One of the biggest questions that my family has always had about our family that came from Mexico is possibly a question that will never be answered. My great-grandmother Pascuala Aceves, and two of her siblings, Maria Romula Aceves and Bernardo (Fernando) Aceves, all left Mexico and went to California by early 1877. We believe that either they all came together, or Maria Romula came first and they followed. Pascuala’s children (our grandmothers and their siblings), are the ones that passed on the story. We heard that Pascuala and Fernando had gone to mass, and when they returned they learned that their mother, Maria Juana Lopez Cuebas had been killed by banditos. She was a shopkeeper and a seamstress. We heard that Pascuala and Fernando left the area shortly after that.
We have been unable to find any death records for Maria Juana Lopez Cuebas, and this is what we would most like to find.
Manuel Asebes was Maria Juana’s husband and the father of her children. They were married in Sayula, and all the children were born in Sayula.
The story says that Maria Juana left Manuel because he failed to support the children. She moved, but we don’t know where to. The family always said she was from Guadalajara.
The story said she then married an alcalde, but we don’t have a name.
The children were: Agustina, b 1843, married a German soldier. Her children were born in Mexico City so perhaps they all went there; Maria Clara, b 1845, died at about 18. No death record found; Atilano, b 1847, died young. No death record found; Jose Eucebio, b 1850. Have no idea about him; Maria Romula, b 1852, married a Frenchman and went to California; Pascuala, b 1854, married an Englishman and went to California; Bernardo (Fernando), b 1856. Went to California. Heard that he left San Francisco after the 1906 earthquake and went back to Mexico. I have found no information either way.
If anyone has any ideas I would love to hear them. Again, what we most want to know is if the story of Maria Juana Lopez Cuebas is true.
Thank you,
Rayna Babette Allen