My Family: A Work in Progress…

See these first: (Click the caption underneath each photo)

La Familia de Antonio Diaz Palacios ____ La Familia de Donato Rascón Murrieta

My family is typical of many Mexican American families. We have indigenous roots here in the Southwest and Northern Mexico that go back many, many generations. On my mom’s side, for example, we are from the northern Mexican state of Sonora, partially descendent from the Opata and Mayo peoples, both of which are native to the Mexican state of Sonora. (We are also part Spanish on my mom’s side as well). In contrast, on my father’s side we have mostly Spanish ancestry, which we recently learned through the National Geographic genome project was in turn comprised of the Spanish mainland.

My paternal grandfather, Antonio P. Diaz (1885-1954), was a native of Asturias, Spain. His parents were Josefa Palacio and Valentin Diaz. Valentin’s parents, my great-great grandparents, were Raymundo Fernandez Diaz and Maria Garcia. My grandfather had several siblings including Soledad Diaz Palacio, Natalia Diaz Palacio, Alfredo Diaz, Rosita Diaz, Elvira Diaz and Belarma Diaz.

Like thousands of others who left Asturias during the early twentieth century, my grandfather came to the Americas to escape induction into the Spanish Army (Spain was fighting a very unpopular war against Morocco at the time and thousands of young Spanish men were being conscripted. Many died in battle.) and to find a better life.While working as a miner in Zacatecas, Mexico, he met my grandmother, Zeferina T. Diaz (1895-1939), a native of Pinos, Zacatecas. Her parents were Blas Torres and Matiana Montalvo Gallegos, both of whom were also from Zacatecas. During the Mexican Revolution, my grandparents left Mexico and settled in the Verde Valley in northern Arizona, where they ran a dairy farm, called the UVX (United Verde Exchange) Dairy (later named the Spanish Dairy) together.

They raised nine children, Raul, Valentin, Belarmino, Rafael, Tony, Josefina, Helen, Carmen and my dad, Alfredo, who was born in Jerome, Arizona in 1920. He spent the first sixteen years of his life in and around the Verde Valley, and then moved with his family to Superior, Az, where he worked as a miner with the Magma Copper Company for several years. He is also a World War II veteran.

My father’s sister Josephine started a book about our family, but she passed away before it was finished and published. Thanks to her children, however, the book is now available. It’s titled: Diaz Family: Spain To America , The Story of An American Family. It’s available for purchase from Lulu Press. I have also written about my grandfather’s family. A link to the post can be found below.

On my mom’s side, my maternal great grandparents were Juan Ortega and Carmen Cruz. They and their children are featured in “A Beautiful, Cruel Country“, by Eva Antonia Wilbur-Cruce (although in the book they are referred to as the Gallego family). The chapter on the “Los Cochis Ranch” is about them specifically. They had a number of children, including Rafael, Trinidad, Juana, Feliciano (Chano), Josefa, all of whom were born in Arivaca, Arizona. My great grandmother later married a man named Rafael Cruz, and together they had Maria, Rafael, and Rita. Widowed again, my great-grandmother was married a third and final time to Francisco Rivera, and they had one child named Francisco. My great grandmother ran a boarding house in the early 20s in Arivaca, but by mid-decade had moved to Tucson, where she resided in the Barrio Viejo district and later in Barrio Libre in South Tucson.

My maternal grandfather was Donato Rascon (1896-1937) , a native of Tarachi, Sonora, Mexico and the child of Loreto Rascon and Maria Murrieta. His siblings included Francisco Rascon (1898-1985), David Rascon, Raul Rascon, Crisanto Rascon, Olivia Rascon, Aurelia Rascon (1892-1987), Carolina Rascon, and Isabel Rascon. My grandfather left Mexico shortly after the Revolution and worked as a miner in Arivaca, Arizona at what was known as the Bluebird Mine for a short time. He also worked at the Montana camp in Lochiel, Az. Read more about his family by clicking the link below.

While in Arivaca, he met my grandmother, Josefa O. Rascon (1903-1979), a native of the area. Her mother, Carmen Cruz, Juan Ortega’s wife, was also born in Arivaca in 1880. Carmen’s parents, my great-great grandparents, both from Mexico, were Trinidad Cruz and Demencia Villa. My grandmothers siblings (Carmen’s children) included Rafael Ortega, Feliciano (Chano)Ortega, Trinidad Ortega, Juana Ortega, Rita Cruz, Maria Cruz, Rafael Cruz, and Francisco Rivera. My maternal grandparents moved to Superior, Arizona in the twenties, where my grandfather Donato worked for the Magma Copper Company. They had five children: Josefina (my mom), Eduardo, Dora, Donato and Mary.

My mom and dad were married for 45 years (she passed away in 1988). They had six children: Irene, Carlos, Becky, Rudy, Fred, and me.

My dad later re-married a woman named Guadalupe Lopez, a native of Michoacan, Mexico, and together they had two children, Jose and Jennifer. Guadalupe had already had two young children of her own named Bertha and Antonio, so all together they made a family of six. Guadalupe passed away in the early 2000’s, leaving my dad a widower yet again. My sister Becky helped to raise the children from then on. Dad lived until he was 94. He passed away in 2015.

I’ve been working on my family tree, and so far can go back 7 generations on one branch of my tree. Here’s my family tree, courtesy of Family Search.