Another 1940 Census Find - Campuzano Family

Quick evening search on the 1940 US Census resulted in another find - my Granny and family in Tucson, Arizona. I have not yet posted much about my extensive Mexican roots, although I did post a Wordless Wednesday photo of my great-grandmother Manuela Portillo and of my Granny's Campuzano siblings. I will have quite a bit more about the family and their journey from Sonora, Mexico to Arizona.

In 1940, the family was living at 196 1/2 Simpson Street, in the Barrio Viejo neighborhood of Tucson. The family included my great-grandfather, Plutarco Vasquez Campuzano, great-grandmother Manuela Portillo (both born in Sonora), and daughters Jessie, Lydia (my Granny), Berta, Gloria, and sons Manuel (Manny), Ernesto (Ernie) and Plutarco (Bobby). The children were all born in Arizona, and I have found their birth certificates on the Arizona Department of Health website.

 
The household also included my 2nd-great-grandmother, Teresa Diaz de Portillo. She died on 16 June 1940. It is interesting that the census taker has her listed as 80 years old, I've seen other records indicating she was born in 1867 (so she would have been 73 in 1940). Teresa also answered the Supplementary Questions in the Census. Her native language was Spanish, and her occupation was "housework".

I knew Teresa was widowed, as she also appears in the household in the 1930 US Census, but the supplemental questions provide additional information. She told the census taker that she was married at the age of 20 (approximately 1887), and that she had given birth to 10 children(!). I've previously only known about three - my great-grandmother Manuela, her sister Guadelupe (who was living with the family in 1930), and her sister Isabel (who married Vicente Cruz and moved to Los Angeles by 1926). I didn't know about the 7 other children, so it looks like I'll be searching for more Portillos in the records.

A copy of the page from the 1930 US Census record is below, showing the family in Tucson:

My great-grandfather Plutarco was a painter, and he lived to be 96 years old. I met him in the late 1980s, I'm looking for the date to see when we made the trip to Arizona.

This is a photo of Plutarco and Manuela from approximately December 1923:

I am very proud of this heritage. My Granny and her 8 siblings were the first generation born in the United States.

The borders between Arizona and Sonora were much more open back then, and there were frequent crossings of our family in the Border Crossing records. They were very much a Mexican American family, and often visited relatives in Sonora. I will post more about these connections in the coming months. Plutarco's father, my 2nd-great-grandfather Vicente Campuzano, appears in the 1930 Mexican Census, and often in the Border Crossing records visiting the family in Tucson.