A chance connection

I was at the Southern California Genealogical Society's 2010 Jamboree this past weekend. I dropped by the Los Californianos booth, for at least the fourth time. The nice lady at the booth (I forgot your name!) asked me what the surname was of the family I had in early California. I told her Echeverría, and she asked if I was related to "that guy over there." Umm, not that I know of?

It turns out, another attendee (whose name I've also forgotten!) had asked about the same surname shortly before I did. Furthermore, it turns out that his Echevarrias were at the same mission as my Echevarria/Echeverría/Echebarria/Echevaria family, at about the same time. I didn't have any Nicolas Echevarria, though, so I gave him my name, email address, and the names of the people that I have in the area at the time. I asked him that if he found a connection, to please let me know.

Today, I got curious and did a search at the Huntington Library's Early California Population Project. Here's what I found:

* Nicolas Echeverria and Maria del Pilar Larias baptize a daughter Juliana in 1830. Godparents: Manuel Larios and Maria Antonia Pacheco.

* Nicolas Echeverria and Maria del Pilar Larios baptize a son Juan Antonio de Gracia in 1832. Godparents: Manuel Larios and Maria Antonia Pacheco.

* Nicolas Chavarria and Pilar Larios baptize a daughter Maria Antonia in 1834. Godparents: Antonia Rodrigues.

* Nicolas Chavarria and Maria del Pilar Larios baptize a son Jose Ramon de Gracia in 1836. Godparents: Manuel Larios and Maria Antonia Pacheco.

* Nicolas Echevarria and Maria Pilar Larios baptize a daughter Maria del Refugio in 1838. Godparents: Manuel Larios and Maria Antonia Pacheco.

* Nicolas Chabarria and Maria Pilar Larios baptize a daughter Maria Gertrudes Eufania in 1839. Godparents: Dolores Pacheco and Maria Antonia Pacheco.

* Nicolas Chaberria and Maria Pilar Larios baptize a son Jose Francisco Guadalupe in 1841. Godparents: Francisco Abila and Maria Antonia Pacheco.

* Nicolas Chavarria and Pilar Larios baptize a son Clemente Patricio in 1843. Godparents: Mariano Castro and Rufina Galindo.

So, guess what Manuel Larios and Maria Antonia Pacheco were doing in 1849? Becoming the godparents of my ancestor's sister, Rafaela Genobeba de Jesus Echevarria Lebrija. Not the kind of link I would have hoped for, but this does deserve further research!

It turns out that Manuel Larios and Pilar Larios are brother and sister, and Manuel was a Soldado de Cuera.

I'll scan these people's records when the films come in (I already requested the baptisms last week), but I have a feeling that if the record had grandparents, they would be in the database. Wish me luck!

Echeverrias in the gold rush

My 3rd great-grandparents Teofilo Estolano Echeverria and Jesus Gertrudis Lebrija are my most-traveled ancestors so far.

I have him in 1844 in Baja California as possibly some kind of government employee - see Google Books.

According to the 1850 US Census and 1852 California Census, Teofilo was born in Jalisco in 1818, and Gertrudis (as she is usually known) in Baja California in 1831 (her baptismal record from La Paz confirmed this). They have three children born in California- born 1849, 1851, and 1853. The marriage certificate of the 1st child says she was born in "Alta California" and for the 3rd child says San Francisco, CA. I believe that the 2nd child died before marrying, because his name is later re-used.

Then they have another nine children, all in Guadalajara, Jalisco. My 2nd great-grandfather in 1855, and his siblings in 1857, 1859, 1860, 1862, 1863, 1864, 1867, and 1868. I have baptismal certificates for all of the Jalisco children, and marriage certificates for several.

So here are my research goals:

1. Baptismal certificates for each of the children born in Alta California. I thought I'd find these in either the San Francisco or Monterey missions, but an extract book got me nothing.
2. Baptismal certificate for Teofilo. First guess would be in the church his later children are baptized, as this may have been near the home where he grew up in Jalisco.
3. Marriage certificate for Teofilo and Gertrudis. Since he worked in Baja in 1844 and their first child is born in 1848, I'll be looking in Baja first.
   
4. Marriage and/or death certificates for each child I don't already have.
5. And, of course, go up a generation and do it over again!

So today, I was browsing websites from a sheet of Popular Internet Resources I picked up on the freebie table of Southern California Genealogical Society in Burbank, CA. As this is the family I'm focusing on right now, I was opening a multitude of new tabs on California and Gold Rush history. In The Huntington Library's Early California Population Project database, 2006, I found the following from the San Juan Bautista mission:

Teresa de Jesus Antonia Echeverria, born on 17 January 1849 and baptized 3 February 1849, legitimate daughter of Agustin Echeverria and Marciana Lebrija. (I've never heard of either, but I always find it interesting when two couples share the same two last names.) How I know this person is connected to my family is that the godparents are Angel "Lebrinja" and Concepcion Calles- my 4th great-grandparents, whom I had no idea were ever in Alta California. Could two sets of siblings have married each other? This needs further research.

Not coming up by surname, but found by a search by mother's surname, Teresa "Echabarria" was born 4 April 1850 and baptized 15 April 1850, the legitimate daughter of Agustin Echabarria and Mariana Lebrija. An alternate spelling on the mother's first name and the father's last name!

Another child by the same name, Teresa "Echevaria" (yet a third spelling of this last name), daughter of Agustin Echevaria and Mariana Lebrija, was buried on 28 February 1849 and buried at "sementerio." I don't think that this is the mission cemetery, because my research leads me to believe that the cemetery adjacent to the mission was full by October of 1838.

Finally, I found one of the people I was originally looking for!

Rafaela Genobeba de Jesus "Echevarria" (four for four on ways to spell this name!), legitimate daughter of Teofilo Echevarria and Jesus Lebrija, was born 3 January 1849 and baptized the same day.

I still have to order the films to view the originals, but I'm putting this day in the "Win" column! One down, two to go (of step 1), with an added bonus of new potential cousins!