An article published today in the English version of the Spanish newspaper El País indicates over 2 million descendants of Spanish exiles had applied for citizenship under the Democratic Memory Law. This shows the interest is high in descendants of Spaniards to obtain citizenship.
An earlier article from August describes how grandchildren of Spanish emigrants in Latin America are seeking to restore their citizenship and return to Spain.
This month has a few updates. Changes are coming in January for the various research questions I've been tracking since the previous progress report. It's also worth comparing against my research questions from a year ago.
Paternal side research
1 - Identifying the parents of Bridget, my Irish 3rd-great-grandmother. This one needs more time, but I am aiming for another extensive post by mid-month, once I'm back from international travel. Looking back at where I was a year ago with this question, it feels like I've made little progress, but I am narrowing the focus and having a specific location to target is helpful.
2 - O'Brien DNA matches. This research question is evolving from the earlier one targeting the generation of connection with the Pennsylvania O'Briens.
3 - Analyzing mtDNA connections in the maternal line path of Sarah Westall and Elizabeth Thornhill Jones. This one is pending a follow-up from test holder Lynn.
4 - Jones YDNA. Pending finding another Jones male to take a YDNA test.
5 - Guthrie DNA group project.
6 - Cleaning up the Thomas Jones and Nancy Tucker research. This one has had a lot of progress behind the scenes, working with Mary from the DAR and distant Tucker and Jones cousins. More to follow later in the month.
Maternal side research
1 - Identifying possible siblings of my 3rd-great-grandfather Gabriel Vasquez. Again, not much movement here, but I think with xDNA analysis (see number 8 below), there's an intriguing match in Argentina who may connect to this line.
2 - Working with DNA matches on the Amado side of the tree. Not much different from last month, but I think the Campuzano YDNA and autosomal result will help here once it arrives on FTDNA.
3 - Analyzing mtDNA matches in the maternal line path of Maria Jesus Vasquez. For this one I am building a spreadsheet to analyze my cousin Catherine's matches, and I think this will pay off a bit later in the month.
4 - Guerrero-Leyva mystery matches. There's some progress here as I have more information on how these people connect to each other. I still don't get the generation of connection, but it feels like it will be on one of the gaps in my Portillo side of the tree. I think this one may benefit from an expert consultation.
5 - Resolving descendancy from the daughters of John Carter (1715-1783). Pending a follow-up with the Carter Society.
6 - Identifying a direct maternal line ancestor of Mary Alice Cain Read to encourage to take a mtDNA test. Nothing new since last month.
7 - Campuzano YDNA. This one we're waiting on the results of the YDNA test for our Campuzano cousin, and perhaps in early 2026 we'll have some exciting updates.
8 - [New] xDNA analysis using FTDNA's tools. I've built a spreadsheet with all of the xDNA matches in common with my Mom and Catherine. More to do but I've set things up for after my international trip.
Over the holiday break, I may add some DNA research questions for Allison's side of the tree. These would be new queries to follow depending on testing and analysis with the existing kits we can access on Ancestry.
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| London Transport Museum. 1951. |
As the calendar turns to December, I'm looking ahead to a quick stopover in London before transiting to a warmer climate in the second week of the month. There are a few places high on my list, including a visit to Old Spitalfields Market, Covent Garden, the London Transport Museum, Brick Lane and Shoreditch.
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| Ancestry. US Border Crossings, Calexico, CA. |
One of my long running research questions has been to resolve the connection to the Guerrero-Leyva mystery matches on my Mom's side of the tree. In August I tried using the DNAPainter matrix tool on these matches. I've also tried Ancestry's new clusters with ProTools. Now I'm looking at traditional genealogy to see what the records say about how these people connect together.
My Mom's mystery match CH has 219 cM in common across 9 segments, so it's a strong match. There are a lot of shared matches of matches to CH, including many living individuals in California and Arizona, so I'm going to limit some of the personal data I share with this post. A potential complication I see is there are hints of endogamy, with matches sharing matches who I would not think should be connected together, on both my Portillo and Campuzano sides of the tree.
CH's mother was Trinidad Leyva. She was born in Mazatlan, Sinaloa on 20 January 1892. All signs point to the connection somewhere on Trinidad's paternal or maternal line. The record above from her 1941 US Border Crossing entry in Calexico, California shows a reference to her Alien Registration number. I've submitted a query to the US National Archives in Kansas City for a copy of her A-File (I've had good luck in the past, so fingers crossed).
Mazatlan is a bit south of our primary location in Sonora for my Mexican side of the tree, but Northern Sinaloa does appear as an area where we have a specific connection. Trinidad's maternal line appears to come from the borderlands with Sonora as San Javier is located in the far northern part of the state (within the darker brown in the image below).
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| AncestryDNA. Ancestral Journey for BAJ. |
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| Google Maps. |
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| Ancestry. US Border Crossings, 1941. |
An earlier border crossing record shows Trinidad going to Glendale, Arizona between September 1923 and January 1924 with three of her children - Inez Guerrero, Ignacio Jr and Rosalva. She had another son, Francisco Guerrero, on 9 October 1924 in Glendale. Trinidad had at least these four children with Ignacio Guerrero Sr, before she had two children with Jose "Joseph" Rivas in Calexico, California. CH is one of those two.
My Mom has a DNA match from CH's brother James, and several from children of Ignacio, which tell me our common connection is backward from Trinidad's branch. This is also exactly the spot on the tree where I know very little, other than my 3rd-great-grandfather Manuel Portillo (born about 1830-30 Aug 1880). I don't know his parents, so one of them may connect to Sinaloa and the Leyva family.
Something else of promise, in CH's most recent Ancestral Origins update, she had 17% Indigenous Americas Mexico, 14% Iberian Peninsula Spain, 7% Northern Spain, 6% Portugal, 2% NW Italy, 2% Sephardic Jews in the Eastern Mediterranean, 1% Sephardic Jews from Northern Africa.
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| Gert Krautbauer. Bavaria Travel, Google Arts & Culture. |
Happy Thanksgiving! Locally it looks like a repeat of 2023's clear and crisp morning for the Turkey Trot runners. May your day be tasty and festive.
