins are born. Sadly, only one of the twin girls survives & is named Juana, after Angelina's close friend. 

Fearing for the safety of her girls & her life, she makes secret plans to move to New York City. In order to do this, Angelina makes probably one of the biggest sacrifices in her life. Knowing that making a move this big required money that she didn't have, she works, leaves her girls with her friend named Juana Fuentes. Angelina saves up enough to make the move to the city on her own. Her friend Juana agrees to watch her girls temporarily while Angelina goes to NYC to find a job, a place to live & save up enough to bring back both her girls to NY. I'm not certain how long the girls were living with her friend Juana when Angelina returns to pick up her oldest daughter Nicolasa. Apparently, Nicolasa was having a hard time being away from Angelina, which is why Nicolasa is chosen to go first. Several years pass & then when Angelina's second daughter Juana is 12, Angelina comes back to get her. Why Angelina waited this long, we aren't sure. We do know she meets someone new in NY that treats her good. I was told she experienced a new kind of freedom when she got to the city. Not sure if this is what caused the delay, but nearly 12 years goes by before she makes preparations to pick up her next daughter. At this point Juana calls the other Juana mom & doesn't remember her sister. Juana is completely attached to what would now be known as her adopted family & Angelina secretly makes plans to get Juana off the island.

Now, here is where things become weird. Her secret plan is so secret that she doesn't even tell her friend Juana about it. She tells her friend that she's taking little Juana school shopping & from here boards the ship to Ellis Island. Seeing how there was no closure, Juana mourns over this for the rest of her life. Missing her former family & adoptive mother, whom she never has contact with again. She moves to a big city, with a new language & culture. It must of all been so overwhelming for a young girl. As hard as I am positive this was for little Juana, I can't help but feel that it was because Angelina knew something that we don't. Maybe she assumed telling her friend would somehow get back to her ex-husband & he would find them. Or maybe she knew little Juana was so attached that she would not want to leave. Maybe it was a combination of both of these guesses, but either way Angelina came back. As painful as it was for her daughters, I know that those were not easy choices. Angelina was so brave. As painful as this story is, behind it I see a woman that was daring & full of courage. 
 

We are still in the dark about Venezuela. It could of been another secret plan of hers to get away from her ex, that fell through.

Angelina's passport photo taken 1917

Cousin connection

Something amazing happened recently. 

Over the weekend I was able to visit New York City & while I was there I was able to connect with cousins on my Dad's side of the family that we didn't even know existed. We found each other on Ancestry.com & over several messages back & forth were able to link our families trees together through one common ancestor. Primitivo Rodriguez is my paternal great grandfather originally from Gurabo, Puerto Rico. He was married twice in his life time. In his first marriage he has 5 children, one of the 5 is named Angelina Rodriguez Davila. The cousins I discovered in NY are Angelina's descendants. In his second marriage he has 2 sons, the oldest being Antonio Rodriguez Torres, my grandfather. 

It was exciting to alone make a connection with someone that knows & remembers so much. It was even sweeter to have the opportunity to meet them all. I met up with my Dad & together we went to meet this new part of our family lost for so long. 

I wasn't sure what to expect & seeing how this was NYC, I knew we were taking a risk meeting strangers that could potentially drug & kill us. However, not once did I get a bad vibe. I felt so strongly that these people were exactly whom they said they were & lucky for us my gut was right. We were welcomed with cheerful open arms & talked for a few hours. I learned so much & tried to remember as much as I could from the stories & names I listened to. 

Aside from this they also had photos. I have longed to see photos of them. I have often imagined what they might look like but now I had a real-life photo of what Angelina Rodriguez Davila & what her 2 daughters look like. 

 Angelina Rodriguez Davila

1895-1975

Isn't she beautiful? She looks so classy & elegant. I love this photo of her! This is the only surviving photo of Angelina. I also can't help but notice that she has the same exact nose as her younger brother Antonio, & it's the same nose my father has. 

Here is Angelina's life in a nutshell, according to all the records I've found. Angelina was born on DEC. 18, 1896 in Gurabo, Puerto Rico. She is the second daughter & 3rd child born to Primitivo Rodriguez & Manuela Davila. At the age of 3, Angelina's mother dies.  At age 16, Angelina marries a man named Jacobo Gómez Ruiz. At the age of 17, her father remarries for the second time. When she's 22, her oldest sister Petrona dies. I assume they must of been close because Petrona names 2 of her daughters after both of her younger sisters. Angelina has two daughters in Puerto Rico. Sometime after this, their family moves to Brooklyn, NY where she lives for several years. Her husband dies in 1967. In her old age, she meets a man named Manuel Diaz, who is her companion. Towards the end of her life she becomes ill with Alzheimer's. She then moves back to Puerto Rico, where she spends the last of her days before she dies in Arroyo, Puerto Rico at the age of 78.

Her 2 girls spend most of their lives in NYC.  

Her first daughter is Nicolasa Gomez Rodriguez.  Her first name is changed to Jacqueline soon after moving to NY. Towards the end of her life she lives in Oklahoma.

The second daughter is Juana Gomez Rodriguez. Her first name is also changed when moving to NY to Jennie. I was told this was to avoid the racism that was heavy in those days. Supposedly, the name changes were to give them a better chance of blending in. 

Can't tell you how happy this makes me to be able to peek into these small windows into my family's past. Hoping that together these new cousins of mine & I can uncover more.

Petrona Rodriguez Davila 1893-1917

Today I wanted to write about my grand Aunt. I can't help but feel drawn to her because of all the death that comes so many times into her short life. Her name is...

Petrona Rodriguez Davila

It is clear to see that Petrona understood pain and loss. She is the oldest child of 5 to Primitivo Rodriguez Cuevas & Manuela Davila. Petrona was born in Gurabo in December 1893. At the age of 7, Petrona's mother dies. I imagine being the oldest she helped raise her younger 4 siblings. 

In 1909 a few days after her 16th birthday Petrona marries a man named Nemesio González Rodriguez, who is also from her home town of Gurabo. After 2 years of marriage they have their first child together, a girl named Carmen González Rodriguez born February 7, 1911 in Gurabo. According to Carmen's death record this baby girl of hers only lives to be 18 days old. I'm still trying to make out the cause of death. 

In 1912, Petrona has a second daughter named Angela González Rodriguez, she dies as well at 2 months old. Another daughter is born in 1916 named Antonia González Rodriguez. Antonia like her two sister before her, also dies as an infant, at 4 months old. This makes a total of 3 baby girls born to Petrona & Nemesio that die as infants. Sadly my grand Aunt Petrona dies too in 1917, a month before her last baby daughter dies. At the young age of 24 years old, Petrona leaves this earth. According to her death record the cause of death is "fiebre gastrica" which in English is translated to  typhoid fever.  . 

I was so sad that my family line ends for Petrona's family with the death of her last baby girl, but then I found Petrona's husband's World War 1 registration card. This card provided a big clue for me. 

Above you can read that this was recordered in July of 1917. This date would be after Petrona & all her 3 babies die. Yet, Nemesio says on the first page of his card that he is widowed with 1 living daughter. So I searched & searched some more & found her. I missed it because Petrona is recorded as "Petra", which I assume was probably her nickname. In February 15, 1914 a fourth daughter is recorded that makes it to adulthood, her name is Basilia González Rodriguez born in Caguas. I was also able to find Basilia's death record, she dies in Caguas, on November, 13 1949 at the age of 35. 
Her death record indicates that she was married at the time of death to a man named Juan Baez Rosario. With the name of her husband on her death record I was able to locate a marriage record for them. Basilia marries Juan at 18 years old on January 9, 1933, also in Caguas. The 1940 census record shows they had one son together. I have not been able to find his birth record yet but it's very possible he could still be alive. Their son's name is Juan Báez González, who would of been born about 1934. I am hoping that perhaps one day I will be able to connect with these long lost cousins of mine. 

It kills me to see so much death take place in one small family. I can only imagine that loosing his wife & 3 daughters must of been extremely hard for Petrona's husband Nemesio. Then becoming a single-father I'm sure was not easy. I tried to track him down in census records to see if I could find what happens to him next but I was only able to find him for sure in 1930 & then again in 1940.  He is remarried, in both census to 2 different women. Basilia is shown living with him in 1930.

It's heart-breaking to think that Basilia looses her mother at the tender age of 3, along with loosing all her siblings. I wonder who helped raise her? Who was her mother figure? Did this cause her to be close with her father Nemesio? 

Then I think of Petrona, I think of how devastating it must of been to loose 2 of her daughters & then die realizing that you are leaving 2 of your babies behind. What a sad way to leave, knowing you are not done raising your young family. Wondering what will happen to them next. Luckily one of her daughters lives on, what a blessing. My heart is so full for this grand aunt of mine.

Primitivo Rodriguez Cuevas

My paternal great grandfather is named Primitivo Rodriguez Cuevas.  While growing up, I remember my Dad told me this was the name of his father's father.  Unfortunately my Dad never got to meet him & we all knew so little about him aside from only his name. 

With a little digging I was surprised how much I found for him. He appears on of all the census records available for Puerto Rico which was a huge help.

Primitivo is the son of Jose Rodriguez Cuevas & Maria de la Cruz Cuevas Berrios. He was born some time around 1865 in either Gurabo or San Lorenzo, Puerto Rico. In 1885, at the age of 20 he marries his first wife named Manuela Davila. With Manuela he has 5 children, 3 girls & 2 boys.  
  
The names of these 5 children are:
-Petrona Rodriguez Davila born 1893 in Gurabo dies 1917 in Caguas
-Eusébio Rodriguez Davila born 1894 in Gurabo
-Angelina Rodriguez Davila birth about 1895
 -Antonia Rodriguez Davila born about 1897
-Luciano Rodriguez Davila birth1900 in Gurabo


Sadly after 15 years of marriage, in 1900 Manuela dies at the age of 33 from postpartum hemorrhaging from delivering her last baby. I imagine Primitivo & his 5 children must of been heart broken. So by the 1910 census Primitivo is shown as widowed. He is living in Gurabo with 3 of his unmarried children. 

In 1912 he marries for the second time to Maria Ana Torres Torres from San Lorenzo. With Maria Ana he has 2 boys. The first is my grandpa named Antonio Rodriguez Torres born 1914. You can read more about my grandfather here. Their second son is named Juan Ramon Rodriguez Torres born 1916. Either during Juan Ramon's childbirth or shortly after Maria Ana also dies. The cause of death on her death record states anemia. Juan's birth record states she was already dead by the time of the recording of his birth. 

By 1920 Primitivo moves to San Lorenzo, is living with his son from his first marriage Eusébio, my grandpa Antonio & Juan Ramon. Primitivo is white, can read & write & is working on a farm. 

By 1930 they move back to Gurabo, & he is now only living with his youngest 2 boys from Maria Ana. 

I found a 1935 Agricultural census for him that shows that since 1931 he is leasing a farm that grows tobacco, corn & beans.

In 1935 it doesn't look like much has changed & Primitivo is still living with his 2 youngest sons. In 1937 both of those 2 youngest sons get married. By 1940 Primitivo has the status of divorced. I'm feeling like this is wrong because I have not been unable to track down a third marriage record for him. He's also living with an 8 year old boy that is of no relation to him. I have no clue who the boy belongs to because he has a completely different surname. 

From what my father tells me, Primitivo moves to New York City sometime in the mid 1940's. For work he drives a delivery truck & dies in a car accident. I haven't had the chance to locate his death record because I have no idea of a death date. My father doesn't remember anything more to give me more leads.

I discovered that Primitivo goes back & forth on how he records his full name. He sometimes goes by Primitivo Rodriguez de la Cruz. However on all the census records he chose to use Cuevas. There is obviously a mix up with the order of his mother's name. My guess is that Maria de la Cruz is her first/ middle name & Cuevas is her last.

With only a name I was able to track down so much information about his life. My Dad was amazed because he wasn't aware about Primitivo's first wife. 

I would love to learn more about why he chose to move to New York so late in his life. It seems like such a big move. Did he go to be with someone? Was he just following the big migration of Puerto Ricans who settled in NY? Did he like the big city after living most of his life in a small country town? I'm sure the culture shock must of been overwhelming. 

I also wonder how he coped with being a singe-father twice in his life time. I imagine that must of been challenging especially since he was the main provider. I'm sure he must of had help in raising at least the youngest 2. Who was it that helped him, I wonder. I've uncovered so much but there are still so many mysteries about Primitivo. I hope to answer more as I continue my search.

Antonio Rodriguez Torres

"People who matter in our lives stay with us, haunting our most ordinary moments. They're with us in the grocery store, as we turn the corner, chat with a friend. They rise up through the pavement; we absorb them through our soles."

-Orphan Train

 
This is my paternal grandfather. 

 His name is Antonio Rodriguez Torres

Born March 1, 1914 in Gurabo, Puerto Rico

This is one of my most prized photographs.This is the only photo I have ever seen of him. Unfortunately he died before I ever got the chance to meet him. I'm so grateful to at least have this. I love this photo because my grandfather reminds me so much of my Dad. Everything from his smile, to his hands & even the way he is dressed.

Antonio was the first child born to his mother Maria Ana de Jesus Torres Torres. I haven't been able to locate Maria's birth record yet but according to her death record she was born in about 1886 in San Lorenzo, Puerto Rico. She married my great grandfather named Primitivo Rodriguez in 1912. After Antonio they have one more son together named Juan Ramon Rodriguez Torres born in 1916. I'm not positive but it was either at his birth or shortly after Maria gave birth to Juan Ramon that she passes away from anemia. Antonio would of only been about 2 years old when his mother passed.

According to census records my great grandfather does not marry again. This would mean that Antonio & Juan Ramon grew up without a mother. I've often wondered who helped raise them. I feel like there had to be a motherly figure involved that helped watch them while Primitivo went to work. 

Although census records show that Antonio did not attend school, unlike many around him at that time he was able to read & write. I was actually able to locate a social security application for him which shows his signature. It's cursive, neat & beautifully written.  

By June 1937 Antonio is 23 years old when he marries my grandmother Andrea Pabellon, you can read more about her here. I wish I knew how they met. I imagine since they both grew up in the same town that maybe they lived in close distance to each other or maybe they even grew up together.

In the 1940 census he is working in a sugar cane field. My father says this is where Antonio remains working throughout the rest of his life, cutting cane.

Antonio & Andrea stay married for the rest of their lives. However sometime before Antonio's death in January 1978 he becomes heavily involved in alcohol. My dad says sadly Antonio also separates from his wife (although they are never legally divorced) & lives with another woman. 

I asked my Dad to tell me what Antonio was like & he says that he was strict & hard on them when he was little. They had several confrontations where my Dad intervened because Antonio would hit my grandmother. This created a wedge between my Dad & him.

This is all I know of Antonio. I know there is so much more to him then what I've typed. I hope to one day learn more about him.

Where it all begins

For now, I've mainly been focusing on my paternal side of the family. 

This is my father & me. 

He was born in Gurabo, Puerto Rico in 1945

I've always thought he was a handsome guy. 

His mother is named Andrea Pabellon born in Juncos, Puerto Rico in March 2, 1913. Andrea grew up most of her life in the town right besides Juncos which is Gurabo. Here she married my grandfather Antonio Rodriguez Torres in 1937. They both remained in Gurabo all of their lives having a total of 15 children together, 10 boys & 5 girls. Four of these children died before adulthood. One more passed away in his early 20's from a horseback riding accident, his name was Matias Rodriguez Pabellon (not positive on the date of Matias' birth or death). 

I had very little to go off when I started my search. All I had was the information on my father's birth certificate & the little that he could remember of his parents, which was not much. The first thing I did was search for them on census records. Now Puerto Rico only has census records available starting from 1910 to 1940. There was one more census taken before 1910 but I was told that it was destroyed in a fire. I created an account on Ancestry.com & found a census record for them from 1940 in Gurabo.

I knew this was them & it felt so good see both of their names on there & to finally have more of a clue. One thing we learned from this is that my father had an older brother that he never knew about. The census record shows a baby boy listed as  Eusébio Rodriguez that was 6 months old. I had my father dig for information on this brother with his siblings but had no luck. Apparently no one, not even his other older brother who is also listed on this census knew of Eusébio. I had a feeling it was because he had died very young, but wasn't sure how to prove it. 
Soon after finding this census I put a post on a message board on ancestry.com asking if anyone happened to have  more info. This kind lady from New York wrote me back & said that I could find everything I needed if I just searched on   familysearch.org I had heard about this website but never really put it to use before this.  I didn't realize how valuable this website could be. The few times I was on it on my own I didn't come up with anything. I saw there was a link to Puerto Rico but I didn't notice anything helpful. That's because I was searching all wrong. This lady gave me step by step instructions on how to properly find civil or Catholic church records for all of the towns in Puerto Rico. 

Here are the steps she sent to me in case you need them too: 

Log onto Family Search.org (It's FREE!)
Click Search at the top
Scroll down & click Caribbean, Central & South America
Click Puerto Rico under Place
Click Puerto Rico, Civil Registration, 1836-2001
Scroll down & click Browse through 4,587,038 images
Select the town you're interested in
Here you access all available Birth/Nacimientos, Death/Defunciones, Marriage/Matrimonios records.
Always scroll down & check the last entries for Indices of the books in the collection
If there is no index, It may be contained within each book.
Search index under last name for book/year/folio #, then go to that book to pull the record.

After following these steps I was able to find a death record for Eusébio. He was born on October 9, 1939 & his death is recorded as June 8, 1940. Sadly 2 months after the census above was taken this baby boy died only being 8 months old. I don't totally understand the cause of death because it's in a very cursive handwriting that's hard to crack, even for those that do know Spanish well. 

Being able to view all these records in the comfort of my own home was a miracle I never thought I'd have. I assumed all these types of documents were in Puerto Rico or that I would have to travel down town to the family history library. Boy was I wrong & boy was I happy that I was wrong. This has opened up so many doors for my research & will open up many for yours as well.