One Man's Musings

According to my grandpa's notes, my uncle Felipe was born on December 17, 1888 in Mascota, Jalisco, Mexico at six o'clock in the evening. Grandpa was so meticulous in his documentation. The following day, uncle Felipe was presented to the civil authorities to be registered. He is registered under number 370, file 121, front. He was baptized by Msgr. Francisco de Davalos; his godparents were Maximiano Gil and Elvira Rosalez de LLaguno.  Grandpa further notes: Felipe de Jesus married Maria de Jesus Franco. My uncle and his wife had a son named Felipe. Felipe married a second time. His second wife was Domitila Ibarra. The offspring were Armando, Domitila, Yolanda, and Florencia. When I was approximately ten years old, my uncle Felipe visited us in Guadalajara. He was accompanied by my cousin Yolanda and two kids, one was Jacinto and I don't remember the name of the other kid. Jacinto Maldonado Reyes was my cousin's husband. I never met him. I w...

My uncle Jose Miguel Brambila was born in Ameca, Jalisco, Mexico on May 24, 1881. He was the first born to grandpa Felipe and grandma Florencia, who are noted in this blog. My mother was Jose Miguel's kid sister, as she was born when he was 23 years old. Jose Miguel was a tough individual. He was a blacksmith by trade; a man of incredible strength. He was a foreman at a railroad round house. He supervised a crew of men who built and repaired the long metal rods that simultaneously propelled the wheels of steam locomotives. When I met my uncle Jose Miguel, uncle Jose, I was an infant. I still remember him visiting us for supper on a regular basis. He walked with difficulty; always assisted by a walking cane. He used to stutter a bit. He called me endearingly "rafaga" which translates to "burst", as I had a lot of energy often particular to young kids. Jose Miguel was a very generous person. For example; as a railroad employee he was able to obtain train tic...

My dad Ramon Araiza was born in the small town of Etzatlan, Mexico on February 6, 1904. My dad's parents were Juan Jose Araiza Reynoso (1851-1906) and Maximiana Fregoso Fernandez (1851-1950.) They married in 1888. They were 33 years old at the time of their wedding. My father became an orphan when he was two years old. Juan Jose Araiza, his dad, passed away when he was 55 years old. I have a separate narrative in this blog as to the somewhat strange circumstances surrounding his passing. The economic conditions for the Araiza family must have been dire. My grandfather did not leave any economic resources to my grandmother upon his passing. Grandma became a widow with three mouths to feed. My father had two siblings: Felicitas and Jose Maria. To illustrate the hard times my father endured, he once told me that he wanted to contribute to the home by getting a job at a jewelry store. He was told by the owner that he (my dad) had to wear shoes to fill the p...

I must have been ten years old when I overheard a conversation between my parents and my aunt Concha. The story involves a mint 1956 Chevy BelAir.  At the time of this anecdote, she had been the widow of my uncle Francisco Watanabe, a very wealthy merchant. Shortly before his sudden death, he had given my aunt the car to celebrate her birthday. Upon his passing, she related, she was so heart broken than she placed a tarp over the vehicle. She did not have a need to drive the car, as she was driven by her personal assistant. Years later, my aunt was visited by her brother Damian Garcia, who lived in Mexico City. My aunt mentioned the car sitting in the garage, wondering if the car, because of its age, was worth anything. Damian, being a car mechanic, inspected the car and found nothing mechanically  wrong with the vehicle, except for the condition of the rubber tires that had deteriorated. My aunt offered the car to my uncle at a very low price, but Damian refused to...

Luis Rafael  Brambila Contreras was born May 2, 1885 at exactly 5:30 in the morning in Ameca, Jalisco, Mexico. Luis' parents were Felipe N. Brambila and Florencia Contreras. Grandpa Brambila notes:  When Luis was baptized, his godparents were Rafael D. Elias y Ms. Ponciana de Anda viuda de Fonseca. Luis Rafael Brambila died in Mexico City on August 1, 1927 Luis Rafael is my mother's brother. Uncle Luis was 19 years old when my mother was born. Luis Rafael married Margarita Lara. . His children are Maria Luisa, Maria Guadalupe, Margarita, Gilberto, Carlos Manuel, Elena Esperanza and Enriqueta. Maria Luisa was  born October 9, 1910. Her maternal grandparents were Manuel Lara and Soledad Morales (my source is Alfredo Pena Perez-Plazola). Maria Luisa lived to a ripe age of ninety years. I don't know the vital statistics for Maria Luisa's siblings. Maria Luisa had four children: Antonio, Javier (aka el chato) Jorge and...

My grandfather Felipe n. Brambila wrote a note on June 2, 1925. He notes that according to the parochial records of Tenamaxtlan, there were 772 Spaniards and 1,763 Mexican residents in the year 1757. By the year 1855, the population had increased to 5,658. He does not mention the ethnicity of the population at this time. My mother told me once that grandpa enjoyed documenting information with regards to the town of Tenamaxtlan, where his father and grandfather lived for many years.

My grandfather was Juan Jose Araiza. He was married to Maximiana Fregoso Fernandez. She married Juan Jose Araiza in 1888 when she was 20 years old. Juan Jose was born circa 1850. He was baptized on June 26, 1851 in Talpa, Jalisco, Mexico. His parents were Jose Maria Salome Araiza and Francisca (aka Franca)  Reynoso Delgado. His maternal grandparents were Jose Antonio Bictor Reynoso Contreras and Maria Tomasa Delgado Aguilar. (My source is Erik Reynoso, professional genealogist.) The passing of my grandfather happened on October 5, 1906. He passed away in the town of Sebastian del Oeste, Jalisco, Mexico. He passed away of bronco-pneumonia, The death certificate states that he passed away without medical assistance. He was 55 years old.  My father was two years old when his father passed away.  My parents once told me that my widowed grandmother suffered greatly due to his passing. I have been told she was a chamber maid.  It must have been difficult to ...