PROLOGUE

I was born in Lajas, Puerto Rico.  Growing up I remember listening to my mother talk  about my father’s spanish ancestry.  Her grandmother however, she said, was Polish  and on a rare occasion when she saw another person with the same last name,  Wiscovitch, she would say they had to be a relative.  As I grew older other questions  about my heritage surfaced every now and then, but it wasn’t until listening to my  husband’s cousin speak of her genealogy research after my father’s passing and  receiving some information from her that my curiosity led me to start to research my  own roots. While playing on the computer one day in the early part of the summer of  2000, I saw a little advertisement for finding your family, Ancestry.com.  With it an  old fashioned picture of a woman.  I went to the site one link led to another and  before long I found sites where people also researching roots or looking for lost  loved ones posted messages.  I found an Irizarry message board and read thru it and  found several messages which contained names I was familiar with.  How exciting.  I  responded to the messages and  found a little information on known family members.    Now, I was looking, in particular, for Irizarry, that is my surname, my father’s  name, my name.  Everyday I would check my email for messages.  One of those messages  directed me to an Hispanic Genealogy site that listed all the towns in Puerto Rico  separately.  I was directed to look in the San German message boards for a posting  which listed the “Irizarry from San German.”  I did and found, what at that time I  thought were  the ancestors of my paternal great great grandfather.  I copied it,  studied it and posted some more messages with questions.  I then received an email  from someone stating that I’d found the Irizarry line I was looking for.  About that  time, I’d also started posting messages looking for information on the Aymat family  name, my paternal grandmother and her family.  I received another email with a list  of some of my paternal grandmother’s ancestors with a note stating I was very lucky  with the families I was researching, and asked if I was really serious about  genealogical research because it was addictive.  Well this was not a forewarning as I  was already addicted.  I’d found enough information to not only grab my attention  very firmly, but to enable me to further facilitate the search for my  direct roots.   Now remember at this time I was still only looking for family names, to just make  a “little” family tree.  Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine I would have actual  family history and ancestry information dating back to the 1500's just dropped in my  lap. Modern technology, amazing!!!!!!!

Thru the message boards I met Digna Cassens, a descendant of : Milton Gabino Irizarry- Sambolin; Ramon Cornelio Irizarry Cancel; Gabino Irizarry  Pabon-Davila; Fidel Irizarry Pabon-Davila..  So to put this in perspective for you,  she is the great grandaughter of my great grandfather, we’re third cousins.   As we go further into the family tree, your head will spin with all the names, why?  Because most first names are all the same for generations, along with the fact that  there were a lot of related brides and grooms.  Remember, back then the island of  "Porto" Rico is part of the new world that is being conquered and migrated into (a lot  less people back then).  Also it appears that they married within the family so as  not to marry out of their race or into' bad' blood.
 There is actually an old court file from the Tribunal Superior of Mayaguez evaluating  the racial purity of a couple about to be married.  This was customary for persons of  higher social standing and they were called “Limpieza de Sangre” of [person’s name].   Ursula Acosta, noted author and genealogist, found and included in her genealogical  family site, a copy of one such “Limpieza de Sangre de Maria Nicomeda Ramirez de  Arellano.  Dr. Acosta goes on to state that “the bride had to show that she was white  and a descendant of a family of good social standing in San German...

This particular bride’s ancestry is listed in this Limpieza, which I included here  and not simply for the historical drama.  Dr. Acosta notes a few important details in  this transcript that she goes on to explain.  
 So, why was this so important to me that I had to include a copy of this Limpieza de  Maria Nicomeda Ramirez de Arellano?  Well, Maria was born on September 15, 1800 in  San German and baptized there on the 28th day of that same month.  Her parents were  don Joaquin [Calixto] Ramirez de Arellano and dona Maria Concepcion Ramirez de  Arellano, who were third cousins and had married in San German on February 8, 1792.   Maria Nicomeda is my ancestor, Don Joaquin's father is my 6th great grandfather.   Most importantly this document confirms the lineage of another direct ancestor,  Remigio Ramirez de Arellano, as you will read about in the Ramirez de Arellano page.

As the weeks and months progressed I got so much more involved in the research  that I was communicating  with many people who were also researching similar lines.   Some proved to be fruitful, others not, but one thing I learned very quickly was not  to disregard any family lines I came across. What in the beginning I would dismiss as  not being related, I would frantically search for later because it tied in to  something new I'd learned.

Along the way I also encountered a few "new" relatives. Laurie Huertas Irizarry of  New York is the descendant of Rafael "Yito" Irizarry, a brother of my great  grandfather.  One day I got an email from her stating; "there is a Santos Irizarry in  Ft. Lauderdale, I think he may be your uncle."  I also noticed another email from a  Santos Irizarry, Laurie had also emailed them to tell them they might have a niece in  Jacksonville.  
 We communicated via email and I found this Santos was indeed a half brother of my  father, being the son of Ramon Santos Irizarry Ramirez.  In an unrelated call to  another relative in New Jersey, I mentioned this information and was told he was indeed my father's half brother. So I planned a meeting with this Santos Irizarry and  his wife and in May of 2001 they visited.  We shared pictures of family members and  he told me his story about his mother, himself and my grandfather.

The 'Irizarry of San German' descendancy as far as I have been able to extract from  those that have traced the line, starts with Pedro De Irizarri and Maria Martinez de  Matos, grandparents of Baltasar Irizarry married to Dorotea Segarra.  Baltasar and Dorotea had at least one child that I know of, [Jose] Manuel Irizarry  Cegarra who married Antonia Maria Del Toro y Feliciano.  
 Manuel and Antonia had nine children. One of them was Ramon Santos Irizarry Del Toro,  this is my great great grandfather. When I asked an aunt if my grandfather's name was  also Ramon, I was told NO!  After much searching, however, I found my grandfather's  full name is indeed Ramon Santos(Irizarry Ramirez).
 After searching the cemetary in Lajas in the scorching summer sun one year, we  stopped to rest.  It was myself, my daughter, Jennifer and either my nephew Jason or  my husband were there also.  Anyway, Jennifer had sat on a tomb to rest when the  cemetary caregiver came by and asked if we needed any help.  I told him "I can't find  my grandfather's grave"  He said "why your little girl is sitting on it right now"   With that Jennifer jumped off, we turned to the grave and lo and behold the  inscription on the tombstone: Ramon S. Irizarry Ramirez....  Weeks later, back at home, I found memorial cards for his eldest son 'Tio Chan' also  know as 'Santito'  whose full legal name was also Ramon Santos Irizarry [Aymat].

Now the ancestors of this Irizarry line were for a while the subject of much  deliberation.  Digna Cassens sent me an extensive report on the descendants of Ramon  Santos Irizarry Nazario, along with five generations of ancestral fathers.  She  apparently had been doing family research for over seven years. She stated she received this information from a reliable source, the President of the Hispanic  Genealogical Society of NY, who is a respected genealogist as is also his uncle. This  report from Digna shows Ramon (Irizarry Nazario) to be the son of Luis Gonzaga Jose  Segundo Irizarri-Sarti, married to a Guadalupe Nazario.  The report also states Ramon  to be a Lieutenant in the Military, a native of Vizcaya, Spain and married to Luisa  Pabon Davila y Segarra. The source along with references from: Familias de Cabo Rojo and Archivo Genealogico y Heraldico: Genealogia y origen de  apellido Irizarry "commissioned work research in Spain and Estela Cifre de Loubriel  (1986)  La Formacion del Pueblo Puertorriqueno... Vascondados... would only leave you  to believe that this ancestral information is correct.

March 2001, we took a family vacation to PR. It was a long awaited trip, except for  a long weekend trip to San Juan for a nephew's wedding I had not been to Lajas  since my fathers' passing in January 96.  I took all this information with me hoping  to find more information.  During that visit I met Ruben Nazario whom I was told was researching the Irizarry line also. When I returned home I sent Ruben  Nazario "Tilo" a copy of the ancestral report I received from Digna.   When I  next heard from Tilo, he wrote that my great great grandfather was indeed Ramon  Santos Irizarry but NOT Nazario!!!! Carefully explaining that in genealogy names can  get confused and results be erroneous, and that there was always the possiblity it  was he who could be wrong, but that in this particular family branch he was  proceeding with "great caution."  He first explained how his and my ancestry linked  stating Santos Irizarry Ramirez great grandmother was his mother's great grandmother  also.  He then went on to say I should proceed to study the information on my great  grandfather Fidel Irizarry and go back from there.  Tilo's information showed a Ramon  Irizarry (no middle name)  but he added that it was possible that Santos could have  been a baptismal name.  He also said that Ramon had on his marriage certificate  listed his parents as Manuel (also known as Joseph or Jose Manuel) Irizarry and  Antonia Maria Del Toro.  He wrote that the records show Fidel's full name to be  Gregorio Fidel and it was written this way on two marriage certificates.  First  marriage to Maria Luisa Pabon Davila on 11/25/1868 and then to Maria Luisa Ramirez  (my great grandmother) his first cousin on 1/24/1876.  Both certificates show the  same parents for Ramon Irizarry.  
 So, now here we thought our ancestor to be a Lt. R.S. Irizarry Nazario married to  Luisa Pabon Davila y Segarra, then married to a Bernabela Pagan.   After much  speculating and looking thru all this information, I have to confess I thought the  information I got from Digna Cassens was the correct information.  After all look at  the impressive list of references for that piece of information.  Eunice Kristidides  another accomplished genealogist has a lineage list, which proved very useful also.  In the mean time Tilo sent me a package with copies of the marriage certificate for  Ramon 'Elizarri' and Luisa 'Pavon'  The names of the parents were there in black and  white.  OK, well at least we have the correct Luisa Pabon Davila and Segarra.   Witnesses to the marriage were also listed, two of which were Leon Ceda and Ysabel  Elizarri  Could this Ysabel be related to Ramon???  Back to Eunices'list, there she  is [Isabel] married to Leon Ceda.   Now, I was strongly suspecting that Isabel and  Ramon were brother and sister.  (For the record it seems that Fidel actually also had  children with another woman)
 MY great grandmother, Luisa Ramirez was the second wife, after Luisa Pabon Davila  died, (possibly from complications of childbirth).  The marriage certificate for  Fidel and Luisa Ramirez states there are three children legitimized by this  marriage.  Well, much happened while looking into this Irizarry line, I learned that  the second degree consanguinuity between Fidel and Luisa Ramirez meant they were  first cousins.  Fidels' father Ramon and Luisa Ramirez' mother, Inez were  brother and sister. 
 Now,  Eunice Kristidides showed in her database the following families and  information: 
 1.Manuel Irizarry married to Maria Antonia Del Toro [who 
 died before 1806 because Manuel remarried in 1806] with three children:  -Fernando Irizarry married in Cabo Rojo in 1813 to Maria del Carmen Ch.... -Maria Encarnacion, married in 1808 to Juan de la Seda
 -Isabel Maria married in 1813 to Leon de La Seda 
 Eunice states that give the dates of the marriages for these children she concludes they  were born during the 1780's and 1790's give or take, so that Manuel and Maria would  have been born sometime around the 1760's.

Eunice also has in her database another couple with similar names: 2.Manuel Irizarry married to Maria del Toro and three children for this couple:  -Maria Josefa married as a second wife in Cabo Rojo in 1813 to Juan Pabon Davila (son  of Bernardo Pabon Davila and Luisa Pagan)
 -Ines de Jesus married in Cabo Rojo in 1822 to Jose Maria Pavon Davila (also son of  Bernardo and Luisa)
 -Encarnacion married to Julian de la Seda

Eunice writes she feels couple #1 and couple #2 are two separate families.   She felt that because families back then married within certain groups you have a lot of marriages  with the same names.   Well, I continue to look this over for weeks and think  about these names and the more I do, the more my gut instinct tells me these are not two different families.  One thing I'd noticed was that back then people were mostly  known by their middle name. Why? Well, if you have many daughters and the first name  of all of them is Maria, you're going to have to refer to them by their middle name  to distinguish who's who. With this in mind I came to the following conclusion:   
 1.  Manuel's wife is not Maria Antonia but Antonia Maria as this is how it was listed  on their sons' marriage certificate.  So following custom, she would have been known  as Maria (couple #2 in Eunices' list)
 2.  At first glance it appears each couple had three children.  Lets look again at  the names.
           Maria Encarnacion in #1 is married to Juan de la Seda.  In #2 she appears  as,'Encarnacion' married to Julian de La Seda. Well, Juan, Julian could easily be   mistaken when read off barely legible old records.  Maria Encarnacion being  her full name goes by Encarnacion because her sisters are all also named Maria.  3.  Isabel Maria married to Leon de La Seda, is more than likely Maria Isabel with  the first name being Maria, like her sisters. I noticed also that on the  marriage certificate for Ramon Elizarri and Luisa Pavon, she is listed as Ysabel and  the spelling for her husband is Ceda.
   4. Ines de Jesus married to Jose Maria Pabon is most likely also Maria Ines de  Jesus.  We see her listed as Ines de Jesus on the death certificate for her daughter  Maria Luisa Pabon and baptism for Claudelino, her grandson, where it also specifies   Ines de Jesus and Jose Maria as maternal grandparents and shows Ramon Irizarry and  Luisa Pabon as paternal grandparents, but on the same daughter's marriage certificate  the name is written as Maria Ines Irizarry.
 5.  On Fidel and Luisa Pabon's marriage certificate is a foot-note stating this  marriage is given a second degree consanguinuity dispensation, thus making them first  cousins. This would be the result of Ramon Irizarry and Maria Ines de Jesus Irizarry  being brother and sister.

In going thru all this information and attempting to extract my direct ancestors I  learn that the Pabon-Davila and Sepulveda family lines interwine and then come  together with the Ramirez de Arellano. (see stories about these family names)

It saddens me that I am not able to translate all the fascinating history and drama  of these families, to share with those unfortunate ones unable to read or understand  spanish.  I am grateful to be able to understand the language enough to read this  history for myself. These are no longer just names on a page, these ancestors have  been born again in my mind and are alive in my heart. Their blood circulates  throughout my body. I can sit and think about these people, imagine their personas',  lives, loves, sorrows, triumphs.  These families are so rich in history and many were  significant if not essential to the settling and establishing of Puerto Rico, the  culture as well as the land.  The Puerto Rico I love and respect.  That beautiful  little island where I was born, where my family lives, my parents sleep in death,  where I long to return to, for life and for eternity.

UPDATE: MAY 2012
 I now finally live in Puerto Rico having retired to Lajas with my husband. Ruben Nazario "Tilo" was extremely helpful in helping me find my correct ancestors, as he was a very diligent and careful researcher. Tilo was my Tio Renee's brother in law. Sadly, Tilo passed away in 2011. The last time I spoke to him he told me the registration books in Lajas were in very poor condition from being so old and some were just disintergrating from being handled, also that unfortunately there were pages missing from these books.

So now, on with my paternal ancestry:

Lizette de Lourdes Irizarry Pagan de Chico 
   Edgardo Irizarry Aymat                 y J.M. Naomi Pagan Hernandez   Ramon Santos Irizarry Ramirez          y Maria Antonia Aymat Justiniano   Gregorio Fidel Irizarry Pabon Davila   y  Luisa Ramirez y Pabon   Ramon Santos Irizarry Del Toro         y  Luisa Pabon Davila y Segarra   Manuel Irizarry y Cegarra              y Antonia Maria Del Toro Quinones y Feliciano   Baltasar Irizarry                      y Dorotea Cegarra
   Regidor Pedro de Irizarri Martinez de Matos  
   Pedro de Irizarri                      y Maria Martinez de Matos