Revisiting the Mexican Side of the Tree

The approach of June has me rexamining my Mexican ancestors. The organization Welcome.us is using June to celebrate Immigrant Heritage Month, something I wrote about last year. In this blog I have explored this side of my heritage on a regular basis. For example, last November I wrote about the family of my 2nd-great-grandmother Teresa Diaz, whose parents trace back to 1840s Sonora, Mexico. These roots are deep, but are also interwoven with stories of the family's migration to the US (see here and here).

Photo provided by P. Marple. Robert "Bobby" Campuzano, late 1940s.

While I was traveling this month, and since returning, I have been exchanging messages with distant cousin and fellow researcher Reclare. We are comparing DNA results and historical records to better understand our connections with other potential cousins related to the Vasquez-Suastegui line of my 2nd-great-grandmother Maria Jesus Vasquez.

I previously had the intent to marry documents for Gabriel Vasquez and Maria Jesus Suastegui from December 1863. Those papers identified Maria Jesus' parents - Pedro Suastegui and Ana Maria Orosco (my 4th-great-grandparents). Raclare found a copy of Pedro and Ana Maria's marriage record in the loose leaf pages for Altar. She estimates this is from 1846. The page shows Pedro Suastegui, legitimate son of Francisco Suastegui and Dolores Josefa de la Pena, joining in marriage with Ana Maria Orosco, daughter of Ramon Orosco and Reyes Baldes. This document identifies both sets of my 5th-great-grandparents.

Photo via R. Kanal. Marriage record for Pedro and Ana Maria.

I will have more documents in June on these connections and their place in a larger narrative about Mexican roots and the US.