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Hello,
I am seeking information about the family of my great-grandmother, Hipolita
Orendain de Medina. She was born around 1847 in Mexico, probably in the
Guadalajara area. Her parents were Don Castulo de Jesús Orendain and
Francisca Tejada de Orendain. References in U.S. Census records suggest Don
Castulo de Jesús Orendain was born in Spain and Francisca Tejada was born in
Mexico.
Hipolita's granddaughter, Virginia Turnbull, claimed in writing many years
ago that Don Castulo de Jesús Orendain owned a silver mine. Don Castulo de
Jesús Orendain died somewhere around 1850 or so. Francisca Tejada de
Orendain moved to San Francisco, California with her daughters Hipolita and
Virginia Orendain at some point in the 1850's. Francisca Tejada remarried
in San Francisco. Her second husband, Humphrey Marshall, was a lawyer. When
the Civil War broke out in the United States, Humphrey Marshall travelled to
his home state (probably Virginia or Kentucky) to support the Confederacy. He
died and never returned to California.
Writings by Virginia Turnbull claim that Francisca Tejada de Orendain (when
in California) donated heavily to the war effort against Emperor Maximillian
in Mexico. Other information I gleaned indicated that Hipolita Orendain
helped recruit Mexicans in California during the 1860s to fight for their
home country.
On October 13, 1868, Hipolita married Emigdio Medina, a newspaper editor in
Mexico and California. I have not yet been able to ascertain Emigdio's
birthplace. At one time he was a citizen of Paso del Norte. Hipolita and
Emigdio had at least four daughters: Josephine (California, 1869) Virginia
(Mexico, 1871), Czarina (California, 1873) and Mercedes Carolina
(California, 1876 or 1875). Mercedes was my grandmother. Hipolita and
Emigdio eventually separated. Hipolita lived with one of her daughters, and
died in 1922 in Los Angeles, California.
In 2009, I arranged and financed the translation of letters and journals
residing in the California Historical Society in San Francisco, California.
>From a series of letters sent from Guadalajara to my great-grandmother
Hipolita in San Francisco, I have determined the following information.
Don Castulo de Jesús Orendain (Hipolita's father) had a brother named
Joaquin Orendain and a cousin named Miguel Orendain. They lived in or near
Guadalajara.
Miguel Orendain probably had daughters named Rafaelita and Gabrielita.
Joaquin Orendain married Lucia Mercado. Lucia Mercado de Orendain died on
September 24, either in 1859 or 1861. The couple had ten children. Four of
the daughters were Lucía, Cipriana, Carmen and Antonia, the youngest. There
may have been a fifth daughter, Josefita. One of their sons probably was
Zenon Orendain, who married a woman by the name of Gabrielita. Another son
may have been Luisito Orendain.
There is mention of another cousin of Hipolita Orendain. His name was
Felicio Orendain. Felicio Orendain had a cousin by the name of D. Felix
Mercado. So Felicio may also have been one of the son's of Joaquin Orendain
and Lucia Mercado de Orendain.
Joaquin Orendain had an uncle by the name of Don Luis. D. Luis had children
named Pachita, Miguel, Castulo de Jesus, and Juan. By 1865, Don Luis and
most of his family probably had died. Pachita survived and lived in the
Port of Magdalena. Joaquin Orendain claimed to have little knowledge about
this branch of his family.
An additional cousin of Hipolita Orendain was Micaela* *de Orendain. Micaela
and family were living in San Pedro (near Guadalajara) in 1865.
If anyone could provide me with more information about my Orendain or Tejada
ancestry, I would greatly appreciate it. And I hope that the information I
have found so far will be useful to some of you, as well.
Warm wishes,
Laurel Anne Hill