Juan De Leon

Juan De Leon was the eldest son of Pedro De Leon and Petra Rivera. He was born 28 Jan 1904 in Mexico (if the records are right, in Guadalajara) and died in Texas in 1 Aug 1971 in Laredo Texas at age 67.

The 1920 census shows Juan at age 16 living in Webb Texas with his father, Pedro, and five of his siblings, Juanita 12, Severa 9, Victoria 8, Pedro 6, and Pascual 2. It lists his mother's name as Refugio, but his mother's name was Petra Rivera. This was some kind of error which happened often in census' taken especially by anglo census takers. By 1920, she would have been age 19. I do not find her in the census for 1920 anywhere else, but the chances are this is Petra Rivera, as she is listed as age 36.

The 1930 Census for Webb County, TX has Juan living with his wife Lilia 22, son Rodolfo 5, Olivia 2, and Edwardo age 1. It lists his occupation as truck driver for an oil company. His age is 24. It also states he and both of his parents were born in Texas. They had another family living with them at that time, listed as boarders: Simon Perez (age 25), Victoria Perez age 16, and Roberto Perez aged 6 mos.

In 1923, there is a record of a border crossing from Mexico to Texas by Juan De Leon aged 19. States he was born in Guadalajara. But this may be a different person because because Juan was born in the states.

Juan and Lilia had 9 children altogether; Rodolfo DeLeon (1925-1990), Amada DeLeon Webb, Olivia DeLeon (Deceased), Eduardo DeLeon (Deseased), Juan DeLeon (Deceased), Mario DeLeon, Elva DeLeon Bivings, Lauro DeLeon, Elsa DeLeon Garza.

More information is needed about Juan's family and more photos.

Refugio "Cuca" De Leon Pena

"Cuca" De Leon Pena was the eldest daughter of Pedro De Leon and Petra Rivera. She was so much older, she served as a second mother the the younger kids, and Cousin Mary Margaret Garcia says she learned a lot about life from tia Cuca.

She was born 23 Oct 1901 in Webb County, TX (which is where Laredo is, and where most of the other kids say they were from, Mirando City). There is one record of a Refugia Pena crossing the border from Mexico in 1913, at age 12, but it is unclear if this is she, because this person she was alone at the time and Cuca was born in the US, so why would she be crossing the border from Mexico into the US alone?

There is a 1910 census which shows a Refugio Pena, age 9, living in Guadalupe, TX with her mother listed as Anna Pena, and little brother Pedro, 4. Cuca has a brother Pedro, but her mother was Petra Rivera, so that may not be the right person.

In 1930 census, however, there is an entry in Harris County, TX for Refugio, age 26, Pedro Pena (spouse age 25), son Juan age 5, Gonzalo age 2, and Maria age 4 mos.

I cannot so far find records of her marriage to Pedro Pena.

Cuca had 5 children, her son Juan "Johnny" Pena was born in 1925, Gonzalo "Chango" b. 1927, Mary Pena b. 1929, and Jose "Joe" Pena year of birth unknown. Pedro "Pete" Pena, birth date unknown.

Cuca passed away in Harris County, in 1982 at age 81.

Petra Gonzales Hernandez Perez

Petra Gonzales was born 18 Feb 1922 in Laredo, TX. She was one of 10 children born to Pedro Gonzales De Leon, and Petra Rivera. The siblings are as follows: Refugio "Cuca" born 1901, Juan born 1904, Juana born 1907, Severa born 1909, Victoria "Vica" born 1912, Pedro "Chacho" born 1914, Pascual born 1918, Elvira born 1920, and Merced born 1923.

Petra and Guillermo Hernandez and had four children; Gloria, Guillermo Jr, Cecilia, and Gilberto. With Martin Perez, she had a son, Baby Boy Perez born 1941, Mathilda born 1948, Martin Jr. born 1950, John born 1957, and Linda born 1961. Baby Boy Perez died shortly after birth, having never received a name.

Petra had two other children, son Antonio Lerma, with Lucas Lerma of Las Jaras, TX. And a stepson, Vincent Trevino Perez, who was a son of Martin Perez Perez.

Petra lived most of her life in the Brookshire area, raising her children and working at various restaurants. She is still living at age 88 years.
























L to R
Refugio, Juana, Severa, Victoria, Elvira, Petra













L to R
Juan, Victoria, Pedro, Severa, Merced, Petra

Cecilia Hernandez

Cecilia was born 20 Nov 1945, in Houston TX, to Petra Gonzales and Guillermo Hernandez, Sr. She died 26 Feb 1947 at age 15 months from meningitis.

There are no known photographs of Cecilia at this time. She is buried at Hollywood Cemetary in Houston. Her grave is unmarked.

Guillermo Hernandez

We will start with Guillermo Hernandez Sr., both because he is the father of my mother, and because his story was very interesting, once we found out what it was.

Guillermo was born 21 Jun 1914, in Mexico. He married Petra Gonzales (date unknown) and they had four children; Gloria born 1942, Guillermo Jr. born 1943, Cecilia born in 1945, and Gilberto born in 1947. Cecilia died in 1946, at age 15 months from meningitis in Harris County.

One story was that Guillermo worked at a construction site, and died from a fall at work at a young age. Another story said he was killed in a fall at a chemical plant, where he worked as a tank cleaner. One also said he died from alcoholism. The real cause of death of Guillermo Sr., though was pulmonary tuberculosis. He died in Houston on 6 Nov 1946 at age 32. We found this out from his death certificate, and from the funeral home log from 1946 at Hollywood Cemetery in Houston, where he is buried.

Of interest is that when Guillermo died, Petra was pregnant with Gilbert. And 3 months later, she lost her daughter, Cecilia. She had it really hard at that time.

Guillermo's parents were Rafael Hernandez, born 1884 in Mexico, and Antonia Estrada, born 1895. She and Rafael had two other children, Quirino and Rafaela (birth unknown at this time). Antonia then married Edwardo Palomares, and had more children with his name. These children are step uncles and aunts to my mother, Gloria Hernandez Rodriguez. The photo of Guillermo above was never seen by my mother until 2010, when her brother Gilbert showed it to her. Neither she nor any of Guillermo's kids had seen photos of their father, he died so young.