Grandpa's Military Mementos

My Dad mentioned to me once that he had an old war photo of his father, my Grandpa Carlos Gallegos, imprinted on cloth. I had no idea what he was talking about. But of course I was intrigued. I have been desperate to find anything from my Grandpa’s military service in World War II.

I wasn’t disappointed. But I am intrigued. It is apparently a memento from his military service. But it’s a mystery. A black-and-white portrait of my Grandpa Carlos was screen-printed onto a burgundy cloth with gold fringe, a gold eagle and bell, and red-white-and blue American flags.

I’m not sure if it was produced before, during or after his service in World War II. I’ve scoured the Internet to find other banners like this one. I found one, but it was just as much of a mystery as my grandfather’s banner.

What I do know is this: My Dad said his father displayed the banner in his home, along with a photo of my Great-Uncle Eloy Gallegos, who died in the war. And my Grandma gave the banner to my Dad after my Grandpa died in 1980. The banner has my Grandpa’s Lieutenant bars attached to it, as well as a his ribbon bar pin and a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers pin.

Along with the banner, my Dad also has my Grandpa’s olive-green Army hat with his Lieutenant bar attached to it.

My Dad has a vivid memory of his father wearing his Army hat at home each morning at 6:30 a.m. while he ate the eggs and toast that my Grandma made him, and he read the Las Vegas Optic. He wore that hat, my Dad said, to shape his hair just the way he liked it. I asked my Grandma Rise about the hat, and she confirmed that my Grandpa wore it every morning.

Grandma Rise Turns 92

During my brief hiatus from blogging, my Grandma Rise turned 92 years old. Her birthday party at the nursing home was especially nice because Grandma had recently spent some time in the hospital after a health scare that fortunately turned out to only be a scare, and nothing serious.

Grandma’s party was also special for her because my Dad got two of her younger sisters to attend. The smile on her face was a gift for the rest of us. And, best of all, she still has her sense of humor, as she tried to convince her great-grandchildren to switch the candles to reflect her age as 29, instead of 92.

Grandma Rise, her sister Pita, and the Gallegos great-grandkids

Chavez y Chavez

While I was shocked to learn through DNA that my paternal ancestry links me to the first Chaves family to arrive in New Mexico in 1600, there was no surprise that DNA confirmed that I descend from the Chaves family on my mother’s side.

I already had the long paper trail that established my maternal grandfather, Louis Telesfor Chavez, as the 8th great-grandson of Pedro Duran y Chaves, the progenitor of the family. Still, I have also learned that the paper trail of baptismal, marriage and other written records covering 400 years and multiple generations can sometimes be wrong.

I decided to pursue a Y-DNA test on my mom’s side of the family to confirm my Grandpa Louie’s genealogy. Since my Grandpa died in 2006, I turned to one of his sons, my Uncle Mike Chavez, to take the test. My mother couldn’t do it, because you can only trace the Y-DNA through males.

Mike Chavez Sr.

As expected, Uncle Mike’s Y-DNA put him in the I1 haplogroup, proving his genetic ties to Pedro Duran y Chaves. That means the proud Chavez name my uncle inherited from his father, and my Grandfather, runs through his blood.

Louis T Chavez Sr.

It also means that, genetically, I am a Chavez on both my father and mother’s sides of the family tree. My genetic ties to Pedro Duran y Chaves, and his own roots in Valverde de Llerena, Spain, are particularly strong.

But while both sides of my family are part of the I1 haplogroup, there are some differences. My Uncle Mike’s DNA tested 37 genetic markers; of those, 35 were exact matches with my paternal Y-DNA. That may sound nearly perfect, and it proves we both descend from the Chaves line; but the minor differences in those two markers actually means we share a common ancestor several generations back.

The way I understand it, mutations occur over time, and as one Chavez brother stayed in the Rio Abajo area, and another migrated to Rio Arriba, two genetic markers changed slightly.  Without a complete paper trail on my paternal line, it’s difficult to pinpoint where that happened.

I have made contact with another Chavez relative who tested identically with me on all 37 genetic markers. I need to do more follow-up to see if we can determine where our family trees intersect.

But the bottom line, which still boggles my mind a bit, is that I am a blood relative of the original New Mexico Chaves family on two of my main bloodlines.

My mother's mother's mother...

I recently received the results of my mitochondrial DNA, or mtDNA test, which predictably show that I descend from Native American ancestry on the maternal side of my family – the line that extends through my mom, my grandmother, her mother, her mother, and so on.

I say predictably, because DNA experts told me most native New Mexicans descend from Native Americans. The primary reason? Spanish colonists who settled in New Spain, and eventually modern day New Mexico, were mostly men. So, naturally, they married and/or had children with indigenous women.

That’s different than Europeans who settled later in New England. I am told the Mayflower, for example, had a more balanced mix of men and women.

In any case, my mtDNA, which identifies me as part of haplogroup A, suggests a Native American is the progenitor of my maternal ancestors.

Based on mtDNA results from others in the Family Tree New Mexico DNA Project, I probably descend from Bernadina Vasquez, according to Angel Cervantes, the project administrator.

Researcher Pat Sanchez Rau explained that Bernadina Vasquez is the daughter of Francisco Vasquez and an unknown mother, possibly the Native American progenitor of so many New Mexico families, including mine. The mother, whose name is not known, was one of six daughters of Juan Perez de Bustillo and Maria de la Cruz, a family that came to New Mexico with Don Juan de Oñate. According to Sanchez Rau, Maria de la Cruz is probably of Mayan descent, although more research must be done. Sanchez Rau credits researcher Henrietta Martinez Christmas for identifying the connection between Bernadina Vasquez and descendants who belong to haplogroup A.

Sanchez Rau generously tried to help me connect my own family paper trail to the known descendants of Bernadina Vasquez.

Beatrice Chavez

My mother, Beatrice Chavez, is the daughter of Lola Gallegos, who is the daughter of Maria Arellanes. My Great-Grandmother Maria was the daughter of Maxima Carrillo. The identify of Maxima’s father is not clear, but she was baptized and used the name Carrillo, which was her own mother’s surname. 

Josefa Carrillo was the daughter of Gregoria Gutierres, who was the daughter of Maria Trinidad Gonzales.

Lola Gallegos

Maria Arellanes

Unfortunately, the paper trail reaches a dead end with Maria Trinidad Gonzales, who was born in the mid 1700s. So we don’t know for certain if Maria Trinidad Gonzales descends from Bernadina Vasquez or one of her sisters. But she – and I -- definitely descend from that pioneering New Mexico family. 

Contact

A reader asked that I post my e-mail address so I can be contacted directly. By all means, I welcome feedback, questions, comments -- and hopefully connections with relatives. I can be reached at gilbertgallegos@gmail.com

Lujans

I took some time off from researching my family history and writing for the blog while I wrapped up work for the campaign I was working on during much of the past year. I missed the research and the writing, but I’m hoping the break will prove to be helpful as I return to that research with fresh eyes and an open mind.

Despite my absence, that doesn’t mean genealogy has been far from my mind. In fact, I used my genealogy research skills more than once during the campaign to highlight the heritage of the congressional candidate I was working for – Michelle Lujan Grisham.

Michelle is related to former U.S. Rep. Manuel Lujan Jr., who held the same seat in Congress from 1969 through 1989, when he was nominated by President H.W. Bush to be U.S. Secretary of Interior.
Interestingly, Michelle and Manuel are more closely related through their Romero heritage, not the Lujans. Michelle’s great-grandmother, Agneda Romero, was the older sister of Lorenzita Romero, who married Manuel Lujan, Sr. The Romero sisters came from their own political family that included an uncle, Celso Lopez, who served as Sheriff and Mayor of Santa Fe from 1912-1914.


Agneda Romero was married to a fireman named Agustin Pino. Their daughter, Rita Pino, married Michelle’s grandfather Eugene David Lujan -- the first Hispanic since statehood to serve as a Justice on the New Mexico Supreme Court.


Agneda’s younger sister, Lorenzita Romero, married Manuel Lujan, Sr., who was Santa Fe County Assessor in 1930 and went on to serve as Mayor of Santa Fe from 1942-1948. Aside from their well-known son, Manuel Lujan Jr., Manuel and Lorenzita had another son, Edward Lujan, who served as Republican Party Chairman and helped found the National Hispanic Cultural Center.

During the campaign, we posted the Lujan-Romero genealogy on Facebook and got quite a response. Some national media wrote about it, although some reporters were just as interested in whether 
Michelle is related to U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Lujan, the third-term congressman from New Mexico’s 3^rd District. Apparently there is some connection between Michele and Rep. Lujan’s mother, Carmen Lujan. But I haven’t nailed it down, yet.

But it’s time to get back to my own genealogy. I have come across several interesting documents and stories that I will share, including a distant connection to the Lujan family.

I will keep digging into Michelle’s genealogy, especially since I have taken a job with her Congressional Office. I recently accepted the position of Deputy Director of her District Office, which allows me to stay in Albuquerque. And I’m just two blocks from the Albuquerque genealogy library.