2013 12 - Dec LBGHS Newsletter

LBGHS eMail Newsletter 1 Volume 2 - Issue 12
Los Bexareos
Genealogical and Historical Society
Those born in Bxar and those who migrated to and made their home in Bxar throughout the ages, whether under the inuence of Tribal Law,
or the laws of Spain, France, the 1
st
Republic of Texas, the Republic of Mxico, the 2
nd
Republic of Texas, the Confederate States of Amrica, or
the United States of Amrica are known as Los Bexareos.
Their families extend to all the lands of the world. Once a Bexareo always a Bexareo.
A Newsletter via e-Mail December 2013
Cont ent s I n Thi s I ssue
1. LBGHS December Monthly Meeting Facebook LBGHS Web Page
2. Message From The President
3. LBGHS Committees Announcements
4. SAVE THE DATE: The LBGHS Annual Awards and Installation of Officers Luncheon
5. Websites That Tell Our Stories Membership Dues Gloria Cadena Scholarship Fund
6. LBGHS November Monthly Meeting
7. LBGHS Merchandise Telling Our Stories - Home Remedies ~ Herbs and Prayers
8. Telling Our Stories - Memory Flashback
9. LBGHS Directory Gloria Cadena Scholarship
10. Telling Our Stories - The Making of Los Ojuelos Ranch Book
11. Genealogy Project - Google Genealogy Search Tips
13. LBGHS Resource Center Publication Sales Web Indexes
14. LBGHS Raffle Publication Announcements
15. Calendar of Events
16. Around The State Message From the Editor Submit Your Articles
LBGHS Monthly Meeting
December 7, 2013
San Antonio Main Public Library
9:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
SPEAKER: Art Martnez de Vara
TOPIC: The History and Records of San Patricio
Art Martnez de Vara is the current mayor of Von Ormy, Bexar, Texas. Prior to 1880, the community was known as Mann's Crossing, Garza's
Crossing, Medina Crossing, and Paso de las Garzas.
Mr. Martnez de Vara will present his new book "The History and Records of San Patricio de Bexar Church at Bexar, Texas."
San Patricio de Bexar Church at Bexar (near present-day Somerset, Texas) began as the Catholic mission to Atascosa and Frio Counties.
Located on the Kinney Ranch in South Bexar County, it served the coal mining communities of Bexar and La Colorada. With the arrival of
the Artesian Belt Railroad, the town of Bexar declined as its population moved two miles east to Somerset. Many of the early families of
Atascosa and South Bexar Counties are contained among this books nearly 10,000 entries, including the Ruiz, Herrera, Navarro, Cotulla,
Lytle, Casias, Kinney, Hayden, Barker and Vara. This volume contains the complete records of San Patricio de Bexar, plus a modern survey of
its cemetery, an 1876 mission census of Atascosa County, and a detailed history of the community. !
CONTENT
CONTRIBUTORS
Louis J. Benavides
Sandra Benavides
Anthony Delgado
Mary Esther Escobedo
Santiago Escobedo
Cindy Farmer
Olga Lpez-Hickey
Marissa Martnez
Sylvia Morales
Dennis Moreno
Ofelia Olsson
Yolanda Patio
Sylvia Reyna
Sandy Salinas
Sylvia Sutton
Mara Tovares-Ashmanskas
Lillian Wold
Los Bexareos
Visit
Los Bexareos webpage
www.losbexarenos.org
to view archived
email newsletters.
Like Us On
Facebook
L O S B E X A R E O S G E N E A L O G I C A L A N D H I S T O R I C A L S O C I E T Y
MI S S I ON STATE ME NT
The mission of Los Bexareos
Genealogical and Historical Society is
to promote awareness of Hispanic
genealogy and history through
publications, public forums, research,
consultations, education, and to
promote the preservation of archival
material for public research.
2013 EXE CUTI VE BOARD
President: Louis J. Benavides
Vice President: Jos Lpez
Secretary: Mara Elena Martnez
Treasurer: Lillie Johnson
BOARD OF DI RE CTORS
2012 - 2013: Anthony Delgado
2012 - 2013: Eduardo Hinojosa
2012 - 2013: Yolanda Patio
2013 - 2014: Eleanor Foreman
2013 - 2014: Sylvia Morales
AP P OI NTE D OF F I CE RS
Historian: Norberto Martnez
Parliamentarian: Jos Hernndez

A wise man once said that grandparents
are responsible for teaching their grand-
children the basics of life, to appreciate life
and those things that they find in the world.
One of those things is to identify leftovers.
Teach them not to throw leftovers away, teach
them to be creative in how they interact with
leftovers.
Genealogy is a leftover in a waypeople
forgotten to history, lost in time. Grand-
parents have a responsibility to teach their
grandchildren about their ancestors. Some-
day, we will be the ancestor.
The wise man also said that the greatness
of society is dependent upon how that society
listens to their grandparents because grand-
parents have experience and wisdom. If a
society does not listen, then it will repeat the
mistakes of the past. A society cannot exist
without the generation that went before it.
He continued, a society will cease to exist if it
does not respect its elders.
WOW! Did you ever think that when
you took up genealogy that you would be-
come the gate keeper to your society and its
future?
My students in Texas History are cur-
rently working on their research papers
where they are comparing the most in-
fluential letters in history and determining if
Traviss letter Victory or Death should be
ranked among them. They are going back in
time to Cicero in 106 B.C., but also as recent
as 1976 when Bill Gates wrote his open
letter to the computer hobbyist about why
software (apps) should not be free, or Jos
Antonio Navarros 1855 letter telling Tejanos
to stand strong, to unite, and to vote in the
face of the Know Nothing Party.
As families come together for Las Posa-
das, Christmas, Hanukkah, or the religion
they practice, lets make a special effort to
teach our grandchildren the basics of life and
provide them with positive memories.
Each member of Los Bexareos needs to
search those among us who do not have their
family close by and invite them to join us,
their Bexareo family, during these holidays.
On another note, we will be beginning
another 30 years as an organization. Please
send me an email, letter, or call me and share
with me things that you believe we should be
doing as an organization. I want to look at all
and any ideas that you have because that is
how we continue to be successful as a society.
Oh, by the way, the man at the beginning
of the article who has spoken about grand-
parents several times this year is Pope
Francis. !
Louis J. Benavides
LBGHS President
louis_benavides06@sbcglobal.net
LOS BEXAREOS
PO BOX 1935
SAN ANTONIO TX 78297-1935
www.losbexarenos.org
Message
from the
Presidents
Desk
Los Bexareos Facebook Page
www. nar r owswest . com
Merry
Christmas
and
Happy
Holidays
to
Los Bexareos
Felz
Navidad
2013
LBGHS Committees
Publication Sales Santiago Escobedo santiagodebejar@sbcglobal.net
Budget Lillie Johnson lillie07@swbell.net
2018 Conference TBA
Facebook Anthony Delgado 12thfamily@gmail.com
Fundraising Olga Hickey olhickey@yahoo.com
Hospitality Sandra Benavides sandra_benavides@sbcglobal.net
Library Dennis Moreno dennis.moreno@sbcglobal.net
Membership Sylvia Morales lousyl@icloud.com
Property Dennis Moreno dennis.moreno@sbcglobal.net
Publishing Larry Kirkpatrick elindio2@hotmail.com
Register Ral Guerra warcanamar@aol.com
Scholarship Mary Esther Escobedo lawhwy@yahoo.com
Website Dennis Moreno dennis.moreno@sbcglobal.net
Will YOU Volunteer?
LOS BEXAREOS NEEDS VOLUNTEERS. Would you be willing to
contribute to the Society by volunteering for one of the committees
listed above. Are you interested in fund raising? Can you assist the
Hospitality Committee? Are you a proficient user of the internet?
Maybe you can help with Facebook or work with the website.
Each one of you has a special talent or skill.
Your ideas and your expertise can greatly advance the cause of this
wonderful organization. Help us help others in their quest to find
their Hispanic ancestors.
A Los Bexareos Membership
Friends of
Casa Navarro !
When
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Where
Casa Navarro
State Historic Site
If you have additional
questions or comments please
contact:
Sandy Salinas
Friends of Casa Navarro
ssalinas@hts-tx.com
(210) 365-5536
"TCARA"
The Texas Connection to the American Revolution Association
INVITES YOU TO ATTEND THE
THE ANNUAL CHRISTMAS LUNCHEON

December 15, 2013 AT 11:30 a.m.
SONTERRA COUNTRY CLUB
901 Sonterra Blvd., San Antonio, TX
(210) 496-1560
FEATURING
The Texas A&M - San Antonio Chapter
With Speaker
Judge Robert Thonhoff
Author, Historian, Educator
Plus
WHITE ELEPHANT GIFT EXCHANGE
(Bring ANYTHING from home and take a number Draw a number and
choose a gift If you dont want it, take a gift from someone who already
has a gift. Lots of fun and laughs!)
$25.00 PER PERSON
YOUR CHECK IS YOUR RESERVATION

PLEASE RSVP BEFORE DECEMBER 11, 2013
BY CONTACTING:
Corinne Staacke
(210) 824-6019
Mail your check to:
TACARA
PO BOX 690696
San Antonio, TX 78269
A Gift
To Family
and
Friends
Save The Date
Annual
Awards and Installation
Luncheon
!os Bexare"o#
$enealogical and His%rical Socie&
Sunday
January 26, 2014
Social Hour
12:00 p.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Lunch
12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.
Awards and Installation
1:30 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Fort Sam Houston Golf Club
1050 Harry Wurzbach Road
C
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Los Bexareos Genealogical and Historical Society will not have a regular monthly meeting in January. The Annual Awards and Installation
Dinner replaces the LBGHS January monthly meeting. At this time, we do not have the menu choice nor the cost of the meal. This notice is
for those of you who wish to save the date, so you can make plans for that Sunday afternoon. When we receive the choice of entrees and
meal cost, we will send out an eMail notice. Please be mindful that seats are limited and they will be filled on a first-come-first-serve basis. If
you have questions or if you wish to volunteer to assist the Hospitality Committee, please contact Sandra Benavides at (210) 735-8717 or at
sandra_benavides@sbcglobal.net. !
Rafe
(see page 14)
Websites That Tell Our
Stories
There is more to genealogy than just gathering
names of ancestors. Yes, it is important to do the
basics, like pedigree charts, names, dates, places,
family work sheets, etc. But, let us not forget that
there are stories that go with these names. There are
histories in the places and times they lived.
Photographs and stories bring our ancestors to life.
Here we intend to transport you to websites that tell
our stories. !
lamos Tejano Heroes Gain Recognition
Bexar Archives Online
Bexar County Historical Commission
Bxar Genealogy
Children of the Revolucin
Hispanic Heritage Month
PBS Documentary: Latino-Americans
Somos Primos
Tejano Monument
Texas Tejano
Tell Us Your Stories
Do you have a special, interesting, historical,
or just a funny story about your relatives that you
would like to share? Un chiste that you would like
to contribute? Email your ancestral stories, and we
will try to print them in this newsletter on a rst-
come-rst-serve basis. !
lousyl@icloud.com
~~ ~~ ~~
Experiences that are shared
are added to lifes
beautiful memory books
MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE
You are cordially invited to join/renew your membership to
Los Bexareos Genealogical and Historical Society
Become part of an ever growing family who loves to do ancestral
research. Meet people who share the same interest and love of
genealogy, and people who may be doing research on your
particular family lineages.
To become a member, ll out the 2014 Membership Application
Form and mail it to the address on the form. Better yet, bring the
form with you when you attend our next meeting.
2014 Membership Form
GLORIA VILLA CADENA
GENEALOGICAL and HISTORICAL
SCHOLARSHIP FUND
You are invited and encouraged to make a donation to the Gloria
Cadena Genealogical and Historical Scholarship Fund. Los Bexareos
will award scholarships to students who are or will be attending an
accredited college/university. They will be chosen based on their ability
to produce a four generation pedigree chart which is accompanied with an
essay of their ancestors.
Los Bexareos is trying to get young people involved in genealogy.
LBGHS wants to encourage students to embrace their culture and
heritage. The sacrifices their parents, grandparents, great-grandparents,
etc. must not be forgotten. The younger generations need to be en-
couraged to retell the stories about their ancestors handed down
throughout the ages. !
Please make your donation to the LBGHS Scholarship Fund and
send your check to:
LOS BEXARENOS
PO BOX 1935
SAN ANTONIO TX 78297-1935
Click Here And Join Us

PLEASE SEND YOUR
2014 MEMBERSHIP DUES
The Los Bexareos Genealogical and Historical Society held its monthly membership meeting on
November 2, 2013, at the Main Public Library in San Antonio, Texas.
The guest speakers, Sergio A. and Melinda Iruegas, have co-authored numerous archaeological
reports for the federal and state agencies and private sponsors. Sergio and Melinda specialize in
Spanish Colonial and Tejano Historical Archaeology and Caddo Archaeology.
They are using their company GTI Environmental, L.L.C. to retrace the precise alignment of the
historic La Baha Road from San Antonio to
Goliad for the Hispanic Heritage Center of
Texas. This project will have an impact on the
proposed redevelopment of the HemisFair
Park.
In order to preserve the integrity of the
Indigenous and Hispanic cultures, the President
of Los Bexareos will write a letter to the
General Services Administration and/or the National Park services as a Consulting
Party. Acknowledgement and preservation of Indigenous Sacred Grounds and La
Baha Road as an integral part of commerce between the historical cities of San
Antonio and Goliad should be considered in
any proposed redevelopment of the HemisFair
Park. !
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DOUBLE-CLICK HERE
TO SEE MORE PHOTOS
Facebook
Los Bexareos at the November Meeting

The Historic La Baha Road from San Antonio to Goliad
Sergio A. Iruegas
Also available in green, black, and navy blue.
These handy bags are available to
carry your genealogy books and
records.
$15.00
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Make Checks payable Lo: Los 8exarenos
Mall check and order form Lo: Clndy larmer
16414 CresLed 8uLLe
San AnLonlo, 1exas 78247
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Make checks payable to: Los Bexareos
Mail check and order form to:
Cindy Farmer
16414 Crested Butte
San Antonio, Texas 78247
If you have questions, please contact Cindy at (210) 656-2085 or at
cindyofarmer@sbcglobal.net
Print you Order Form
Here
http://www.losbexarenos.org/
MerchandiseOrderForm201308.pdf
It is 1944 and my mother, Evangelina NAVARRO RAMOS, and I
are walking down a busy sidewalk in downtown Houston. We have
just finished shopping. We are heading for the bus stop, I am skipping
along beside her when a woman suddenly stops us to admire my long
curls. By the time we get home, I have a fever. My mom immediately
concludes that the woman who admired my curls has given me el
mal ojo (the evil eye). She is angry with herself for not asking the
woman to touch my hair. If she had, I would not have gotten the fever
because the touching would have lessened
the power of the ladys evil eye.
Mom starts the healing to rid me of
the evil eye. She collects all the necessary
equipment: a broom, one egg, a bowl of
water, and a sheet to cover my body. She
starts by laying me down on the bed and
covering my whole body with a sheet. She
takes the broom and, while sweeping my
whole body in the shape of the cross, she
recites the Our Father. After finishing the
sweeping, she removes the sheet and takes
the cold egg and rubs my body while making the sign of the cross
with the egg. When she finishes, she breaks the egg and places it in a
bowl that is filled with water. She breaks off two pieces of straw off
the broom and places the two pieces of straw in the form of a cross
over the egg. She carefully places the bowl under the bed. She ends
the ritual by sprinkling cold water over my body. The next morning,
my fever is gone. I am cured of the evil eye.
The next morning my mother removes the bowl, and I am amazed
to see the yolk of the egg looked just like an eye. I dont know if I
remember the actual healing she performed on me that day or if
I remember because I have seen her do this countless times on my
siblings. My mother has passed away, but I will always fondly
remember her healing practices.
The same ritual she used for el mal ojo was also used to cure el
susto. My mom believed that being suddenly scared by something or
someone will cause a fever. Out came the broom, the egg, the prayers,
and the bowl of water.
Every time we had an ear ache, my parents would roll up a
newspaper into a funnel. The small end of the funnel would be placed
inside the ear and the opposite of the funnel or cone would be lit on
fire. As the fire got closer to the ear, hot air entered the ear. Suddenly
a loud pouf would go out the paper cone and our ear would stop
hurting. The first time my husband, who was raised in North Dakota,
saw my parents use this healing method on our son he thought it was
the most dangerous thing he had ever seen.
My mother learned her healing practices from her mother, who
learned it from her mother, who was a midwife. It was a good thing
that many of these folk remedies worked because it was hard to find
doctors in small towns. !
HOME REMEDIES ~ HERBS AND PRAYERS
By Lillian Wold
For Los Bexareos Genealogical and Historical Society
Five year old Lillian Ramos with
her gorgeous hair.
Copyright 2013. Lillian Wold. All Rights Reserved.
I live and work in Massachusetts. I was driving along Melnea Cass Boulevard in Roxbury, Massachusetts. Those of you who are not
familiar with the Boston area should know that it is located between Dudley Square in Roxbury and the South end. The low income housing
projects were to my left as I was stopped at a red light.
I observed a homeless man in his forties, wearing tattered clothing going up to all the cars stopped at the trafc light with a plastic cup. It
was a hot day, and he had placed his backpack down on the street divider in order to approach the cars. As he walked towards my car he
looked down towards the curb, and he bent over to pick up something he saw on the ground. As he picked up the object I could see from his
reaction that he was surprised, and he raised the object up to his face, kissed it, raised it up to the sky as if to thank the Lord and then quickly
put it in his pocket, but not before I could tell that it appeared to be a rectangular green piece of paper which I surmised was money, although I
was not able to apprise the denomination of the bill. He went up to the man sitting in the car in front of mine, waiting for the trafc light to turn
green and started a conversation with the driver. The driver was kind enough to give the panhandler a peach. At this point the trafc light
turned green and all of the cars began to move along to the next block towards their destinations.
As I continued to drive, I remembered a story my mother told me about her family when I was younger. My mother, Mary Rangel (she was
actually given the name Mara but it had been anglicized to Mary when her birth certicate was issued), was born in 1924. Her parents, Juan
Rangel and Paula Hernndez Nieto were born in Ramos Arizpe, Coahuila de Zaragoza, Mxico and La Hacienda de Mamulique, Nuevo Len,
Mxico, respectively. Juan and Paula came to the United States and settled in Austin, Texas in the early 1900s, where they later met and married.
They traveled North to Michigan prior to my mothers birth.
In 1924, just prior to Marys birth, Juan Rangel was working in an auto factory in Detroit, Michigan. Juan Rangel worked at odd jobs as a
laborer in Texas, but after 1924, what kept the family surviving year to year was the work they all took part in the beet elds of Michigan. They
were betabeleros, sugar beet workers. They had been working in the beet elds throughout the 1930s during the depression. Juan answered
the call of the ads of various labor agents advertising for workers in La Prensa newspaper. The family was living at 912 S. Pecos Street in San
Antonio. Labor agents for the sugar beet industry began recruiting workers about 1938.
1
The S.P. Acosta Employment Agency in San Antonio,
Texas acted in the capacity of general agent for all of the Michigan Sugar Companies.
2
An example of an ad in La Prensa (San Antonio, Texas) dated April 8, 1945, Page 10, follows:
ACOSTA LABOR AGENT
Representante de Consolidated Employment Agency
BETABELEROS: Las salidas para Michigan principiaran
muy pronto, consigo gasolina y llantas a los que la
necesiten. TRANSPORTE GRATIS.
Necesitase mucha gente. Camioneros y solicitantes:
vanme o escrbanme inmediatamente....OPORTUNIDAD
DE GANAR MUCHO DINERO....
Oficina, 822 buena Vista St., ... San Antonio, Texas
3
As my mother explained: one year they barely made enough money to make the return trip to San Antonio. Unlike the ad promised they
never made mucho dinero. Juan was having trouble nding employment in San Antonio, and they had bills to pay, but more important, they
had a payment coming due for a plot of land
4
which they had purchased on credit in 1937/1938, on which they had hopes of building a house.
Juan knew he did not have the money for the payment, and he thought he might lose the property.
Mary observed that her father looked worried, and she could not gure out why, but she knew something was bothering him. Marys older
brother, Santos, had asked Juan if he could go to play with his friends at San Pedro Park. Juan was resistant to allowing Santos to go by himself
to the park, but in the end Juan relented. When he returned, Santos was very reserved, but his friends were excitedly telling Juan that Santos
had found a dollar bill at the park. Juan turned to Santos and asked him to show him the dollar bill. Santos took out the bill and Juan
immediately noticed that it was a $20.00 bill. He gave each of the boys a quarter, and they all excitedly ran off to buy candy fromthe local candy
peddler. The next day Juan made the nal payment on the plot of land. As was his custom, he then made his way to La Capilla del Seor de Los
Milagros
5
to light a candle in appreciation for the gift provided to him from above.
After 1944, they never went back to Michigan. Juan Rangel died in 1951.
6
With the help of his two sons, Jos H. Rangel and Santos H.
Rangel, who served in World War II, they were able to build three houses on adjacent lots.
I hope the person on Melnea Cass Boulevard puts the money he found to good use, as my abuelito Juan Rangel did. I wish him luck. !
1
Thaden, John Frederick, Migratory Beet Workers in Michigan, Special Bulletin 319, East Lansing, Michigan: Michigan State College Agricultural Experiment Station. (1942) P. 19.
2
Ibid
3
Newsbank/The American Antiquarian Society, 2004. Source: GenealogyBank.com, accessed June 10, 2013.
4
The deed had a restrictive covenant which stated: Said property shall not be sold to, occupied by, or leased to any person of Negro Blood. Any violation of such restrictions shall forfeit the title to said property to
the Grantor, or his successors and assigns. Bexar County Registry of Deeds, Warranty Deed No. 144711, dated 16 December 1937, Page 36. This type of restriction reected the era of segregation and Jim Crow laws in
Texas at the time.
5
http://www.poblar.com/rodriguez/ElSenorDeLosMilagros/ElSenordeLosMilagros.htma, accessed July 13, 2010
6
Certicate of Death, Texas Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics, State File No: 259.
MEMORY FLASHBACK
By Mara Tovares-Ashmanskas
Copyright 2013. Mara Tovares-Ashmanskas. All Rights Reserved.
LBGHS MEMBERSHIP DIRECTORY
The Los Bexareos Genealogical and Historical Societys
Membership Directory - Commemorative Edition is now available to 2013
LBGHS members. The 36-page directory includes 221 Individual and
Joint Membership entries and 19 organization membership entries. Many
entries include photographs of the LBGHS members in color.
The main purpose of the directory is to get people together to
enjoy the wonderful world of genealogy with others on a more frequent
basis. You can see which LBGHS members are researching the same
lineages that you are researching. You can see which members live in
your area, possibly you can organize a home research group. Setting aside
one day a month to do research with fellow members is a good way to
help each other break through those brick walls. Group research helps
motivate you to do scrapbooks, write stories, do pedigree charts and
family group sheets. Most importantly, it helps sharing each others
family research. Use the directory to stay in touch with your fellow
LBGHS researchers. !
Make checks payable to LOS BEXAREOS and mail $15.00
per member/directory to:
SYLVIA MORALES
3543 BYRON ST
SAN ANTONIO, TX 78247-3193
If you have questions, contact Sylvia Morales at:
lousyl@icloud. com
GLORIA VILLA CADENA
GENEALOGICAL AND HISTORICAL SCHOLARSHIP FUND
Los Bexareos
Genealogical and Historical Society
Membership Directory
San Antonio, Texas
30
TH
ANNIVERSARY
COMMEMORATIVE EDITION
THE GLORIA VILLA CADENA GENEALOGICAL AND HISTORICAL SCHOLARSHIP FUND was originally conceived as an
idea to involve the relatives of Los Bexareos. This is an important tool to get our children and grandchildren, nephews and
nieces to participate in our genealogy research.
THE REQUIREMENTS ARE RELATIVELY SIMPLE. A relative of an LBGHS member must be attending an accredited college
or university and students graduating from high school that will be attending an accredited college or university. They are
required to fill out a four generation pedigree chart to the best of their ability and write a 750 word essay on one or more of
their ancestors. The emphasis is on, but not limited to, Hispanic lineages. Their entries will be judged on how much of the
pedigree chart they were able to complete and the content of their essay.
THERE WILL BE TWO ANNUAL WINNERS. Each year two winners will be selected. One female student and one male
student. They will each win a $500.00 scholarship, which will be submitted directly to the college or university they are
attending.
THIS IS AN INTERNATIONAL PROGRAM. Los Bexareos Genealogical and Historical Society has members in eleven
states and in Mxico and England; consequently, since the scholarship is targeted for relatives of LBGHS members, a
student attending any accredited college or university in the world may apply.
Use this opportunity to get your family involved.
There are two gifts we should give our children: One is roots, and the other is wings. !
Wings
Roots
THE MAKING OF LOS OJUELOS RANCH BOOK
By Marissa Martnez
In 2011, my father, Guadalupe A. Martnez, was asked to speak
at the dedication of a Texas State Historical Marker ceremony for Los
Ojuelos Ranch. He enthusiastically responded yes, having been
raised there in his early years. Los Ojuelos, Texas was the town of
his mother's family, Nidia Laurel. It was a small ranching com-
munity carved out, literally, from the caliche of eastern Webb County
in the mid 1800s by families migrating out from Revilla, Mxico.
My father had written about Los Ojuelos and the Spanish/
Mexican families who settled there. His previous genealogical book
on Los Ojuelos, printed in 1999 and revised in 2007, continues to be
the de facto standard on the area. In years past, he had given talks
on the history as well as ranch life in the early 1900s. His photos of
1954, and those of his mother before then, are considered one of the
last records of daily life at the ranch. He meticulously mapped out
the houses, showing who lived where. He related memories of
sitting at his grandmother's kitchen table as she told the stories of
the various families at the ranch. "No te olvides, don't forget," she
told him.
Dr. F. Michael Black also gained an early appreciation for Los
Ojuelos. Having been raised in Mirando City, Texas, the next town
over, Dr. Black did his own research on town inhabitants, doing
extensive interviews with Zora Sterling, the wife of William "Bill"
Sterling, head of the Texas Ranger group assigned to Los Ojuelos
Ranch in the 1920s. Dr. Black made his own pilgrimage to Los
Ojuelos, camera in hand, in 1969 and documented the buildings he
found, then mostly crumbling and in disrepair.
Both men, my father and Dr. Black, explain the irony of the
demise of the community. Once a thriving settlement of 400 people
and its ojuelos, or springs, providing water to neighboring towns
as well, the oil boom in that area led to the area's eventual collapse.
In the rush to drill, the oil wildcatters punched holes through the
water table. With little regard for environmental concerns, the
drilling rigs pulled up without adequately sealing the holes,
resulting in the draining of the nearby water reservoirs of Los
Ojuelos. Despite further drilling for water by the ranchers, the
springs dried completely. The loss of water, combined with the
increase in family mobility after World War II, contributed to the
dispersal of any remaining families from the ranch after the
Korean War.
In 2010, Dr. Black, along with Dr. Roberto Jurez of the Webb
County Historical Commission, submitted paperwork to the Texas
Historical Commission requesting the placement of an historical
marker at the former ranch site. The marker was eventually
approved and placed in 2011 with the Webb County Historical
Commission assigned the task to dedicate the marker.
The dedication occurred on Jan 26, 2012, when about 100
descendants of the three founding Guerra brothers and some local
dignitaries gathered in Mirando City, Texas. It was there that my
father spoke. So moved was he by the event that he wanted to
commemorate it with a book.
His original idea was simply to staple together copies of
mementos from the day including his remarks and copies of a few
photos. Later that spring, he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
During the summer, the idea for a "coffee-table" type book took
shape. We gathered much of the original material surrounding the
event including the historical research by Drs. Black and Jurez to
justify the placement of the marker. We also included a number of
photographs, many of which were previously unpublished, in-
cluding Dr. Black's photo series of 1969, photos from Zora Sterling
from the 1920s, and photos from Nidia Laurel de Martnez from the
earliest part of the 1900s.
As we watched my father
decline over the summer, we
found a small run printer who
could grant us a special re-
quest. We sent them the title
page of the softcover and the
numbered special edition page
of the hardcover, which they
printed and sent back to us
overnight. Over the course of a
weekend, my father sat with my
mother on the edge of the bed,
and he signed all the pages we
had received. We ended up
taking him to the hospital at the
end of the weekend. He passed away two weeks later.
The hardcover is a signed, numbered, limited edition of 50
copies ($125). The softcover is a signed, numbered, limited edition
of 150 copies ($65). Both books are printed on high quality stock
with 88 out of 120 pages that include color photographs. You can
find out more about my father, the Los Ojuelos ranch, and the book
at http://GuadalupeAMartinez.com. !
Copyright 2013. Marissa Martnez. All Rights Reserved.
Ada Martnez assists her husband, Lupe,
sign the pages of his book.
This book will be sold at the December LBGHS meeting.
GOOGLE GENEALOGY SEARCH TIPS
By Marissa Martnez
At the recent RootsTech in Salt Lake City, Dave Barney, of
Google, gave a presentation on how to better use Google, especially
for doing genealogical searches. Here are some of the tips he
presented.
Regular Searches
Most people know how to do basic searches such as
Guadalupe A. Martinez Korea
This search will find webpages with the single words Guadalupe,
A, Martnez, and Korea in the content. While the results may be
pretty good, Guadalupe and Martnez are fairly common names, so
many other pages with Guadalupe Martnez, including pages about
women or felons named Guadalupe or Martnez, or pages with
Guadalupe Hernndez and Felipe Martnez, for example, also show up.
Some of you may know that you can improve your results by
using quotation marks (" ") around certain phrases in order to get an
exact phrase. For example, searching on
"Guadalupe A. Martinez" Korea
will return webpages with the exact phrase "Guadalupe A. Martnez"
and Korea in the content. This search, however, may miss pages that
list "Guadalupe (Lupe) A. Martnez" or "LTC. G. A. Martnez" or
"Martnez, Guadalupe Agapito," etc.
At this point I have a few options. I can type these several ways
of searching in individually and peruse each set of results separately.
Alternatively, I can change the quoted string to be something more
unique, such as
Martinez "Triangle Hill" Korea
(Note that just the search Martnez "Triangle Hill" may find Triangle
Hill Road or Triangle Hill outside Bend, Oregon.)
A better approach is to consider using the OR operator. This
operator tells Google to search for documents or webpages that have
"Guadalupe A Martinez" OR "Lupe Martinez"
When using this format, you must use it in all capital letters, OR,
otherwise it will simply search for Oregon.
Another option is to use the asterisk (*) to indicate a wildcard
search. This will allow you to search, for example for any middle
name, such as,
"Guadalupe * Martinez"
A very useful option is to use the "near to" construction. Say
you want to look for the word Guadalupe near to Martnez. This
approach is helpful for finding both "Guadalupe Martnez" and
"Martnez, Guadalupe." This search might look like this
Guadalupe AROUND(2) Martinez
This phrase tells Google to find pages with Guadalupe within
two words of Martnez. Within two words allows you to have a
middle name or initial, or not, in the content text. Again, you will
need to use the AROUND() construct in all capitals in order for
Google to interpret its meaning correctly.
Genealogy Specific
"That's all great," you say. "But how do I just get genealogy
records to show up?" Great question.
Google offers a search that allows you to find all pages that have
synonyms related to your search term. For example, say you want
genealogy pages on the Martnez family in Texas. You could try
Martinez TX ~genealogy
Google interprets the tilde (~) to mean, "find pages that have
genealogy or any synonym related to genealogy." In this case,
synonyms will include things like family and tree. Unfortunately,
this search will also return all the Martnez family practice doctors
and the Martnez tree service businesses.
Luckily, Google search allows you to also exclude words or
terms, like this
Martinez TX ~genealogy -"family practice" -"tree service"
If your family names are as common as Guadalupe and Martnez,
you may want to try excluding additional words or terms from your
search or add terms, like city names, in order to concentrate on
pertinent pages. When using the synonym (~) or exclude (-)
symbols, make sure there is no space between it and the word or
term to which it refers. Other useful synonym searches to try are
~born and ~died.
Say you want to search on a particular site, but that site does not
offer a search, or the search tool on the website does not seem very
comprehensive or may give out of date results. You can have Google
search the website for you, like this,
Guadalupe AROUND(2)Martinez site:losbexarenos.org
Guadalupe AROUND(2)Martinez site:ancestry.com
"But, wait," you say. "What I'm really looking for are pages that talk
about my ancestor who lived between 1850 and 1925. Can you help
me with that? And, by the way, I don't want to list each year." Yes!
You can do that too. Try
Guadalupe AROUND(2)Martinez ~genealogy 1850..1925
This search tells Google to find webpages with Guadalupe near
Martnez and synonyms of genealogy (family, tree, etc.) showing any
dates between 1850 through 1925, inclusive. The format is two
numbers/dates with two periods between them and no spaces. Your
date range can be any two years or number ranges.
Continue on page 12
Finally, if typing these characters (or remembering them!) is not
for you, there is an advanced search page that you can find by going
to http://google.com/advanced_search. On this page you can
specify things to include, things to exclude, and other advanced
search options, similar to the ones we discussed above.
A note about special characters. Remember that Google
interprets Martnez as martinez, Bexareos as bexarenos, and Jos as
jose. In other words, you can enter special characters or not, or
capital letters or not. Google will find all matching results. If you
are searching on a name that has parts that Google usually ignores,
you can instruct Google to include that in the search by using the
plus(+) symbol, such as
+de zavala
In addition to searching content on webpages, Google also has
some special search tools for images, newspapers, and maps. Let's
take a look at those as well.
Image Searching
Searching for images is fairly similar to searching for text,
except the results are all images. My first search example in this
article,
Guadalupe A. Martinez Korea
returned both web page results and a small selection of images,
some of which are indeed Guadalupe A. Martnez. (Although one is
a mug shot of some other Martnez.)
If you just want to search on images but no images come up in
your initial search results, you simply need to click on Images in the
Google menu bar at the top of the search results page. Now you
should see just images. Google offers a couple of ways to filter the
images in your search results in addition to the text search combi-
nation we listed above.
You can find some of these tools by clicking on the "Search
tools" button at the end of the Google results menu bar. The "Search
tool" sub-menu allows you to search by image size, aspect ratio,
colors in image (e.g., black & white), and type of image (photo, face,
clip art).
Similar to the advanced text-based search, the advanced image
search (http://google.com/advanced_image_search) lays out the
search options in an easy-to-use form.
A special feature of Google's image search is its ability to find
similar photos or to identify a photo. To test this, navigate to the
image search (http://google.com/imghp) and click on the camera
icon on the right end of the search field. You can either upload a
photo from your local drive of a person or a building or you can
provide a URL of an image to use for comparison. While this search
does not always work, it's kind of neat when it does.
Newspaper Archive Search
Google had a project specifically geared toward digitizing old
newspaper archives and putting them online. While ongoing
digitizing efforts for this project were halted in May of 2011, the
already digitized newspapers are still available and accessible
online. You can go to http://news.google.com/newspapers and
browse or search the newspaper archive.
For Texas Hispanic genealogy, there are probably better
resources locally in San Antonio and online for searching historical
Texas newspapers, but I thought I'd mention this site for those of
you who may not live in San Antonio or who are searching lines in
other parts of the world.
Google's newspaper archive is predominantly United States
and Canadian based, but there are a selection of European and other
papers collected online.
Dave Barney noted that since Google is data driven, that an
increased usage of this feature may convince Google to continue
support.
Google Maps
Unfortunately, Google Maps does not have a "way back
machine" feature. That means, all of Google's maps (or Yahoo's or
Bing's or MapQuest's, for that matter) are all current, satellite-image,
contemporary maps. There is no feature, for example to overlay
older, historical maps. Neither is there a feature to overlay old
photographs onto current street views, although there are a few
independent projects working on this. Two such projects are
HistoryPin (http://historypin.com) and WhatWasThere (http://
whatwasthere.com), both of which offer a handful of photos in
South Texas.
Google Translate
Google translate offers elementary translation of English to
Spanish. I mention it because it was mentioned as part of the talk.
It will theoretically translate an entire page or website for you by
typing in the URL. Click on the resulting link to view the trans-
lation. The links within that translated page will also get translated.
While not perfect, these translations may offer clues to help get you
started or get unstuck.
Summary
Google offers many ways to perform searches. By using some
of these search tools, you can improve your results and perhaps
make new discoveries on the Internet. As a final note, I'll direct you
to http://support.google.com/websearch. This page provides help
on using the above mentioned feature of search as well as others. !
Copyright 2013. Marissa Martnez. All Rights Reserved.
THE LBGHS RESOURCE CENTER & LIBRARY is open to the public on Saturdays
(except the rst Saturday of the month) from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. You will be
able to do your family research in a very friendly and casual environment. You
will be able to peruse the books and other genealogical information at your
leisure. There will be volunteers to help you with any questions you may have.
They can help you start your family tree or assist you in your research. It is
preferable to set an appointment, so they can dedicate some time just for you.
Call or email Yolanda Patio at (210) 434-3530 /patinogil@sbcglobal.net or
Dennis Moreno at (210) 647-5607 / dennis.moreno@sbcglobal.net.
HELP FOR THE BEGINNING GENEALOGISTS. The Society assists individuals in
getting started with genealogical research through beginner's workshops.
Beginners also receive one-on-one assistance from the more experienced
members of the Society. !
The Library is located
on the campus of Holy
Rosary Parish. The
Church is located at 159
Camino Santa Mara,
just north of Culebra
Road. Park in the noted
parking lot and walk
through the gate to the
courtyard and turn to
the right passing the
rst building. !
Click to see a
Larger Map
Los Bexareos is fortunate to have Dennis Moreno and Yolanda
Patio. They are always ready to help someone with their research.
People are often referred to them, because they need help in start-
ing their genealogy, or they've come to that preverbal "brick wall."
Sometimes the load becomes heavy with all the requests for
assistance, especially now that Los Bexareos is getting more
exposure. Los Bexareos is well known throughout Texas, as well as
outside the United States. An individual was recently referred to
Los Bexareos by Ancestry.com. Apparently, they had exhausted all
their resources. That person is now a member of Los Bexareos.
There are many experienced members in the Society. Los
Bexareos needs others who will step-up-to-the-plate to offer their
expertise, their knowledge, and their time to help Dennis and
Yolanda with the heavy load. Please contact Dennis Moreno or
Yolanda Patio if you think you can help out. Maybe you have
access to a good resource, or you're knowledgeable of a particular
region, or you personally posses information that would be helpful
to others. Whatever your area of expertise may be, just share that
with Dennis and Yolanda so that they have more resources at their
disposal.
Dennis and Yolanda man the Resource Center every Saturday,
except for the rst Saturday of the month. They are a very valuable
asset to our organization. Thank you Dennis and Yolanda for all
that you do for Los Bexareos! !
LBGHS
Resource Center
&
Library
Parking
Library
Culebra Road
C
a
m
i
n
o
S
a
n
t
a
M
a
r
a
Publication Sales
When you contact Mr. Santiago Escobedo and let him know
which publication you want to buy, and you pick it up at
the LBGHS regular monthly meeting. All requests must be
made by 10:00 a.m. the Thursday before the scheduled
Saturday meeting.
You can view the LBGHS book titles by
double-clicking here PUBLICATIONS FOR SALE.
You can contact Mr. Escobedo at this email:
santiagodebejar@sbcglobal.net
$5.00 Discount !!!
OFF THE PRICE OF ANY PUBLICATION OVER $10.00
If you have ordered publications by mail and
you have not received them, please contact Mr.
Escobedo at his email address listed below.
The LBGHS Resource Center & Library
INDEX TO THE LBGHS LIBRARY
INDEX TO THE LBGHS REGISTERS
Books and Resources (as of Feb 2013)
Journals (as of Feb 2013)
Family Genealogy (as of Feb 2013)
Facts and Events (as of Feb 2013)
The following list of resources is an ongoing project.
Be sure to keep checking as the list will be updated as
additional indexing is completed.
Introduction to the Index
Index of Articles sorted by Title
Index of Articles sorted by State and Location
Index of Wills, Estates and Death Records sorted by Surname

LBGHS
Genealogists
Extraordinaire
Raffle tickets are on sale for $5.00 a chance. The raffle will be held at the Installation of Officers and Awards Luncheon on Sunday,
January 26, 2014. Tickets will be available for purchase at the December 7, 2013 Los Bexareos meeting and at the door at the luncheon on
January 26, 2014. You may also purchase tickets by mail by contacting: Olga Lpez-Hickey at (210) 492-1699 or by e-mail at
olhickey@yahoo.com. You do not have to be present to win. Several fabulous items will raffled:

Two historical posters, including one of Tejano hero, Juan Nepomuceno Segun
An original still-life painting in acrylics by local renown artist Mara Ester Valero.
A gift basket of three ne Spanish wines; Spanish cheeses; and other Spanish goodies
Dinner for two at the Palm Restaurant 233 E. Houston, downtown San Antonio. The Palm is one of the nest steakhouses in San Antonio.
To Los Bexareos,
The Ro Grande Valley Hispanic Genealogical Society has just completed our new bookwhich we are
offering for sale: Nuestra Seora de Guadalupe, Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mxico, Book III, Marriage
Index 1811-1823. It is available for purchase through our website:
www.rgvhispanicgenealogicalsociety.com
Thank you,
Ofelia Olsson
LBGHS RAFFLE
By Olga Lpez-Hickey
Mara Ester Valero is a well known Still-life artist
from San Antonio, Texas. She studied art at the
Coppini Academy of Fine Arts in San Antonio,
Texas. She was named Artist of the Month and
Artist of the Year on two different occasions. She
has received awards at art competitions in Houston.
Her work has been exhibited in Houston, Austin,
and San Antonio. Ms. Valero resides in San
Antonio, and she paints out of her studio in her
home.
The First Thanksgiving
by artist Jos Cisneros
In an act of thanksgiving for their safe passage across the
Chihuahuan desert, the Oate entrada arranged for a
feast to be held and asked the Mansos to be their guests.
This thanksgiving was the rst to be celebrated in what is
now the United States, a full 23 years before that of the
Pilgrims at the Plymouth Colony.
233 East Houston Street, San Antonio, TX
The "Tejano Historical Poster Series" contains 6
leading Tejanos of the Revolutionary era. Each tells a
part of Texas history and the life stories of prominent
Tejano Pioneers. This poster is on Col. Juan Segun.
The poster series is based on Texas Tejano.com's
"Tejano Historical Portrait Series."
Portraits were developed using historical forensics in
combination with old family photos.
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
8 9 10 11 12 13 14
15 16 17 18 19 20 21
22 23 24 25 26 27 28
29 30 31
December 2013
Do you have a Save The Date announcement you want to share with your fellow genealogists? If yes, please email your
announcement to lousyl@icloud.com
Important Dates to Remember
December 3 The Annual Tamalada y Dulces by the Friends of Casa Navarro - San Antonio, TX
December 7 Los Bexareos membership meeting - San Antonio, TX
December 15 TCARA Annual Christmas Luncheon at the Sonterra Country Club - San Antonio, TX
December 21 Winter Solstice - Winter begins, stay warm
December 25 MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS from Los Bexareos Genealogical and Historical Society
December 28 LBGHS Resource Center & Library WILL BE CLOSED for the Holidays - San Antonio, TX
January 26 Los Bexareos Genealogical and Historical Society Annual Awards and Installation of Officers Luncheon
LBGHS
Resource Center
10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
LBGHS Meeting
9:30 - 11:30 a.m.
Casa Navarro
Tamalada y Dulces
6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Winter Solstice
11:11 a.m. CST
LBGHS
Resource Center
10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
TCARA
Christmas Luncheon
11:30 a.m.
LBGHS Rafe
9:00 - 11:30 a.m.
LBGHS
Resource Center
10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
C
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Message from the Editor
From Around The State
Austin : News from Tejano Genealogy Society of Austin
Corpus Christi : News from Spanish American Genealogical Association (SAGA)
Dallas : News from HOGAR de Dallas
Harlingen : News from Ro Grande Valley Hispanic Genealogical Society
Houston : News from Hispanic Genealogy Society of Houston
Laredo : News from Villa de San Agustn - Laredo Genealogy Society
San Elizario : News from San Elizario Genealogy and Historical Society
Victoria : News from Victoria Hispanic Genealogical and Historical Society of Texas
This section is dedicated to our sister Hispanic Genealogy Societies throughout the State. Just click on the blue link and it will take you to their website or their Facebook page.
Get the latest version of a Free Adobe Reader
Needed to read this Newsletter in PDF
ARTICLES
We need articles from the LBGHS
committees and the general membership.
Please do not worry about writing style,
spelling and grammar. Write down your
stories just as you would tell them to
your family and friends. Send it to the
email address below. We have volunteers
who will make suggestions and assist you
with the writing style, spelling and
grammar. We will send it back to you for
your approval. We will only print your
story after you approve the nal version
of the article. You will have full control
of your article, and you will have a print-
ed family story you can share with your
descendants. !
You can send your comments and
suggested articles to the editor (preferably
before the 15
th
of the month).
Sylvia Morales
3543 Byron St
San Antonio, TX 78247-3193
(210) 494-7932 or (210) 291-7702
lousyl@icloud.com
(preferred method of communication)
Please remember that if you are a member in good standing and if someone
related to you is attending college, or will be a high school graduate in May 2014,
that student can apply for the Gloria Cadena Scholarship. Members are eligible as
well. Contact Mary Esther Escobedo for more information and/or to receive a
scholarship application packet. The LBGHS Scholarship Committee attended a
Scholarship Fair at the Caf College. We met some very enthusiastic students
looking for scholarship funding. This was our first experience with a Scholarship
Fair, and we left there with high expectations.
I would like to end the year by wishing everyone an enjoyable holiday season.
Count your blessings. Family and friendships are the most precious gifts of all.
I also want to thank the many people who contributed their time, their stories,
their perspectives, and their suggestions in making the LBGHS eMail Newsletter
the most talked about publication in our genealogical circle. It is your submissions
that makes putting this newsletter together all the more worthwhile. We had some
great comments and positive feed back. My only wish for Christmas is to publish
stories from the LBGHS members whom we have yet to hear from. Each one of
you has something special to offera personal experience with your research,
your own perspective of a historical event, or just share an ancestral line in your
own words. Take any one example from a previous issue and use it as a guideline
to create your own. Make a New Years resolution that you will do your part and
contribute a story or an article for the LBGHS eMail Newsletter.
Again, thank you so much! Lets have the best year in 2014. !
Sylvia Morales
Happy Holidays!

2013 12 - Dec LBGHS Newsletter

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LBGHS eMail Newsletter 1 Volume 2 - Issue 12

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