Revisiting empty spots on the tree

 

Photo by L. Campuzano. Saguaro National Park.

A glaring spot on the Mexican side of the tree involves the branch of my 2nd-great-grandfather, Manuel Portillo. I have looked into his parents and have some information, but more questions than answers. We have even bigger gaps stepping back a generation. In November 2013, I shared a death record for Manuel found in the Sonora, Mexico Civil Registration files. I also have a possible record for a Manuel Portillo in the 1899 Tucson City Directory as an employee at the Legal Tender Saloon. Unlike other branches, there's been a definite lack of records. Please FamilySearch, add Sonora, Mexico to Full-text search!

Manuel appears in the baptism record for my great-grandmother Manuela Portillo in Hermosillo, Sonora in 1905. According to his death record in March 1906, Manuel was 48 years old, putting his birth date around 1858 or 1859. That document also names him as the son of Manuel Portillo and Maria Bernal.

A marriage record for Manuel and Maria appears in the Sonora, Mexico Catholic Church records from San Miguel de Horcasitas on 25 February 1859. That record also listed Jesus Bernal as a testigo (witness). I do not yet know how or if Jesus Bernal was related to Maria Bernal. 

Source: Ancestry. San Miguel de Horcasitas, 1859.

A baptism record from September 1864 in Hermosillo names another son of Manuel Portillo and Maria Bernal, Jose Luis Joaquin Portillo.

Manuel Portillo Sr died in Ures, Sonora on 30 August 1880. That record also names his spouse Maria Bernal as of Hermosillo.

It also looks like Manuel Portillo may have had a second family. A baptism record in Hermosillo from November 1866 names Teodoro Alejandro Portillo, "h l" or "hijo legitimato" of Manuel Portillo and Maria Lopez. In April 2020 I looked into this branch, and there's definitely a lot of Portillo DNA connections. I'll pick this up in another post.

Some additional complications - I have Maria Bernal's mother listed as Maria Manuela Calles. If this is accurate, Maria Manuela's brother was Juan Bautista Calles. He married Maria Antonia Campuzano, and adopted his nephew Plutarco Elias Calles after the death of his mother (Maria Antonia's sister, Maria Teresa de Jesus Campuzano) in 1881. On Ancestry we have DNA connections directly descending from both Maria Antonia Campuzano and Maria Teresa de Jesus Campuzano, including a descendant of Plutarco Elias Calles.

Hermosillo, Sonora. 18 Apr 1903.

I would like to confirm whether I have the mother correct for Maria Bernal, or there are other mystery connections in Sonora (and possibly a lot of endogamy too). I think this line could also be the link to the Guerrero-Leyva group of matches. There's definitely more work to do.