Hi, I am a new member. I am research my family history. Madera. We are
from Huejuquilla El Alto, Jalisco, Mexico. A lot of Madera's there. But
there are a number of ranchos surrounding the pueblo. Three Rancho
Maderas:
San Jose De Maderas
Bajio de Maderas
Rincon De Maderas
These ranchos are very old. As I scrolled through rolls of films found
out that my Madera family was originally at Rincon de Maderas (Rancho de
Maderas) in the 1700's. Then in 1798, found birth of my great great
grandfather at a nearby rancho called, rancho Ximulco. Seems that my
ancestors moved from Rancho Rincon de Madera to Rancho Ximulco. And we
have been at Rancho Jimulco ever since.
But I am trying to research what part of Europe we originally came from.
I know that our pueblo, Huejuquilla El Alto, Jalisco, Mexico was founded on
March 23, 1573. The surrounding ranchos were in existence at the time.
And everyone was baptized at Parroquia de San Diego which is in the pueblo,
Huejuquilla El Alto.
My hunch is that we came from two places in Europe. Isla Madeira,
Portugal and Oviedo, Asturias, Espana.
Due to the discovery of silver in Zacatecas which is right there, since
our pueblo is on the border of northern Jalisco and Zacatecas........many
people from europe came to this area for the discovery of silver and to get
land grants (a rancho). Also note that there are a large number of indigenous Huichole that live in the area. So there was intermarrying with the Huicholes.
I found a map on the internet showing the routes that ships took from
Europe to Mexico. The spanish vessels embarked from Sevilla,
Spain.......traveled throught the islands of Portugal such as Azores,
Madeira and then through the Canary Islands.....before heading off to the
carribean islands such as Cuba and the Dominican Republic......then with
final destination to Veracruz, Mexico....
From there people traveled to Zacatecas and that is how we are in Huejuquilla El Alto there since the late 1500's.
The first Madera that was on the passenger list to the Indies (1500's) was Rodrigo
Madera (from Isla Madiera)...that landed in Dominican Republic. Don't
think I am descended from him since my family is in Mexico.
Also another clue is that our church, "Sanctuario Del Divino Preso" at
Huejuquilla El Alto, has a similar resemblance to the large church of San
Salvador in Oviedo, Asturias, Spain. I found out there are a lot of people
with last name Madera at Oviedo.
Note: When silver was discovered in Zacatecas. The silver went two
directions. Back to Spain with ships embarking from Veracruz, Mexico
and...........to China with ships embarking from Acalpulco on the Manila
Galleons that sailed through the phillipines and on to China in the trade
of mexican silver for chinese porcelain and spices.
But also with the discovery of silver in Zacatecas. There are a few
spices and herbs that grow naturally in our area of Huejuquilla El Alto,
Jalisco such as "Clavos" and other herbs that we still use in our
traditional foods. I am sure Spain collected those and used those to
trade with back in those days...
Another clue that I found is, "El Santo Nino De Atocha." By looking at the clothing you can get a clue as to what part of Europe we could have came from.
"El Santo Nino De Atocha" has Celtic Clothing, A Pilgrimage staff, water bottle and the Clam shell on the side of the chest. I investigated those items and found out that the Clam Shell is the "Saint James Clam Shell" of Santiago De Compostela, Galicia, Espana. If you look closely at this youtube video, you can see several of the items that is on "El Santo Nino De Atocha" of Fresnillo, Zacatecas:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnqpoELmDbM&feature=related
Galicia, Spain has Celtic influence which could explain the european features such as people with green eyes and blonde hair that our in are area in Mexico. That is another clue as to where some of the people in our area came from way back during precolombian times.
Saint James was an apostle of Jesus that traveled to Spain. Saint James and the apostles were suppose to have been at Capernaum, Israel
