Have I finally nailed this down?
I have never had an issue with my American heritage being
relatively new; especially with a British born mother. Having been brought up in a military family a
lot of my friends had foreign-born mothers.
But my father’s US heritage was at least first generation
American and probably a 2nd generation as well. Being an “Anglo-Mexican Americans”-now that
made my sisters and I a little more different than our military friends.
My dad’s father was commonly discussed as having been born in
Mexico. My dad’s mother, my Grandma
Rachel, her place of origin to me, always seemed to be the question.
I had heard that she was born in San Benito, Cameron County,
Texas. And certainly when I asked anyone,
that was the answer. Almost as if “it
must be so!” Not really paying attention
much as a kid, there was something that stayed with me that said there was a
doubt.
And with that doubt, I entered “Mexico or San Benito” in my
grandmother place of birth when I started my tree a couple of years ago. Certainly the first two facts I pulled off of
Ancestry.com planted that seed of doubt a little further.
The first clue was the US 1920 census.[1] My grandmother appears in the census as a
6-year-old living with her parents in Hidalgo County, Texas. It states quite plainly that her place of
birth, along with her whole family, was “Mexico”. Also, in this census, the
question is asked regarding immigration year, and it states 1918. Hmmm…maybe not San Benito after all.
When I asked my aunt about this finding, she said, “The
census takers always put Mexico. They
didn’t care.” While the stories of wide
spread discrimination at the time are well known, that isn’t what this story is
about. I just want to know what was
true. Although there is a lot of “Mexico”
all the way down the page, there are a few entries for persons with Latino
names, but listed as being from Texas.
I moved on looking for more clues.
My next clues came relatively quickly. I found baptism registration in Matamoros,
Tamaulipas, Mexico for both of my grandmother’s older siblings. Both of my great grandparents on my grandma’s
side have a long history of being from Rancho el Capote. The likelihood she would have been baptized
in Matamoros wouldn’t be out of the question.
Unfortunately, the entire year 1912, the year of her birth, is noted as
missing from the on-line images at Familysearch.org.
My next “aha” moment came when I found a border-crossing
card for my grandmother and her mother.[2] She arrived in Brownsville from Matamoros and
is 3 years. The to the question
on the card “Ever in US” the answer is “No”.
I’m getting ready to erase San Benito from the place of
birth field in my tree. But… is this
really enough evidence to overturn any verbal evidence? Not really.
The next record to assist (confuse) me is the birth
certificate of her first child. On the
birth certificate, it plainly states her birthplace is Matamoros, Mexico. At this point I am dying to erase San Benito! But, you can’t believe everything you read as
is evident by this birth certificate. It
had aged my grandma by 10 years! I
removed my finger from the backspace button.
The US 1930 Census starting turning the tide the other direction. Grandma Rachel shows up with her husband and
her oldest child living in Harlingen, Texas.[3] In this census, her birthplace is listed as
“Texas”.
For the birth of her next 3 children, she names Texas as her
birthplace. One of them as specific as
San Benito.
In the 1940 census it is Texas again. Finally there is the evidence of her SS-5
application in 1941 once again naming San Benito as her birthplace.
Which one to pick? I
still wasn’t comfortable either way. One
of the items I read in genealogy blogs is resolving any conflicts. At this point I just don’t feel I have resolved
anything.
Finally, I remember asking my aunt whether she knew if there
was a birth certificate for my grandma. I
had never found evidence of it online. She
had stated she remembered helping grandma file a late entry birth certificate
around the time she was going to retire.
I decided to take my chances and pay the $22 fee and apply for a copy of
it.
It arrived 2 days ago.
Not expecting too much, I opened the envelope and read every
detail. I think I lucked out due to the
fact it was a delay file.[4] That means the certificate lists the
supporting documentation. The
certificate was filed in 1974. There
are 3 supporting documents listed.
(Unfortunately, copies of the supporting documents do not accompany the
certificate. I asked via email the same
day. I was told the documents are
returned at the time of the filing-boo!)
One document listed in the SS-5 application. I have a copy
of that already. Nothing new there. Plus, I really am looking for something
closer to the actual date of birth.
The second item is listed was an affidavit from her uncle,
her mother’s brother. Wow, I wish I had
a copy of that!
The first item listed is what piques my interest. It states it is a copy of her baptism
certificate from St Benedict’s church in San Benito. The baptism is less than 2 months after her
birth.
This is the most compelling evidence yet. I have already emailed the parish asking them
how I may request a copy of the entry.
At this point, I have begrudgingly removed “Mexico” as my
grandmother’s place of birth. Who knows,
maybe one day I will find something to make we want to put it back. But I highly doubt the baptism certificate
will point to Mexico as it was used as supporting documentation for US
citizenship.
I’m disappointed. I wanted
her to be from Mexico. It probably is a
generational thing, but I’d be proud to say that is where she was born. Does it matter? Not at all.
But I’m not ignorant to the fact that at some point in our history it
meant something socially. Not to mention
the issues of legal status; which she obviously went through.
But isn’t this why we go on this family history
journey? To uncover evidence and find
our roots. I already know I have a deep
roots on Rancho el Capote outside Matamoros.
I just never met any of my ancestors that actually came from there. I was hoping to be able to say with
certainly… I had.
[1] Ancestry.com, 1920 United States
Federal Census (Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com, ear: 1920; Census
Place: Justice Precinct 8, Hidalgo, Texas; Roll: T625_1811; Page: 6A;
Enumeration District: 99; Image:1132
[2] Lists of Aliens Arriving at
Brownsville, Del Rio, Eagle Pass, El Paso, Laredo, Presidio, Rio Grande City
and Roma, Texas, May 1903 - June 1909, and at Aros Ranch, Douglas, Lochiel,
Naco and Nogales, Arizona, July 1906 - December 1910, NARA microfilm publication A3365, 5 rolls. ARC ID: 4489131. M1502 Brownsville, Texas 1905-1953, 02, Image
number 8567 of 10022, Ancestry.com.
[3] Ancestry.com, 1930 United States
Federal Census, Year: 1930; Census Place: Precinct 6, Cameron, Texas; Roll:
2305; Page: 18B; Enumeration District: 0036; Image: 928.0; FHL microfilm:
2342039.
[4] Texas, Department of State Health Services;
Vital Statistics Unit, Birth Certificates, Citing Raquel Farias, Delayed
Certificate of Birth, Certificate number 292234, Cameron County, filed 26 Aug
1974, copy of original received 11 May 2015.
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