Lupe and Hortense

 

Photo from P. Rosas, 2015. UoA Special Collections.

The photo above arrived by email in 2015 from Vasquez-Suastegui researcher P. Rosas, as part of the University of Arizona Special Collections archive on the Dalton, Vasquez and Ronstadt families. The photo dates from about 1887, and shows from left to right Lupe Dalton, Maria Jesus Francesca Vasquez, and Hortense Dalton. Both Dalton girls married brothers in the Ronstadt family. Lupe Dalton married Fred Ronstadt, while Hortense married Jose Maria Ronstadt in March 1901. 

Hortense was the oldest daughter of Maria Jesus Francesca Vasquez and Winnall Dalton. She was born on 4 July 1879 in Tucson. Lupe was born 9 August 1882 in Tucson. I highly recommend reading Borderman, published in 2003 by Edward Ronstadt, as this collection of stories provides an important understanding of the journey for these connected families and their experiences from Sonora, Mexico to Arizona and California. 

This post is not a full recap of the lives of Hortense and Lupe, but I wanted to highlight a few aspects. The Dalton sisters, including their younger sister Natalie, were among the earliest women voters in Arizona when women received the ability to vote in 1913. Copies of their voting records from 1913 are available on Ancestry.

Hortense and J. M. Ronstadt were mentioned in the Society column of the Tucson Daily Citizen on 7 July 1900 as both traveling (separately) to Los Angeles for the summer. They were later married on 11 March 1901, but perhaps this was the trip that brought their engagement together.

Tucson Citizen. 7 July 1900.

Arizona Daily Star. 10 Mar 1901.

Hortense became a notary in August 1900 and helped execute many deeds for the Ronstadts, her parents and others in later years. She later applied these skills in the family business with her husband and later her son Carlos.

FamilySearch. Pima County Deeds, 1900.

On the 28th of June 1949, Hortense sailed on the S.S. Neptunia from New York to Lisbon. She is listed as intending to be on board the ship for four months, so it is likely she continued on from Lisbon to other ports in Europe. In 1949, the ship was operated by a company called the Greek Line. Hortense probably remained on the ship after Lisbon, venturing to the ports of Genoa, Naples and Piraeus, then back to the US.

Ancestry. US Departing Passenger Lists.

I'll have more on Hortense in the next post.