Alejandra Gusman (3rd great grandmother)

(I drafted this post to document my research on Alejandra Gusman.  Its a bit dry.  Its often difficult to remember why I hit dead ends without extensive documentation.  I plan to refer to this post in the future to save me from doing duplicative research.)

Who are the parents of Alejandra Gusman and why have I been unable to find them?  The proverbial brick walls I’ve encountered in the1800’s have been surmountable except for one - Alejandra Gusman’s genealogy.  My usual research strategies have been futile.  Sometimes, it strikes me as if she doesn't want me to find her roots. 

I first read Alejandra Gusman’s name in the marriage informational record of Juan Rico (my 2nd great grandfather).  In 1880, Juan Rico married Anastasia Patino (what a beautiful name) in Tarimoro.   My father mentioned Juan and Anastasia as ancestors on his maternal side over 20 years ago when I did a genealogy project for school. Their marriage records, along with those of their children, support my father’s oral history.

Martin Rico & Alejandra Gusman were listed as the parents of Juan Rico in his marriage informational record.  I imagine that there are very few people alive, if any, that know Juan was the son of Martin & Alejandra.  It gives me great satisfaction to read the name of an ancestor that hasn't been spoken in scores of years.   I searched for a marriage informational record for Martin & Alejandra to learn the names of their parents.  I figured it might be easy to find because Gusman is an uncommon name in Tarimoro.

Marriage Certificate 

The search for the marriage records of Martin & Alejandra came up empty.  Also, I should note that I’m confident that they were married because their children were always listed as ‘legitimate’ and not ‘natural.’  The former is only used if the parents are married.  The latter is used if the child is born out of wedlock.  Its possible that Martin & Alejandra are indigenous, thus they might have only been listed by their first names in their marriage records.  If this is the case, the lack of identifying information would make it difficult, if not impossible, to find their ancestors.

Neither a general search or a targeted search produced any matches.  Below are the specific parishes I checked.  All but Rincon de Tamayo have indexed records for the time period when they could have married. Martin & Alejandra are the only 3rd great grandparents from Tarimoro for whom I have been unable to find their marriage record(s).  

I am also hoping that Martin Rico & Alejandra Gusman were married in a parish where the records have yet to be indexed.   The fact that I can't find a marriage record for them leads me to believe that they were married outside of the region.  Additionally, I have to consider the possibility that Alejandra might not have been from Tarimoro.  

Parish	Matches (1832-1862)
Salvatierra	No
Apatzeo El Grande	No
San Bartolo Aguas Calientes	No
Rincon de Tamayo	No

When I encounter a brick wall along a certain genealogical line, I try to find as many records for the family in question as possible.  The other records might contain clues to help me get over the brick wall.  I found three of Juan’s brothers: Jose Guadalupe, Francisco, and Ignacio. This is the information my searches produced:

  

Baptisms	FN	Year	location	Father	Mother
Jose Guadalupe Rico		1848
Francisco de la Soledad Rico	640418	1856	Tarimoro	Martin Rico	Alejandra Gusman
Ignacio Rico		1860
Juan Rico	640420	1862	Aguacate, Tarimoro	Matin Rico	Alejandra Gusman

Groom	FN	Father	Mother	O y V	Parroqia	Marriage Yr
Jose Guadalupe Rico		Martin Rico	Alejandra Gusman	Aguacate, Tarimoro	Tarimoro	1870
Francisco Rico	-	-	-	-	-	Soltero
Juan Rico	657194	Martin Rico	Alejandra Gusman	Aguacate, Tarimoro	Tarimoro	1880
Ignacio	No Information

Deceased	Father	Mother	Vecino	Location	Death Year	Spouse
Martin Rico	Augustin Rico	Maria F Peres	Tarimoro	Tarimoro	1895	Alejandra Gusman
Jose Guadalupe Rico	Martin Rico	Alejandra Gusman		Tarimoro	1898	Ma. Solome Resendiz
Francisco Rico	Martin Rico	Alejandra Gusman		Tarimoro	1911	Soltero

This is what I know about Alejandra Gusman based on my research:

Born: Around 1830-36

Married: Martin Rico between 1845-50.  

Likely outside of Tarimoro or Salvatierra, GTO 

Children: 

Jose Guadalupe Rico ( b. around 1846-50)

Francisco Rico (b. 1856 in Tarimoro)

Ignacio Rico (b. around 1860)

Juan Rico (b. 1862 in Tarimoro)

Death: January 1880, Aguacate, Tarimoro, GTO

Juan Rico

I have been unable to find Juan Rico's death certificate, which I hoped would provide me with additional clues.  I didn't find his death record in the Tarimoro civil or Catholic death records. I searched all the years after 1905.  In 1905, he was listed as being alive in Josefa Rico's marriage informational. 

Juan Rico & Anastacio Patino's Marriage Informational

"México, Guanajuato, registros parroquiales, 1519-1984," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1951-20583-7442-8?cc=1860831 : 20 May 2014), Tarimoro > San Miguel Arcángel > Información matrimonial 1878-1881 > image 451 of 699; parroquias Católicas, Guanajuato (Catholic Church parishes, Guanajuato).

Francisco Rico MI
"México, Guanajuato, registros parroquiales, 1519-1984," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1951-20593-942-13?cc=1860831 : 20 May 2014), Tarimoro > San Miguel Arcángel > Información matrimonial 1870-1873 > image 187 of 645; parroquias Católicas, Guanajuato (Catholic Church parishes, Guanajuato).

Juan Rico Baptism
"México, Guanajuato, registros parroquiales, 1519-1984," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1942-20400-64826-23?cc=1860831&wc=3VH8-3TG:167585501,167585502,167866703 : 20 May 2014), Salvatierra > Salvatierra > Bautismos 1859-1862 > image 537 of 720; parroquias Católicas, Guanajuato (Catholic Church parishes, Guanajuato).

Alejandra Gusman Death Certificate

"México, Guanajuato, registros parroquiales, 1519-1984," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1951-20419-27809-64?cc=1860831 : 20 May 2014), Tarimoro > San Miguel Arcángel > Defunciones 1878-1886 > image 94 of 482; parroquias Católicas, Guanajuato (Catholic Church parishes, Guanajuato).

Ancestors #7 & #8: Jose Maria Trejo y Eugenia Flores --- Married 1824 --- (4th Great Grandparents)

If there is one person I could back in time to meet, it might be Jose Maria Trejo to confirm his spouse and ancestors. I hit a brick wall with him & his wife that took me over a year to climb.  

I did not find a marriage record for Jose Maria & Maria Eugenia after searching through all the indexed parish records in the vicinity of Tarimoro.  Tarimoro did not have a parish at the time of their marriage.  Salvatierra, San Bartolo Aguas Calientes (Apatzeo el Alto), Apatzeo el Grande, and Rincon de Tamayo were the nearest parishes to Taliscoya.  I found the record after searching page by page in the only parish without indexed records, San Bartolome - Rincon De Tamayo.

Map of churches near Tarimoro. The churches are in red. 

Parish/City	Baptisms (first records)	Marriage  (first records)
Salvatierra	1679	1653
SAN JUAN BAUTISTA,APATZEO EL GRANDE	1627	1605
San Bartolo Aguas Calientes	1731	1736
San Bartolome, Rincon De Tamayo	1730	1750
Apatzeo El Alto	1867	1869
Tarimoro	1870	1870

Baptism Years	Years	file number	San Bartolome Rin De Tamayo		Trejo	Juan Antonio	Bernardo	Jose Maria
1730	1760	648480	Not Indexed	castas
1753	1760	648480	reviewed	castas			None
1761	1775	648481	indexed				None
1775	1793	648482	indexed
1793	1802	648483	Not Indexed
1804	1810	648483	Not Indexed
1810	1832	648485	indexed
1810	1840	648484	Indexed	Indios
1832	1848	648486	indexed

When I first found the record, I wasn’t sure it was the right one because the name of Jose Maria Trejo's spouse didn’t match other church records.  For example, in the marriage record for Rafael Trejo, his mother is listed as Maria Eugenia Flores, while in his baptism record his mother is listed as Maria Eugenia Gertrudis.  I figured her name was a combination of Maria Eugenia Gertrud's Flores.  

Jose Maria Trejo y Maria Eugenia Gertrudis 1824

What is interesting about this record is that it lists the spouse of Jose Maria Trejo (JMT) as Maria Eugenia Gertrudis (MEG), with no surname.  Her parents were Juan Francisco de Gomes and Maria Marselina Boverta Mejia.  If this is indeed the correct record, when and why did she use Flores later in life?  She was a 15 year old bride from Carrizo, a small rancho in Tarimoro, at the time of her marriage.    JMT was a 20 year old bachelor from Taliscolla (Taliscoya or Tlalixcoya).  His parents were listed as Bernardo Trejo and Maria Josefa Merina. The padrinos were Jose Antonio Trejo and Maria Josefa Nunes, the former being Bernardo's brother.  

I’m very paranoid about incorporated an incorrect record into my family tree, so I decided to find all the records for where Jose Maria Trejo and Maria Eugenia are listed as spouses to discover any patterns.  What I did below was to document all the baptism records where JMT was listed as the father and a variation of Maria Eugenia Gertrudies was listed as the mother.  Some of the Trejos below have a mother with a surname as Gomez, and others as Flores.  

I searched for a baptism record for the child of JMT & MEG where it listed MEG with the surname Gomes and a corresponding MI record for that child where it listed MEG with the surname Flores.  I believed that such a record would be proof that Maria Eugenia used Gomez as her surname early in life and Flores later in life.  I found one child, Jose Pascacio Margarito Trejo, that met the aforementioned search.  In his baptismal record from 1830, it states that he was born in Taliscolla to JMT & Maria Eugenia Gomes.  In the MI record below, the groom is listed as being 24 years old (which means he was born around 1830) resident of Taliscoya, and the son of JMT & Maria Eugenia Flores.  One of the witnesses was Jose Thimotheo Trejo,  the brother of JMT.  All the evidence points to Maria Eugenia Gomes and Maria Eugenia Flores being the same person.

	Jose Maria Trejo	Baptism Date	Parrish	Residence	Race	Padrino	Padrina	Marriage Name	MI Mom's Name	Marriage Residence	Parroqia
spouse:	Maria Eugenia Gertrudis
child:	Jose Rafael Hilario Trejo	24 Oct 1827	San Bartolomé, Rincón de Tamayo,	Taliscoya	not mentioned	Julio Trejo	Maria Juliana Trinidad Lara?	Jose Rafael Trejo	Maria Eugenia Florez	Encinal	Salvatierra
spouse:	Maria Eugenia (unmakeable)
child:	Jose Polin Roque Trejo	16 Aug 1825	San Bartolomé, Rincón de Tamayo,	Rancho de las Canoas	Espanol	Benito Trejo	Maria Francesca Olivera	Roque Trejo	Eugenia Flores	Huapango	Salvatierra
spouse:	Maria Eugenia Flores
child:	Jose Guadalupe Cesario Trejo Flores	30 Aug 1841	San Bartolomé, Rincón de Tamayo,	Taliscoya	not menitoned	Benito Trejo	Maria Francesca Olivera
spouse:	Maria Eugenia Gomez
child:	Maria De La Trinidad Trejo Gomez	9 Jul 1832	San Bartolomé, Rincón de Tamayo,	Taliscoya	Mestiza	Benito Trejo	Maria Francesca Olivera
child:	Jose Tiburcio Antonio Trejo Gomez	15 Aug 1838	San Bartolomé, Rincón de Tamayo,	Taliscoya	NL	Jose Maria Montoya	Maria Dorotea perez
child:	Jose Pascacio Margarito Trejo	23 Feb 1830	San Bartolomé, Rincón de Tamayo,	Taliscoya	NL	unmakeable	Maria Rafaela Rico?	Jose Pascacio	Maria Eugenia Flores	Taliscoya/ Encinal	San Bartolo Aguas Caliente

Jose Pascacio Trejo Baptism (4th Great Uncle)

Jose Pascacio MI (4th Great Uncle)

This was the first brick wall I encountered on the Trejo line. I found greater pleasure in scaling the wall than I did seeing the Giants win the world series for the first time.  There is another brick wall on the Trejo line that for the time being, I can't pass.  

Maria Eugenia Gertrudis (1808 - ???)

Eugenia was baptized on November 20, 1808.  I have been unable to located her death record.  The other records I have for her are the baptism and marriage records of her children.  

Jose Maria Trejo (???- about 1850)

I don't have a definitive record for Jose Maria's baptism.  I located what I believe to be his death record, but I unfortunately did not save it.  The other records I have for him are the baptism and marriage records of his children.  

*****************************

Marriage Record
"México, Guanajuato, registros parroquiales, 1519-1984," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1942-20400-63964-94?cc=1860831 : accessed 9 April 2016), Rincón de Tamayo > San Bartolomé > Matrimonios 1810-1868 > image 178 of 482; parroquias Católicas, Guanajuato (Catholic Church parishes, Guanajuato).

Pascario Trejo Baptism
"México, Guanajuato, registros parroquiales, 1519-1984," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1951-20400-17256-97?cc=1860831 : accessed 9 April 2016), Rincón de Tamayo > San Bartolomé > Bautismos 1810-1832 > image 351 of 397; parroquias Católicas, Guanajuato (Catholic Church parishes, Guanajuato).

Pascario Trejo MI
"México, Guanajuato, registros parroquiales, 1519-1984," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1951-20620-41638-96?cc=1860831 : accessed 9 April 2016), San Bartolo Agua Caliente > San Bartolo > Información matrimonial 1847-1857 > image 249 of 898; parroquias Católicas, Guanajuato (Catholic Church parishes, Guanajuato).