Emilie/Linda:

I think you are on to something very important here.  I grew up in a 
predominantly Chinese neighborhood in Los Angeles and then went off 
to school on the east coast, where there are very few Mexicans and 
have lived in Asia and the east coast for most of my adult life.  I 
must say that doing this genealogy research has really led to me to 
learn a lot more about my Mexican heritage and get connected to it.  
I am hoping that I can disseminate what I have learned among my 
relatives and that it will have a similar effect on them.

I think it is important to understand from where we came in order to 
better figure out where we should go...


--- In ranchos@yahoogroups.com, "Emilie Garcia" <auntyemfaustus@h...> 
wrote:
>
> Linda, 
> 
> I too have a Valencia ancestor on my mother's side.  Also I too am 
one of that last generation of our culture that can understand 
Spanish although I am not fluent in it.  I never had any children, 
but if I had, I guess they would have married out of the culture as 
have just about all my nieces and nephews, and so have lost their 
ethnicity and don't share our feelings for things Mexican.  Maybe our 
ancestors feel this loss and are anxious for us to get the history 
down and pass it on to those we leave behind.
> 
> Emilie Garcia 
> Port Orchard, WA ---
>   ----- Original Message ----- 
>   From: Erlinda Castanon-Long<mailto:longsjourney@y...> 
>   To: ranchos@yahoogroups.com<mailto:ranchos@yahoogroups.com> 
>   Sent: Friday, December 09, 2005 10:58 AM
>   Subject: [ranchos] Unsolved mystery
> 
> 
>   Thank you Emilie for talking about this subject. I find it 
>   heartwarming that so many group members are willing to share 
>   their 'extra' help in finding the records for our ancestors.  
People 
>   who don't do genealogy find our passion for finding ancestors 
>   strange.  My sister said I am a genealogy addict, I told her I 
was 
>   just passionate about finding all those who got me here in this 
day 
>   and time.  There are times when I don't get much sleep because of 
>   dreams that ultimately open doors to more lines or names.
> 
>   In doing records I find it's much easier to find the Spanish 
>   ancestors than the Indio or Mulato lines due to a lack of last 
names 
>   sometimes.  I found that my Espanol ancestor Guadalupe Mendez 
>   married a Mulato woman, Francisca Valencia in 1833.  Francisca 
>   haunted my dreams until I decided to pursue her lines. I took her 
>   Rolon ancestor back to about 1660 and found them in and out of 
>   slavery. I was proud when they were free in 1680 and inslaved 
again 
>   in 1715 with my "love child' direct ancestor, Georje Rolon, born 
to 
>   another female slave Gertrudis Antonia Alcaras. George married a 
>   Mestisa in 1738 so their children became free, I cried again. 
After 
>   doing all I could with this line the door for my Gutierrez 
ancestors 
>   opened and I was taken from Jalisco to Michoacan where I found 
>   hundreds of records taking that line back to about 1690..  I will 
>   never take those dreams lightly again.. If the ancestors want to 
>   help me rediscover our families heritage I will always be open to 
>   their help.  Doing genealogy is not just collecting names and 
dates, 
>   the history and stories that emerge from the records gives our 
>   ancestors a reality that makes me feel great joy and pain as 
their 
>   stories unfold.
> 
>   Im my case I am the last generation that understands or speaks 
any 
>   Spanish at all and that is truly limited.  I feel with my 
genealogy 
>   work my decendants have a chance 100 years from now to 
understand  
>   the blood that flows through their veins. I do believe I was 
chosen 
>   to bring my families lines to light again, just as many of you 
have 
>   been  for your lines.
>   Linda in Everett
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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