I am just starting my Genealogical search. Both my parents were born in Cuba and I have listed all the surnames associated with my family for which I have accounted for. Any information would be greatly appreciated

I TOO AM BEGINNING A QUEST FOR MY HISTORY. MY LATE PAPA THEODORE NAVARRO RESIDED IN KEY WEST, FL. THROUGH RESEARCH ON MY LATE UNCLE, JAZZ TRUMPETEER FATS NAVARRO, I HAVE LEARNED THAT OUR NAVARRO BRANCH HAILS FROM CUBA. ANY THEODORE OR FLORIDA RELATIONS ON YOUR TREE? WHILE I HAVE NO OTHER LEADS, ANY INFORMATION THAT YOU COULD CONTRIBUTE WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED.

DANIELLE NAVARRO-ROBERTS
dani1@freewwweb.com

also looking to find info on family in Cuba. My grandfathers name was Martinez, I was told he was not from Cuba, but from spain. He married a Coroalles, My mothers name was paula olga Martinez. I was told my fathers name was also Martinez. I have one brother also born in Cuba, we were adopted by an american sailor, and brought to the states in 1957. we have never known our father, any info would be greatly appreiciated.

I am the fifth generation of Cuban heritage in my family. I am not 100% certain what our surname is because there was miscommunication when my great-great grandfather came to the United States. The last name was either Martinez or Rodriguez, however when he arrived in the United States and imigration asked his last name he responded "Cuba", thinking he was being asked where he came from. Imigration informed him that his name was "Cooper" because they did not understand. He had a daughter that was my great-grandmother. Her name was Marian Claire Cooper-Montgomery. I don't know if she had brothers or sisters, however I think she did. My great-great grandfather did have siblings, unfortunately I don't know their names either. Any clues or help would be greatly appreciated. Even if I don't have any Cuban relatives still living, it would be great to know anyhting about my heritage. I love my culture (African-American with a Cuban background) and want to know more. Much, much more.

That is my maiden name. I can answer maybe some questions about that side of the family.

Hi my name is Barbara Tapanes daughter of Tedoro Tapanes . My father,s family are all from matanzas Cuba. My grandfather was also Tedore Tapanes, his father my greatgrandfather was tedosio tapanes. My Tapanes side of the family married with Diaz and DE La Fuente. My grandfather had seven brothers and sisters he was orphaned around when he was sixteen and they were all seperated I have some of there names.

Hi my name is Barbara Tapanes. My family is also from Matanzas Cuba. My father's name is Tedoro Tapanes. My greatgrandfather was Tedosio Tapanes he had seven brothers and sisters. He was orphaned around the age of sixteen. I have some of there names.

Ms. Tapanes, thank you so much for your message. I would be interested in discussing this further with you as I have been told that in general, all tapanes' are related. My grandfather's name was Gabriel Tapanes (also from a large family), although he was not born in Matanzas, his father was (Valentin Tapanes). I can go back as far as my great-great grandfather, so perhaps, going back that far we do have some lineage in common. I look forward to hearing back from you.

I'm so glad you answered. My father also wasn't born in Matanzas, but I was. My greatgrand father was his name was Francisco Tapanes he married Blanca Rosa Diazs also from Matanzas. Francisco Tapanes was orphaned at 16 yrs. He had 7 brothers. I remember some of their names. Virginia was a teacher, Eriberto and tio kuco(Inacio0.
I still have family in Matanzas. My father also told me that all the Tapanes from Matanzas were related one way or another. His cousins used to have a dairy farm at the outskirts of town and he would go has a child.
My greatgrand uncle Eriberto Tapanes married Maria had 2 kidas Eribertico & Racquel. They lived in Matanzas. I remember the story of my fathers cousin who was shot during the revolution Roberto Tapanes. My side of the family was military before Castro.
In 1973 when I came to Miami we saw some of my fathers cousins. His name was or is Rolando Tapanes, he had 2 boys at the time . One was also named Rolando. We also saw Maria Tapanes that lived in California at the time. And her sister Noelia that sang real nice.
I hope this helps some. I still have aunts and uncles Tapanes that I can ask questions Look forward to hearing back from you.

I have news for you. I'm so excited. I have all the names of my greatgrand fathers brothers and sisters.
Blanca, Carmen, Rosa,Pablo, Augustin, Eriberto. I spoke with my uncle he said Valentin Tapanes was brother to my greatgreatgrandfather. That when my greatgrandfather Francisco Tapanes was orphaned he went to live with his uncle Valentin Tapanes. Also told me about Gabriel Tapanes and that he had 2 sisters that he cann't remember their names.

My uncle said they were very close in Cuba. That my father tedoro Tapanes his brothers Jorge, Francisco Tapanes ( Pancho) are second cousins to Gabriel Tapanes and his sisters.

Hi there, My mother's maiden name is Tapanes and my grandfather was Eugenio Regino Tapanes born in Versalles, Matanzas 12/20/1893. Does this name ring a bell to anyone? I am going to ask my mother about the other Tapanes names I saw listed on here and see if there may be a connection. Thanks much and good luck to everyone!

Hello Ms. Cooley,

Thank you so much for your message. While I am sure that at some level we are related (I've always been told that all Tapanes' stemmed from the same trunk), I do not have a direct connection to a Eugenio Tapanes. Me may very well be a cousin of my grandfathers given the DOB.B. My grandfathers name was Gabriel Tapanes and he was the son of a Valentin Tapanes-Estupinan. Valentin was born around 1880 and in turn was the son of Gabriel Tapanes and his wife's maiden name was Estupinan ( I have her full name just not presently). If Eugenio was either nephew to Valentin or grandson to Gabriel, then indeed there is a link. Let me know if you have information going back this far that might confirm/deny this information. I am awaiting some documents from a genealogist that I work with which will probably go this far back. If I find anything I will let you know.

Take care,

Rolando Tapanes-Gongar

Wow, thank you for the information. It cleared a few questions I had but then opened up another one. My first cousin,(we have the same grandfather) is married to Roberto Estupinan (now that is an ODD name) I wonder if there is a relation but I really do not have much info on him.

Anyway, thanks for your time and you take care also,

Ida

BTW, it's told in my family that a great-great-great Tapanes somewhere once had dealings with a tribe of Caribe Indians (Seminole even, am not sure.) At some point the chief of this tribe and my ancestor were involved in a fight where upon my ancestor came out victorious. At the times the custom was that whomever defeated a chief, they then became the chief themselves and the tribe would then take on the name of the chief. At that time, and for some period afterwards, (maybe to this day) this tribe of indians were called The Tapanes. Does this sound familiar to anyone here? Just some more interesting info to pass along.

Thanks again

Hi Ms. Cooley,
I've just finished receiving a bunch of information regarding the Tapanes family. If you are able to find out who Eugenio's parent's are, I might be able to take you all the way back to the original Tapanes' in Cuba. In my case, I have documentation taking me back to the 1730's where the first Tapanes in my family tree was born in Cuba of a couple that was comprised of Carlos Tapanes who has emigrated from Genoa, Italy and his wife Angela Diaz who was born in Matanzas Cuba of Spanish parents. Let me know if you want more specifics. I have baptismal certificates and marriage certificates.

That is wonderful. I will get a hold of my Mom right away and find out more info on the great-grandparents and see what I can come up with. That was so nice of you to take the extra step and look for that info. While I am not sure we are related, based on the Italian part there, (mine are from the Canary Islands and the Basque region of Spain) one never knows!

Hi Ms. Cooley,
I'm so glad you got my message. I am hoping that you can get that information from your mom. With regards to the Italian connection, I am assured by the genealogist which helped me to obtain these documents that the first Tapanes to reach Cuba was Carlo Tapanes (could have been Tapani/Trapanese) from Genoa Italy. While I can't dispute any hard facts that you may have regarding your particular branch, it would be great to see how the two branches perhaps originated from the same place. In any case, take care and let me know.

Rolando Tapanes-Gongar

Hello -- I was just doing some research with my mom the other day and noticed that one of my great grandparents in Cuba was a Tapanes...I'm going to get some more information, but in fact, I think she was Tapanes y Tapanes as a surname. They are from the Cardenas area of Cuba. If you have any information or want me to pursue those names, contact me at aduenas at yahoo.com.

THanks

I have some cousins that married. Who were Tapanes, Tapanes. They were the son and daughter of Two Tapanes brothers that got married. That was very common back then. So they share the same set of grandparents. I have ther names Palo and Ana. They were 1st cousins. Palo's father was called Manuel Tapanes y Silvera And Ana's father was called Nicolas Ramon Tapanes y Silvera. The common grandparents for Palo and Ana and the parents of both Manuel and Nicolas Ramon were called Nicolas Tapanes y Diaz and Mauela Silvera y de Fuentes. That would make any children from Palo and Ana Tapanes Tapanes. Let me know if they are the same names.

My great grandmother was Dominga Tapanes Tapanes and we think she was from the town of Coliseo in Cuba. Her parents were Dionisio Tapanes Tapanes and Juana Tapanes Gonzalez. Those two were born in Matanzas province in 1840.

Ana Josefa Tapanes y Fuentes was born in 1800. Could she an aunt or grandmother . My father always said all the Tapanes from Matanzas were related one way or another. My father had cousins, 2nd or 3rd with the name of Juana Tapanes. My Tapanes family is very long.

My Tapanes ancestors are are follows:

My grandmother was Juana Padron Tapanes. She was born in Matanzas around the turn of the century.

Her mother was Dominga Tapanes Tapanes, also from Matanzas tho I don;t know what year.

Dominga's parents were Dionisio Tapanes Tapanes and Juana Tapanes Gonzales. Both born 1840 in Matanzas. Before that we have no more information. And I don't know of their siblings.

It is possible your relatives are associated...do you have information on siblings?

If your father knew a Juana Tapanes from Matanzas, it could have been my grandmother. She died in Cardenas in 1987.

This story is interesting to me because my mother whose mother was Juana Padron Tapanes was always told that her grandmother was "India" -- they didnt specify anything else but that she always had extremely long, think black hair and she had whatever was considered an "Indian" look...wonder if that is related.

Interestingly, I participated in the National Geographic Genome project where they do a test to determine what DNA group you belong to (on your mother's side only if you are a woman), I was put in Haplogroup D which is a group of peoples that migrated across Asia through North America and into South America, possibly the Caribbean. So when I got my test back it sort of confirmed that somewhere in my ancestry of my mother's line there must be some native peoples. Especially since the other side of my mom's family is strictly Basque.

Go figure.