The Baca / Douglas Genealogy and Family History Blog

23 February 2009

March 21, 2009 NMGS Program

Saturday, March 21, 2009, 10:30 AM
El Camino Real International Heritage Center
35 miles south of Socorro, New Mexico
On I-25, exit 115



The New Mexico Genealogical Society Visits
The El Camino Real International Heritage Center

35 miles south of Socorro on I-25, exit 115


Featured Speaker
Robert J. C. Baca
President, New Mexico Genealogical Society
discusses

“Maria Guadalupe Torres:
One Woman’s Life in 19th Century Socorro, New Mexico”


From resettlement, to the Civil War, up until the brink of statehood: learn about early Socorro history through the life of one New Mexican woman.

Come with us to visit this unique museum. For more information, visit the heritage center’s website at http://www.nmmonuments.org/. For carpool arrangements, contact Robert Baca at (505) 299-7883.

There is a $5.00 Admission Fee.

For more information about our programs, please visit the New Mexico Genealogical Society website at http://www.nmgs.org/workshop.htm

13 February 2009

Why I Do Genealogy

When I was a kid, my parents would often talk about their family. Grandparents, uncles and aunts, and cousins who I would never meet because they died years before I was born. I liked hearing their stories, but I didn't write them down. Sometimes I would remember the names, but more often than not they disappeared from my memory.

Both of my parents died in 1999. My last living ancestor, my grandmother, was showing signs of alzheimers and was begining to forget things. My uncles and aunts remembered some information about my family, but not really enough to satisfy my need to know more. And I needed to know more. I was 30, and I began to get very curious about where my ancestors came from and who they were.

After my father's funeral, I asked my sister if she knew about a family tree that my father put together. I vaguely remembered a bible with names in it. My sister asked her son if he knew anything. He walked back to my sister's car and brought back a family tree that my father put together. It wasn't the bible, but it was more information than I thought he would have collected. It was four pages and went back five generations on both sides of the family: his and my mother's.

When I began doing my own research, I discovered that his information was remarkably correct. He made only one mistake: he put an ancestor of his as an ancestor of my mother's. Both of my parents had the surname "Baca", so it's easy to see why he erred. He also included names of his and my mother's siblings, nephews and nieces, and cousins.

I have discovered a lot of information about my family in nine years. At first, it was just names and dates. Now I'm discovering the history and personalities of my ancestors. I'm sure as I go along, I'll make many more discoveries. Your genealogy is never finished: you'll always find more information with each hour that you research.

This is why I do genealogy. It is a quest to find out more and more about my family.

Time to Renew/Start Your NMGS Membership

It's not too late to renew or begin your membership with the New Mexico Genealogical Society. If you send us an application by March 1st, the membership fee is only $25. After March 1st, you will have to add $5 for shipping.

What are the benefits of membership?

* FREE shipping on orders for books by NMGS Press.

* The information-packed New Mexico Genealogist in your mailbox each quarter.

* An index each December, covering all issues of the Genealogist that year.

* You'll confer with others who understand your interest (obsession?) in genealogy.

...and the most important benefit: you'll help support your state genealogical society. Help us continue our mission

To promote, develop, and encourage genealogical research, to preserve and perpetuate the records of ancestry and public records, and to make genealogical and historical information available to all through publications, meetings, and workshops. (citation)


Click on this link to join: Membership Form

For more information, click on this link: Membership

12 February 2009

Socorro County Profile

I've discovered a Socorro County Profile page on the website EPodunk. On this site, you can find links to census and demographic records, cemetaries, and ancestry and family history databases and websites. Although many of these links are for paid websites such as Ancestry.com, you may be able to find a few free links of interest. I especially liked the demographic information. It also appears that you can add content to the site.

To access the site, click on this link.

08 February 2009

February 21, 2009 NMGS Program: The Santa Fe Ring

Saturday, February 21, 2009, 10:30 AM
Botts Hall, Albuquerque Special Collections Library
423 Central NE, Albuquerque NM
(NW Corner of Edith and Central)

The New Mexico Genealogical Society presents

Historian and Author

Ruben Salas

Discussing his book

“The Santa Fe Ring
and
New Mexico Land Grants”


The Santa Fe Ring was a group of powerful lawyers and land speculators who swindled land grants away from many New Mexican families during the 19th Century. Historian and author Ruben Salas provides documentation and startling facts showing how the Santa Fe Ring systematically and deliberately manipulated the law to their own ends.

Salas will sign his book "The Santa Fe Ring and New Mexico Land Grants" before the program. Copies of this and his other books will be available for purchase.

This program is free and open to the public.

For more information about our programs, please visit the New Mexico Genealogical Society website at http://www.nmgs.org/workshop.htm

07 February 2009

Socorro Teacher's Obituary

I just found out that one of my favorite high school teachers died in late 2007. Her obituary was in the El Defensor Chieftain at this link. I thought I would it with you here:

Brobeck Stone - Carol Anne Brobeck Stone, 63, died on November 27,2007,at Woodbine Rehabilitation Center in Alexandria, VA. She was born, March 20, 1944, in Rochester PA, to the late Marguerite K. and Harold W. Brobeck.

Mrs. Stone became a teacher and taught various subjects including Fine Arts, English, Drama, and ESL to grades ranging from K-12 in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio; Petersburg, North Dakota (in a one-room school); Cyrus, Minnesota; Socorro, New Mexico, and for the Department of Defense Dependents Schools system (DoDDs)in Izmir, Turkey, and Bitburg, Germany. While affiliated with DoDDs, she was the recipient of numerous awards for teaching excellence. She was well known for her outstanding high school and middle school drama productions. In 1996, and 1997, she accepted the requests to host the Drama Festival for the DoDDs Near-Asia Theater held in Izmir, Turkey. She also traveled extensively fulfilling a life-long dream. She most recently visited Russia, and China. Carol is survived by her son, Ian E. Stone, Arlington, Virginia; brothers and sisters-in-law, Thomas and Kim Brobeck, Chippewa Township, Pennsylvania; and Jerry and Linda Brobeck, Johnstown, Ohio. She will be missed by her family and many friends. A memorial service was held at Campbell's Chippewa Funeral Home, 2618 Darlington Rd, Chippewa PA.

She was one of my inspirations when I decided to become a teacher. I didn't realize that she had done so much! No wonder she was a fantastic teacher!

05 February 2009

And the envelope please....

The 66th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy is the iGene Awards from the Academy of Genealogy and Family History. My nominations from my own blog are:

Best Picture - A photograph of my parents as young adults, in "Wordless Wednesday: Mom and Dad". It's a great picture that I had not seen until a few years ago.

Best Screenplay - "Haberdashery Dreams" - They were a small town family with big dreams. They built their store with love, and a little bit of money. Before long, they owned a whole shopping center. But would their dreams continue to be fulfilled with stacking bills and a growing family ? Starring Henry Fonda as Santiago Baca and Katharine Hepburn as Paublia (Zimmerly) Baca. Based on the blog post "Baca Haberdashery and Shopping Center".

Best Documentary - "The Wedded Zimmerlys". Documentarian Robert Baca has sifted through miles of microfilm to find the documentary proof that , yes, the Zimmerly siblings did indeed marry. He presents his findings in the post "Marriage Records for the Zimmerly Family".

Best Biography - This 19th Century man lived into the early years of the 20th century. What did he do and see? Documentary evidence allows us to see a little bit about his life, as we read in "Using Census Records to Tell A Story: Casmiro Montoya's Family."

Best Comedy - Yes, I can't spell "renaissance" without a spell check (or by using cut and paste, as I did with this post.) Find out more amusing things about me in "8 Things About Me That I Bet You Didn't Know - the Meme".

I don't know if I will win (if there is actually a winner - I don't know exactly how this works.) But if I do win, then I'll know that you all like me, you really, really like me!

01 February 2009

Received Torres Family Charts in the Mail

I received an envelope in the mail on Saturday. It was sent to me in December, but I had to pick it up at the Special Collections Library since it was sent to the New Mexico Genealogical Society. One of our committee members thought that it was meant for publication, but then realized that it was sent personally to me.

One of my distant cousins on the Crespin and Andreita Torres side of my family sent me two outline descendant charts. The first was for the descendants of Jose Torres (married to Josefa Armijo) and the other for the descendants of Domatila Torres (married to Pedro Ignacio Moises Sanches de Inigo.) Both Jose and Domatila were siblings of my great-grandfather Ignacio Torres.

I'm always amazed as to how many descendants a person can have within just a few generations. These charts represent 6 generations of family, and total 9 pages. That doesn't even include the descendants of Crespin and Andreita's 6 other children or persons that may not be known to the author of these charts.

Wow!

Thanks to Julia B. who sent me the charts.