Back Again

Photo by Patrick Jones. Artist at work in Alexandria, VA. 28 Apr 2018.

I am back in the US after several flights from the Middle East. I didn't blog last week because I was running a technical training and participating in a two day conference in Turkey. Posts to the blog have been much slower this year. While I have been to Turkey many times, this was my first visit to Ankara, the capital of the country.

While I was overseas, Ancestry has been running a great promotion for its AncestryDNA kits at $59. I am hopeful that two months from now I'll see some more DNA matches in the results I administer. There have been some recent exchanges with interesting matches on the Mexican side of the tree, and it is timely to be able to dig into those links with Cinco de Mayo approaching.

A Blue Ribbon Gardener

Source: Arizona Daily Star, 14 March 1968.

In Tuesday's post, I wrote about Concepcion "Concha" Campuzano, sister of my great-grandfather Plutarco. She was a champion horticulturalist, and regularly won prizes for her African violets in Tucson. Excellent gardening skills seem to run in the Campuzano family, my Granny's brother Ernie operated an orchid greenhouse in California.

Arizona Daily Star, 17 March 1963.

Arizona Daily Star, 8 April 1962.

Digging into Arizona Marriage Records

While looking around on Ancestry, I found a few records that I had missed previously for my great-grandfather Plutarco Campuzano's sister, Concepcion "Concha" Campuzano. She had first married John Dobson in Pinal County, Arizona. At some point prior to 1925, she separated from him, and settled with Italian immigrant Samuel Polito (formerly Ippolito). Concha and Sam married in Tucson on 16 May 1929, after the birth of two of their three children.

Source: Ancestry. Arizona Marriage Records, Image 429 of 960.

Source: Ancestry. Image 429 of 960.

The marriage record from May 1921 indicates Concha was 19, but really she was 17 at the time.

Source: Ancestry. Arizona Marriage Records.

John Dobson was a brother of Edward Dobson, who also married a cousin of Concha's, Rosaura Campuzano. Rosaura was a daughter of Jose Jesus Campuzano, brother of my 2nd-great-grandfather Vicente Campuzano.

A home in Barrio Viejo

Source: Arizona Daily Star. 18 May 2012.

Back in May 2012, I wrote about the neighborhood of Barrio Viejo in Tucson. This is where my Granny's Campuzano family settled far moving to Tucson in the early 1920s. The photo above shows the home of Antonio and Eloisa Bustamante, 2nd-great-grandparents of my cousin, who I have been assisting with his family history queries after identifying his connection to the Campuzano family. Antonio was a merchant and rancher, who had a lease with Albert Steinfeld, a well-known grocer and merchant in Tucson.

Helping a connection

At the beginning of March, I received a note through Ancestry from a DNA connection. I was in Puerto Rico at the time for meetings and not able to respond immediately, but I could tell he was a close connection as he was listed as a potential 2nd-3rd cousin. A few weeks later he sent me a reminder and I took a closer look. This connection only had four names on his tree, but one appeared to be of Spanish or Latino origin, so I assumed the connection might be on my Granny's side of the tree. He only knew his mother's name, but no knowledge of her family. After a bit of back and forth messages and some digging in Ancestry's records, I stumbled onto the connection. His grandmother and my Granny were sisters.

I have covered the Campuzano family of my great-grandfather Plutarco quite extensively on the blog. It was nice to connect with this cousin and provide him with an introduction to a side of the family that he never knew existed. The history on this side of the family is deep and rich, so it is great to be able to share that information.

In my AncestryDNA results, I have many matches for the region Northwest Mexico & the California Coast and Sonora and Southern Arizona. Quite a few have not connected a tree to their results, or even have a tree linked with many names, so it is difficult to see how I'm connected to this group of people. It was very nice for my cousin to reach out over Ancestry and ask how we were so closely connected. I wish others would do that. Maybe they have old photos or information that would help clear up gaps and holes on my side of the tree.

Kaka'ako

Photo by Patrick Jones. Mural by Sean Yoro. Honolulu, Hawaii. 25 Mar 2018.

During our Spring Break trip to Hawaii, my sister and I went on a run through nearby Kaka'ako in Honolulu. This area is home to Pow Wow Hawaii, an annual week-long street art festival. Many of the murals in Kaka'ako were created by artists I have seen in other cities, but several are local to Hawaii and Oahu. It was a real treat to be able to catch these during our trip. I will have more in a subsequent post.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Painting of Gabby Pahinui on an alley near SALT.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Painting showing a ship arrival in 1929.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Painting of a local store in 1930.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Painting of old Kaka'ako in 1930.

By Air and Sea

Photo by Patrick Jones. HNL, 26 March 2018.

We're back from Spring Break in Hawaii, adjusting to the time differences, and picking up from the week away. I'm backing up photos that captured some of our experiences from the past week. We enjoyed great weather, saw humpback whales, spinner dolphins & turtles on a catamaran tour. While in Kauai, my Mom, sister and I took an open-door helicopter tour and saw more whales, giant manta rays, goats, and other sights from above. It really was a wonderful trip. I will have more to follow on this as I catch up with photos and put some of my thoughts down into blog-form.