Buscando informes sobre la geneologia de los Fundichely de Cueto, Mayari, Holguin.
Delia Gallardo es mi tatarabuela, tuvo 3 hijos, mi abuelo Magdaleno Diaz, y dos mas de apellido Gallardo.

Mi abuela materna era de apellidos Govin Owen, hija de Concepsion Owen y Quintin Govin

I am the grandaughter of Jose Owen Alvarez, who came to eastern Cuba from Ponce, Puerto Rico early in the twentieth century when he was nine years old. Some family traits include: tall with elegant gait (he used to walk with a cane adding to the effect), smiling blue eyes, prominent nose, large ears (he would joke about his ears), thinning hair, very congenial personality, love of family, love of politics. He was patriotic, passionate about civil rights and possessed integrity beyond reproach. The Owen family motto is: "Honesty is the best policy" and Robert Owen was a British, world renown reformer of workplace conditions. An Owen promoted child reform labor law in the United States early in the twentieth century.

Other peculiarities of my grandfather were: a preference for natural cures, study of nature especially flora and fauna, knowledge of astronomy. I believe his father was a seafaring man who possibly died of a disease related to sea travel. My grandfather would tell, with great interest, of travelling in the Caribbean islands and of learning about different cultures and customs, even prior to arriving in Cuba at nine years of age. He also told of the land owned by his father in Ponce or on its outskirts, which bordered on a river. I think I recall a mention of Martinique.

My grandfather was an amateur poet and his poetry is kept a Hudson County public library collection, and his upon his death a community newspaper article praised his personal qualities. His most memorable idiosincracies, however, were his sense of humor (a new joke, found or written, every single day) and his gentlemanly manner. His formality seemed casual but was neverfailing.

There are members of the Owen family in Ponce today. Please contact me at inesdiazowen@hotmail.com for further information.

My family with the name of Owen were slaves in Matanzas.

My great grandmother, Concepsion Owen was the daughter of an African slave and a Chinese immigrant. She was born a slave in 1886 (slavery wasn't abolished in Cuba until 1888, I believe).

If your family owned plantations (ingenios) then your family probably owned my family.

Thanks for the email.

Ivis

Dear Ms. Fundichelly,

Firstly, please allow me to tell you that I am quite shocked. I have had to catch my breath in order to calm down enough to give a reply.

Slave trade was outlawed in 1862, I believe. In fact, I was just reading a book on the history of Havana wherein it is stated that slaves working on a mansion in Havana claimed right to wages because they were being held as slaves, although they were purchased after 1862, at which time slave trade was declared illegal in Cuba.

The British enforced laws by coming to Cuba and counting the slaves, but the Spaniards would claim that the count had increased due to births in slavery. I assume that means that slaves could be born into slavery if their parents were purchased before that date on which slave trade was prohibited. Also, the Spanish would sometimes lie to appease the counting authorities.

I did hear a person (Mrs. Wirshing, a widow from Ponce) tell me of sugar mills run by the Owen family in Puerto Rico. I do not believe that branch would include anyone from whom I am directly descended, as my grandfather was an only child and his father owned another kind of business in Ponce.

In fact, my grandfather would tell of meeting the African-descended and native people of the islands, of appreciating their customs, and he married my grandmother, who as your grandmother was the daughter of a person born into slavery, in her case of the Hierrezuelo family of Santiago de Cuba. Her father fought in the Liberation army and my grandfather was his admirer as well as an admirer of the "Titan de Bronze" Antonio Maceo.

This does not negate the possibility that his father, my great-grandfather, could have had brothers who owned slaves. We have not kept touch with that family and in the past I have not been successful in getting replies from my correspondence to them. My grandfather came to Cuba young and did not remember, since they left Puerto Rico even before that.

This is still a mystery to me, but the possibility of a schism in the family has always shadowed my prior queries into the Owen family in Ponce. My grandfather never returned there despite living in the United States for over two decades. He did return to Puerto Rico, but not to Ponce. Many would try to convince him but he would not discuss it at all.

I guess this is my cross to bear. I hope to find my mother's cousins, who today appear to be in public relations and leaders in their community, and to embrace my family. I did meet one member of the family many years ago, but we lost track of him.

At least I feel comfortable that my grandfather never took an inheritance from that family. Land records cannot be taken out of Cuba when one leaves in a hurry. His very happy marriage to my grandmother and his love of his adopted land make us rich because we are proud of our roots.

My grandfather resigned the Cuban army in the 1950s when he, a tall and elegant soldier, stood outside Batista's door and listened to things he felt were detrimental to his commander-in-chief. His belief was that his children, mulatto also, should not have to hear lies and be used as puppets one day; his president should be treated with dignity.

For the above reasons I feel a little relieved that we are not directly involved. However, it is sad that your great-grandmother was deemed anyone's property at all. Your statement has made me more aware of certain possibilities in the Owen background, but it also makes me glad that my grandfather, in the end a very humble man despite decades of honorable service in the Cuban military, was a son a seafaring man and not a mill-owner.

I appreciate your prompt and informative response.

Looking forward to hearing from you,
Ines Diaz-Owen

Hello Ines,

I'm sure you're not the only person that carries a bit of guilt regarding ancestors. But we're not even sure they were your Owen family.

I'm not bitter. I've always known that part of my family were brought from Africa as slaves. As you may know, Afro-Cubans aren't usually as hung up on the slavery/prejudice thing as African Americans.

It was what happened. I'm proud of my family, what they might have gone through, and my Afro-Cuban heritage which has given so much to the culture of my country. I'm also proud that I can trace my lineage back that far and know that I'm only 3 generations removed and worlds ahead of those times.

Don't be shocked, or upset. Oh, by the way, so you know, there is a 100 year old great aunt of one of my cousins living in Bethesda, Maryland, who is an Owen. She's amazingly clear and has the history of my family in her head. My cousin even recorded her once. Pretry cool, no?

:) thanks for touching base with me. Feel free to email again.

ivis

Dear Ms. Fundichely,

Thank you so much for responding to my electronic mail. You obviously have strong values of forgiveness and were even so kind as to offer me comfort.

I think it is beautiful that you have a relative who is over 100 years old and also can remember our Cuban history. Your family has been wise to record her.

I studied journalism and among my writings was included studies of two slaves who lived in the South Florida area. I
studied at Florida International University. One slave lived on what is today Southwest 8th Street, by where that train station is close to Brickell Avenue, and another in Key West. They were described in the 1930s, when a writers' project was funded by the federal government to capture the last of the persons who had lived during slavery. Their lives were quite different, she a former house slave who had learned about the social values of plantation society, he became a cook aboard a vessel in Key West, travelling the world. In fact, the way he described it he was really kidnapped into the vessel, having cooking abilities, but in the end he became accustomed to life at sea. I wrote the essays for an African-American history class.

If it is not too forward, please give your relative a big hug for me. How beautiful that she survived so that others after her could also survive, and could live a better life!

My grandmother, Ursulina Hierrezuelo de Owen, was also descended from a man born into slavery. He was freed but during the Spanish-American war the Hierrezuelos had to hide to avoid capture, as freedom papers were apparently not worth much to the authorities. My grandmother taught me, very early on, by reading his journal, about slaves being sold and about the difficulties the Hierrezuelos underwent to survive away from society. But, it took me long to understand that, (as she would say), he did not think his masters were bad. They taught him to read and to write and I believe he also held a high self-esteem, as he had a choice to remain with the family as a servant but chose to suffer in the woods. He became an officer in the Liberation Army, and my mother remembers a military funeral with full honors.

I read a book by Jorge Amado recently, about Santa Barbara, in which a cantomble ritual began with thanks to the ancestors, who allowed the survival of the participants and their race. It left an impression on me, as strongly symbolic of how real is the legacy of the struggle which the slaves endured.

Now, hearing about your closeness with your history despite living in exile, that expression of gratitude has become vibrant in my mind and heart. I am so grateful to your family for keeping history alive. I try to keep in touch with my relatives, of late, because over the internet I can at least send messages.

I once had a friend tell me that he knew an Afro-Cuban named Owen, in Havana, but I could not understand how. Our family are mixed African, British, Spanish, but only the Owen women even used the name. My uncle spells it Oven --as you probably know the name was often mispelled that way-- so that his children are not even Owens.

I hope to hear from you again,
Ines

Hello Ines,

You can call me Ivis, by the way.

It's very interesting that you heard about an Owen in Havana.
That could possibly have been related to me. As that's where my family eventually migrated. However, since they were slaves and slave owners, goodness knows which Owen.

I can tell you that my great grandmother Concepsion Owen had 10 children, some of them were Martinez Owen and others, like my grandmother, were Govin Owen. They lived in Jacomino until they were of age to work (around 10), then they were pulled out of school to work as paid servants. Not quite slavery :).

My one of my grandmother's nieces, a Martinez Owen, married a Mederos Owen. Their mothers were born on the same plantation in Matanzas. Mederos Owen is the surname of the 100 year old, his sister who lives in Bethesda.

A peculiar tidbit, the reason my family is complete in this country was because of the Owen name, though they were not related by blood.

Turns out that there was a mix up with the names once it came time for my mom and grandmom to leave the country.
My dad and I went ahead. A couple of days later, the matter was resolved because Mederos Owen claimed my mom and grandmom.

Hope that explanation was clear. Therefore, the Owen name, though it will die with the lady in Maryland, is alive and well in a bunch of the Martinez Owen, Mederos Owen, Govin Owen decendants, my cousins and me.

I try to be informed of my family roots. It's very sad when you can't put the pieces of the puzzle together. Exile cuts you off in a way only we understand. For instance, I know there are many Fundichelys in Cuba, but have contact with very few. Evidently, it's not a Spanish name, and I'd like very much to build that family tree. That might never be possible.

Thank you for contacting me. I'd love to hear more about your Owen family.

Ivis

Dear Ivis,

I do remember hearing someone I knew in Miami tell me that he knew and fondly remembered an young man with the last name Owen in Havana. He seemed to have been a friend from school. When I remember who told me this, if I can locate him, I will let you have whatever information he gives me. Probably, that Owen man is in his forties, as was the person who told me.

I apologize for the gap in my memory. I talked to so many people in Miami, and at times people do mention the Owen name because it is unusual for a Cuban.

In my case, I derived my citizenship from both my father and mother, so immigration gave me that hyphenated last name. My brother always used Diaz-Owen, in any case.

I will see what I can do to help you in your search for your family. It is possible that your name might also be spelled with a "cc" instead of "ch" in its Italian version.

Remember in your research to include communities outside of Cuba, such as Key West, Tampa, even Jacksonville. I was quite surprised to find an Hierrezuelo who joined the United States military in World War I, from Jacksonville. There were Cubans in other cities, who travelled there with cigar factories, and cigars were the biggest industry in Jacksonville at one time. So, my guess is that an Hierrezuelo travelled here, then joined the military from here.

I believe there is a Pazos or Pazo web page which is researching Key West, which was so close to Cuba. I lived there in the early 90's and know that they had a school owned by Cuba (the San Carlos institute) and many Cuban teachers. I also know that Tampa still has deep Cuban roots going back to the time of Jose Marti.

Goodbye,
Ines

Dear Ivis,

I do remember hearing someone I knew in Miami tell me that he knew and fondly remembered an young man with the last name Owen in Havana. He seemed to have been a friend from school. When I remember who told me this, if I can locate him, I will let you have whatever information he gives me. Probably, that Owen man is in his forties, as was the person who told me.

I apologize for the gap in my memory. I talked to so many people in Miami, and at times people do mention the Owen name because it is unusual for a Cuban.

In my case, I derived my citizenship from both my father and mother, so immigration gave me that hyphenated last name. My brother always used Diaz-Owen, in any case.

I will see what I can do to help you in your search for your family. It is possible that your name might also be spelled with a "cc" instead of "ch" in its Italian version.

Remember in your research to include communities outside of Cuba, such as Key West, Tampa, even Jacksonville. I was quite surprised to find an Hierrezuelo who joined the United States military in World War I, from Jacksonville. There were Cubans in other cities, who travelled there with cigar factories, and cigars were the biggest industry in Jacksonville at one time. So, my guess is that an Hierrezuelo travelled here, then joined the military from here.

I believe there is a Pazos or Pazo web page which is researching Key West, which was so close to Cuba. I lived there in the early 90's and know that they had a school owned by Cuba (the San Carlos institute) and many Cuban teachers. I also know that Tampa still has deep Cuban roots going back to the time of Jose Marti.

Goodbye,
Ines

Dear Ivis,

Found an article on an actor with last name spelled Fundichely as well as Fundiccelli within the same page. He is from Havana.

Here is the link: http://www.network54.com/Forum/message?forumid=141627&me...

Hope this helps, but you probably already have the article.

Ines