C. G. C. JOURNAL - Raíces de la Perla - Winter/Spring 2005 HIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHI Conociendo La Habana Vieja del 1842: Calle Villegas Families of "Las Floridas": Finding your Florida Pioneer Using the Printed Official Government Records of Cuba St. Augustine, Florida: The Oldest City San Juan de los Remedios del Cayo Sept. 17, 2005 Q & A with Diario de la Marina: The Jaruco Articles Cuban Genealogist Boletín Oficial de la Provincia de Santander Peter Carr Diario de la Marina - Octubre 1899 Del Presidente Welcome to the second issue of the CGC Journal: Raíces de la Perla! We hope you enjoyed our inaugural issue and found the information useful in your research. Please write and let us know of your successes. We are very excited to feature two articles in this issue by a guest columnist and friend, Peter Carr, noted author and publisher. Mr. Carr's first article concerns the second installment in the "Streets of Havana" series; the sec- ond article studies the use of government records in the search for your ancestors. Many thanks to Peter for his articles and for a special treat for our CGC members. The CGC Board of Directors is very pleased to announce that Peter Carr has also graciously offered to conduct a "Question and Answer" session on Cuban Genealogy scheduled for September 17, 2005. This seminar is free of charge and offered only to CGC mem- bers in good standing. Please read the article concerning the session for more details. Many thanks to Peter Carr for his interest and generosity! This issue also covers the special ancestors of some of our members who can proudly claim to be descen- dants of the first Europeans to inhabit the Florida peninsula, primarily the settlers of St. Augustine, Florida. We hope the information provided will offer clues leading you to claim these first Americans as your ancestors, as well. The archives of the genealogical and historical societies of St. Augustine offer much information on these early settlers. The best part of having St. Augustine ancestors is that you can conduct your Cuban genealog- ical research without ever leaving the country! No passport required! Earlier this year, the CGC presented a donation in the amount of $500 to Florida International University's Special Collections section to be used towards the purchase of Cuban and Iberian genealogical books and materials. The photo below shows your board members/officers and Ms. Vicki Silvera, the Head of Special Collections. Should any of you have suggestions towards books of interest, we would appreciate hearing from you. We would also like to thank those who have volunteered to work on the "Espada Project", our first club under- taking, coordinated by Mariela Fernández. We could always use more volunteers! If you are interested in assisting us with this important transcription project, please contact Mariela at [email protected] . Thank you for your interest and support. We trust you will find this second issue interesting and worthwhile. Please let us know of any special interests you would Raíces de la Perla like us to cover. Guest columnists are always wel- comed! Also, remember June is membership renewal is a publication of month. We hope you will allow us the privilege of con- The Cuban Genealogy Club tinuing to serve you. Have a great summer and as of Miami, FL Inc. always, Happy Hunting! 5521 SW 163 Avenue Southwest Ranches, FL Eduardo M. Ramos García 33331-1443 Annette Piedra Baquedano, Editor http://www.cubangenclub.org Copyright 2005 Articles of family history or of historical nature are welcomed and will be used as space permits and at editors’ discretion. Articles can be sent to (L-R) Annette PIedra, Martha Ibañez, Eduardo Ramos, [email protected]. Vicki Silvera, Marie Zaret and Mariela Fernandez 1 Diario de la Marina: The Jaruco Articles by Eduardo Ramos García Thanks to the efforts of our friend and colleague, Mayra Sanchez-Johnson, president of the Cuban Genealogical Society in Salt Lake City, Utah, we know that Francisco Xavier de Santa Cruz y Mallén, in addition to writing the important "Historia de Familias Cubanas" volumes, also wrote a series of articles published in the newspaper "Diario de la Marina". In her quarterly magazine, "Revista", Mayra Sanchez-Johnson, identified a total of 164 articles by Francisco Xavier de Santa Cruz y Mallén written during a span of seven years: from 1945 through 1952. For a complete listing of these articles, please refer to the April 1988 edition of "Revista" (volume I, issue number 2). For a copy of this issue, you may visit: www.rootsweb.com\~utcubangs or write Mayra at P.O. Box 2650, Salt Lake City, UT, 84110. In this issue, Mayra states there may be more articles and that the articles are not all genealogical in nature. In order to assist you in your research, The CGC Journal staff would like to offer a summary of each of these articles with the hope that many may contain information or clues concerning your family lines. These summaries will run as a feature article in each successive issue of "Raíces de la Perla" until we have covered all 164 known articles. Our staff will also conduct research as to whether or not any more arti- cles exist; summaries of those will be published as well. If any of you are considering reviewing these articles on your own, we can offer one time saving tip. While viewing the microfilms, our board member, Mariela Fernandez, noted that several of the first few articles were found on page 33 of the "Diario de la Marina". Try that page first before skimming the entire paper. If anyone would like to contribute a summary of an article, we would greatly welcome and appreciate your efforts. 1. "Un Cubano Príncipe de la Iglesia" - December 27, 1945 The subject of this article is Monseñor Manuel Arteaga y Betancourt , the first Cuban priest to hold the post of Cardinal in The Roman Catholic Church. The author describes Monseñor Arteaga's rise in the church, his own relationship with the Cardinal and makes note of his ancestors, starting from the first Arteaga to arrive on Cuban shores from Sevilla, Spain, over 300 years earlier, Martín Arteaga y Erasu, "capitán de Navío de la Real Armada", through to the Cardinal's father, Rosendo Arteaga y Guerra-Montejo, who held the rank of Comandante during the Cuban War of Independence. 2. "Nobleza Cubana - Los Orígenes" - July 7, 1946 This article is a general piece dealing with the origins of the Cuban nobility, breaking it down into two classes. The first and oldest being the descendants of the original conquistadores and settlers; the second those descended from the later immigrants. El conde de Jaruco also offers his own personal view on the relevance between these two classes. Unfortunately, no families in particular are dealt with in this article. 3. "Historia del Real Tribunal de Cuentas" - July 21, 1946 The Real Tribunal de Cuentas were tax centers established by law in 1605 and confined to three administrative centers in Spain's colonies: Peru, Colombia and Mexico. At first, Cuba, along with Santo Domingo, Puerto Rico, Jamaica and Florida, reported to the tribunal in Mexico but due to distance and growth, Cuba received its own center in 1639. In this article, Francisco Xavier de Santa Cruz y Mallén names the first ten contadores and pro- vides genealogical information on most, some in great detail. These first ten were: Pedro Beltrán de Santa Cruz y Beitia, Juan Ortíz de Gatica y de la Barrera, Bartolomé de Arriola y García de Londoño, Agustín Valdéz y Córdova, Pedro de Arango y Monroy, Diego de Torres-Ayala y Quadros, Manuel García Palacios, Juan Francisco Zequeira y Ramallo, José Antonio Gelabert y Garcés, and Manuel José Aparicio del Manzano y Justiz. 4. "El Morro" - July 28, 1946 Just after the discovery of the New World, word of the riches brought over from the Spanish colonies spread throughout the other European powers. Pirates sponsored and protected by Spain's enemies, began raiding ships and Spanish ports. La Habana, unfortunately, was one of these ports and did not escape looting by pirates. The fortress of "El Morro" was built in the latter part of the XVI century to defend the city of La Habana against these foreign aggressors and pirates. The fort had its own Alcalde del Castillo de la Fuerza who besides governing its activities, was also charged with the important duty of serving as the acting Captain and Governor General of Cuba whenever a vacancy occurred until a new governor was named and officially took control of the island's leadership. This practice was first petitioned in 1615 by one of the alcaldes del Morro, Jerónimo de Quero, and continued until 1715 when a change was made and the post of lieutenant governor of the island was created. This article briefly covers the creation of "El Morro", its designers, the re-edification process started by Antonio Fernández-Trevejo y Zaldivar, and backgrounds and exploits of a couple of its more illustrious alcaldes: Luis Chacón y Castellón & Vicente González de Bassecourt. The author also covers the family 2 of one of the military officials entrusted with the defense of the city, Alejandro O'Reilly y MacDowell, Inspector General de la Tropa Reglada y Milicias de las islas de Cuba y Puerto Rico, brother-in-law of Luis de las Casas y Aragorri, one of Cuba's Governor Generals. His son, Pedro O'Reilly y de las Casas, born in Madrid, married the habanera, María Francisca Calvo de la Puerta y del Manzano. Also mentioned is one of their children, Manuel O'Reilly y Calvo de la Puerta, who married María Francisca Núñez del Castillo y Montalvo.