More pieces of the puzzle

 

Arizona Republic, 10 Feb 1921.

Cotton is historically important in Arizona and has long been a key product for the state. Pima cotton is a particular varietal, and the name of Pima County (where Tucson is located). The clipping from the article above describes complications in 1921 between Arizona cotton growers, who relied on Mexican labor to pick cotton, and labor groups supporting the workers to ensure proper pay and transportation for their efforts. The article notes the involvement of the Latin protective league, the Liga Protectora Latina, in the discussions between the cotton growers association, Mexican labor groups in Nogales, and the Mexican government. 

Yesterday I wrote about Alejandro Portillo and his work as a laborer for Salt Valley cotton growers in 1918. He was among the many Mexican laborers working for cotton growers at this time. From the records it also looks like Flora Escobar and daughter Trinidad Leyva were working in Glendale, Arizona in 1920 through the Arizona Cotton Growers Association. Flora appears on a manifest from 4 October 1922 (source FamilySearch) to enter the US with her daughter Trinidad, and grandchildren Inez and Ignacio (who are curiously listed in the manifest as Inez and Ignacio Silva). The record confirms they were in Phoenix between 26 July 1920 and 22 January 1921, and their passage was paid by the Arizona Cotton Growers Association.

FamilySearch. 4 Oct 1922.

Trinidad delivered a daughter, Rosalva, in Culiacan, Sinaloa, in September 1921. The family, including mother Flora, returned to Phoenix again in September 1923. There are some mispellings (and mis-entries) on the names in these records. I'm not clear why Flora is listed as Flora Escobar vda Silva (widow of Silva) in the 1922 record, but I have figured out where the Silva name comes from. This was also a mystery in Trinidad's 1941 border crossing record, where she listed her cousin Amalia Silva as a contact.

Flora's sister, Fidencia Escobar, married Jose Silva. Fidencia's son Jose listed Aunt Flora Escobar as a contact in his border crossing record from 1930.

In the 1930 US Census, Jose and his mother Fidencia are living next door to sister Amalia, her husband Jesus Bayardo, and their children in Indio, Riverside County, California. This gives us a better picture of Flora's family connections living in California and more names to check against the border crossing manifests. While Coachella, California is well known today for music festivals, in the 1930s this valley was known for its date farming, grapes, other fruits, vegetables and cotton. The Escobars were working as farm laborers in Coachella.

At some point they moved to Mexico and the fluid border area around Mexicali. Fidencia crossed into the US in 1940 and named her daughter Amalia Escobar de Ballardo (Bayardo) as her contact in Mexicali, Mexico. This is near area where Trinidad and her children were living in Calexico, California, just over the border.

Ancestry. 1940 US Census. Calexico, CA.

A laborer's ID card

 

FamilySearch. 1918.

Here's another migration record from FamilySearch, showing the alien agricultural laborer's identification card for Alejandro Portillo. This was used to cross the border at Nogales, Arizona in 1918. The reverse shows this card was stamped by the Salt River Valley Egyptian Cotton Growers Association. This is part of the Arizona Cotton Growers Association, which still exists today.

Another card from the set (see above) shows Alejandro as 52 years old in 1918, which would match the birth year 1866 from the Sonoran records. It isn't clear if Alejandro worked on cotton fields associated with Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, but this article includes some photos and history on cotton production in the same area where Alejandro could have worked.

Revisiting Alejandro

 

FamilySearch. Nogales Manifest of Alien Arrivals.

Back in COVID-era April 2020 I dove into the family connections for cousin MC and her ancestor Teodoro Alejandro Portillo. DNA matches in common between MC, my Mom and the mystery Leyva matches have me looking again at Alejandro and floating Portillo branches who may link with my 3rd-great-grandfather Manuel Portillo (1830-1880). The record above comes from FamilySearch and their collection of Nogales, Arizona Manifests of Alien Arrivals, 1905-1952. The indexing states this is from 1924, which would put Alejandro as born about 1864. This is pretty close to Alejandro's known birth year of 1866.

The reverse side of the card includes a photo and a signature.

Alejandro Portillo. 

The record states Alejandro was crossing at Nogales daily for business, and his nearest relative or friend in Mexico was Eduardo Soto of Sonora Bank in Nogales.

Expert Assistance

 

From Jarrett's Ask Me Anything, 2 Jan 2026. 

Sometimes it's useful to have some focused discussion with an expert to look at research questions from a different perspective. Yesterday I had a consultation with Jarrett Ross, who is a well known genealogy speaker at events and hosts a popular YouTube channel where he's known as the Geneavlogger. I met Jarrett at RootsTech last March and have been a long time viewer of the channel. When he began offering consultations, I scheduled one to concentrate on my mystery Leyva matches on our Mexican side of the tree.

Huge thanks to Jarrett for listening and providing some very useful next steps. I certainly have some homework to build out a WATO tree and test a theory of how these Leyvas may connect to us. I also need to look at other Portillos in the Sonoran records. There are definitely signs of mystery Portillos in the shared matches of matches with CH and my Mom, and I am not yet clear about how these people connect to my own 3x-great-grandfather Manuel Portillo.

The conversation helped confirm I am on the right track with my approach to isolate to Trinidad, look deeper into her parents Escolastico and Flora, and try to see if the connection is on Trinidad's paternal or maternal line. Given the amount of centimorgans shared with CH and the shared matches in common pointing to a Portillo connection, this question feels like it can be resolved, but it won't be easy.

Jarrett hosts a weekly Ask Me Anything live on his YouTube channel on Fridays at 4pm Eastern, and he's also taking individual consultations. I highly recommend both.

Research Progress January 2026

It's the second of the month and time for an update on my research questions. I wrote last month that the questions are changing a bit as we add a new mtDNA tester to the mix. Our daughter's test results will likely arrive in late February/early March. I've reduced some of the questions, postponed others to a future list, and added some new ones for Allison's side of the tree.

My Paternal Side

1 - I'm still looking for the parents of my 3rd-great-grandmother Bridget, and this question will get more attention in the second half of March, after RootsTech and my meeting in India ends.

2 - Analyzing mtDNA connections in the maternal line path of Sarah Westall and Elizabeth Thornhill Jones. Again, this is dependent on cousin Lynn.

3 - Jones YDNA. I'm hopeful I'll locate another tester to push our Jones line further back in time.

My Maternal Side

1 - Identifying the link between the Leyva mystery matches and my Mexican side of tree. Over the holiday break I've been digging into the shared matches of matches between my Mom's results and CH. I think resolving this question will also help fill in missing ancestors on my Portillo branch. I'm trying something new this Saturday with virtual guided consultation with an expert. More to follow soon. 

2 - Analyzing mtDNA matches in the maternal line path of Maria Jesus Vasquez.

3 - Resolving descendancy from the daughters of John Carter (1715-1783). For this one, I'm interested in hearing what the Carter Society may have, and collaborating with cousin Jacqi Stevens of A Family Tapestry.

4 - Campuzano YDNA. I upgraded cousin Greg's kit to Big Y, so now we're awaiting updated results that may allow us to follow the Campuzano paternal line back to Spain. As I'll be heading to Spain this summer, I'm super interested to see the results.

5 - xDNA analysis using FTDNA's tools.

Allison's Side

1 - Awaiting mtDNA results for the maternal line path to Dorothea Sophia Gagelmann.

2 - Analyzing Sophia's FamilyFinder results on FTDNA and looking into xDNA for this branch of the tree.