Rita Torres Rotger 1858–1945

I recently discovered my paternal first cousin 3x removed. Her name is Rita Torres Rotger (sometimes mistakenly spelled as Rolger). Although, a distant cousin, Rita is important to me for a few reasons. The first reason is that, after I discovered her on a 1910 census, this lead me to a relative of Rita's. I wasn't sure how they were linked but, it was easy to notice we had matching information about Rita & her parents on our trees. I sent this person a message & soon later I was greeted with many photos & stories about Rita & her descendants. What a treasure! This is really what contacting people on Ancestry.com is all about. Exchanging & sharing information so that we can help one another slowly put faces & stories to each name on our tree. 

The person I came into contact with is Rita's great granddaughter Candi. Candi even had photos of Rita to share with me. I just love old photos. Especially if the old photo is connected to me somehow, which is why this one is so very special to me. It's also the oldest photo of an ancestor I now have.

This is Rita Torres Rotger born Feb. 21, 1858 in San Lorenzo, Puerto Rico. Rita is one of ten children born to Victoria Rotger Caldas & Francisco Torres Villafana. Her father Francisco is my paternal 4th great grand uncle. 

Here is what I know about Rita & her family.  The 1910 census tells me that around 1892, at the age of about 35 Rita marries Miguel Francisco Chiques Marti. (his first surname, originally spelled Xiques, Miguel changed the spelling because no one could pronounce it correctly). Miguel is a widower from Caguas, Puerto Rico & Rita would be Miguel's second wife. Caguas is the town where Rita moves & starts her own family with Miguel. Together they have two daughters. The oldest is Mercedes Chiques Torres born 1893. The second daughter is Rosa Maria Chiques Torres born 1900. How cute are these two sisters?

Records indicate that unlike some of my other ancestors, Rita & her parents were more privileged for this time. Census records show that they could read & write. The younger ones were bilingual & could also speak English. Census records show them living with servants & by the photos you see they dressed nicely & owned jewelry. Besides many photos, when Rita passes at the age of 86 in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico, she leaves behind two sets of silver flatware that have an "R" engraved on them.One set was her everyday ware & the other her formal flatware & a pair of her fine linens that also carry her embroiled initials. Below is a photo of Rita & her husband Miguel. You can tell by their clothes this was sometime down the line when she is older & fashion has taken a change. Rita's name has been passed down to every generation after her.

La Gaceta de Puerto Rico

I learned about something not long ago that has really come to value in my research. The Library of Congress has digitally uploaded newspaper articles from a newspaper that ran on the island called "La Gaceta de Puerto Rico". The articles run as far back as the mid 1800's to early 1900's. The link to this can be found by clicking here. 

 

It took me a minute to figure out how to navigate their site but, now I have it down.  Once you are on the website, under state choose "Puerto Rico" & in the  search engine besides that enter a name into the search option. I searched many names & found two that have articles about my specific ancestors. 

The first one I found was this one below on my 2nd great grandfather Juan E. Torres Galves & his younger brother Jose Antonio Torres Galves. 

The Translation reads: 

Don José Ramírez Alonso, Judge of first Instance of the City of Caguas and its judicial party

I hereby notify: that don Nicolás Quiñones Cabezudo, neighbor of the aforementioned (city) has filed a motion requesting the recommendation or inclusion of the neighbors of Hato Grande, don Zenón Muñoz Lopez, don Dionisio Gonzalez Lopez, don Eleuterio Lozada y Millán, don Abdón del Valle Rosario, don Juan Eugenio Torres Galves & don Jose Antonio Torres Galves in the electoral census, and since this petition was accepted, with the exception of don Abdón del Valle Rosario, the publication of this intention is ordered, so that the aforementioned constituents or anyone who wishes to oppose the inclusion, may appear to verify it within ten days after this edict appears on la Gaceta Oficial.

In Caguas on the 26th of August 1895.

I was pretty excited about finding this. I'm not positive as to why my 2nd great grandfather & his younger brother were selected to be among those on the electoral census. It must have had some value to it since it was published. Maybe it will be something I can find out later on by researching more about the towns history. 

The second article I found is about my great grandfather named Francisco Jimenez Lajara. 

 Translation to this one is: 

Don Inocencio Gomez, whose whereabouts are unknown, so that within 9 days he should show up before the court to make a declaration in the criminal case against Francisco Jimenez Lajara for injuries to Don Antero Tarazona.

Given in Caguas on the 27th of October 1884.

I couldn't find any more information about the criminal case they are referring to in this. I wish I knew more, but for now it looks like he harmed another guy bad enough for some reason that lead to criminal charges. 

Neither one of these articles tells me more then I already knew about either of them, but still...it's another peek into their lives. Another small glimpse into what life was like for them. I still have more names I want to search for.  

For anyone researching their ancestors in Puerto Rico I would recommend searching La Gaceta. You just never know, whether big or small, the mention of their name can be so helpful. 

Ancestry.com's Commercial on Puerto Rican Ancestry

Sometime ago I got in touch with a nice lady through a distant cousin of mine. This lady is named Teresa. Along with this distant cousin, she was helpful in answering some research questions for me. Later on I found out Teresa is also the writer of a family history blog that I follow. The link to her blog is here. Teresa is a great writer & offers wonderful tips on how she's broken down some of the walls to her own family research. 

I found out later we were linked by comparing DNA tests & family tree info. We are linked on my LaJara line, on my paternal side. 

Recently, Ancestry.com featured Teresa in a commercial. I believe it's the first commercial or public media type recording they've done on someone with Puerto Rican ancestry. It's so well done. I only wish it was longer & more like an episode of "Who do you think you are?".

Marriage Dispensa

Lets break the marriage procedure down for the earlier days in Puerto Rico. 

First thing to understand is that before the United States overtook Puerto Rico, Spain was in power. Spain came hand-in-hand with the Roman Catholic Church. Everyone permanently living on the island (including slaves) were required to be baptized members of the Catholic Church. This requirement, although seeming like an unfortunate event for some, actually comes as a huge help to genealogists. Especially because the parish baptism records will name your slave ancestors by name. Such a blessing to have access to those records.

Getting back to marriages...before a marriage was performed, the standard procedure for most Hispanic countries with Catholic records is this. Both parties involved was to file a marriage petition (expediente matrimonial, información matrimonial, aplicación matrimonial) with the parish priest. This petition would contain proof of good standing in the Catholic Church (usually just the baptismal certificates of the bride and groom), written permission from the parents if the bride or groom was under sixteen (though this age varied), and the priest’s permission for the marriage to take place. 

In addition to this, the marriage parties would also have to obtain any special dispensations or "dispensa" required from a church bishop, for the marriage to take place if the two parties were relatives. It was kind of like a waiver granted to you in order to allow you to legally marry a blood-linked relative.  Now I looked into this to see how closely related the Catholic Church allowed you to marry a relative & this is what I found. 

Degree:	Relationship:
1st	Parents with children-NEVER
2nd	Grandparents with grandchildren
3rd	Uncle / Aunts / nephew/ nieces
4th	Cousins, great-uncle / with nephew grandson or grand daughter

As you can see there were different degrees of relationships. Ultimately from my understanding, no waivers were granted or allowed above level four. 

The reason I wanted to write about this is that I now know of at least 2 pairs of cousins that have married in my family tree. One legally using a dispensa. Which I have yet to find because they are not digital. The other pair of ancestors of mine, only married by common law or by a "consensual agreement" as Puerto Rican census records calls them. 

The first time I realized I found a pair of married cousins on my tree, it made me uncomfortable. Especially since they are directly linked to me, being my 2nd great grandparents. I didn't get it. Now after reading more, I understand the reality that Puerto Rico really is just a small island. I've discovered that most people in those days, less they were really wealthy only left their towns for 3 main reasons. To visit the church to be baptized or baptize your children, to get married & to be buried when you passed on. Aside from this, unless it was work related, everyone seemed to stay put. Which meant you dated & married those around you, & in some cases sometimes those people were your relatives. I heard back in  those days it was actually quit common. 

Another possibility for inter-family marrying is "Para mantener la raza pura" or to maintain a pure race. By pure, they meant white. I had heard of this phrase growing up but it didn't really mean much to me. But now I see how it would of played a part of marrying your relative. Keeping the Puerto Rican race as European or "pure" as they could, meant making sacrifices for a more white future generation. Why? Because that's what was more favorable in those times. It's crazy to think that families practiced inter-family marrying so that no other outsiders could taint their bloodline, but combined with the notion that they never really left the towns they were from, then this starts to make greater sense.

 However, it's also important to know that they had to pay additional for a marriage dispensa. Which maybe why those other married cousins of mine only remained together as a consensual agreement or common law rather than legally married. 

I haven't seen a real dispena document yet but I read that it can be really valuable & gives information regarding each relatives line down back to the common ancestor that connects the two parties together. Sometimes even including a copy of their baptism certificates. It's so fascinating to me. I can't wait to travel to one of these parishes records in Puerto Rico & see one & touch one for myself.

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

Rafaela Torres Torres

This is another 2nd great grand aunt of mine. 

Her name is Rafaela Torres Torres.

  
I discovered Rafaela a while ago but just recently I got to see my first photo of her. I've examined this photo very closely & can see such a strong resemblance in Rafaela & in her younger sister Agripina. You can see & learn more about Agripina here. 

Rafaela was born on December 1, 1893 in San Lorenzo, Puerto Rico. She is 1 of 12 children born to Juan E. Torres Galvez & Ramona Torres Masa. Her parents were first cousins & at first this was something that made me uncomfortable. As I  continued to search, I noticed & read from other Puerto Rican genealogists that cousins marrying was very common for this time. Puerto Rico is a small island. Most people didn't travel far outside of their home towns & so they married who they knew, & sometimes who you knew happened to be related to you. I hope to write more about this in a separate post but for now I'll leave it at that & get back to Rafaela. 

Records tell me that Rafaela's mother Ramona, died on Rafaela's 12th birthday. Her older sister, who is also my great grandmother Maria Ana was the oldest daughter in the family at that time. I assume she helped raise Rafaela & the rest of her younger siblings still living at home. 

In 1916, at the age of 22, Rafaela marries for the first & only time in her lifetime.  She marries a man by the name of Mateo Galarza Cabre. Mateo is 8 years older than Rafaela. What makes him so interesting to me is that Mateo's father immigrated from Spain to Puerto Rico in 1866. Mateo is the first person on my tree that I've discovered that doesn't have deep Puerto Rican roots on both sides. 

Together Rafaela & Mateo have 6 children together. The names of their children are: 
-Aida Galarza Torres 1917-1933
-Rafael Galarza Torres 1921-?
-Rosalia Galarza Torres 1924-?
-Antonio Luis Galarza Torres 1925-?
-Juan Benito Galarza Torres 1928-1988
-Zoila Galarza Torres 1930- living

After 18 years of marriage together, Rafaela's husband Mateo passes away in 1934. I was told that after this Rafaela was so heartbroken that she wears black dresses for the rest of her life. This explains why the only photo I have of her, she is dressed in black. This small detail into her life, is one of the only ones I know of. I admire her committed loyalty to her late husband. This says so much about her to me. I would of loved so much to meet & chat with her. 

I don't know much more about Rafaela, except I know she was very close to her 2 younger sisters Agripina & Joaquina. There was even a time when her sister Joaquina also becomes widowed, & her & Rafaela move in together. 

Lastly, records tell me that in 1983, at the age of 89, Rafaela dies of heart failure in San Juan, Puerto Rico. 

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Puerto Rico

About a year ago I read an article that said Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. went to Puerto Rico & spoke about civil rights. I wasn't sure how accurate this article was because in all my school days this was never brought up. With a little digging I discovered, it's true, King did visit the island. In fact, King visited Puerto Rico at least two times in his life time. Seeing how today marks the day we celebrate Martin Luther King Jr., I thought it would be a good time to share what I learned.

 These visits seem to be something most Puerto Rican's or most people in general, don't know took place. King traveled & gave many talks throughout his time.  Puerto Rico was lucky enough to be one of the places Mr. King hit twice. 

King's first visit was in 1962, he was invited to speak at what is now the Interamerican University of San German. During this same visit he also spoke at the University Of Puerto Rico in Rio Piedras. The fact that he was invited to come & than heeded the invite & spoke means so much. I know this was a time where many Puerto Ricans of African ancestry were still heavily experiencing discrimination & prejudices. I wonder if they really understood what a big deal Mr. King was in the US & what a privilege it was to have him there on their island influencing them for a future equal to all. I also wonder how well Mr. King knew that even in Hispanic circles that the issue of color was an ongoing problem.

3 years later, in the summer of 1965, King is invited again to Puerto Rico, this time to attend & speak at the World Convention of Churches of Christ, in San Juan. The convention was a big deal. This particular convention was well attended, I assume because the word got out that Mr. King would be there. There was a high of 11,000 people, mostly all from the mainland US but there were also 29 different countries being represented there as well.  Mr. King's entire speech that day can be read by clicking here. If you have the time I suggest that you do read it, because it is wonderful. Just reading what he said is so powerful & uplifting, I can only imagine what actually being there in person must of felt like. I did read that afterwards he signed people's bibles, with words of encouragement. 

What a day that must of been. Since his speech was in English, I wonder if it was later translated for all the Puerto Ricans to hear or read that were not bilingual. I wonder how these two visits may have impacted the island or if it even made much of a difference. I would like to think it did. I hope it brought them hope & made them feel like they were not alone. From now on this day will always remind me of the two visits Mr. King made to a small little island in the Caribbean that was feeling the same despair & experiencing similar trials to the ones he knew of.

This is my favorite quote from Mr. King. It wasn't one shared in Puerto Rico that I know of but still a great one. 

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness.

Only light can do that. 

Hate cannot drive out hate. 

Only love can do that."

 

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day!

to speak in what is now the Interamerican University in San Germán. He also spoke at the University of Puerto Rico in Río Piedras - See more at: http://www.latinorebels.com/2014/01/20/when-martin-luther-king-jr-visited-puerto-rico/#sthash.loLKluxB.dpuf

In fact, King visited the island at least two times in his life: in 1962 and in 1965 - See more at: http://www.latinorebels.com/2014/01/20/when-martin-luther-king-jr-visited-puerto-rico/#sthash.loLKluxB.dpuf

In fact, King visited the island at least two times in his life: in 1962 and in 1965 - See more at: http://www.latinorebels.com/2014/01/20/when-martin-luther-king-jr-visited-puerto-rico/#sthash.loLKluxB.dpuf

In fact, King visited the island at least two times in his life: in 1962 and in 1965 - See more at: http://www.latinorebels.com/2014/01/20/when-martin-luther-king-jr-visited-puerto-rico/#sthash.loLKluxB.dpuf