Dear Ivis,
My family on my father's side is also oblivious to its roots. My father just told me last weekend that my maternal grandmother had no brothers, no one to carry on the Hierrezuelo name. I later remembered that my mother would tell me of going to the opera house with her uncle on her mother's side. My father does not even know his paternal grandmother's name, says it may be
Carey.
There is a gentleman named
Ariel Pevide in
Santiago de Cuba. I came across his name researching the troops who fought in the
Spanish American War on the side of the United States (there was a rather valiant
Owen, by the way, but again I have been unable to find a relationship) and he had a message stating something to the effect that he lives within walking distance of the cemetery and San Juan Hill.
His e-mail address is
ariel@rpr.uo.edu.cu but I have not heard from him in a while. I was always very careful to limit my correspondence to nonpolitical, nonreligious issues and he did tell me he knew a few Hierrezuelos. He is no longer in the ancestry business, but maybe he can take a walk and tell you whether your ancestors are buried in the military cemetery.
Another acquaintance may be a cousin, he is an Hierrezuelo. His e-mail address is
alexis@ecotur.com and he manages Ecotur in Brasilia, Brazil.
I am not advertising anything, you might want to look up the website so that you know what they are about. But, he does travel in and out of
Santiago quite a bit and is planning to go there this summer to visit his clan.
I asked his permission before giving you his address. He said he personally would be of help if he can.
This is getting so exciting!
As far as the
Owen clan, the chances are exactly the same as finding a needle in a haystack. The research has been both dramatic and traumatising. A particular lot, the
Owen family. But I love them, they are still my blood. So far, a Colombian
Owen with war medals to be traced, a Mexican poet
Owen, an
Owen killed by Pancho
Villa, a lost Canadian
Owen, a Canadian officer
Owen Protheroe in Puerto Rico, Quaker
Owens being disciplined for participating in war, among other items.Owens fighting for
Britain, the North, the South, for Mexico and against it,
Owen DNA projects,
Owen slaves,
Owen pirates (well, that is my conjecture),
Owen who founded the
Bentley car company,
Owen who was grandfather to King Henry IV, the last prince of
Wales Owen, Robert
Owen who founded colonies and basically invented socialism (although he forced no one to "volunteer" for his experiments) and even more drama. No wonder the twinkling blue eyes.
I believe I may have a soap opera to write soon.
Ines