Ancestor #4 Esteban Arroyo (Great Great Grandfather) – Part 1

Esteban Arroyo, my great-great-grandfather, lived in Tarimoro, Guanajuato in the 1800’s.  Unfortunately, I do not have any photographs of him. 

I’m writing about Esteban because finding and confirming the names of his parents required extra genealogical research.  The records I typically use to find the names of my ancestors, the marriage information (MI) records, were not fruitful in his case due to inconsistencies in the surname used by his first wife.  I located two MI records for Esteban Arroyo, he was married twice, but I could initially only positively attribute one of the two records to him.  I know he was married twice because in the MI record with my great-great-grandmother, Leandra Jimenez, it states that he was a widower of 14 months, previously married to Bacilia Lara.  Esteban Arroyo and Leandra Jimenez married on November 7, 1872 in the San Miguel Arcangel church in Tarimoro, Guanajuato. 

Esteban y Leandra

Extra research is required to discover the names of the parents of a bride or groom when the only record known of them is their second marriage information record.  A marriage record usually lists the parents of both the bride & groom.  In the case of Esteban, in the section normally reserved for the names of the groom’s parents, it listed the details of his previous marriage.  I used that information to work backward to try to locate his first MI record.  I was unsuccessful at finding an exact match.  However, I did find a record for an Esteban Arroyo and Bacilia Alvarez.   Bacilia’s parents are listed as Ygnacio Alvarez and Antonia Lara.  His parents were listed as Manuel Arroyo and Antonia Contreras. 

Esteban y Bacilia

Everything for the marriage record for Esteban and Bacilia Alvarez matched except her surname. Perhaps the priest incorrectly wrote down her name as Lara (her mother’s maiden name) instead of Alvarez during Esteban’s marriage informational session with Leandra.  I wanted to be certain, so I continued to look.

I decided to research his first wife’s death record, hoping to find useful additional.  My search again came up empty for an exact match.  The closest match I found was for a deceased woman named Bacilia Perez, who was survived by a husband named Estaban Arroyo. Bacilia Perez passed away in Tarimoro on September 1, 1871, approximately 14 months before Esteban and Leandra were married.  The record was around the estimated time and place of the passing of Esteban’s first wife.   

Bacilia Perez

I had three records for Esteban Arroyo, each showing him married to a woman named Bacilia, and each with a different surname.  I began to wonder, was it possible that there were two or three Esteban Arroyos who lived in the same place, at the same time and married a woman named Bacilia.  Likely not, but I wanted more definitive proof that Bacilia Lara and Bacilia Alvarez were the same person. 

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citations:
1. Esteban y Leandra:
"México, Guanajuato, registros parroquiales, 1519-1984," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1951-20592-29266-79?cc=1860831 : accessed 20 February 2016), Tarimoro > San Miguel Arcángel > Información matrimonial 1870-1873 > image 520 of 645; parroquias Católicas, Guanajuato (Catholic Church parishes, Guanajuato).

2. Esteban y Bacilia
"México, Guanajuato, registros parroquiales, 1519-1984," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1951-20415-44091-80?cc=1860831 : accessed 20 February 2016), Salvatierra > Salvatierra > Información matrimonial 1863-1865 > image 387 of 450; parroquias Católicas, Guanajuato (Catholic Church parishes, Guanajuato).

3. Bacilia Perez
"México, Guanajuato, registros parroquiales, 1519-1984," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1942-20589-8090-59?cc=1860831 : accessed 20 February 2016), Tarimoro > San Miguel Arcángel > Defunciones 1870-1878 > image 79 of 444; parroquias Católicas, Guanajuato (Catholic Church parishes, Guanajuato).