Migration: England and France

 What what?

That's right, we have a huge (the majority) of our ancestry is from Europe. Check out the generations and main families.

As if being descended from Portuguese Royalty is not enough, we also have French and English royal blood, according to the written records.  I did not put it together at first, but back in the day, royalty from one country married royalty from other countries for political reasons, land deals, financial reasons, appointments to nobility or other titles such as Dukes and Viscounts, as well as in exchange for future favors, reminding me of sports trades we do now. One situation I read about had a 5 year old marry a 3 year old because they needed the paperwork that the countries were now linked by marriage for a political issue!

Some of our English & French ancestors are somewhat famous as well, you will recognize many of the names: 

• Phillipa Plantagenet, of Leicester, Queen of Portugal (born from the English royal line of Plantagenet kinds). (1360-1415) wife of Joao I King of Portugal.
• John Plantagenet, of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster (1340-1399) born Belgium. Father of Phillipa.
• Blanche Grosmont of Lancaster Plantagenet (1345-1369) wife of John of Gaunt.
• Henry Plantagenet, Duke of Grosmont and Lancaster. (1310-1361), father of Blanche
• Isabel of Beaumont (1320-1361), Brienne, France. Mother of Henry Grosmont
• Henry de Beaumont (1280-1340), France, 4th Earl of Buchan, father of Isabel.
• Louis de Brienne (1235-1263) Brienne, France. Father of Henry Beaumont.
• John de Brienne (1170-1237), Brienne, France. Father of  Louis "1235". Count of Brienne, King of Jerusalem, Regent of the Latin Empire,

Brick wall after John de Brienne, he is my 20th GGF. 

Although there are some royals in the woodpile, there are more nobility than anything. Earls, Counts, Dukes, Duchesses, Viscounts, and Countesses are plentiful. We even have saints in the family! Will talk about those in a later post. More England and France... this lasted about 700 years!

• Eleanor of England, Queen of Castile (Spain). (1161-1214). Wife of Alphonso VIII.
• Henry II Plantagenet, King of England (1133-1189). Father of Eleanor and my 25th GGF.
• Geoffrey Plantagenet (1113-1151) Count of Anjou (France), father of Henry II.
• Fulk V, King of Jerusalem (1089-1143) born in France, died in Isreal. Father of Geoffrey Anjou.
• Ermengarde, Countess of Maine (1096-1126), France. Wife of Fulk V.
• Fulk IV, Count of Anjou (France). Father of Fulk V.

• Hughes I de Perche (989-1046) French Nobleman. Father of Fulk IV.
• Beatrice de Macon Roucy (953-982) Mother of Fulk IV.
• Alberic/Aubry II de Macon (953-982), Viscount and Earl of Macon, Viscount of Narbonne, and Lord of Salins. Father of Beatrice. France.
• Lietaud I (895-965), from France, and father of Alberic. He was Count of Macon.
• Aubri/Albric de Narbonne (880-961) France, Father of Lietaud I.
• Mayeul I, Vicomte (Viscount) de Macon (845-911) of France. Father of Lietaud I.
• Lindoin, Vicomte de Narbonne ( 810-880) Viscount of Narbonne. Father of Mayuel I.
• Fracon I, Vicomte de Narbonne (785-875), father of Lindoin.  

Brickwall, Fracon I is my 34th GGF.

Crossing to the female branch, we have more from France:

• Liutaud (Female) De Narbonne (b. 802 France), wife of Francon I.
• Alberic de Narbonne (b. 776 France), father of Liutaud.
• Compte Milo de Narbonne (d. 782, France). Father of Alberic.

Germany & Belgium

For a brief (in geneaology terms) period of 120 years or so, we had some Belgian and German ancestors, many were also royalty or nobility:

• Hertug Guerin von Thursgau (735-772) Argenburd, Germany, Count of Thurgovie, father of Milo.
• Rutpert im Haspengau, Count of Haspengau (689-764) Germany. Father of Hertug.
• Lantbertus II, Neustrasia (670-741) born Belgium, Bishop of Metz (France). Father of Rutbert.
• Chrodobertus II, Neustrasia, Count of Hesbaye (620-678). Father of Lantbertus II.
• Lambert I de Haspengau (b. 620-651) Count of Hesbaye & Wormsgau, Duke of Germany. Father of Chrodobertus.
• Chodobertus V, (595-694) Mayor of the Palace of Neustria, Bishop of Tours, Bishop of Paris, Duke of Alemania (Germany). Father of Lambert I.
• Charibert de Narbonne (585-636) Count of Haspengau, Duke of Germany, Father of Chrodobertus I.
• Charibert I, King of Franks (517-567). France, father of Charibert de Narbonne.

Brick Wall, Charibert I is my 42 GGF.

Back to France...

• Doda de Poitiers, French noblewoman, (659-678), wife of Chrodobertus V of Norbonne.
• Kunza Gunza of Treves, French nobility (630-677) of Metz. born France, died in Germany. Mother of Doda.
• Warinus de Pointiers, Saint. (d. 676 France) husband of Kunza.
• Saint Clodulphe Bishop of Metz (604-597) Metz, France. Father of Kunza.
• Saint Marie Clotilde Sigrade de Alsace (France, 615-677), Mother of Kunza.
• Bodilon de Treves, (595-643) France
• Saint Ansoau de Treves (545-627) France
• Geberge of the Burgundians (b. 565, France)
• Desederius , Bishop of Verdun (512-564) of France
• Gunobald of Lyon (490-590) France
• Latinus de Burgundy (465-565) France
• Afranius Syafrius, Governor of Gaul (Lyon, France, 345-?)

Next Chapter: Turks, Persians, and Greeks, Oh My!

Migration: How Did We Get to Mexico?

 I was curious about the family migration patterns, because I had heard a few snippets of information, such as our ancestors came from "deep, deep Mexico".  I know that my mother's family (Gloria Hernandez Rodriguez) might have as they had a lot of dark skinned relatives, but thought my father's side (Angelo Rodriguez) probably didn't as we had lighter skin on that side of the family.

Was I ever surprised!

Mexico to US (1912)

I started with Guillermo (Willie) Hernandez, my grandfather, because he was the first person in THIS BRANCH who was born in Mexico and died in Texas. To me, this means, his children were first generation US citizens.  He was born in 1914 in Guanajuato, Mx (which is very near Mexico City, in the middle of the country).  His father and grandfather Rafael (b. 1890) and Santiago (b. 1850) Hernandez were also born in Guanajuato. Before that, Santiago's father (Jesus Hernandez, b. 1821) and Jesus' father, Miguel Hernandez (b. 1800) were both born in Zacatecas, which is  a couple of states over in central Mexico. Miguel Hernandez from Zacatecas is my 4th great grandfather.

At the time, Guanajuato was known as a mining town, and many of the residents (the mine workers and their families) lived within communities near, if not on, the property of the mines (in Haciendas). In 250 yrs., Guanajuato was producing 30% of the world's silver, making the Spanish owners very rich. But, by 1810, the workers began a rebellion in a nearby town (look up "Grito de Dolores") to begin a war for Mexican Independence from their European occupiers.

By the late 1800's, Guanajuato had developed into a large city with other cultural and educational offerings. By the time Willie was born, they had their first college, newspaper, and had installed an electricity grid. They had added cattle , manufacturing, and beer production to their industries, and had begun large scale agriculture for trade.

Although a prosperous city, many still looked towards the United States as a place of opportunity and work for a better life. Willie migrated to the US in 1912.

In the meantime, his wife Petra Gonzalez (b. 1922 in Laredo, TX area) was already in Texas, a first generation American. Her father, Pedro was born in Nuevo Leon in 1877, and HIS father, Cayetano Gonzalez lived and died in Mexico (1868-1943) and Cayetano's father, Quirino (b.1838-?) did as well.  After these relatives, the trail hits a "Brick Wall", no further information can be found without additional clues. Quirino Gonzalez is my 3rd GGF in that line.

Backing up to Cayetano Gonzalez, my 2nd GGF, he married Petra Rivera around 1900, in or near Romero Rubio, Mexico City. According to the 1930 US Census, Cayetano and Petra immigrated to the US in 1914, and settled in the Hidalgo County area of Texas.  Prior to these ancestors, there were 5 generations which were settled in the Nuevo Leon, Mexico area. They descended from the first Europeans to show up in our tree, on that side of the family.  Their names were:

• Maria del Refugio Bernal (1862-1950) , Coahuila MX, mother of Petra Rivera
• Maria de los Santos de Anda (1841-1904), Nuevo Leon, MX, mother of Maria Bernal
• Jose Marcus de Anda (1820-1902), Nuevo Leon, MX, father of Maria de los Santos
• Jose Valentin de Anda (1775- ?death), Nuevo Leon, MX, father of Jose Marcus
• Pedro Luis de Anda (1722-1794) Nuevo Leon, MX, father of Jose Valentin

 The next, previous generations were settled in Jalisco, MX.  During this period, Jalisco was in its "Golden Age" of growth for New Spain, centering on the industry of cattle production as the main economic activity.  Many churches and Cathedrals were built, and convents as well. When the time for the War for Mexican Independence came, the Jaliscans were right in the fighting, with the other rebels of the time.

These families are:

• Pedro de Anda Altamirano (1697-??, )Jalisco, MX, father of Pedro Luis (above)
• Lorenzo de Anda Altamiano y Saenz ((1650-1721), Lagos de Moreno, Jalisco, MX, father of Pedro de Anda "1697", colonial elite
• Pedro de Anda Gomes de Portugal (1610-??), father of Lorenzo, and born in Mexico.
• Isabel Altamirano Guiterres de Soto y Carbajal (1530-born in Spain, Unk date, died in Mexico). She was one of the first Spaniards to migrate to Mexico. She is the mother of Pedro Gomez
• Joan Lopez de Nava, Duke of Portugal (1536-born Lisbon Portugal, unk date died in Mexico), father of Isabel Carbajal. He is the first Portuguese ancestor to migrate to Mexico.

Spain-Portugal to Mexico (1530)

According to my favorite McSource, Wikipedia, these Spaniards and Portuguese were coming to Mexico to colonize, along with the Conquistadors. There was a lot of gold and other resources to be exploited in this new land, and Portugal was on a huge expansion and seizing campaign all over the world, including West to the Americas and as far east as India. The Kings of Spain and Portugal were behind the expansion, and the colonists went where they were sent, as they were either nobility of these countries or actual royalty from the King's family.  There was also a group of Spanish Jews (Sephardic) who were fleeing the Inquisition, so they converted to Catholicism and volunteered to colonize.

The Spanish and Portuguese were not always nice once they arrived here.  The landing of the Conquistadors is considered to be around 1519 in the Central Mexico region. Between this date and the end of their campaign in the 1800's, they conquered the native peoples (Aztecs, and other civilizations) through invasion, taking of slaves, genocide, and passing along smallpox from the Europeans, effectively decimating the population (between 50-90%) between 1520 and 1576. 

The colonists and conquistadors also became rich, from silver mines, cattle industry, agriculture and improved trade with Europe. They even established a new name for the territory, Nuevo Galicia or New Spain.  They continued to dominate the indigenous people until the War of Independence gave most of the self governance back by the 1860's. There would be many times that power changed hands before that, however.

The Portuguese Period (1357-1521)

The Portuguese branch of the tree lasts about 164 years. There are many royals in this family line, lucky I guess. This is, remember, Willie Hernandez and Petra Gonzalez, family lineage. Those siblings of Petra and Willie will have some of the same ancestry, but not all. I will eventually get to everyone. Volunteers will be energetically accepted!

Starting with the father of Joan, Duke of Portugal , the ancestors are:

• Luis Avis Juan Gomez III, Duke of Portugal (1506-1555)
• Manuel I, King of Portugal (1469-2532), father of Luis
• Ferdinand Visieu, Duke of Portugal (1433-1470), father of Manuel I
• Duarte I, King of Portugal (1391-1438), father of Ferdinand
• Joao I, King of Portugal and Algarves (1357-1433), father of Duarte I

At this point, we hit another brick wall, and Joao is my 16th Great Grandfather on that branch.

The next Chapter will be: England and France, What What?

Merovingian Kings

I followed a thread down the rabbit hole.  And how long did it take? 2 days and I ended up with the 48th great grandfather, Marcian of Thrace (Byzantium now Turkey).  There is so much history here, but I wanted to get these names recorded in case any of you wanted to look them up.  

This line starts with me and covers 48 generations back to the year 392 AD (CE). We have Spanish (SPN), French (FRE), Portuguese (PRT), Belgium (BEL), Greek (GRE), Turkish (TUR) and Roman (ROME) in our blood. We have Kings and Queens, Counts, Dukes, Dutchess, and even a couple of Saints in our bloodline. It is more powerful that I ever imagined, and that is just one line through Petra.  It is very similar for her siblings, but I have not traced anyone else's back just yet.

Just think, Kings of Portugal! Charlemagne the Holy Roman Emporer! Merovingian Kings (remember Da Vinci Code?)  By the way, "infante" in this list means "Prince or Princess". These are important distinctions of nobility and royalty also.  

I give you... 48th GGF, Marcian of Thrace

• Marcian, 392-457, 48th great-grandfather (GRE)
• Aelia Marcia Euphemia 453-472, Daughter of Marcian (TUR)
• Alypia de Rome 435-467, Daughter of Aelia Marcia Euphemia (TUR)
• Caratene Agrippina Queen of Burgundy de Narbonne, de Bourgogne 448-486, Daughter of Alypia de Rome (FRA)
• Queen Ingoberge of Paris 520-589, Daughter of Caratene Agrippina Queen of Burgundy de Narbonne, de Bourgogne  (FRA)
• Clothilde (Saint) De Metz of Heristal 564-611, Daughter of Queen Ingoberge of Paris  (FRA)
• Doda Oda Lady of Heristal (Doda of Metz) Merovingian 584-615, Daughter of Clothilde (Saint) De Metz of Heristal(BEL)
• Saint Clodulphe Bishop Metz 604-697, Son of Doda Oda Lady of Heristal (Doda of Metz) Merovingian  (FRA)
• Kunza Gunza of Treves Poiters van Metz 630-677, Daughter of Saint Clodulphe Bishop Metz (FRA)
• Lambert, Count of Hesbaye 669-742, Son of Kunza Gunza of Treves Poiters van Metz (FRA)
• Rotrude of Hesbaye -724, Daughter of Lambert, Count of Hesbaye(BEL)
• Pippin III (The Short, King of the Franks) 714-768, Son of Rotrude of Hesbaye(BEL)
• Charlemagne (Holy Roman Emperor) Carolingien 742-813, Son of Pippin III (The Short, King of the Franks)(GER)
• Berthe Carolingien 775-825, Daughter of Charlemagne (Holy Roman Emperor) Carolingien (GER)
• Arsinde of Ponthieu 798-814, Daughter of Berthe Carolingien (FRA)
• Berthe Comtesse consort de Toulouse Reims 814-887, Daughter of Arsinde of Ponthieu(FRA)
• Fraquiline de Toulouse 845-887, Daughter of Berthe Comtesse consort de Toulouse Reims(FRA)
• Dadalis de Pallars, Daughter of Fraquiline de Toulouse (FRA)
• Sancho I de Pamplona Garces 860-925, Son of Dadalis de Pallars(SPN)
• Sancha , reina consorte de León, de Navarra Sánchez 897-959, Daughter of Sancho I de Pamplona Garces(SPN)
• Sancho I, Conde de Castilla, el de Buenos Fueros 965-1017, Son of Sancha , reina consorte de León, de Navarra Sánchez(SPN)
• Ximena de Castilla 959-994, Daughter of Sancho I, Conde de Castilla, el de Buenos Fueros(SPN)
• Munio Fernandez de Toro 959-994, Son of Ximena de Castilla(SPN)
• Gontrode , Infanta de Castilla Moniz 1060-1128, Daughter of Munio Fernandez de Toro(SPN)
• María Soares da Maia 1120-, Daughter of Gontrode , Infanta de Castilla Moniz (SPN)
• Tello Perez de Meneses -1200, Son of María Soares da Maia (SPN)
• Alfonso Tellez (El Viejo) de Meneses 1161-1230, Son of Tello Perez de Meneses (SPN)
• Mayor Alfonso de Meneses 1234-1264, Daughter of Alfonso Tellez (El Viejo) de Meneses (SPN)
• Maria de Molina 1265-1321, Daughter of Mayor Alfonso de Meneses (SPN)
• Beatrice of Castille 1293-1359, Daughter of Maria de Molina (SPN)
• Peter I of Portugal 1320-1367, Son of Beatrice of Castille (SPN)
• John I of Portugal of Aviz 1385-1433, Son of Peter I of Portugal(PRT)
• John Infante Aviz, Constable of Portugal 1400-1442, Son of John I of Portugal of Aviz(PRT)
• Beatrice, Duchess of Viseu of Portugal 1430-1506, Daughter of John Infante Aviz, Constable of Portugal(PRT)
• Ferdinand, Duke of Visieu van Portugal 1433-1470, Son of Beatrice, Duchess of Viseu of Portugal (PRT)
• Manuel I, King of Portugal & The Algarves 1469-1521, Son of Ferdinand, Duke of Visieu van Portugal(PRT)
• Louis Avis Duke of Beja de Portugal Juan Gomez III 1506-1555, Son of Manuel I, King of Portugal & The Algarves, (PRT)
• Juan or Joanes (Captain, Duke of Portugal) Gomez De Portugal y Lopez De Nava, mmx 1536-1610, Son of Louis Avis Duke of Beja de Portugal Juan Gomez III(PRT)
• Isabel Altamirano Gutierrez de Soto y Carbajal 1530-, Daughter of Juan or Joanes (Captain, Duke of Portugal) Gomez De Portugal y Lopez De Nava, mmx(PRT)
• Pedro de Anda Altamirano y Gomes Portugal 1610-, Son of Isabel Altamirano Gutierrez de Soto y Carbajal (MX)
• Lorenzo de Anda Altamirano y Saenz de Vidaurri 1655-1721, Son of Pedro de Anda Altamirano y Gomes Portugal (PRT)
• Pedro De Anda Altamirano 1697-, Son of Lorenzo de Anda Altamirano y Saenz de Vidaurri (MX)
• Pedro Luis De Anda 1722-1794, Son of Pedro De Anda Altamirano (MX)
• Jose Valentin De Anda 1775-, Son of Pedro Luis De Anda (MX)
• Jose Marcos De Anda 1820-1902, Son of Jose Valentin De Anda(MX)
• Maria de los Santos De Anda 1841-1904, Daughter of Jose Marcos De Anda(MX)
• Maria Refugio or del Refugio Bernal 1862-1950, Daughter of Maria de los Santos De Anda(MX)
• Petra Rivera Gonzales 1882-1925, Daughter of Maria Refugio or del Refugio Bernal (MX)
• Petra Gonzales 1922-2012, Daughter of Petra Rivera Gonzales  (TX)
• Gloria Rodriguez 1942-, Daughter of Petra Gonzales  (TX)
• Li'l Old Me

Wow. More to come on these, eventually.

Rafael & Antonia Estrada (my Great Grandparents), and Ed Palomares

We know Guillermo Sr. "Willie" Hernandez (my grandfather) was born on 1 JUN 1914 • Jaral de Berrios, Guanajuato, México, and died 6 NOV 1946 • Harris, Texas.  He is buried at Houston's historic Hollywood Cemetery, but does not have a grave marker. If you wanted to visit, they could look up the location for you, approximately. It would be so cool to take up a donation and put a marker there for him.

He had three kids while here and married to Petra, they lived in Houston at the time. Gloria is the oldest, then Bill, then Gilbert.  Petra was still pregnant with Gilbert when Willie died.  They lived at a house in Houston on McKee St. I am not sure if it was a boarding house or a one family house where several families lived, but there were multiple families there according to the death certificates of Willie and his half sister, Euphenia, who died of tuberculosis three years after Willie died. Her and her parents' address is the same as his, and his parents, 814 McKee St. I have even driven by there. There are houses and businesses, but I am sure they are not the original house they lived in.

Of note, Willie and Petra also had a daughter in 1945, Cecelia, who died at 18mos from meningitis.

Willie's father was Rafael Hernandez (my first great grandfather), born 1890 in Mexico, and dying in 1914, two years after Willie left for the US. He died in Jaral de Berrios, Guanajuato, México, where Willie was born, of what looks like "hemorrhagia" or hemorrhage. There is no other information on cause of death.  

Records show he married Antonia Estrada (my Great Grandmother) in Jarral de Berrios also, which at the time was a Hacienda. This was like an estate, or small, self-contained town. This one was known for its Mescal production, and still is!  

Antonia was born in 1894 in Mexico, but we do not yet know a city.  Rafael and Antonia married in 1913, and had only one child together who we could find records for, Guillermo (Willie), who was born about a month after Rafael died, in 1914.  All these events took place in Jaral de Berrios, Guanajuato, México.  Antonia also came to the US in 1914. 

By 1920, Antonia (and presumably, Willie) were in Colorado County Texas, where they were on the 1920 census and lived in Fayette, TX with her uncle and cousins. The same year, she married again, a 25 year old Eduardo Palomares. She was 19.  By family stories he was a native American, but he was born in Chihuahua, MX by his records. Together, they had 6 children between 1921 and 1934. This photo is of Ed, Antonia, and 3 of their kids. 

Ed died at age 50 due to suspected malarial fever. Antonia lived until 1992 when she died in Houston at age 98 of unknown causes. (No death certificate yet).  

Antonia's oldest daughter, Rafaela, lived to the age of 70, and had 8 children with her husband Dave Andrado. They also spent their lives in the Harris County area. They probably lived in the same house as Willie Hernandez, her son by Rafael, and his wife as of 1946, because her daughter Euphenia (Willie's half-sister) would die at age 21 of tuberculosis, the same illness that killed her brother Willie, 3 years earlier.

Antonia also had a daughter or son (Trena or Irena) who died at 18mos of age from pneumonia. They lived in Weimar at the time. Her son Eulalio "Lalo" was in the military, although there are some records that state he was a Marine and one that states he was in the Army. He married and had 3 kids, and lived in the Houston area. He died at age 61.  Her youngest son, Quirino, lived to age 79, and raised 9 children in the Houston/Harris county area.

As well as having 7 children, Antonia had a number of siblings, and half siblings (17 total! ). Most of them were born in central Mexico (Guanajuato and Zacatecas areas), but ended up in the US. I was able to find a photo of one brother, Asencion Estrada, who was a farmer in the Dimmit County area of Texas where he married twice and raised 8 children. 

The Mystery of Susano Palomares

Antonia also had a son named Susano, who died (family stories say) as he attempted to walk home (to Texas) from California. The story was that he had been sent money to come home but spent it. So he tried to walk. 

Death Index records list his place of death is listed as Riverside, CA in 1959. I am trying to get a death certificate to confirm, but that takes weeks.  Even the burial records do not list a cause of death.

What we do know about Susano, is that he was a WWII vet, PFC Battery B, 390th Coast Artillery Batallion.  He had a Bronze Star (for Valor), American Theater Medal, Good Conduct, and European-American-Middle Eastern Campaign medals. Coastal artillery is the branch of the armed forces concerned with operating anti-ship artillery or fixed gun batteries in coastal fortifications.

If anyone knows more information about Susano, or anyone for that matter. Please contact me and let me know so we can get the story straight. Photos and other documents are also appreciated.

How Does This Work?

 I have been way into the research for the last week, trying to see how far back I can go, in each branch of the family, before I fill in the details.  But the details are so interesting, I get distracted and off down a rabbit hole before I get back on track.  I will try to provide a general summary of what I have found, then post the details later on.

I am starting from my particular grandparents, but if you have the same family line, for example, Petra and Willie Hernandez' kids (Gloria, Guillermo, and Gabriel),  will have the same relatives (branches) until the point they marry and have children. As long as that person has a direct line to Willie, by blood, they will have the same ancestors as I do. So all of their kids are related to my relatives on Willie's family tree.

 If they have a different grandparent than I do, they will also have that grandparent's ancestry, as far back as they have a direct blood line. So my cousin Joe Blow, who comes from Tony Blow and Mary Smith, and Tony Blow's (parents Petra Hernandez and Jebediah Blow) will have Petra's ancestry, but not Willie's, because he is not Willie's blood grandson. Even though I am cousins with Joe Blow, we have only SOME of the same ancestry, through Petra Hernandez.

Petra Hernandez had three sets of children from different spouses: Willie Hernandez, Martin Perez, and Lucas Lerma.  These will be three separate branches of the family, with shared ancestry of the kids produced from Petra and that husband.  For right now, I am following Willie Hernandez' branch.

If you have questions, feel free to ask them in the comments and I will try to explain. I am still learning also, and the ancestors are all over the place, but luckily, there are many resources, most online, that save tons of footwork, of going to the library and the state and the church and county for the records, especially in other countries, like Mexico.

The closest relatives are from Mexico.

Willie, the Grandfather I never met

I started researching Willie (Guillermo Hernandez, Sr.) as the father of my mom Gloria, Uncle Bill (Guillermo Jr.), and Uncle Gilbert Hernandez. I remember when Grandma was being moved from her house into the nursing home, we went to her house to help with the packing up. We were talking to Uncle Gilbert, and my mom mentioned she did not remember her birth father as he died when she was 4 years old. Gilbert had a portrait of Willie that my mom had never seen before. She did not remember him. 

He died in Houston at age 32 from pulmonary tuberculosis. My mom was the oldest, then Uncle Bill, then a daughter was born named Cecilia, who died at 2 years of age from meningitis. Uncle Gilbert was their youngest child, as Petra was pregnant with him when Willie died. 

 Another interesting thing at that time, was that there was someone else living at that address, who also died of pulmonary TB. I found out it was Willie's cousin, Euphenia Palomares, who died 3 years later at age 20. It must have been so sad to have multiple people getting sick from each other in the family, and some of them passing away. It seems a lot like now, with COVID 19 affecting households like that in many circumstances. 

 Willie married Grandma Petra in 1944. He was from Guanajuato, Mexico, which is smack in the middle of the country. If Mexico was a leg, Guanajuato would be the knee. His parents were also from Guanajuato, and it seems that his line of relatives came from there for a couple of generations. His father, Rafael and grandfather Santiago Hernandez, were both from the area. His mother, Antonia Estrada was born in the Columbus, TX area. His grandmother, Severiana Garcia, comes from la Noria, Zacatecas, MX. (more like the thigh of the leg that is Mexico). 

Only one, so far, is from the southern area, Oaxaca MX. One thing to remember, there are now a lot more people on Ancestry.com with family trees, and the bulk of the information I am getting, well at least 1/2, is from other family trees. We have lots of relatives out there, and I continue to be amazed at how many kids these people had! The record is 15 so far, but there were a lot of kids born in most of the families. Part of that, I am guessing, is from the Catholic church forbidding birth control, but also, they just did not really have birth control. Many had lots of kids to have help on the farm. That is not scientific, but just my guess. So far, I have traced Willie back to his 5th generation on his father's branch, back to about 1800. The mother's branch looks to go back further, so that will be another story, in time.