A-File Request Received

I've received a reply from the National Archives at Kansas City in response to my request for a copy of the A-file for Trinidad Leyva. I should receive additional information in the next week or so, and I am really curious to see if the file includes some hints of a connection to a branch on our Sonoran or Arizona side of the tree.

London Christmas

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. London. 6 Dec 2025.

Mariana

 

FamilySearch. Hermosillo Baptisms. 31 Jul 1848.

Something tells me Mariana Portillo might have a link to my 3rd-great-grandfather Manuel Portillo, and to the mystery Guerrero-Leyva matches. Mariana was the first wife of Ygnacio Campuzano. Above is a snapshot of her baptism record from Hermosillo, Sonora. This lists her parents as Jose de la Luz Portillo and Juana Vidal. Jose was born about 1828, which could make him a brother of Manuel.

On Ancestry, using Shared Matches of Matches, I can see the matches in common with Eddie Campuzano, a great-grandson of Mariana Portillo. He's also a match to CH (164 cM), and several others who are part of the Guerrero-Leyva group.

Mariana married Ygnacio Campuzano in Hermosillo on 23 November 1866. Interestingly, witnesses were Francisco Calles and Maria Jesus Campuzano (she was the mother of Plutarco Elias Calles, future President of Mexico).

FamilySearch. Hermosillo Marriages, 1866.

They had at least eight children together, before Ygnacio started a second family with Dolores Preciado. Mariana appears in the 1910 US Census in Silverbell, Pima County, Arizona living with her daughter Maria Ysabel.

The trail points to Spain

 

Made in Ideogram. A pilgrim on the Camino.

Back in June 2015, I wrote about the two families of Vicente Antonio Campuzano (1810-1873). Thanks to cousin Greg, we now have an initial YDNA haplogroup for his line to Vicente through Ygnacio Campuzano. Below is a photo of Ygnacio with second wife Dolores Preciado, and two children (likely Jose, born March 1896 and sister Dolores born in 1897). Ygnacio was a half-brother of my 2nd-great-grandfather, Vicente Plutarco Campuzano.

Source: P. Rosas. Ygnacio, Dolores and children. 

The initial YDNA haplogroup is R-S3530. According to FamilyTreeDNA, the man who was the most recent common ancestor for this line was born about 1 BCE. Because this is so far back in time, I've upgraded the kit to Big Y700, in the hopes that this will provide a more recent haplogroup. The Big Y results probably won't be available for a while, likely into early 2026.

FTDNA Discover report for R-S3530.

There's more analysis to do. Thankfully there are some Y matches and very interesting autosomal matches to review.

A Visit to Spitalfields Market

 

Selfie at Old Spitalfields Market. 6 Dec 2025.

Last week's stopover in London provided an opportunity to visit the historic Spitalfields Market. Our Oyler side of the tree has a long connection to the market. Spitalfields is currently decorated for the holidays, and it has a happy, festive atmosphere. As I was staying in Shoreditch, I ended up visiting the market several times for food, browsing the vendors, and immersing myself in the surroundings that would have been the stomping grounds for the Potter Oyler Ltd fruit and produce vendors.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Spitalfields Market.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Spitalfields. 6 Dec 2025.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Festive decorations.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Old Spitalfields. 6 Dec 2025.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Spitalfields.