The Missing Link

 Found: The most important and missing link to the Santiago family tree.

Yesterday I was googling pictures for my Women in White page, when I came upon a very interesting article on the pirate Cofresi. Upon further reading I found that Cofresi's mother was of the Ramirez de Arellano family of Cabo Rojo.  Cofresi didn't have any children of his own to carry on his name.  His only son died very young. As for Cofresi's two brothers, after the infamous feats their younger brother pulled off, they most likely preferred not to be associated to the Cofresi name and so opted (with good reason, I should add) to use their mother's name instead.

One of Cofresi's nephews or grandnephews (I'm not sure, as I need to do more research), married a young girl by the last name of Roselle. Lorenza, or Lorencita, died of typhus fever at the early age of eighteen. Her father was Antonio Roselle, a colonel in the Spanish army stationed in Guayama, in the southern part of the island.  Antonio was born around 1820, married  Juana Josefa who bore him three daughters but no sons. 

Antonio met Bernardina Batista the young daughter of Jose and Mercedes Batista later on in life.  She must have fallen in love with the distinguished officer enough to risk getting pregnant and bearing him a son, an illegimate son which she named Juan Anacleto. 

Records show that Anacleto was born in July of 1880. Antonio was close to 60 then.  As an officer of the elite Spanish army, we're certain that he couldn't  afford to be mixed up in an extramarital affair or much less beget illegitimate children. At her age, his beautiful young lover  gave birth to a son. But because of the particulars expressed above, Bernardina chose to baptize her son by herself. There is no record of the father, nor any information pertaining to his whereabouts. The fact that he was Spanish, would explain why he wasn't found in any of the island's demographic registries. 

That illegitimate son of Col. Antonio Rosell, was none other than our beloved grandfather, Anacleto Santiago, Mom's dad who loved his children especially his Gandulito with an unconditional love.  Read my book The Women in White. 

Records show that Bernardina later took a husband by the name of Jose de Santiago. It would make sense that her firstborn illegitimate son  should take the name of his stepfather. 

In summary, Papa's sister Lorencita Roselle, was married to a nephew or grandnephew of the famous pirate Cofresi who stole from the rich  to give to the poor.  Papa would have been either the nephew or grandnephew of Cofresi the pirate from Cabo Rojo.  Throughout the history of our family there have been many links between Guayama and Cabo Rojo.

It turns out that our family is in some twist of fate somewhat related to Cofresi.  All this is documented and not a figment of my imagination.  I have all the records to prove everything I write here.  I have been diligently working on our family tree for almost two years , but I gave up the search for our great granddad, Antonio Roselle, a year ago when Mom passed away.

What a coincidence that this information was made known to me only three days before Mom's one year anniversary. Coincidence?  I don't  think so. I truly believe this was Mom's gift to us before she leaves once-and-for-all for her eternal dwelling place.  After all, she was my biggest supporter when I was working on our family tree, and would spend endless hours on the phone with me trying to help me piece our family history.  She wanted to know who her grandfather was, as much as I did.  

Mom, this one is for you!  You never did cease to amaze me!  Thank you from all of us your children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews for this last truly and unique gift! I will love you always and forever!

Sent from my iPhone

Dunscomb and Jacinto

Dunscomb and Jacinto, a true story…..

The idea that anyone on the planet is connected to any other person through a chain of acquaintances with no more than five links (six degrees) has been referred to as "six degrees of separation" as well as the "small world" phenomenon.

        As some of you may know, our family was blessed with a healthy and handsome baby boy two years ago. Jack's parents gave him the middle name of Dunscomb, after his paternal grandfather Edward Dunscomb, a respectable lawyer from upstate New York. 

Aside from both maternal grandparents coming from Puerto Rico, Baby Dunscomb has yet another interesting connection to Borinquen. 

        That New Year's Eve, when I visited my baby grandson, my son-in-law related a story his father had told him and produced a typed document to prove the story.

        After graduating from Columbia, Edward Dunscomb, Baby Dunscomb’s great, great grandparent, was sent to Borinquen. The purpose of the visit was to fill the family company schooner with rum, molasses, and sugar to bring back to the States. Young Dunscomb tells an interesting story of how Jacinto Texidor, the plantation owner, befriended the Columbia graduate, becoming extremely fond of him and inviting him to stay in his home whenever he visited the island. He also tells how Jacinto who came from the humblest of beginnings, came to own one of the richest plantations in Puerto Rico. It’s a fascinating story, which I think you might enjoy reading.

        Which brings me to my point. What a small world! We’re all so interconnected. To think that a story from the year 1830 would have such a direct connection to our baby grandson, is to me, quite remarkable.

        I’ve attached Edward Dunscomb’s personal story in a separate link for those interested in reading the document in it’s entirety.  

        Click on the link below to read on, then you be the judge.  https://www.dunscombe.info/e1422.htm

Israel at war

I think of my three favorite countries in the world.

They are Puerto Rico, Israel and Ireland in that order. Why I ask are these relatively small countries my favorite? For one, there are the sentimental attachments. Second, the beauty found in all three. And then there are their stories. Stories of how they’ve managed to survive and stay afloat. 

This week has been especially difficult thinking of what’s going on in Israel. It’s hard to see the beautiful people of Israel killed by Hamas and Hezbollah. The places I visited destroyed beyond imagination

I can only pray and continue to pray for peace in Israel and surrounding Palestine.  

Unloading my pics

It’s a problem keeping pics because you can’t seem to be able to part with them. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words, so goes the saying.

Well last night I came across my own Cristina’s blog Life According to Cristina where she said something about using the blog to unload some pics. What a brilliant idea. 

And, it seems that almost everywhere one goes these days, you’re bound to hear upsetting news. 

One thing that brings me joy is looking back at pictures of good times. So I thought Cristina’s idea sounded great. Reminiscing brings joy to the heart and what a better way to reminisce than by looking at pictures. 

Not that I’m anywhere close to being a professional photographer, but all my photos are important to me, as I’m sure your pictures are also just as important to you. 

I came across a couple I took this week. Pics of our backyard and I decided maybe start with these. 

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again….

A new year a new set of challenges. Just as you’ve put away the last of the Christmas decor, it starts. The mail picks up again but of a different kind. W-2 forms start pouring in. New files have to be set up to accommodate the influx of mail; and so tax season begins. 

On top of that, all projects that have been put on the back burner resurface, each with a higher priority than the other. 

Because it’s not enough to deal with new year resolutions and debt accumulated over the holidays, we then have to deal with new challenges—that’s not to mention possible new breakdowns in the systems. 

So for me, the new challenge is to fix a roof that had one tile blow away several years ago, and which I thought I could put on hold for a while. Well, it escaped my mind, or at least I chose not to think about it, but lo and behold it came back to bite me in the arse as soon as the new year rolled in. Raindrops trickling down the bedroom ceiling and down the wall slapped me wide-awake in the face and now I have to address the issue PRONTO. 

Life, it’s never easy, and the older one gets the harder life gets. 

Here’s to another year and another set of challenges. I have no one to blame for this last one but myself; but I find that it’s always after I’ve had a jolly good time that I’m hit with the worst.

Hopefully, you gentle readers faired better than I did. 

Hasta la vista, everyone !

When will life feel normal again?

During the Covid pandemic, most people lost at least one or several family members or close friends. Among other family members, we lost a brave young man in the prime age of thirty-two. It was an excruciating situation all around with anxiety running high. Medical personnel were short-staffed, and life-saving medicine and equipment were scarce and in high demand. So many loved ones died because of the lack thereof. 

Because of the dire situation, the lack of personnel meant lack of food and other product deliveries. There were all types of shortages.

Not to sound heartless or focus on inane things, we were not immune to such loses, adding to a breakdown of the heating/air conditioning system, refrigerator and stove. Bad situations worsened by the lack of proper repairmen not making house calls. 

Two years after the Covid pandemic, I still don’t have proper working appliances. From day one, the new Cosmo range has been slowly falling apart. The gas ignitions click, it seems forever, before the flames appear and stay lit. My lungs have gotten used to blowing on the ignition to get the flame started and stay lit. But the one thing that broke the camel’s back was one  of the grates cracked  in three places. 

I did what any normal customer would—I reached out to Cosmo to ask them to replace the broken grate. Instead of apologizing for the poor craftsmanship of their product and offering to replace it, they advised me to place an order for a new grate at a price of $150. Needless to say, I was appalled. No amount of diplomacy on my part changed their attitude—the part broke of wear and tear and is not under warranty, answered the company rep. 

In hindsight, I paid close to $3,000 for a new product, and after only 2 years and 2 months it broke down at my expense. 

Wiktionary defines the phrase “alternate universe” as a hypothetical world situated in a different dimension of space and time than the real world consisting of the universe known and experienced by human beings. I feel like I’m living in an alternate universe. 

We’re still suffering both the real and side effects of the pandemic. 

Does anyone else feel this way?

Kyrchyszstan

What a pleasant surprise I just received. I had been so preoccupied with my nephew’s illness and death, I hadn’t had a chance to open it. How blessed am I? Thank you to my friends Miriam and Matthew for their thoughtfulness. I still don’t know what’s inside the beautiful and interesting gift box but it looked like chocolates inside. I love it. And the disinfectant, I admit it took me a while to figure it out but I thought it ingenious. This gift means more to me than many I’ve received over the years. Plus it opened up a new thirst for all things Kyrchyszstan. Now I can almost understand why my friend Matthew is not rushing to leave that country. He is a UN diplomat working out of this beautiful breathtaking place. From the pictures on the web the place is like from a storybook, almost magical. Thanks again, my friend. You made my year! 

I’ve posted some of the pictures I found on the web. My words could never do justice to such a magnificent place hence the photos. Enjoy. 

Love,

Sylvia