Junta Patriotica

Following from Friday's post, here is another series of news clippings describing a grand ball organized by Junta Patriotica Mexicana celebrating Cinco de Mayo in Los Angeles. Frank Campuzano was president of the festival organization in 1891. The Junta Patriotica Mexicana organized events for Cinco de Mayo and Mexican Independence (16 September).

LA Herald, 6 May 1891.

The Tucson Spanish-language newspaper El Fronterizo covered the event on 16 May 1891, and it provides more detail. I have copied a portion of it below:

El Fronterizo, 16 May 1891

The article lists Rosa de Campuzano as one of the participants at the ball. I believe she is Rosario Hinajosa de Campuzano, Frank's first wife.

Tug-of-war Captain

After following the musical talents of Frank A. Campusano, this post looks at his competitive side. Frank appears in several articles participating in events with the Los Angeles Athletic Club. In 1891, he captained a team in an international tug-of-war contest. He would have been 32 at the time.

LA Herald, 11 Nov 1891.

LA Times, 16 Nov 1891.

Preparations for the epic tug-of-war contest were reported in the news in November 1891. Frank must have been training regularly with his team (while performing as a musician at night and working during the day) at the Los Angeles Athletic Club.

LA Times, 23 Nov 1891.

LA Herald. 5 Dec 1891.

Over 4000 people saw the contest on opening night on 7 November 1891. Frank's team won their opening tug. I have extracted out some portions of the long article describing their comeback win.

LA Herald, 8 Dec 1891.

The following night the teams returned for another tug-of-war battle at the Los Angeles Athletic Club. Large articles ran in both the LA Times and Herald describing the contest. Frank's team won again in a surprise victory of the Germans. It is interesting that the "Spanish" team was really made up of "native Californians". The two teams battled for two hours and eight minutes.

Newspapers.com. LA Herald, 9 Dec 1891.

LA Times, 9 Dec 1891.

The next night the Spanish team won again, beating the French team in ten minutes.

LA Times, 11 Dec 1891.

Musical Talents

Los Angeles Herald, 20 June 1887.

The article above shows Frank A. Campuzano was a man of many talents. He played guitar with the Los Angeles Mandolin and Guitar Club, at least in 1887. Another article shows he performed with Club Filarmonico Mexicano in Los Angeles and helped organize events celebrating Mexican Independence Day and Cinco de Mayo with Junta Patriotica de Los Angeles.

LA Times, 6 May 1890.

He must have been well respected and talented as a musician and band leader. In 1896, Frank was the President of Club Filarmonico Mexicano and led the band that performed at the music hall. He served as business manager of the Club in 1897.

LA Times, 29 Nov 1896.

Frank often performed at events with the Order of Foresters in Los Angeles. This was a benevolent and fraternal organization. Antonio Orfila Jr. was active in this group. The Foresters helped provide insurance, sick benefits and funeral benefits for members. Frank was a delegate to the Grand Court of California Foresters meeting in San Francisco in May 1896. Antonio Orfila Jr. was "Grand Chief Ranger" of the group at the time. The Foresters remind me of another organization in which a Campuzano ancestor was involved - Liga Protectora Latina. Frank served as Treasurer of Forester's Chapter Court Olive, No. 39 in 1895 and 1896.

LA Herald, 2 Oct 1891.

LA Herald, 17 Sep 1892.

LA Herald, 14 Mar 1897.

LA Times, 30 June 1895.

LA Herald, 6 May 1894.

In East LA

Ancestry. California Voter Registration, 1896.

Digging into the details on Francisco "Frank" A. Campuzano, I have looked at a combination of newspaper articles, census records, city directories and voter registrations. One record provides a clue to his middle name and perhaps parentage. The 1896 California Voter Registration list shows him living at 1936 E. 2nd Street, not far from Boyle Heights. It also shows that he was 5'6", brown, born in California about 1858 and working as a flour packer. I know from other records he had the cigar store or stand at this time. This entry lists his middle name as Arment, which I think should be Armenta, a familiar name from Sonora, Mexico.

Francisco appears on the voter records in November 1884. The 1884 City Directory also lists him as an employee of Lankershim & Company, living at the corner of 1st Street and Wilmington. The 1887 City Directory places him at 21 Wilmington Avenue, and lists his occupation as millhand. In 1890, he had moved to 119 N. Wilmington Avenue, in Compton.

The 1893 City Directory shows Frank working as a flour packer with the LA Farming and Milling Company. This was the successor to Lankershim & Company. Jose Maria Campusano is listed below him in the directory. The 1892 voter registration list shows Frank as 5'8", living at 3419 E. 2nd Street, even more into the heart of Boyle Heights and in East LA.

Frank married Rosario Hinojosa in 1884. She had arrived in Los Angeles in 1882. Rosario appears to have been an industrious woman. She bought her own property and managed to amass a small fortunate, separate from her husband. Rosario and Frank divorced on 6 June 1900. I will have more on Rosario in another post.

The news clipping from 1896 below references Frank's cigar stand:

LA Times, 5 Feb 1896.

There's more to share on Frank's activities as a musician, athlete, and his later life in Los Angeles.

Early Angelinos

Los Angeles Times, 7 June 1904

Hispanic (or Latino) Heritage Month has me looking again at a branch of the Campuzano family that I started researching back in 2015 while writing about the family of Jose Maria Campuzano. In my 2015 research, I frequently ran across news articles and documents on Francisco "Frank" Campuzano, who was born in California in 1859. At the time, I suspected he might be a son of Francisco Campuzano, brother of Jose Maria. I'm now more convinced Francisco (1859) was a son of Jose Maria Campuzano by an earlier marriage or relationship.

The article above describes the funeral plans for Antonio Orfila, an early immigrant to California from Gibraltar or Spain. I will have much more on him in another post. Orfila was the adoptive father of Manuela Dominguez. Manuela married Jose Maria Campuzano. A copy of their marriage entry is below, dated 6 November 1874 in Los Angeles.

Source: Ancestry. California County Marriage Records.

In the 1860 US Census, Antonio Orfila appears as a young cigar maker living in Santa Barbara, California, with wife Maria (Maria Antonia de la Luz Dominguez) and children Maria Antonia, Manuela, Concepcion and Jose. By 1870, Antonio had relocated the family to Los Angeles.

1860 US Census, Santa Barbara, California.

Perhaps Frank Campuzano learned the cigar and tobacco business from Antonio Ofila, although this is not known from the available records. Frank was closely associated with the Orfila family, and regularly appeared at events with Antonio's son Antonio Orfila Jr, a well-known and respected lawyer in Los Angeles. Frank had a cigar stand or store in what is now Downtown LA from the 1880s up to his death in 1921.

Frank also appears in news articles as a musician, community leader and athlete. More to follow soon.

Dad and Blanche

Here's another from the set of slides I recently converted to digital, taken by my Gumpy in 1956. This one is of my Dad and my grandmother, Blanche O'Brien Jones.

Photo by K.D. Jones. Dad and Blanche, 1956.

Hispanic Heritage Month 2018

Today marks the beginning of Hispanic Heritage Month. As in previous years, I am making a post to commemorate the month and reflect on my own hispanic heritage.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Mural by Roberto Cueva del Rio. 14 May 2018.

The photos above and below are of sections of the mural by Roberto Cueva del Rio at the Mexican Cultural Institute in Washington DC.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Mexican Cultural Institute, DC.

Hispanic Heritage Month runs every 15 September to 15 October. As with Immigrant Heritage Month, I am taking this as an opportunity to provide some support to some organizations and efforts that connect people and help others.

Looking closer at the DNA results

Following from yesterday's update to the AncestryDNA results, here's a bit more analysis of the new percentages. One Aunt had some interesting new areas in her ethnicity estimate.

Updated AncestryDNA results for L.K.

Like my Mom and her sister, she now has a higher percentage for England, Wales & Northwestern Europe. Native American is still at 13%, concentrated in Northwest Mexico & Southern California Coast, Sonora & Southern Arizona and Sinaloa. Her Spain is now 7%, Ireland & Scotland 5%. New percentages are France at 5%, Portugal 2%, Native American - Andean 1% and Cameroon, Congo & Bantu peoples at 1%. The Portugal and Native American - Andean are cool to see.

Unpacking this a bit further, my 3rd-great-grandfather (2nd-great-grandfather for my Mom & her sisters) Gabriel Vasquez was born in Valparaiso, Chile around 1838. As Gabriel's father was Jose Vasquez, likely his line came from the Basque region in Spain to Chile. I suspect our Andean descent comes somewhere on the line of Gabriel's mother, Agustina Rojas. This ancestor may have been Mapuche, Aymara or Quechua, the largest ethnic groups of indigenous people in Chile.

I'm waiting on another set of test results for myself. In early September, I sent off a sample to the National Geographic Genographic Project (administered by Helix). I'm very curious to see how my results come back compared to these new percentages from Ancestry. 

Another update to AncestryDNA's results

Ancestry released another update to their AncestryDNA results, now using an additional 13000 reference samples. I wrote about my previous results back in October 2013, and it is really cool to see the differences. Some of the results were disappointing - I've lost my 17% Iberian Peninsula. This doesn't take away my Mexican heritage on my Granny's side of the tree, but it is a bit odd. They did increase my Native American to 5%. And now I have France at 5% and 1% Nigeria which is new.

Updated AncestryDNA results, 12 Sep 2018.

I still have the migrations from Northwest Mexico & California, Sonora and Southern Arizona in the results. 1% Sweden is a bit of a surprise too.

Now to compare with the other results I administer in the family. My Dad's results changed to be 87% England, Wales & Northern Europe, and 13% Ireland and Scotland. This makes sense. Previously Ancestry showed 10% Iberian Peninsula for him, which made no sense at all.

My sister's results were really fascinating compared to mine. While her Iberian Peninsula went away, they now show 2% Basque, which is very cool and fits with the Vasquez and Suastegui names in our family tree. She shows 2% Sweden as well, and a big increase in England, Wales and Northwestern Europe (now at 67%). The other big surprise is seeing 1% Cameroon, Congo and Southern Bantu peoples.

Updated AncestryDNA results for L.J.

My Mom's results changed too. She's now at 58% England, Wales & Northwestern Europe, which makes sense. Her France result went to 10%. Iberian Peninsula dropped from 11% to 1%, but she also showed up as 1% Basque. Italy showed up as 1% and Sardinia was added as 1%. Like my sister, she had a trace amount of Cameroon, Congo and Southern Bantu. Italy and Sardinia is odd, but perhaps this is the original home of the Campuzano family.

Updated AncestryDNA results for B.J.

It is interesting to compare my Mom with her sisters' results. One Aunt's percentages for Native American went up to 14%, and her Spain result is now 8%. Her Basque result is 1%.

The result for Nigeria vs Cameroon, Congo and Southern Bantu is interesting too. These areas are close together. Perhaps this region is the original home for the mother of Elizabeth Key (see my post from February 2012). According to an article on the Historic Jamestown website, the first African slaves were brought to Jamestown in 1619. They were from Angola, perhaps taken from the Kongo or Ndongo kingdoms. We do not know for certain if Elizabeth's mother was among that first group. Another article from the Washington Post in 2006 notes that "Virginia's first Africans spoke Bantu languages called Kimbundu and Kikongo," and this is a fascinating match to the Cameroon, Congo and Southern Bantu DNA results appearing for my sister and Mom.

California Countryside

Photo by K. Jones. California, 1968-1969.

The photo above is from a set of slides I had converted to digital, taken by my Dad before he departed for Thailand in 1969. Given the other slides right next to this one, the location is northern California, in the countryside outside Vacaville. My Dad was stationed at nearby Travis Air Force Base before he was sent to Udorn.

Friday Photo - Bangkok Alley

Photo by K. Jones. Bangkok, Thailand, 1969.

Family Vacation

Photo by K.D. Jones. Family on vacation. 1956.

The photo above was taken by my grandfather, sometime in 1956, of my great-grandparents, my Dad and grandmother. Alma Oyler Jones is on the left, with her husband Edgar, my Dad in front, and Blanche O'Brien Jones on the right. They must have been boarding a ferry that would take them across a river, while on a family vacation. I am not sure where this was taken. Other photos in the same set show Dad and Edgar around stalks of corn (see below) and Blanche and Alma setting up a picnic.

Photo by K.D. Jones. Dad and Edgar around stalks of corn. 1956.

Photo by K.D. Jones. Alma and Blanche. 1956.

Dad at the Scenic Overlook

Photo by K.D. Jones. Dad at scenic overlook, summer 1956.

The photo above shows my Dad looking through a tower viewer at a scenic overlook somewhere in the Appalachians during the summer of 1956. This is part of a larger set of slides that I recently converted to digital from the same time period. I will have more on the road trip, which took them from Indiana to Connecticut and Portland, Maine to visit family.

Family Friends

As I go through the slides taken by my Gumpy in 1955/56 that I recently converted to digital images, in many photos, I see someone who I am not sure is a close friend or family. One example is below.

Photo by K.D. Jones. Blanche and Mima, Christmas 1956.

The slide was labeled "Blanche and Mima with new purses, Christmas 1956." The woman named Mima appears in several other slides. I also recognized her from an album of photos taken by my Nana and Gumpy in the 1980s. Was she family or a close family friend?

Photo by K.D. Jones. 4 July 1955.

She appears in another slide labeled "Leanna Alma, Emily Mima Blanche", which is helpful, I can now identify in the photo starting from the left, Leanna Couger, daughter of Mary Emily Oyler Couger. Next to her is my great-grandmother, Alma Oyler Jones. Next to Alma is her sister Mary Emily. Then Mima, and on the right, my grandmother Blanche.

Another slide provides a key clue for uncovering who Mima was. The slide below was labeled "the Knights and Joneses around the table at Walter & Emily's". I recognize Blanche in the back and Mima on the left, with my Dad's head in the front.

Photo by K.D. Jones. Dinner in 1956.

Two post-dinner photos show my great-grandparents Alma and Edgar, Mima and her husband, Blanche and my Dad. I reversed one of the photos when converting it so the photo looks like everyone changed positions, but it's just captured backwards.

Photo by K.D. Jones. Post-dinner photo (reversed).

Photo by K.D. Jones. Post-dinner photo.

Clearly Mima and her husband were close friends with my Dad's family. I took a guess in looking at Ancestry for "Mima Knight". After I few searches, I found a potential match. It wasn't until I saw her home address that I knew I had a match. My great-grandparents lived for a time at 102 N. Kealing in Indianapolis. In the 1952 City Directory for Indianapolis, she and her husband Donald Knight lived at 300 N. Kealing. They were neighbors.

A search on Newspapers.com confirmed who the two were.

Indianapolis News, 27 Mar 1961.