In New York

This week I'm attending the United Nations Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names at UN headquarters in New York. I have included a photo of the postcard for the meeting, showing New York written in different languages and scripts. The theme for the meeting is "A Map, A Name, An Identity." This theme resonates with my family history pastime, as all of these are essential to understanding the time and place of our ancestors.

I'll have more to add about the trip to NYC. Over the weekend, the family came up, and this was the first Amtrak ride for the kids & their first visit to New York. We took a lot of pictures, and hit the sights around Midtown (Central Park, the Zoo, the UN, Rockefeller Center & the Top of the Rock, MoMA, Grand Central Station, & more).

My 10th great-grandparents arrived in this place when it was called New Amsterdam in 1662, so I have an old connection to Manhattan.

As a student, my focus was on political science and international relations. Participating in this meeting at the UN hits a milestone for me. This is another reminder of how lucky I am to do what I do on a daily basis.

Photo by Patrick L Jones

Sepia Saturday - Saguaro National Park

Saguaro National Park, early 1950s

The photo above is from a set provided by my Aunt Patty, showing my Granny, Lydia Campuzano Reid, at Saguaro National Park outside of Tucson. I'm fairly sure the girl climbing on the fence is my Mom, and the photo is likely from the early 1950s.

Friday Photo - Anchors in Savannah

Photo by Patrick L Jones - Savannah, GA, July 2003

Vicente Jr in the 1st Arizona Infantry

As an update to Tuesday's post on the 158th Infantry, I received a reply from the Arizona Military Museum with a copy of Vicente Campuzano Jr's service cards. It appears he was less than a model soldier, and deserted the 158th on 13 October 1917, before the brigade was sent to France for World War I.

Vicente Jr joined the 1st Arizona Infantry on 10 May 1916 as a private. He served in Company E at Naco, Arizona.

Source: Arizona Military Museum files

It appears he did something in April 1917 to warrant two months hard labor and forfeiture of 2/3 pay.

Source: Arizona Military Museum

I want to thank Joe Abodeely and the Arizona Military Museum for replying so quickly to my inquiry.

It's important to put the time in 1916-1917 into context when looking at these documents. The border between Arizona and Mexico had a significant military and National Guard presence because of Pancho Villa's raid on Columbus, New Mexico in March 1916. Even before this time there were military actions because of fighting in Mexico. There were constant skirmishes and raids along the border (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pancho_Villa_Expedition).

The fighting in northern Mexico between the years of 1910-1918 is probably one of the reasons that my Granny's Campuzano family left Sonora for Arizona. There's more writing I need to do on the Mexican Revolution and its impact on Sonora during this time. I am going to have to park that for a few months and come back to that topic later.

Post-Military Life for Vicente Campuzano Jr
Vicente Jr returned to Sonora but is seen frequently crossing the border to visit family in Tucson. He married Celia Pompa, and they had at least three children:
- Estela Campuzano, born in 1923
- Fernando Campuzano, born in 1924
- Cecila Emma Campuzano, born in 1926

Estela later married Gilberto Gortari. Both Estela and Cecila Emma appear in the border crossing records going to visit their Aunt Concepcion Campuzano in Tucson.

Celia Pompa was born in 1906, she was the daughter of Fernando Pompa and Antonia Valencia Araiza.

In the 1930 Mexican Census, Vicente and Celia were living in El Cobre, Altar, Sonora, with their children and Celia's brother Bernardo Pompa.

Wordless Wednesday - Prague Jewish Quarter

Photo by Patrick L Jones - outside the Jewish Museum, Prague

158th Infantry in 1917

This photo is from the Arizona Memory Project at the Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records (part of the Arizona Military Museum collection), showing the 158th Infantry at Naco, Arizona on 6 October 1917. They are preparing to depart for service in World War I.

Source: Arizona Memory Project, Arizona State Library

Among the men in the 158th at the time was a Vicente Campuzano, who I believe was Vicente Jr, brother of my great-grandfather Plutarco Campuzano. I have an inquiry in with the Arizona Military Museum and Arizona State University's Archives, in the hopes that a service record for this Vicente exists. The 158th Infantry were sent to France, and later became known as the Arizona Bushmasters.

There is a lot more to this story, and I can't wait for more information.

Travel Tuesday - New York by Train

Very soon I have a conference at the United Nations in New York. For this trip, the family will join me for a few days, and we'll all the take the train up the Northeast Corridor to Penn Station. While they have been on the DC Metro, for the kids, this will be their first trip on a "big train".

I was my son's age when I rode the historic train at the French Lick Scenic Railway in Indiana, and I remember that being a fun trip. Big steam engines were much more common in Indiana's early days. While the Amtrak won't be the same as one of those old trains, I hope the kids enjoy the train ride to New York and back.

I had an email exchange this week with my Dad about the upcoming trip, and he mentioned that he took a train from Indianapolis to New York in 1959. He said it had a dining and observation car, and was a lot a fun for a 13-year old. Most likely he took the New York Central Railroad to Grand Central Station.

I rode Amtrak last June, taking the train to New York and back for the day. That trip was for a talk at the offices of Calvin Klein in the Garment District. I was particularly lucky with spectacular weather on that day, not too hot, sunny & low 80s. We are hoping for a repeat of that weather but the forecast looks pretty hot.

Photo by Patrick L Jones

Photo by Patrick L Jones

Elizabeth Lois Whitley

My great-grandmother, Elizabeth Lois Whitley, was born on 15 March 1901 in Elk Springs, Warren County, Kentucky. Grandma Lois passed away on 24 November 1988 in Martinsville, Morgan County, Indiana. In her last year she lived with me, my sister and parents near Martinsville, before moving into assisted living in town. I was in my freshman year of high school at the time, and didn't take the time to talk and ask questions of her when I had the opportunity. I didn't learn about her life, and the hurdles that she overcame, until much later.

Elizabeth Lois Whitley

The photo above is not dated, but I suspect is from 1946 or 1947 in Indianapolis, Indiana. My Granny, Lydia Campuzano Reid, is standing inside the house looking out at Grandma Lois, who is standing behind my Uncle Wayne Reid.

Elk Springs, Warren County, KY

Grandma Lois appears in the 1910 US Census in Rocky Hill, Barren County, Kentucky as "Lizzie L Whitley". She was living in the household of her parents, Thomas Whitley and Elizabeth Hayden Matthews.

Elizabeth Hayden Matthews died of breast cancer on 14 August 1915, leaving Lois without her mother when she was 14 years old.

At the age of 17, Lois left Kentucky for Indianapolis, Indiana, where some of her family, such as her sister Minnie and her mother's brother Felix Matthews had moved for better opportunities. She married fellow Barren County resident Alvin Read in Marion County on 8 February 1919. My grandfather, Leo Morris Read, was born on 10 June 1920 in Indianapolis. I'm not certain, but I think this may be a photo of Alvin and Lois from the early 1920s:

In the 1920 US Census, Lois and Alvin were living as boarders in the house of Oren and Minnie Whitley Sheeks, located at 1138 Belmont Avenue in Indianapolis. Minnie was Lois' older sister.

The couple returned to Barren County later in 1921. On 9 November 1921, Lois' second child, Charles Clifton Read, died at 7 days old. This must have been incredibly difficult for her. I suspect this led to the end of the marriage between Alvin and Lois.

By 1930, Lois had placed her 9-year old son Leo in the household of her oldest sister Mattie Whitley Goff and husband Clifton Goff in Glasgow, Kentucky. Alvin later moved to Benton Harbor, Michigan, while Lois moved into the household of her uncle Felix Matthews, working as a servant in his boarding house located at 1341 Kentucky Avenue in Indianapolis (today this land is located on the Eli Lilly campus south of Downtown).

Lois married Edward Turner before 1937 (Edward and Lois are listed in the Indianapolis City Directory in 1937 at 1341 Kentucky Avenue). In the 1940 US Census, Lois had taken over the boarding house at 1341 Kentucky Avenue from her uncle Felix. Lois and Edward Turner were operating a restaurant at the house. William Turner, Edward's son from his previous marriage, and my Grandpa Leo, were listed as living in the house.

Lois ran the restaurant called Turner's Lunch at the same location until she retired in 1963.

According to my Dad, Edward Turner was murdered (possibly following a card game) in the early 1950s, and as he could recall the case went unsolved. I'll have to look this up in the Indianapolis Star archives in Indianapolis. This would have been another hardship that Lois faced during her life.

I remember her being a stern woman, but looking back, she dealt with a lot, losing her mother at an early age, moving away from home and having two children before the age of 19, separating from her first husband, later dealing with her second husband's murder. She left behind the hills of Barren County, Kentucky and rose from being a servant in her uncle's house to operating a restaurant there for 30 years.

She outlived my Grandpa Leo, who died in 1985. Grandma Lois moved into my parents house in 1987. I don't recall that being an easy time for my parents, but it could not have been easy for her as well.

Grandma Lois' obituary noted that she was a member of the White Cross Guild, which was a non-profit organization founded in the 1930s to provide volunteer services to Methodist Hospital. The Guild published a cookbook titled Select Recipes and Health Charts in 1937 (a copy is available on the IUPUI website). I cannot confirm that some of Grandma Lois' recipes made it into this book, but I'd like to think that they did.

Source: IUPUI Collection, see link above

Right now I don't have much more to add. I had neglected telling her story. I know my parents and aunts have more stories on Grandma Lois to provide when they are ready, but for the time being this will have to do.

Mappy Monday - Warren and Barren Counties

The following map is from the David Rumsey Map Collection - Asher & Adam's Kentucky and Tennessee map of 1874. This shows the area of Warren & Barren Counties in Kentucky, along with adjoining counties Edmonson, Hart, Metcalfe and Logan.

Source: David Rumsey Map Collection

On my Mom's Read side of the family, her grandparents, great-grandparents and their families were in this confluence of counties. It has been somewhat difficult as they were living in the area between Bowling Green and Glasgow, Kentucky, and frequently crossed back and forth between county borders. I thought it would be helpful to have a bigger view of the area where they were living.

In February I wrote about the migration of the Read family from Virginia to Barren County, Kentucky. I also covered the Valentine's Day 1895 marriage of Charlie Read to Mary Alice Cain. I'm going to begin to pick up the story of the Read family and the Whitley family in the Barren and Warren County areas.

Friday Photo - Santa Monica

I have been in meetings this week in Los Angeles. The photos below are from 15 March 2010 in Santa Monica. The skies have been as beautiful this trip as it was in the set below. This has been a welcome break from the 100 degree temps in DC.

Photo by Patrick L Jones - Santa Monica Pier

Photo by Patrick L Jones - Santa Monica Beach

Our new headquarters is in Playa Vista, which has a fascinating history as the birthplace of Howard Hughes' Spruce Goose. I have some photos from this area and will post those another time.

While I've been out here this week I received some information from the University of Arizona Library on the Liga Protectora Latina, so I'll be posting that when I get a chance. This adds color to the time in which my 2nd-great-grandfather Vicente Campuzano was in Tempe and Tucson, Arizona. I also have a package of information being sent home by a helpful librarian at the Carson-Newman College Library in Jefferson City, Tennessee.

Wordless Wednesday - Cathedral in Old San Juan

Photo by Patrick L Jones - Old San Juan, 29 May 2004

Tech Tuesday - Google Newspaper Search

A little over a year ago Google quietly ended an ambitious newspaper scanning project (article via Search Engine Land here), but the links to historic newspapers are still available on Google's News Archive at http://news.google.com/newspapers. If you have not checked this paper for family history purposes, it is worth some time, and may help provide some context to the time in which ancestors were living.

The page is rather cumbersome because Google is not adding new sources to the archive, but there's an immense amount of newspaper pages available.

The image below is from the 2 June 1916 edition of the Prescott (AZ) Journal-Miner:

Isabel Portillo and Vicente Cruz

In the 1940 US Census entry for my Granny's Campuzano family, her grandmother Teresa Diaz de Portillo answered the questions from the census taker. Reflecting back as she answered the questions, Teresa stated that she had given birth to 10 children. I had previously only known about three: Manuela (my great-grandmother), Guadelupe Portillo, who was living with Plutarco Campuzano, Manuela and Teresa in the 1930 Census, and Isabel Portillo, who married Vicente Cruz and moved to Los Angeles. This post is on Isabel and Vicente.

Isabel Portillo
Isabel was born in Hermosillo, Sonora in 1903. From the Border Crossing records, Isabel arrived in the US at Nogales on 31 October 1922, about a month before her sister Manuela arrived on 28 November 1922. She had $12 with her, and arrived on foot, accompanied by her friend, Guadelupe M. de Villalobos. On the arrival manifest, the record states that she was going to join her aunt, Cleotilde Montano. This is the same person her sister Manuela and mother Teresa went to join in November 1922.

I checked the Tucson City Directory for 1924. Sure enough, Isabel was working at the Tucson Steam Laundry, and living with her sister Guadelupe and mother Teresa. Two new names also show up in this Directory - Ruby Portillo and Alfonso Portillo.

A year later, Isabel married Vicente Cruz in Tucson on 12 October 1925. The couple soon moved to Los Angeles in 1926. They had two sons:
 - Armando Cruz
 - Ramon Cruz

On 3 January 1933, the family crossed the border at San Ysidro (Tijuana), after visiting Isabel's uncle Francisco Mirazo in Hermosillo. Later that year, they visited Isabel's aunt Maria de Mirazo in Nogales. The family crossed the border back into the US on 9 October 1933. That crossing record included a photo of Isabel, and also shows additional crossing in 1934, 1935 and 1936:

The 31 July 1934 border crossing record shows that Isabel, Vicente, Armando and Ramon were visiting family ("half-brother Lopez") in Hermosillo, Sonora.

Isabel died on 11 November 1951 in Los Angeles.

Vicente Alvarez Cruz
Vicente Cruz was born in Guaymas, Sonora on 22 November 1903. Vicente's naturalization document provides a great amount of detail about the family. Vicente arrived in the US for the first time on 10 April 1920, from Altar, Sonora.

In the 1930 Census, the family was living in Los Angeles. Vicente was working in an iron foundry.

In the 1940 Census, the family was living at 1205 Prado Street, Los Angeles (East Los Angeles, near corner of East Olympic Boulevard, south of I-5). Isabel answered the questions from the census taker, as well as the supplemental questions. Her occupation was listed as "housework" and she did not have a Social Security number.

Vicente died in Montebello, Los Angeles County, California on 13 December 1988.

Declaration of Citizenship

I continue to look into documents on Antonio P. Campuzano. On 17 October 1898, Antonio renounced his Mexican citizenship and became a United States citizen before the District Court in Maricopa County, Arizona Territory.

Source: Ancestry.com US Naturalization Records

The source for this image is: National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington, D.C.; Naturalization Records of the U.S. District Court for the Territory of Arizona, 1864-1915; Microfilm Serial: M1615; Microfilm Roll: 1.

Petition to Incorporate Glendale

On 15 April 1910, a petition was filed calling for an election of qualified voters of Glendale, Arizona to incorporate their town. Antonio Campuzano was one of the signatories, along with a large number of names that are becoming familiar as associated with the Liga Protectora Latina. This document was found on the Maricopa County Recorders Office website.

On 4 June 1910 the special election was held, and the result was a vote in favor of incorporation for Glendale. There are a large number of names on this document who signed the petition in favor of incorporation.

Source: Google Maps

Today Glendale is known as the home of the Phoenix Cardinals NFL stadium, and is located northwest of Tempe and downtown Phoenix.

A New Find in Tempe

Every once in while in family history research a new thread of information comes along that opens up a greater appreciation for the richness of the time in which an ancestor lived. Yesterday I received some information that casts new light on my 2nd-great-grandfather's time in Tempe, Arizona.

The curator at the Tempe History Museum replied to my email inquiry from Wednesday asking about Antonio and Vicente Campuzano. He said that Vicente Campuzano appears in the 2 July 1915 edition of the Tempe News as Sergeant at Arms, Liga Protectora Latina, Lodge No. 1 in Tempe in 1915. Now this is really interesting. La Liga Protectora Latina was founded in 1915 as a mutual aid society, and was an early organization supporting civil rights protection and labor improvements for Mexican Americans in Arizona.

I have sent a follow-up note to the Museum, and to several others in Arizona for more information about La Liga Protectora. I already had a strong sense of pride in my Mexican-American heritage, but knowing that a direct ancestor played an early role in supporting immigrant rights is something I am eager to learn more about.

The following article appeared in the 18 May 1915 issue of the Prescott Journal-Miner:

The petitions from La Liga Protectora must have had an impact, as on 29 July 1915, the five men were granted a reprieve from hanging when their case was referred to the State Supreme Court by Judge McAllister of the Superior Court in Phoenix.

The following article appeared in the 2 August 1915 edition of the Arizona Republican:

Vicente Campuzano was likely one of the attendees at this drafting convention. I will have a follow-up post on La Liga Protectora soon.

Update 24 August 2012 - See 18 August 2012 post on Liga Protectora Latina.

Friday Photo - On the Vltava

This set comes from my recent meetings in Prague, Czech Republic. Just before sunset on the Vltava, 26 June 2012.

Photo by Patrick L. Jones - Charles Bridge

Photo by Patrick L Jones

Photo by Patrick L Jones

Photo by Patrick L Jones

Those Places Thursday - Tennessee Migration

The following map comes from the excellent David Rumsey Map Collection, and shows the density of interstate migration from Tennessee in 1890. This was produced in 1898. The attributed author is Henry Gannett, United States Census Office.

Image source: David Rumsey Map Collection

This is helps show the diffusion of Tennessee residents to other states during the time when my Tennessee Jones ancestors had migrated to Indiana and were beginning to travel west to Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, North Dakota and California.

Note: The image source can be found at http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~32007~1151355:Interstate-migration,-density-of-th?sort=Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No&qvq=q:tennessee;sort:Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No;lc:RUMSEY~8~1&mi=88&trs=421

Workday Wednesday - A Barber in Tempe

I continue to try to unravel the Campuzano connections in Arizona during the early 1900s. In May I wrote about my 2nd-great-grandfather, Vicente Plutarco Campuzano, and how he was living in Tempe, Arizona in 1915. Another Campuzano shows up in the US City Directories for Tempe and Phoenix during this same time, a barber named Antonio P Campuzano. I wonder if Antonio was a brother of Vicente.

Antonio appears twice, once with wife Petra at 417 E. Convent Alley, and a second entry showing an address at 309 E. Washington.

In the 1918 Tempe Directory, Antonio is located at 300 Mill Avenue.

 He also appears in the business directory for barbers in 1918:

He is listed in the same place, 300 Mill Avenue, in the 1919 Directory.

By 1921, Antonio had moved his barbershop to 402 Dewey and also his residence to 227 E. 5th Street in Tempe.

In the 1923 Directory, Antonio had moved again, and was now working in the barbershop of T.C. Thomas.

In the 1929/1930 City Directory for Tempe, Arizona, Antonio is still listed as a barber, living at 321 Mill Avenue (very close to Arizona State University and downtown Tempe).

In the 1930 US Census, Antonio is living in Tempe. The census taker misspelled his name as Antonio Campison. He was renting a place on 2nd Street in Tempe, Arizona (near 2nd & Mill Avenue), and was still working in a barber shop. He is shown as 60 years old and divorced. The census record also shows his immigration year as 1884.

I do not know if Antonio is related to Vicente Campuzano, but given his age, it is possible he was a younger brother of Vicente. I checked the 1940 US Census, and sure enough, Antonio Campuzano was listed, living at 306 E. 7th Street in Tempe. He is shown as 77 years old, divorced and unemployed.

My next step is to reach out to the Tempe History Museum and search for a possible obituary or other information on Antonio Campuzano that may help connect him to Vicente and others in the Campuzano family.

Update 24 August 2012 - After reviewing information provided by another Campuzano researcher, Antonio Campuzano and Vicente Campuzano were not brothers, but there is clearly some kind of family connection. We continue to work through the available documentation for the link between the two.

Wordless Wednesday - Monterey

Photo by Patrick L Jones - My sister & Sophia, 14 July 2011