Reconstructing the Bartolome Curiel and Maria Perez Family from Garganta la Olla

After I finished extracting the first list into excel, I was curious to see if I would be able to find families throughout all three lists, so I tried a little experiment. I took one of the families with the most children, because I thought that would make them easier to follow. I compared them through all three lists. Then I approximated the birthdates from their appearance on the lists. Next I searched the Parish Baptisms Registers. Lo and behold I found 12 children for Bartolome and Maria. It was very exciting. This proved to me, that this was a viable process. After this I was rejuvenated and began to continue working on the extraction part of the process with renewed energy to work towards completion as soon as possible.

Bartolome Curiel Family- 1586

Bartolome Curiel Family- 1594

Bartolome Curiel Family- 1603

One interesting fact about the family in the 1603 list, Bartolome and Maria, the father and mother, did not appear with the family. However, the daughter Ana was listed as of Bartolome Curiel, telling me that she was his daughter. At this point,  I am not sure what happened to Bartolome and Maria. I am thinking that the probability is high, that they both died. In the 1590s, there was a great plague and many people in Garganta la Olla died. Bartolome and Maria, could have been part of this group. Hopefully I will be able to answer that question in the burial records.

I have posted a Powerpoint Presentation that I gave at a conference about the Reconstruction Process. This Presentation will describe the process in much greater detail. If you are interested, take a look.

Names, Names, Names: Confraternity Membership Lists 1527-1603

During the visit to Garganta la Olla in May 2007, I was participating in a BYU Family History Field Study with Dr. George Ryskamp and six other students. The academic purpose for our visit was to gather records for an 18th Century Study on the small, rural village of Garganta la Olla, and the role of women in that village. We spent two days in the Parish Archive, that the Priest was most gracious to let us use for examination and photographing of the records. It was an amazing experience looking at the collection of Parish Books from as far back as 500 years ago. We were actually able to handle the books and take pictures of whatever we wished.  The books were very well preserved because the climate in Garganta is quite dry. This was my first experience looking at such old records and I was very intrigued and overwhelmed by it all. It hardly seemed real.

While searching the Parish Books for anything pertinent to our studies, Confraternity  (or Cofradia in Spanish) Membership Lists were discovered from the years 1527, 1586, 1594 and 1603. These membership lists not only included the members or cofrades, but also others in the household, mainly family members. These lists pre-dated many of the Parish baptism, marriage and burial records. I was so excited to see these records. What a wonderful discovery! Each list was about fifteen to twenty pages, with anywhere from 30- 65 names on a page.

Membership List

Cofradia Books

BYU Field Study Activities - Garganta la Olla, Parish Archive

I could hardly wait to return home and have time to search and extract the names from these records. At first I wasn't sure who Dr. Ryskamp would assign to look at these records, but I knew that I had to ask if I could be involved. After all, these were my ancestors and my heritage. There was something that drew me to the records and this project. Little did I realize that 3 1/2 years later, I would still be consumed and enthralled with these records.

My First Visit to Garganta la Olla- May 2007

In 2007, I made my first visit to Garganta la Olla as part of a BYU Family History Field Study Group. It is a magical town, nestled up in the mountains of western-central Spain. Because it is a town off the beaten path, it has remained much the same as it looked several hundred years ago. The exterior of many of the buildings looked the same as they did in ancient times. If it weren't for the asphalted roads and sidewalks, you would think you had stepped into a time machine and you were back in the seventeen or eighteen hundreds.

My added interest in this town stems from the fact that my great-grandfather, Meliton Gonzalez Trejo was born and raised here. It was fun to see the house of his birth, the church of his baptism, and walk the streets where he and his ancestors walked. It was a truly priceless experience.

BYU Field Study Group- May 2007

Birthplace of Meliton.

The town is surrounded by mountains and a river. The town has two bridges, the old bridge and the new bridge. The new bridge was built in 1577, which seems somewhat comical to those of us from the US where there is nothing in the entire continent that dates back more than 400 years. To the left is a picture of the house where my great-grandfather Meliton was born. I was not able to go inside, because the current owners were not home. However, it was still fun to see the outside and contemplate the life of Meliton and the daily things he must have done in this little village. 

Meliton and Emily Family

This family picture was taken in Salt Lake City, Utah in the early 1890s. Meliton is holding son Milton, daughter Sarah in front and Emily is holding baby Jared. Standing in the back is Marie Louise, Meliton's daughter by his first wife Mariane Christensen. Stay tuned to my blog for further information on my village reconstruction project.