Seeing new places

I am preparing for another trip, this time to Southeast Asia. This trip will mark my first visit to Thailand, including a first visit to Cambodia to see Angkor Wat. I am speaking at the 29th Sessions for the UN Group of Experts on Geographic Names. I previously attended the UNGEGN sessions in 2011 (Vienna), 2012 (NYC) and 2014 (NYC again), so it will be good to be at this event again. Blogging will be slow for the remainder of the month.

In May, I have a trip to Moscow, Amsterdam and Minsk, Belarus. I have been through Moscow a few times (see my Red Square photos from 2014) and Amsterdam many times. Some photos from a 2013 layover in Amsterdam are available here. Minsk will be a new place for me, and I am looking also forward to seeing the city and speaking at the first Belarus Internet Governance Forum.

There may not be many updates on the blog for a little while, but when I get back, I should quite a few photos and stories to share.

In the medina

A few more photos from Marrakech, Morocco, taken deep in the old medina after a wonderful dinner at Nomad Restaurant.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Marrakech, 9 Mar 2016.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Marrakech, 9 Mar 2016.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Lanterns in the medina.

Photo by Patrick Jones. View from the terrace at Nomad, Marrakech.

We loved the place so much we went twice. This will certainly be one of those restaurants that will stay in my head. We had excellent Moroccan couscous and tagine, shared with a fascinating group of colleagues from all over the world.

Junta Patriotica de Florence

I have written about the Liga Protectora Latina and their work in 1913-1916 Arizona in previous blog posts. It appears there were earlier Mexican American mutual aid societies before 1900 operating in southern Arizona. One such society was the Junta Patriotica de Florence. In July 1893, Jesus Olivas was part of this group, planning a celebration for Mexican Independence Day in Florence.

El Fronterizo, 15 Jul 1893

Even earlier, Jesus Olivas served as Second Secretary for the organization in 1890. The news clipping below is from 27 July 1890:

By 1895, Jesus was active in establishing a chapter of the Sociedad Alizanza Hispano-Americana in Florence:

El Fronterizo, 23 Feb 1895.

The AHA was a large mutual aid society, which grew from a small number of lodges in Arizona to over 88 by 1919 with 4000 members from California to Texas. This group certainly influenced Liga Protectora Latina, which my 2nd-great-grandfather Vicente Campuzano was active in from 1913-1916. Mutualista societies like the Sociedad Alizana Hispano-Americana offered low-cost insurance, provided death benefits for members, organized charitable events and social activities. They reached a peak of over 17000 members by 1939 and became associated with the civil rights movement. Arizona State University has an archive featuring the AHA collection (see https://laborrightsarecivilrights.wordpress.com/collections/alianza/). It is great to see Jesus was involved in this organization and used his musical talents to support charitable causes.

One of the best bands in the territory

This post is for Irene, my wonderful 2nd cousin on the Campuzano side who has been sharing photos, memories and great stories of her time growing up in Arizona and California during the past month. Her grandfather was Jose de Jesus Nunez Olivas, who was born in Ures, Sonora between 1849-1851. He moved to the US sometime before 1870, as he appears in Pima County in the 1870 US Census. Jesus later moved north to Pinal County, Arizona, and became a US citizen in 1874, according to the news clipping below.

Arizona Citizen, 7 Nov 1874

Jesus worked for a time as a court interpreter in Florence, Pinal County, and also worked as an interpreter for the local Board of Supervisors.

Jesus married Dolores Rodriguez in Pinal County on 7 September 1885. According to Irene, they had a huge family. Several of them can be seen in the 1900, 1910 and 1920 US Census entries. Here is a great photo of Jesus and Dolores, provided by Irene.

Jesus N. Olivas and Dolores Rodriguez, undated.

Jesus also had a musical talent. From various news articles in Florence, Tucson and the surrounding area his Olivas Orchestra was highly regarded as "one of the best bands in the territory." It is great to see how the band regularly played at charity events to support the local community in Florence, help with renovations to the church, and provide general entertainment for weddings and birthdays. The article below refers to Jesus as Prof. Olivas, which makes me wonder where he taught.

Florence Tribune, 20 Jan 1900. 

Arizona Weekly Citizen, 19 May 1894

El Fronterizo, 26 May 1894.

I found an article describing a Mexican Independence Day celebration in Florence, Arizona from 16 September 1899, with a wonderful description of the event and the role performed by the Olivas band.

Florence Tribune, 23 Sept 1899.

Florence Tribune, 12 Jan 1901.

I'll have a few more on Jesus and his charitable activities in the community in the following post.

John Gaw

On Sunday I started exploring the Gaw side on my maternal family tree, and quickly traced the family back to John Gaw. He was originally from South Carolina, and had moved with his father's family to Jackson County, Tennessee. In the 1836 Tennessee Early Tax list, John Gaw appears with his brother Wiley and father Thomas in Jackson County, Tennessee.

Ancestry, Tennessee Early Tax List, 1836. Jackson County, Tennessee.

John Gaw appears in the North Carolina and Tennessee Early Land Records database, for acquiring two 50 acre tracts of land in Jackson County, Tennessee in April 1835. One of those tracts was neighboring land owned by his father Thomas.

John married Nancy Pridemore sometime before 1830. They had at least the following children (I may be missing some):
- Andrew Jackson Gaw (born 1830)
- Francis Marion Gaw (born 31 Oct 1831, died 11 March 1897 in Denton County, Texas)
- Mary Ann Gaw (born about 1834)
- Elizabeth Gaw (born about 1835)
- Arminda Gaw (born about 1837)
- Franklin Gaw (born about 1839)
- Sarah E. Gaw (born about 1840)
- Judah Emeline Gaw (born June 1845, died 1914 in Overton County, Tennessee)
- Martha Amanda Gaw (born 14 Jul 1847, died September 1915)

Several researchers note John and Nancy divorced in 1855, I am in discussions with a Gaw researcher who has more information. I hope to have more on this very soon.

I have seen some researchers who list John's death in 1863, and he may have been a casualty to the Civil War.

John's father Thomas Gaw has quite an extensive history in Tennessee, and I will have more on that in upcoming posts.

Mappy Monday - Old Ninety-Six District

Before the Gaw family made their way to Jackson County, Tennessee, they were in South Carolina. My 7th-great-grandfather John Gaw died in Abbeville County, South Carolina sometime before October 1788. This was part of the old Ninety-Six District. From the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine, a map of the Ninety-Six District shows the area covered a five-county region in the northwest corner of the state.

Source: Wayback Machine, State of South Carolina.

Greenville County, South Carolina, which also features in the history of the Gaw family, was created out of the original Indian land shown in the 1785 map. Below is another map showing South Carolina's districts and counties between 1791-1799.

Source: Wayback Machine, State of South Carolina.

Exploring the Gaw side of the tree

Back in November 2015, I wrote about the family of my 3rd-great-grandmother Nancy Jane Flatt. She was a daughter of Pleasant Flatt, who was born in Jackson County, Tennessee. Nancy Jane's mother was Mary Gaw. I have this name from the death certificate of Nancy Jane's sister, Martha Flatt, who died on 23 December 1913. In the 1860 US Census, Pleasant Flatt and his second wife Mary A. Flatt were living in the 3rd District of Overton County, Tennessee. Mary Flatt was listed as 25 years old, which would put her birth year about 1835.

In the 1850 US Census, there is a 16-year old Polly Ann Gaw listed in the household of John and Nancy Gaw in District 9, Jackson County, Tennessee. Polly is a nickname for Mary, and at 16, her birth year would have been 1834, putting her in the right range to be the same Mary A. from the 1860 Census.

Ancestry, 1850 US Census, Jackson County, Tennessee.

Our AncestryDNA results have turned up quite a few matches to the Gaw family, especially to the families of John Gaw (born 1801, died 1863) and his parents, Thomas Gaw and Nancy Hood.

John Gaw was born in Greenville County, South Carolina. According to other researchers, his birth date was 3 February 1801. The Gaw family appears to have arrived in Jackson County, Tennessee around 1812. I have not yet verified this by checking for land deeds in Jackson County. In the 1830 Census, the Gaw family can be seen in Jackson County, Tennessee. John's father Thomas and several of John's brothers appear on this census entry. John Gaw was my 5th-great-grandfather, making Thomas my 6th-great-grandfather.

1830 US Census, Jackson County, Tennessee.

John Gaw appears in the 1862 tax assessment list in Jackson County, Tennessee. He had 195 acres.

I have not been able to verify this, but several researchers list his date of death as 13 March 1863. John Gaw appears in several North Carolina and Tennessee early land records, and I will highlight those in the next post.

1912 Fire in Tucson

While looking again at the Arizona newspaper archive, I found this article mentioning Ataulfo Campuzano from 10 May 1912 in Tucson (via the Copper era and Morenci Leader newspaper of Clifton, Arizona). He witnessed a fire and sounded an alarm, likely saving many lives. Ataulfo was a son of Jose Jesus Campuzano and Elvira Felix. Jose Jesus was a brother of my 2nd-great-grandfather Vicente Plutarco Campuzano.

Newspapers.com

I have not yet covered the family of Jose Jesus and Elvira in great detail. By coincidence I have been trading email throughout the month with a daughter of Ataulfo. Three of his children are alive and well. We first made a connection through our AncestryDNA results, where she showed up as a match for my Aunt. I reached out to see where the connection may be, and after exchanging information, it turns out we share a common ancestor in Vicente Antonio Campuzano. Out of respect for her privacy I will not reveal her name here, but it has been wonderful to see her photos of the family's journey from Mexico and to hear about her experiences.

Coba Ruins

This week's cold and rain in DC has me thinking of our Spring Break trip in Mexico. After visiting Chichen Itza, we hiked through the wonderful Coba ruins, about 30 miles northwest of Tulum, Quintana Roo, Mexico. Coba also features the largest pyramid in the Yucatan, which the public is still permitted to climb. It is a cool site, still partially covered by the jungle and spread out over a few kilometers. The kids were great and made it to the top.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Coba pyramid. 23 Mar 2016.

Photo by Patrick Jones. It is a long way down... 

Photo by Patrick Jones. Coba pyramid.

Photo by Patrick Jones. "Iglesia" pyramid, Coba.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Ball court at Coba. 

Photo by Patrick Jones. Kids at the top of a small temple.

The entrance fee is pretty cheap, 50 pesos to park, then about 40 pesos per adult. The kids were free. You can rent bikes to ride to the pyramids easier, but we just walked. The shade from trees in the jungle along the walk was nice. It is definitely worth a day trip. We skipped Tulum on this trip after seeing the ruins and continued on to our resort at Xcaret. Photos from that will have to wait for another post.

As a comparison, here are some photos of our Coba visit from 2005. There were a lot less people visiting the ruins back then.

Concepcion

In July 2015, I posted a short death record for my 3rd-great-grandmother Concepcion Amado from the Sonora Catholic Church records. In February 2016 I found a marriage record for Cirilo Campuzano dated 1893, showing Concepcion Amado to be from the Pueblo of Rayon, Distrito de Ures. In the Mexico Civil Registration records for Sonora, I found longer death record for Concepcion. This document also listed her parents to be Jesus Amado and Antonia Velez. While I have not yet been able to back this up from other records from Rayon or Ures, the find potentially provides the names of my 4th-great-grandparents.

It is difficult to read part of this document, but it shows Concepcion was living on Calle Zaragoza in Altar, which is also where Vicente Plutarco Campuzano was living in the 1930 US Census. It looks like Concepcion's son Jesus Campuzano was the informant. She was between 75 and 80 years old, depending on whether she was born 1818-1823 in the District of Ures. The various records I have seen so far are not clear on when she born.

I have seen some new AncestryDNA connections which hint at links to the Amado family and I am curious to learn more about this part of the tree.

Half Marathon #2

Yesterday I completed my second half marathon, running in the Charlottesville Half. I was on pace for 1:57 through the first 11 miles, but the killer hills over the last two miles did me in. I finished in 2:02.45.

Photo by L. Jones, me after the Charlottesville Half. 2 Apr 2016.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Starting line at the Charlottesville Half.

We had a cool morning with spotty light rain. The rain was never too heavy, and the conditions were great for a personal record. The only problem was I underestimated how difficult the hills were on the course. While there are hills throughout the race, the hills on miles 12-13 are truly brutal. No PR with this race, but I felt stronger than in last September's Navy Half. Although my time was about a minute slower than that race, I was more consistent (until my legs couldn't go any further climbing the finishing hill on mile 13).

Now the training begins to shift toward the Reykjavik Marathon in August. It may be a little while before taking on another half marathon, but I like the distance. I probably won't do the Charlottesville Half again. It was a nice, well organized race. But those hills! Congrats to all who ran this, including those brave runners who did the full marathon.

Chichen Itza, Part 2

This post is a continuation of Wednesday's feature on our visit to the UNESCO World Heritage site of Chichen Itza over Spring Break. After emerging from the path of the Osario pyramid, we were able to get our first look at the Castillo (also known as the Temple of Kukulkan). Seeing this the morning after the Spring Equinox was very cool for us and the kids. If you want to see what sunset at Chichen Itza on the Spring Equinox is like, this video on YouTube captures it pretty well.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Temple of Kukulkan, Chichen Itza. 22 Mar 2016.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Great Ball Court, Chichen Itza.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Great Ball Court, Chichen Itza.

The Great Ball Court at Chichen Itza is very impressive, with a field rivaling the size of a soccer or football field. Imagine trying to score a goal through one of the rings using only your hips, which is what the Mayan ball court players had to do in order to win the game. We were able to see a modern recreation of the ball game at Xcaret Park.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Temple at the Ball Court. Chichen Itza.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Chichen Itza, 22 Mar 2016.

Photo by Patrick Jones. The family in front of El Castillo.

Photo by Patrick Jones. House of a Thousand Columns.

In our 2005, we entered the park through the House of a Thousand Columns. Some comparison photos from that trip are below:

Photo by Patrick Jones. House of a Thousand Columns, Jan 2005.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Jan 2005.

Photo by Patrick Jones. View from top of El Castillo, Jan 2005.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Cenote Sagrado, Chichen Itza, 22 Mar 2016.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Mayan depictions of eagles and serpents.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Skull Platform. 22 Mar 2016.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Parting Shot at Chichen Itza. 22 Mar 2016.

I feel very lucky to have visited Chichen Itza twice, and I am glad the kids were able to see this. We were able to take them to another site, Coba, which provided a nice contrast to the Chichen Itza experience. I will have a separate post on our visit to Coba.