The Roots of the Luevano Family in Aguascalientes
Luebana
The Mexican surname Luevano evolved from the Spanish surname Luebana, which originated many centuries ago in the town of Hernani in the Judicial district of San Sebastián in the Basque Province of Guipúzcoa.[1] The following map by TUBS (2011) shows the location of Guipúzcoa within the entire nation of España (Spain). Guipúzcoa is marked in red.
The Basque Province of Guipúzcoa in Spain.
We are able to see the frequency of the surname Luevano in Mexico, using the subscription database Geneat. According to the last name frequency of Luebana on Geneat, 796 individuals in Mexico and the U.S. carried the name Luevano. This frequency is based solely on Geneat’s collections (which are formidable but spread across a wide time frame).
The members of the Luevano family that we are discussing are from Villa Hidalgo [Jalisco] and El Sagrario [“Sanctuary,” the Main Cathedral] in Aguascalientes.
The Early History of Aguascalientes
The state of Aguascalientes (“Hot Waters”), located between the states of Zacatecas and Jalisco, is part of the central plateau and was named for the thermal springs located throughout the area. The capital of Aguascalientes is the city by the same name which had been founded as a mining settlement in 1575. It has been called La Ciudad Perforada (City of Holes) because of the labyrinth of tunnels dug in Pre-Hispanic times by an unknown Indian tribe.
When the Spaniards arrived in the 1520s, this area was located inside of Chichimec country near the frontier between the Cazcán farmers and the warlike Guachichile Indians. To the north lived the Zacatecos Indians. As early as the 1550s, Spaniards from Guadalajara received grants for establishing cattle estancias in the territory of the Guachichiles. A decree of October 22, 1575, created the Villa de Aguascalientes. However, as the intensity of the Chichimec War increased, the small settlement found itself under siege in a major war zone.[2]
In spite of the presidio (military garrison) founded at Aguascalientes, the author Philip Wayne Powell writes that “the increased fury of Chichimeca raiding during the first decade of Aguascalientes’ existence” caused the town’s population to dwindle to one caudillo (military leader), sixteen soldiers, and two residents in the period from 1582 to 1585. But, in the next decade, the threat of Indian attack diminished considerably. The last Chichimec raid took place in 1593, after which the Indian threat soon subsided altogether. “Peace,” writes Mr. Gerhard, “brought a tide of Spanish settlers beginning in the 1590s, mostly cattlemen and farmers.”[3]
The Spanish Residents of Aguascalientes in 1610
By 1610, the small town of Aguascalientes had some 25 Spanish residents, about fifty families of mestizos, at least 100 mulatos, twenty Black slaves, and ten Indians.[4] Many of these twenty-five Spanish inhabitants – whose surnames probably included Ruiz de Esparza, Tiscareno de Molina, Luebana, and Delgado – had come from Spain.
Those of us who have ancestors from Aguascalientes are fortunate. The Registros Parroquiales (Parish Registers) for La Parroquia de la Asunción (Assumption Parish) in Aguascalientes available through the Family History Library are contained on 458 rolls of film and range from 1601 to 1961. Dozens of baptism, marriage, and death records from these parish registers contain information on the Luevano ancestors, who generally spelled their surname “Luebana” in the Seventeenth Century.
The early Luebana’s in Aguascalientes would marry into other Spanish pioneer families in those early days of Aguascalientes. They would intermarry with the Tiscareno de Molina, Ruiz de Esparza, Delgado, and Lopez de Elizalde families.
THE FIRST GENERATION
The First Luevana Couple in Aguascalientes
Sometime before 1618, Juan de Luevana was married to Maria López de Elizalde in or near Aguascalientes. Juan’s origins are not clearly known, but Maria was the daughter of Juan López de Elizalde and Leonor Becerra y Sanchez de Mendoza. She lived to a ripe old age and was buried on March 4, 1678 in Aguascalientes, but her husband died at a young age in 1628.
The Lopez de Elizalde Family
Although little is known about the Luevano family’s origins, a great deal is known about the López de Elizalde family, including the fact that the family members were sometimes recorded by the variant forms of López de Lizarde and López de Lizardi. According to Mariano González-Leal, on July 24, 1620, Don Miguel López de Elizalde provided information to the Mayor Francisco de Pareja y Rivera regarding his noble lineage.
The grandparents of Maria López de Elizalde were Miguel López de Lizarde and his wife María de Aberruza, who had come from the Villa de Tolosa in the Province of Huipuscua (Guipúzcoa) in España (Spain). On page 441 of González-Leal’s Retoños de España en La Nueva Galicia, Tomo (Book) V, they are described as Vizcaínos Originarios ("original Biscayans”).
Miguel López de Elizalde’s son, Juan López de Elizalde y de Aberruza, was born in Tolosa in and came to Santa María de los Lagos [now known as Lagos de Moreno in northeastern Jalisco] in 1580. On January 25, 1585, he was married to Leonor Becerra, the daughter of Juan Becerra and Anna Sánchez de Mendoza, whose family also lived in Lagos. Lagos de Moreno had been established as Villa Santa Maria de los Lagos on March 31, 1563, by Don Hernando Martel, an Andalusian conquistador. This very early marriage record of Juan López de Elizalde and his wife — one the earliest in Lagos — has been reproduced below and clearly indicates the year 1585:
THE SECOND GENERATION
The First Baptism of a Luevana in Aguascalientes (1618)
This very brief record states that on March 14, 1618, the parish priest poured Holy Oil on Juan, the son of Juan de Luevana and Maria Lopez de Elizalde. It is the earliest baptism record that has been found for a Luebana in Aguascalientes. A few years later, Juan Luevana, Sr. died and his widow, Maria, was married to Martin Ruiz de Esparza, a son of Lope Ruiz de Esparza and Francisca Gabay Navarro de Moctezuma. The baptism record of Juan Luevana has been reproduced below:
THE THIRD GENERATION
Juan de Luebana (born 1647)
Juan Luebana grew up and married Maria de Albarado (Alvarado) sometime before 1640. Together, they had at least seven children between 1640 and 1651. One of those children was also named Juan, who was baptized in Aguascalientes on the 8th day of May, 1647. According to the document, the parish priest exorcised and baptized a boy who was given the name Juan. That baptism follows and indicates that Juan was the legitimate son of Juan de Luebana and Maria de Albarado.
Ruiz de Esparza
The Esparza de Ruiz family is a well-known Basque family. The surname Esparza is said to mean one who came from Esparza (a barren place or a place where feather grass grew) in Spain. The word was derived from the Latin sparsus (spread abroad, scattered), probably referring to land that yields little. Esparza is the name of a village near Pamplona in Navarro, Spain (which is where the Esparza ancestors lived in the Sixteenth Century).
The Journey from Spain (1593)
The patriarch of the Ruiz de Esparza family in Mexico was Lope Ruiz de Esparza. Lope Ruiz de Esparza – a native of Pamplona, Navarra – is documented by the Catalogo de Pasajeros a Indias (Vol. III - #2.633) as having sailed from Spain to Mexico on Feb. 8, 1593. Lope, who was the son of Lope Ruiz de Esparza and Ana Días de Eguino, was a bachelor and a servant of Doñ Enrique Maleon.[5] The actual document is shown below, along with the translation below it:
Arrival in Aguascalientes
After arriving in Mexico, Lope married Francisca de Gabai Navarro around 1594. Soon after, he and his wife made their way to Aguascalientes where they had at least eleven children, including Lorenza Ruiz de Esparza, born circa 1602 in Aguascalientes. It was around this time that the Aguascalientes church began to keep records of its parishioners.
An Important Marriage (1623)
One of the earliest and most important documents concerning the Tiscareno, Esparza and Luevano families in Aguascalientes, is the May 16, 1623 marriage record of Luis Tiscareno de Molina and Lorenza Ruiz de Esparza. [In those days, Lorenza was frequently spelled Lorenca.] This record states that Luis Tiscareno de Molina, the son of Juan Tiscareno and Elvira Marquez, natives of Triana in Sevilla Reynos de Castilla (Spain) was married to Lorenca (Lorenza) Ruis de Esparza, who was the daughter of Lope Ruiz de Esparza and Francisca Gabadi, residents of this village (esta villa). Many of the Luevano’s in Aguascalientes in the following centuries were descended from this couple that got married in 1623. The record has been reproduced below.
The rough translation of the preceding document is as follows:
In the Station of Morcenique [on] the 16th day of the month of May of [1]623 years, I married [and veiled on these] premises the solemnities of right to Luis Tiscareño de Molina, son of Juan Tiscareño and Elvira Marquez, natives of Triana in Seville [in the] Kingdoms of Castile, with Lorença Ruiz de Esparça, legitimate daughter of Lope Ruiz de Esparça and Francisca Gabadi, his wife, neighbors of this town [Aguascalientes], the witnesses were Martin Fernandez de Vaulus and Francisco Macias Valades Salvador Ruiz de Esparça, brother-in-law of the said Luis Tiscareno de Molina, Francisco Sanchez de Montes de Oca and Ana Ruiz de Esparça, his wife, brothers-in-law of the said Luis Tiscareno, were godparents, and I signed it in testimony of truth.
The First Child of the Tiscarenos
As indicated by the marriage record, Luis Tiscareno de Molina, was a native of the Triana Barrio of Sevilla in southern Spain. Francisca Tiscareno, the first known child of Luis and Lorenza, was born on March 24, 1625 in Aguascalientes. This baptism – which is shown below – indicates that Francesca was Spanish and was the daughter of Luis de Tescareño and Lorenca de Esparsa.
Francesca Tiscareno and Jose Delgado Are Married (1644)
Next, we see the marriage record of Francesca Tiscareno and Jose Delgado that took place 19 years later. This marriage record is translated in part as follows:
In the Villa of Aguascalientes on the 30th of August of 1644, having carried out the marriage banns as required by the Holy Council of Trent on Sunday, the 21st, the 24th, the feast day of Bartholomew the Apostle, and on Sunday, the 28th, of the said month and year, I married and veiled JOSEF DELGADO, native of Teresa de Pinos [Zacatecas], son of Diego Delgado and Juana Diaz... with FRANCESCA GABADI, native of this place, legitimate daughter of Luis Tiscareno and Lorenza Ruiz de Esparza...
A copy of the actual marriage document follows:
After their marriage in 1644, Jose Delgado and Francisca Tiscareno Gabadi had many children. Almost twelve years after they were married, Francisca gave birth to a daughter named Maria Delgado, who was baptized in Aguascalientes on July 17, 1656.[6] This baptism is shown below:
Juan de Luebana Marries Maria Delgado (1676)
Twenty years after her birth, Maria Delgado was married on November 8, 1676 to Juan de Luebana.[7] The marriage record of Juan de Luebana and Maria Delgado is significant because it united the Tiscareno de Molina, Delgado and Esparza de Ruiz families with the Luebana family. All four families are considered founding families of Aguascalientes that arrived in the early 1600s.
Juan de Luebana was the grandson of Juan Luebana and Maria Lopez de Elizalde, who are believed to be the founders of the Luebana family in Mexico. From Juan Luebana and Maria Lopez de Elizalde to Juana Luevano – born in 1885 – ten generations of Luebana’s (or Luevano’s) lived in Aguascalientes. It is likely that many of their descendants still live in Aguascalientes, but many are also living in the United States.
The marriage of Juan de Luebana and María Delgado on November 8, 1676 below indicates that in the Villa de Aguascalientes, on the 8th of November of 1676, the parish priest married and veiled Juana de Luebana with Maria Delgado, both of them residents of the jurisdiction. The banns of matrimony had been read in Mass on three days, as mandated by the Holy Council of Trent.[8]
THE FOURTH GENRATION
The Birth of Francisco Luebana (1677)
After their marriage in 1676, Juan de Luebana and María Delgado would raise a very large family and baptize each of the children in the Assumption Church in Downtown Aguascalientes. The first of these children, Francisco Luebana, was baptized on November 21, 1677, a little over a year after the marriage. Francisco’s baptism document, reproduced below, reads in part: “In the Village of Aguascalientes on the 21st day of the month of November of 1677, I baptized and poured Holy Oil on Francisco (Franco), Spanish (Epl), the legitimate son of Juan de Luebana and of María Delgado...”
The following pedigree chart shows the four generations that preceded Francisco Luebana. From his father’s side, he inherited the Luebana and Lopez de Elizalde names. From his mother’s side, he was descended from the Delgado, Ruiz de Esparza, and Tiscareno de Molina families.
The Ancestors of Francisco Luebana.
Francisco de Luebana and Maria Ruiz de Esparza
Francisco de Luebana married a woman named María Ruiz de Esparza, but that marriage record has not been found in the regular marriage book of Aguascalientes. However, their marriage dispensa for May 13, 1705 was located in the Guadalajara Dispensas [Sagrada Mitra de Guadalajara, Marriage Dispensations in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Film 168605, 1700-1705 Dispensas, Number 92, Starting at Slide 40]:
The dispensas provide a great deal of boiler plate language about service to God and the willingness to be married in the eyes of God, as well as the testimony of various witnesses who know the bride and groom. According to the dispensa, “Francisco de Luebana, Español, a native of this town of Aguas Calientes, legitimate son of Joan [Juan] Luebana and Maria Delgado” was prepared to unite in marriage with “Maria Ruiz de Esparza, Española, a resident and native of this said town of Aguas Calientes, legitimate daughter of Nicolas Esparca [Esparza] and Antonia Garcia.” Francisco also pointed out that “Maria de Ruis de Esparza with whom I intend to marry, is my relative.” They were related through a “tercer con quarto grado de consanguinidad” (a third and fourth degree of consanguinity).
In the dispensa, names of the ancestors were not given. But a study of their ancestors reveal that Francisco Luebana was the grandson of Maria Lopez de Elizalde, and Maria Ruiz de Esparza was the granddaughter of Juana Lopez de Elizalde, making them second cousins (the third grade of consanguinity). Additionally, Francisco Luebana was the great-grandson of Lorenca Ruiz de Esparza (who married Luis de Tiscareno). His wife-to-be, Maria Ruiz de Esparza was the granddaughter of Jacinto Ruiz de Esparza. Lorenca and Jacinto Ruiz de Esparza are believed to be siblings. The entire dispensa starts at the following link and is several pages in length:
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:9392-DJVG-Z?i=39&wc=12512691&cc=1874591
THE FIFTH GENERATION
The Birth of Jose Luebana (1707)
In 1707, Maria gave birth to a son named José. The baptism record of this child is shown below. Its translation reads as follows:
In the Village of Aguascalientes on the 20th of May of 1707, I baptized and poured Holy Oil on JOSEPH ANTONIO, Spanish (Espl), legitimate son of Francisco (Franco) de Luebana and of María Delgado. The godparents were Pedro Ruiz de Esparza and Beatiz de Ayala, of whom I advised of their obligation....
It is not clear why Maria Ruiz de Esparza was called Maria Delgado. It may have simply been a mistake by the priest in writing down their names. But during this period of Colonial Mexico, names of women were more likely to change than those of men (except for indigenous people).
Juana Luebana Marries Tomasa Carrion
Twenty-one years later in 1728, José Luebana would be married to one Tomasa Carrion in Assumption Church. After the appropriate admonitions were announced in Mass as required by the Holy Council of Trent, the parish priest “celebrated Joseph Luebana and Thomasa Carrion.” This document is shown below.
THE SIXTH GENERATION
The Baptism of Alejo Luebana (1749)
Twenty-one years and several children later in 1749, José Luebana and Tomasa Carrion’s last child, Alejo Luebana, was born and baptized at the church in Aguascalientes. Because his father was recently deceased, the priest filling out the baptism record for Alexo de la Santa Cruz Luebana did not list his father’s name. However, at the time of his own marriage in 1777, Alexo did acknowledge that his father was Jose de Luebana. The baptism dated May 17, 1743 indicates that Alexo is the son of Thomasa de Carrion, Española, a single resident of Aguascalientes, but she was actually a widow.
Aguascalientes in the Late Eighteenth Century
By this time, the Parish of Aguascalientes had grown considerably from the small population it boasted when the Spaniards first arrived in the late Sixteenth Century. A 1760 census of the parish showed 640 Indian and 5,386 non-Indian families, with a total of 20,441 persons who were eligible to receive Holy Communion at Mass. According to the estimate of Mr. Peter Gerhard, this would represent a total population of about 34,000 persons, if you include infants.[9] By 1770, the parochial census showed a total of 28,074 people, an increase of almost 8,000. However, in 1785-1786, it is believed that famine and disease killed off almost half of the population of Aguascalientes.[10]
The Marriage of Alejo Luebana and Maria de Jesus Gil (1777)
By this time, young Alejo Luebana had grown to maturity and took as his bride a girl whose family came from the city of Jalostotitlán. Below, we have reproduced the two-page marriage record of Alejo Luebana and María de Jesus Gil, taken from the Aguascalientes Marriage Book.
The translation of the document reads as follows:
In the Village of Aguascalientes on the 12th of January 1777, having proceeded with the marriage banns as mandated by the Holy Council of Trent, in the Parish Church, on three holy days, in solemn mass, I read the banns on the 22nd, 25th, and 26th of December of the preceding year, and having found no impediments to marriage resulting, I, Father José Joachim Medina, with license from Father Antonio Flores...I married... ALEJO DE LUEBANA, Spanish, originally from and a resident of this jurisdiction in the Rancho Grande, legitimate son of José Luebana and Tomasa Carrion (both deceased), with MARIA DE JESUS GIL, Spanish, originally from Jalostotitlán, and for a short time, a resident of this jurisdiction in the Hacienda de Juan del Mesquital, legitimate daughter of Francisco Gil and Petra Cassilas...
Marriage Información (Preparation for Marriage)
However, a few weeks earlier on December 21, 1776, there had been an extensive Información Matrimonio document of Alexo de Luebana and Thomasa Carrion to determine their spiritual suitability for marriage. The document is eight page long and indicates the desire of ALEXO DE LUEVANA, Español, the legitimate son of Joseph de Luebana and Thomaza Carreon (both deceased) to marry MARIA DE THOMASA GIL, Española, originally from the Pueblo of Xalostotitlán and a resident of Aguascalientes since she was a child, then a resident of San Juan del Mesquital, the legitimate daughter of Francisco Gil (deceased) and Petra Casillas. Numerous witnesses were called, their testimony provided in eight pages. As stated earlier, this document was dated December 21, 1776.[9] A small introductory portion of Alejo’s intention to marry Thomasa follows:
The Marriage Dispensation
However, a marriage dispensation was required when it was revealed that Jose Alejo Luevana and Thomasa Carrión shared a common ancestor through their Tiscareño ancestors. The beginning of the dispensa states that Jose Alejo describes himself as “hombre frágil y miserable” (a fragile and miserable man) and that he had had a “ilícita amistad” (an illicit friendsip) with Tomasa:[10]
Aguascalientes, January 24, 1778: JOSE DE LUEVANA, Spanish [he stated that he was 29 years old], originally from this parish, legitimate son of Juan de Luevana and María Delgado, deceased, to the best of the law, I appear before your worship and I say that as a fragile and miserable man I have been in an illicit friendship with THOMASA CARRION, a Spaniard, [she stated that she was 22 years old] also originally and resident in this said parish in the place called the Tiscareños, legitimate daughter of José Carrión and Paula Muñoz, both deceased... being as it is, third degree relationship with fourth degree of consanguinity for being and having been Francisca de Tiscareño, my grandmother, full sister of Juan de Tiscareño, great-grandfather of the said Tomasa Carrión, my claimant
The first section of the dispensa is shown below:
THE SEVENTH GENERATION
Estanislao Luebana
From the marriage record of Alejo Luebana and María de Jesus Gil, we shall now move on to the marriage record of Alejo and María’s son, Estanislao Luebana, who was born around 1781. The marriage of Estanislao Luebana and María Salome Gomes took place on September 9, 1812 and is reproduced below. The translation of this document reads as follows:
In the Village of Aguascalientes, on the 9th of the month of September in 1812, having proceeded with the marriage preparations, as is right, and having read the marriage banns as required by the Holy Council of Trent in the Parish Church on three Holy days in solemn Mass, on the 23rd, 24th, and 28th of the past month of August, and having found no impediments to marriage resulting, I, Father Juan Muños, with license from Father José Francisco... married ESTANISLAO LUEBANA, Spanish (espl), originally from and a resident of Benadero, legitimate son of Alejo Luevana and Jesus Gil (deceased)... with MARIA SALOME GOMES, Spanish, originally from and a resident of this jurisdiction in Cienega de Cardona, legitimate daughter of Cipriano Gomes and María Manuela Macias....
Document Location:
In addition to the marriage record, the Matrimonio Información record for this marriage was also studied. That document, dated August 20th, 1812 (twenty days before the marriage), indicated that thirty-year-old Estanislao de Luebana appeared before Father José Mariano Guerrero to testify that he was prepared to take as his bride Señorita María Salome Gomez. Estanislao states that he was from Benadero and the son of Alejo de Luebana and Jesus Gil (who was deceased). He also stated that he had no relationship by blood (no tiene parentesco alguno de consangd), no sexual relationship (afinidad por copula) or spiritual relationship (espiritual) with his prospective bride. “Consangd” is an abbreviation for “consanguinidad” (as in blood affinity or relationship). On the same day, María Salome Gomez also appeared before Father Guerrero and testified about her willingness to contract in marriage with Estanislao.
THE EIGHTH GENERATION
Jose Pablo Luevano
Soon after this marriage, Estanislao and María Salome moved south to take up residence near the hacienda that María’s family came from (Cienega de Cardona), a short distance from the small town of Cieneguilla. Today, Villa Hidalgo is located in Jalisco, just south of the border between Aguascalientes and Jalisco. For most of the Nineteenth Century, Villa Hidalgo was known as “Paso de Sotos.” The church records at Santísima Trinidad start in 1814 and are available on thirty-three rolls of microfilm through the Family History Library.[12]
Four years after their marriage in Aguascalientes, on March 10, 1816, Estanislao Luevano and María Salome Gomes would take their two-day-old son, José Pablo, to be baptized at La Santísima Trinidad Church in Villa Hidalgo. The baptism record of Jose Pablo, reproduced below, read as follows:
In the Parish Church of the Congregation of Trinity, on the 10th day of the month of March of the year 1816, I, the proper priest of this place, Father José Bernardino de Palos, baptized solemnly and poured Holy Oil and Sacred Chrism on a little Spanish boy, born two days earlier at Cienega de Cardona, whom I gave the name JOSE PAVLO, legitimate son of Estanislao Luevano and of Salome Gomes. Paternal grandparents: Alejo Luevano and María de Jesus Gil. Maternal grandparents: Cipriano Gomes and Manuela Masias....
Jose Pablo Luevano Married Manuela Serna (1844)
Jose Pablo Luevano grew up on a hacienda near Villa Hidalgo. Twenty-eight years after his baptism in La Santísima Trinidad Church, Pablo Luevano entered the same church with the intention of marrying María Manuela Serna. Their marriage record, dated May 3, 1844, is translated in part as follows:
In this Parish church of Pasa de Sotos on May 3, 1844, I, Father Antonio Cabral, priest, married and blessed within the church PABLO LUEBANA, celibate, 24 years of age, originally from and a resident of... and legitimate son of Estanislao Luebano and Salome Gomes with MANUELA SERNA, celibate, 18 years of age, originally from and a resident of the same Rancho, legitimate daughter of Leocadia Serna and Ramona Diaz (deceased)...
As it turns out, Pablo Luebana (Luevano) was actually 28 years old, not 24 as indicated in the marriage record.
THE NINTH GENERATION
Tiburcio Luevano
Pablo and Manuela appear to have had several children, including Tiburcio Luevano, who would eventually become the father of Juana Luevano and her siblings. The Villa Hidalgo baptisms for the years 1854 to 1859 are missing, so the baptism of Tiburcio has not been located. The baptism of his older sister, Maria Paula, on January 27, 1847, reveals that she was baptized in the Church at Villa Hidalgo as the legitimate daughter of Pablo Luevano and Manuela Serna. Her abuelos were: Abuelos Paternos: Estanislao Luebano and Salome Gomes. Abuelos Maternos: Leocadio Serna and Ramona Dias. Her brother, Tiburcio Luevano, was probably born around 1858 to 1859.
On May 27, 1874, Tiburcio took as his bride one María Manuela Martinez. Their marriage record from the Villa Hidalgo marriage book has been reproduced below and is translated in part as follows:
In the Parish of La Santísima Trinidad de Sotos, on the 27th of May of 1874, I, Father Pablo Marin, proper priest of this place, married and blessed in the face of the church Tiburcio Luevana, single, 25 years of age, originally from and a resident of this place, legitimate son of Pablo Luevano, deceased, and of Manuela Serna, who is living....
with Manuela Martinez, celibate, 16 years of age, originally from and a resident of this place, legitimate daughter of Timoteo Martinez, who is living, and of Fermina Rubalcaba, deceased, and having read the marriage banns on three holy days in solemn Mass on the 19th, 26th of April and the 3rd of May after which no impediments to marriage resulted and instruction in Christian doctrine was received...
It is believed that Tiburcio Luevano and Manuela Martinez had at least eleven children between roughly 1877 and 1902. The first two children, María Jacoba and Natividad, were born in Paso de Sotos and then baptized at Villa Hidalgo.
THE TENTH GENERATION
Juana Luevano (Born in 1885)
The third child of Tiburcio and Manuela was Juana Luevano, who was born on September 27, 1885. When Juana was only two days old, her parents Tiburcio and Manuela took her to La Santísima Trinidad Church to have her baptized. Juana’s baptism record, as copied from the Villa Hidalgo parish records, is reproduced below and is translated as follows:
In the Parish of Paso de Sotos on the 29th of September of 1885, I, Father Estevan Agredano... baptized solemnly and poured Holy Oil and Sacred Chrism on JUANA, who was born on the 27th day at seven in the morning in this place, legitimate daughter of Tiburcio Luevano and Manuela Martinez. Paternal grandparents: Pablo Luevano and Manuela Serna. Maternal grandparents: Timoteo Martinez and Fermina Rubalcaba. Godparents: Paulin Diaz and Epifania Aguallo, whom I advised of their spiritual and parental obligation. In witness thereof, I signed it.
Juana Luevano represented the tenth generation of the Luevano/Luebana family in Mexico since their emigration from Spain. Her family had been one of the first Spanish families to settle in Aguascalientes in the early Seventeenth Century when it was still just a small outpost along the road to Guadalajara and Mexico City.
The Marriage of Olayo Morales and Juana Luevano (1903)
Juana Luevano represented the tenth generation of the Luevano/Luebana family in Aguascalientes and Mexico. She grew up in the area of Villa Hidalgo and Cieneguilla, along the frontier region between Aguascalientes and Jalisco. After the turn of the century, Juana Luevano met a young man named Olayo Morales. The circumstances of their meeting are not known, but it seems likely that both of their families may have been employed by the same hacienda. When they were married in 1903, the wedding took place in Cieneguilla, a small town in Aguascalientes just a few miles northeast of Villa Hidalgo. Olayo was 22 years old and Juana was 16. A translation of this marriage record states:
In Cieneguilla, on the 18th of January of 1903, at 9 in the morning, present in this office and before the Judge who signed it, the citizen OLAYO MORALES and JUANA LUEVANO, said that they were desired to contract in a civil marriage in accordance with the laws in force, for which they request that the first procedures be carried out immediately. The first [Olayo Morales] said he is single, 22 years of age, originally from Santa Maria and a resident of here [Cieneguilla], a day laborer, and the legitimate son of Eustacio Morales and Juana Salas, who [both] are living. The second [Juana Luevano] says that she is celibate, 16 years of age, the legitimate daughter of Tiburcio Luevano and Manuela Martinez, who also are living. Secondly, in order to prove the legal aptitude in which they are to enter into marriage, they present as witnesses the citizens Crispin Santan, 50 years of age, and Zacarias Salinas, 60 years of age, both married, adults of age, day laborers and residents of this hacienda…
THE ELEVENTH GENERATION
The Birth of Celestino Morales (1908)
Olayo Morales, a native of Santa Maria (south of the capital city), moved to the Hacienda de la Cantera to work as a laborer and support his new family. The first child born to the union of Olayo and Juana was Carmen Morales, who was born around 1905 in Aguascalientes. Their second child, Celestino, was born on April 8, 1908. Four days later, Olayo and Juana took little Celestino to the Judge of the Aguascalientes Municipio to report his birth:
In Aguascalientes, on the 12th of April of 1908, before me, the Judge registered that 10:25 in the morning, the citizen Olallo Morales, married, 30 years of age, day laborer, with a home in Hacienda de la Cantera, presented a living little boy, born in the same place on the 6th day of the present month at 8 in the morning, whom I gave the name Celestino Morales, legitimate son of Juana Luevano, 20 years [old]. Abuelos Paternos: Eustasio Morales and Juana Salas. Abuelos Maternos: Tiburcio Luebano and Maria Manuela Martinez…
The Stability of the Porfiriato
As Olayo and Juana raised their small family in Aguascalientes, Mexico started to experience profound social and political changes. The era of Mexican politics that lasted from 1876 to 1910 is usually referred to as The Porfiriato, for Porfirio Díaz, who served as President through six terms of office starting in 1876. During this period of time, Mexico experienced sustained economic growth as never before.
The Domination of the Hacienda Complex
However, Michael C. Meyer in his book The Course of Mexican History (New York: Oxford Press, 1987) writes that “the peace, prosperity, and stability of this era was preserved in part by the use of brute force.” Through “adroit political maneuvering, threats, intimidation, and, whenever necessary, callous use of the federal army,” Porfirio Díaz maintained himself in power. In spite of the modernization of Mexico’s industry and the prosperity of the small upper class, Mexico remained an “overwhelmingly rural country... dominated by the hacienda complex.” And, unfortunately for the average Mexican citizen, “the abuses of the system were exacerbated markedly during the Díaz regime.”
By 1894, one-fifth of the total landmass of Mexico was owned by land companies “and some 134 million acres of the best land had passed into the hands of a few hundred fantastically wealthy families.” According to the Mexican census of 1910, 8,245 haciendas existed in the Republic and half of all rural Mexicans lived and worked on them. Mr. Meyer writes that these millions of laborers “were worse off financially than their rural ancestors a century before” and “in terms of purchasing power correlated with the price of corn or cheap cloth,” the Mexican peón was actually twelve times poorer than the average American farm laborer.
The Ascendancy of Francisco Madero (1910)
By 1910, President Díaz had come under sharp criticism from his political opponents for the autocratic nature of his rule. It was only a matter of time before a social revolution would become necessary. The opposition eventually coalesced around an eccentric northern landowner, Francisco I. Madero (1873-1913). On November 20, 1910, Madero, who had taken refuge in the United States, issued a call for an armed uprising.
The Mexican Revolution Begins (1911)
By May 1911, President Díaz was forced to resign and flee the country. However, the resignation of Díaz did not bring stability to Mexico. Instead, the turmoil became more intense, especially after the overthrow and assassination of Madero in February 1913. General Victoriano Huerta, a general who was born in a small Jalisco village, assumed the office of President after having overthrown Madero. But Huerta‘s stay in office came to an end on July 8, 1914, when he was forced to resign. “The years following Victoriano Huerta’s ouster,” according to Mr. Meyer, “are the most chaotic in Mexican revolutionary history as the quarrels among erstwhile allies began.”
Mexico’s Loss of Life (1910-1921)
Some have estimated that the lost of life in the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920) was between 1.5 and 2 million. “In a country with a population of roughly 15 million in 1910,” writes Mr. Meyer, “few families did not directly feel the pain as one in every eight Mexicans was killed.” Between 1910 and 1921, the population of Mexico dropped from 15.2 million to 14.3 million - and that drop even took place in spite of the usual population growth and Mexico’s high birthrate. With this major loss of life, the already fragile Mexican economy was nearly destroyed. Jobs were scarce in many parts of the country, and the average daily wage of the common farm laborer in Mexico did not exceed twenty-five cents a day. Railway laborers in Mexico were making fifty to seventy-five cents a day in 1910. By comparison, railway workers in the United States made $1.25 a day.
Moving to the United States
During this time, many Mexican families began to move northward in the hopes of avoiding hostilities. But some of the earliest battles took place in the north, complicating the plight of the Mexican citizens seeking refuge. During these dangerous times, Olayo Morales and Juana Luevano went into Northern Mexico with the intention of crossing the border into the United States of America.
Crossing the Border (November 1912)
They had arrived at the border by traveling along the Ferrocarrilles Nacionales de Mexico (Mexican National Railway), which terminated at Piedras Negras, located across the Rio Grande from Eagle Pass. On November 19, 1912, Juana and Olayo crossed the border, carrying with them two small children, Carmen and Celestino. The Immigration Service (then a section of the Department of Commerce and Labor) made a separate manifest of each family member as they crossed the border on that day at Eagle Pass, Texas. As Olayo Morales crossed the border on November 19, he was described as being 27 years of age. His last residence was Aguascalientes. His manifest has been reproduced below.
As Juana moved across the border, she was described as being in good health and without money. Anxious to reach Houston, Texas (where it is believed that Luevano relatives awaited them), Olayo and Juana, with their meager funds, may have boarded the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railway for their journey to Houston. Juana’s border-crossing manifest has been reproduced below.
The Morales Family in America
Olayo Morales moved his small family to Houston, Texas where he found work. Shortly after coming to America, Juana Luevano gave birth to a daughter, Maria. Then, on September 23, 1914, a son was born and they gave him the name Daniel Morales. A month later, on October 31, he was brought to the local Catholic Church and baptized. The baptism record has been reproduced below, showing his father as Eulalio Morales. His mother’s name has been partially smudged out. His uncle Jose Luevano was one of his godparents.
The Morales Family in the 1920 Census
According to the 1920 Federal census, Olayo Morales, a native of Mexico, lived at 304 Walker Street in Houston, Harris County, Texas. Living in Enumeration District 66, Olayo was described as a 30-year-old male who drove an “express wagon” for a living. Because of his inability to speak English, Olayo’s age was off by many years. Juana, as his wife, was also listed as 30 years old, even though she was actually 35 years of age. The children listed were Carmen (son, 15 years old), Celestino (son, 13 years old), Maria (daughter, 7 years old), and Daniel (son, 5 years old). Maria and Daniel were both born in the United States, while all the other members of the family were natives of Mexico. The census is attached below.
Daniel Morales
In 1932, Daniel Samuel Morales, as he was called for most of his life, came to Kansas. He first worked for the railroad and was married to one Agripina Llanos. However, that marriage ended very soon when Agripina died in childbirth. Soon after he met Bessie Dominguez, a native of Texas and the daughter of Zacatecas immigrants. Bessie had Indigenous facial features, an inheritance of her ancestors who spent many centuries working the mines in northern Zacatecas. Then, on April 18, 1937, after a short courtship, Daniel and Bessie were married in Jackson County, Missouri. Over the years, Daniel and Bessie would have a total of eight daughters: Jenny, Olivia, Mary Ellen, Eleanor, Ruth, Carol, Donna, and Abigail.
During the Depression years, Daniel worked at multiple jobs. He worked as a clerk for the Rock Island Railroad, but also found employment at the Muelbach Hotel in Kansas as a waiter. He also became a Sundy school teacher at the First Mexican American Baptist Church in Kansas City where he served for over thirty years. He retired from the Rock Island Railroad in 1975 after 38 years of service. At the time of his death at the age of 82 on November 16, 1996, Daniel had eight daughters, 16 grandchildren, and 16 great-grandchildren. A photograph of a very young Daniel Morales and Bessie Dominguez has been reproduced below.
A Photograph of Daniel Morales and Bessie Dominguez Shortly After Their Marriage.
Celestino Morales
Celestino Morales also moved to Kansas in the 1930s. He was married to Felicitas Dominguez, the sister of Bessie Dominguez (the wife of Daniel Morales). Celestino worked for the Nazarene Publishing House for 23 years until he retired in 1973. He joined the Spanish Church of the Nazarene. On February 10, 1988, at the age of 78 years, Celestinos’ wife, Felicitas, died at St. Luke's Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri. She had been sick with diabetes and heart problems and the immediate cause of death was cardiac failure. Two years later, on July 14, 1990, Celestino Morales died at the age of 82. By the time of his death, Celestino and Felicitas left behind a five sons, one daughter, 21 grandchildren, and 20 great-grandchildren. The following descendancy chart shows the eleven generations from Juan Luebana to Celestino Morales, covering approximately 400 years.
The Descent from Juan Luebana to Celestino Morales
A Journey of Eleven Generations
Every family has its own destiny to follow. In the early years of the Seventeenth Century, a Spanish immigrant named Juan de Luebana followed his destiny to Aguascalientes in Nueva Galicia [New Galicia, Mexico] at a time when the city and its surrounding areas were finally free of conflict for the first time in more than half a century. Juan married Maria Lopez de Elizalde, whose parents had played an important role in the early years of another nearby settlement: Lagos de Moreno.
Juan and the next eight generations of Luebana’s primarily intermarried with other Spanish families in the area for the next two-and-a-half centuries. Like many others, the Luebana men faced a variety of challenges in Colonial Mexico. Sometime around 1812, Estanislao Luevano would move to Villa Hidalgo, a small town in Jalisco just south of the border with Aguascalientes. Then, in 1821, the Luevano family would become citizens of the new nation of Mexico, now freed from the colonial rule of Spain after 300 years of occupation.
The family stayed in Villa Hidalgo until Juana Luevano — the tenth generation from Juan Luebana — moved back to Aguascalientes when she married Olayo Morales in 1903. Their son, Celestino Morales, would be born in 1908. Four years later, to escape the turmoil of the Mexican Revolution, Juana and Olayo crossed into the United States at the Eagle Pass Port of Entry on November 19, 1912. For the first time in 300 years, the family perceived a serious threat and decided it was time to remove themselves to a new location in an entirely different country.
For the next 20 years, the family made a home for itself in Houston, Texas. But around 1932, Celestino Morales and his brother Daniel arrived in Kansas City. They would spend the rest of their lives in Kansas, becoming valued members of their community and their respective churches. On July 14, 1990, Celestino Morales would die at the age of 82. His brother Daniel would die at the same age in 1996. At the time of their deaths, Daniel and Celestino, represented the eleventh generation of the family that the progenitor, Juan Luebana, had started roughly 380 years earlier in the middle of Mexico.
Primary Reference Sources
Gerhard, Peter. The Northern Frontier of New Spain. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1982.
Meyer, Michael C. The Course of Mexican History. New York: Oxford University Press, 1987.
Morales, Donna S. and Schmal, John P. The Indigenous Roots of a Mexican-American Family. Bowie, Maryland:Heritage Books, 2004.
Powell, Philip Wayne,. Soldiers, Indians and Silver: North America’s First Frontier War. Tempe, Arizona: Center for Latin American Studies, Arizona State University, 1973.
Footnotes
[1] Alberto García Carraffa, Enciclopedia Heralidca y Genealogica Hispano-Americana (Madrid, 1919).
[2] Peter Gerhard, The North Frontier of Spain (1993), pp. 63-64.
[3] Ibid., p. 65; Philip Wayne Powell, Soldiers, Indians & Silver: North America's First Frontier War (1975), pp. 144, 154-155.
[4] Peter Gerhard, op. cit., p 65.
[5] Archivo General de Indias, Sección de Contratación, Pasajeros a Indias: Libros de Asientos (Sevilla, Spain: Imprenta Editorial de la Gavidia, 1940), Vol. VII, 1586-1599, III-163, #2.633.
[6] Aguascalientes Baptism Book, Microfilm 299421, p. 47.
[7] Aguascalientes Marriage Book, Microfilm 299823, p. 65.
[8] Ibid.
[9] "México, Aguascalientes, Registros Parroquiales, 1620-1962," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-267-11825-152586-81?cc=1502404 : 20 May 2014), Aguascalientes > Asunción de María > Información matrimonial 1776 > image 548 of 980; parroquias católicas, Aguascalientes (Catholic Church parishes, Aguascalientes).
[10] México, Jalisco, Registros Parroquiales, 1590-1979," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:9392-DJPS-Z?cc=1874591&wc=3JW2-FM9%3A171935001%2C171974101%2C175902701 : 28 June 2014), Guadalajara > Diócesis de Guadalajara > Matrimonios 1722-1748 > image 165 of 460; parroquias católicas (Catholic Church parishes), Jalisco.
[11] Peter Gerhard, op. cit., p. 65.
[12] Ibid.
[13] Of the thirty-rolls rolls of film for the “Registros Parroquiales” of Villa Hidalgo, my primary sources of information were Rolls 1155553 through 1155558 – for baptisms – and Rolls 1156051 through 1156053 – for marriages (Salt Lake City: Sociedad Genealógica de Utah, 1977).