Asturian-American Migration Forum

Hello,

I have been researching my Asturian "Vega" family in Clarksburg, W. Va.
My grandparents (Vega y Alonso) lived there from about 1902 to 1920.

Rufino Martinez Vega y Florentina Fernandez Alonso Vega


Four of their children were born and three unfortunately died there, two in Canton, Ohio.

Julian Vega b. 1909 (Clarksburg, W. Virginia) - d.12 Dec 1911
Jose Vega b. 1910 (Clarksburg, W. Virginia) - d. 20 Mar 1912
Cassimero Vega b. 07 Mar 1912 (Grasselli, W. Virginia) d. 1942 (Ohio)
Manuel Luis Vega b. 20 Jan 1914 (Grasselli, W. Virginia) d. 1938 (Ohio)

I have been trying to find more and locate the cemetery were the children were burried. They left Clarksburg and came to Canton, Ohio were my grandfather then worked in the steel mill for the Timken Company retiring in 1952.

Grandfather Rufino Vega at the Timken Company

Rufino is the third from left closest to the furnace.

They also lived in some other Asturian communities during this period but mainly Clarsburg, W. Va. Other places they lived were East Chicago, Illinois, Tarahought, Indiana and Langeloth, Pa..

I do have genealogy information going back to Spain where my grandparents were born, San Miguel de Quiloño, Lloredal (Piedras Blancas, Castrillón) y Santa Cruz de Mieres. I also have tried to get information from relatives in Spain along with the Cathoic Church over the last few years but no response via the mail. I sent pre-posted envelopes photos to the Church (Diocesis de Oviedo) and old relative addresses but unfortunately received no replies. Here ae some photo's you may enjoy:

Cassimiro y Maria Martinez Vega


Cassimiro Diaz Vega - Maria Bango Martinez - Jesus Martinez Vega


My Great Grandmother (Theresa Fernandez Alonso), last name,"Alonso".

Theresa Alonso - Born in Spain Abt. 1865 d. 1952 in Fontana, California


My Great Uncles on my Grandmother's side:

Lawrence Frenandez Alonso - Born Abt. 1895 in Spain


Pacco Fernandez Alonso - Born in Spain



Maybe you have suggestions on getting information from Spain. I have a copy of my grandfathers Birth Certificate and other information on family that is still in Spain alltho it is dated now.

This is my Home Web Page with links:
http://rlvega.awardspace.com/Vegas.html

Hope to hear from you,
Roberto Louis Vega

Welcome Roberto,

You've done lots of work on putting together your family's history. Thanks for sharing it with all of us. I'm glad to see that we have an active member from Canton, OH too, since I need to learn more about that community. The little girl at the top of the banner, Mary Jean Gonzalez Hinkle and her mother Mary Vasquez Gonzalez (next to the end on the other side) were long-time residents of Canton, and involved with the Asturian community there. Unfortuantely, I don't know much about its history.

I see you're looking for graves of children. Is that in Clarksburg, WV? If so, they're probably in the children's area at Holy Cross Cemetary. I'll work on getting you the contact information.

Again, welcome!

Hi Roberto.

I don't know if there is any connection but...My Faternal Grandparents Jose Garcia and Dionisia Alonso Garcia moved from Asturias in 1906 and settled in Clarksburg West Virginia (Grassella)...

My father's name was Julius Garcia Alonso...

I don't know if Alonso is a common name...

Barbara Alonso Novellino

Hello Suronda,

Very nice to meet you ! I am not familar with your Gonzalez family. My Aunt Anita Vega married Enrique Gonzalez, they had six children born from 1944 to 1954:
Nancy Louise Gonzalez
Elaine Margaret Gonzalez
Shirley Jean Gonzalez
Henry Lee Gonzalez
Linda Sue Gonzalez
Richard Allan Gonzalez

My Uncle Enrique was called "Henry" or "Poochie". He and family moved from Canton, Ohio to Florida in the 1960's. His parents who lived in Massillon, Ohio were Jeus Rivas Gonzalez and Maria Anuncia Gonzalez from Rivas Pequenas and Villal Pape, Boveda Lugo, Spain. His grandparents were Domingo Gonzalez and Maria Juana from Centiais, Brollen, Lugo, Spain. I still keep in touch with several children and will try to find out more to see if there is a connection.

Thank you for the information on the possible cemetery in Clarksburg, Wva. and I appreciate you trying to help with a contact. My aunt Mary Alice Vega went to Clarksburg years ago in an effort to find the right cemetery but was unsuccessful.

Robert Vega

Hello Barbara,

Very nice to meet you !

I believe that the "Alonso" name is quite common.
My grandmother was, Florentina Alonso and I know of two brothers, Larenzo Alonso and Fransisco Alonso and one sister Lisa Alonso all born between 1892 and 1900 in Spain.

Her father was Manuel Alonso b. 1861 and mother, Teresa Fernandez b. 1865 both born in Spain. Her grandparents born Abt. 1835 were Andres Alonzo and Eugenia Gonzales also born in Spain.

I believe they all were from Asturias near Oviedo. Maybe we can find more and make a connection.

Roberto Vega

¡Hola Roberto!: ¡Que bien, cuantos datos tienes de tu familia!

My Grandmother, FLORENTINA ALONSO

Born: San Miguel de Quilare en Llrodal Oviedo Piedras Blancas, Spain
I have been corrected, my grandmother's birth place: San Miguel de Quiloño, Lloredal (Piedras Blancas, Castrillón)
Born: Florentina Alonso - Fernandez
I have been corrected , Born: FLORENTINA FERNANDEZ ALONSO

Simplemente comentarte, que el nombre correcto del pueblo que mencionas, donde nació tu abuela es
SAN MIGUEL DE QUILOÑO.
Pertenece al concejo de Castrillón, cuya capital es Piedras Blancas.
LA LLORDAL, es un paraje, apenas unas casas a ambos lados de un camino, que pertenecen a San Miguel de Quiloño.

En este enlace que te pongo, puedes ver fotos, tanto de San Miguel de Quiloño, como de La Llordal (ó el Llordal)
http://www.tamargo.info/cw/poblaciones. ... ordal#null

El apellido Alonso en Asturias es bastante comun, el registro civil esta en Piedras Blancas, necesitarias concretar los apellidos y una fecha de nacimiento aproximada.

Tambien estaria bien que encontraras un traductor para la página web.

Saludinos
--------------------------------------------
Transl. Terechu

Hi Roberto,
Great that you have so many data on your family. I just wanted to mention that the correct name of the village where your grandmother was born is San Miguel de Quiloño (county Castrillón, county capital Piedras Blancas). El Llordal is an area, barely a couple of houses on each side of the road, belonging to the parish of San Miguel de Quiloño.
Under this link you will se images of both S.M. de Quiloño and El (or La) Llordal

Alonso is a very common surname in Asturias, the Civil Registry is located in Piedras Blancas. You will need to get the surnames straight and the approximate birth date.

It would also be great if you could find someone to translate your web site.

Hola Roberto y Mafalda - aquí Susanita (tengo toda la colección de Mafalda)

Creo que las imágenes de El/La Llordal hablan por sí solas. Una de esas casas tiene que ser de tus bisabuelos, Roberto. Aunque me parece que tienes los apellidos un poco liados. El abuelo sería Rufino Martínez Vega y la abuela Florentina Fernández Alonso. Por tanto, deberías buscar los apellidos "Martínez Vega" (no sólo Vega) en Sta. Cruz de Mieres y "Fernández Alsonso" (no sólo Alonso) en La Llordal.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi Roberto and Mafalda - Susanita speaking (I've got the complete collection of Mafalda comics)

I believe the images of El/La Llordal speak for themselves. One of those houses must be your great-grandparents' house, Roberto. However, I do believe you got the surnames a little mixed up. Your grandfather being be Rufino Martínez Vega and your grandmother Florentina Fernández Alonso, you should be looking for "Martínez Vega" (not only Vega) in Sta. CRuz de Mieres and "Fernández Alsonso" in La Llordal.

Un abrazu
Terechu

Para concretar como funcionan los apellidos en España:

Cada individuo lleva como 1º apellido el 1º apellido de su padre, y como 2º apellido, el 1º apellido de su madre, asi se pueden ir cruzando hasta el infinito:

Individuo

Apellido 1:_______ 1 del padre
Apellido 2:_______ 1 de la madre

Apellido 3:_______ 2 del padre (1 de la madre del padre)
Apellido 4:_______ 2 de la madre (1 de madre de la madre)

Apellido 5:_______ 3 del padre (2 del padre del padre)
Apellido 6:_______ 3 de la madre (2 del padre de la madre)

Apellido 7:________ 4 del padre (2 de la madre del padre)
Apellido 8:_______ 4 de la madre (2 de la madre de la madre)

Como consecuencia de esto, prevalecen siempre los apellidos que se transmiten por via paterna, y tienden a desaparecer los transmitidos por via materna.

Como excepción, un individuo llevará los apellidos de su madre, en el mismo orden, si no tiene padre reconocido.

Desde hace relativamente pocos años, tambien es posible invertir el orden de los apellidos, aunque no hay muchos casos en que esto se produzca.

¡Uy que lio!..... no se si publicarlo

Hola Susanita y Mafalda,

Thank you for the information and helping me along.
I will try to correct the surnames, I hope I can figure them out properly.
The Web site for El Llordal was just wonderful. I will show this to all my family. Maybe I will be able to get more information from the Civil Registry in Piedras Blancas. I worked on the Surnames and I am not sure they are still correct, but this is what I have so far:

===============================================
Grand Father
Rufino Bango Diaz Martinez Vega & Florentina Fernandez Alonso Vega - (Grandparents)
Cassimiro Diaz Vega & Maria Bango Martinez - ( Great Grandparents, Vega's)
Manuel Martinez & Manuela Bango - (Great Grandparents, Martinez)
Unknown Vega & Unknown Diaz - (Great Great Grandparents)
===============================================
Grand Mother
Manuel Gonzales Alonso - Theresa Fernandez Alonso - (Great Grandparents)
Andres Alonzo - Eugenia Gonzales - (Great Great Grandparents)
===============================================

These are the genealogy trees for both family lines:

(Grandfather) Descendants of Manuel Martinez


1 Manuel Martinez b: in Spain d: in Spain

.. +Manuela Bango b: in Spain d: in Spain

......... 2 Maria Martinez b: Abt. 1860 in Spain d: in Spain

............. +Casimiro Vega b: Abt. 1860 in Spain d: in Spain

..................... 3 Maria Vega b: Abt. 1884 in Spain

..................... 3 Rufino Vega b: 11 Apr 1886 in Santa Cruz de Aller, Oviedo, Spain d: 10 May 1981 in Canton, Stark Co., Ohio USA

......................... +Florentina Alonso b: 17 Apr 1892 in Castrillón, San Miguel de Quiloño en Llordal, Spain d: 21 Jun 1972 in Stark County, Canton, Ohio USA

..................... 3 Jesus Vega b: Abt. 1888

......................... +Cuca Lopez b: Abt. 1890

..................... 3 Silvero Vega b: Abt. 1892

..................... 3 Casumido Vega b: Abt. 1894

..................... 3 Adolfo Vega b: Abt. 1896

..................... 3 Angel Vega b: Abt. 1900 aka: Angel Vega Martinez


(Grandmother) Descendants of Andres Alonzo


1 Andres Alonzo b: Abt. 1835

.. +Eugenia Gonzales b: Abt. 1835

......... 2 Manuel Alonso b: Apr 1861 in Spain d: 04 Nov 1921

............. +Teresa Fernandez b: Abt. 1865 in Spain m: Abt. 1890 d: 1952 in Fontana, California

..................... 3 Florentina Alonso b: 17 Apr 1892 in Castrillón, San Miguel de Quiloño en Llordal, Spain d: 21 Jun 1972 in Stark County, Canton, Ohio USA

......................... +Rufino Vega b: 11 Apr 1886 in Santa Cruz de Aller Oviedo, Spain m: 12 Mar 1908 in Clarksburg W. Va. d: 10 May 1981 in Canton, Ohio USA

..................... 3 Larenzo Alonso b: Abt. 1894 aka: Larry Alonso

..................... 3 Fransisco Alonso b: Abt. 1896 aka: Paco Alonso

..................... 3 Lisa Alonso b: Abt. 1898


Please correct me if you see I am wrong !

Keeping in touch,
Roberto Vega

Hi Roberto,
Now I'm totally confused with the surnames!
I've done some research and you can request the birth certificates at the local Civil Registry, using the standard form you can download from the website of the Ministry of Justice:

http://www.justicia.es/servlet/Satellit ... inary=true

Print it out, complete it and mail it to the Registrar Offices below.

If you need help filling it out, let me know. You have to state a reason for requesting these certificates (second paragraph: Finalidad para la que solicita el certificado), and most people just write "sharing out inheritance" - "Repartición de herencia"

The birth certificate for your grandmother you have to address to the Avilés Registry, which covers Castrillón, Corvera de Asturias, Gozón and Illas:

Registro Civil
C/ Marcos del Torniello 27
33400 Avilés - Asturias
Tel. 34-985522536
Fax 34-985569313

The one for your grandfather (if he was born in Santa Cruz de Mieres):

Registro Civil
Jardines del Ayuntamiento s/n
33600 Mieres – Asturias
Tel. 34-985468952
Fax 34-985453137
This registry covers Mieres, Riosa and Morcín.

By the way, my name is Teresa - Susanita is a character out of the Mafalda comics - I was just joking

Hi Roberto,

I remember having family in Canton, Ohio unfortunately I don't remember their names.

Let me ask you something...does the name "figales" ring a bell? This is the name given to our family...evidentally their was a fig tree in Spain where my Grandparents lived...thus the name...or so the story goes.

In the 70's we had a family reunion in Moundsville West Virginia and members of our family from Canton attended...maybe you could ask them if they were there..

Thanks...maybe we will find a connection.

Barbara

Good advice, Terechu.

I would add that it is important to write in Spanish (castellano). Just like most American civil servants don't speak Spanish, most civil servants in Asturias don't speak English. If you don't write Spanish, some of our members or someone in the modern languages department at your local college or university can probably help. Keep in mind that you will be asking people to perform a manual search of very old records, usually handwritten in script that is not always easy to decipher. Be sure to ask for a photocopy of the documents you want, not merely a transcription (I've found some errors in transcription in the documents I have requested).

For religious records (assuming you know the parish address and the name of the priest in charge (again, write in Spanish), it doesn't hurt to mention the reason for your interest (tracing your family history to share it with your kids and other relatives and to reconnect with relatives in Spain), and to enclose a small donation for flowers for the altar or the support of the parish, or to ask that your relatives be remembered in a mass.

I have the Alonso surname in my family too, from Muros de Nalón.

Hola Art y Theresa,

I have located a copy of my Grandfather's Certificate of Birth (Rufino Vega b. 1886) Maybe this will help with the Surnames.



This image may be too small to see enough detail.

Many thanks,
Roberto Vega

Hi, Robert,

No, my vision isn't great. Robert sent me a larger copy. Let one of us know if you want one.

Here's what I saw. If I can't read it (I don't understand some of the letters) I'll note that in [brackets??] with question marks. I'll try to break the lines at the same place as the original and translate it literally so you can see how the words flow. Obviously, this isn't going to sound right and would be written differently in normal English.

--------------

Hola, Robert,

No, mi visión no es muy buena. Robert me envió una copia más grande. Avise a uno de nosotros si quieres una copia.

Aquí está lo que yo vi. Si no puedo leerlo (no entiendo algunas letras) lo notaré en [corchetes??] con signos de interrogación. Trataré de terminar las líneas en el mismo lugar que el original y lo traduciré literalmente para que puedes ver como las palabras fluyen. Obviamente, esto no va a parecer correcto y sería escrito de manera diferente de inglés normal.

=============

Lena, Province and Diocese of Oviedo [Oviedo in this case is today's Asturias, which is both the province and diocese],

Lena, Province and Diocese of Oviedo [Oviedo in this case is today's Asturias, which is both the province and diocese],

I certify: that in the book [five?] of baptisms, in the page 119 appears the

following entry: In the Parish of Santa Cruz of Mieres, Archpriesthood [I don't know what that is, but I'd assume it's a category under an archbishopric] de Lena,

Diocese of Oviedo, the day thirteen of April

of one thousand eight-hundred and eighty-six

Don Felix [Granda?... that is a last name in Lena] baptized solemnly

a child that was born the day before

in this Parish and he was named [Rufino?--wow, that's hard to read! I wouldn't have guessed that unless you had told me his name.],

son legitimate of Casimiro Vega Diaz - a native of [where he's from]

Tamon de Carreño [a town in the county of Carreño, which is on the coast between Avilés and Gijón] - and of María Martínez

Bango - a native of Tamón-, grandparents

paternal Francisco - a native of Tamón -

and [Petronila? I'm pretty sure] a native of [?? this could be ibidem = Latin for the same place as the previous] -

maternal [grandparents] Manuel - a native of [?? ibidem?] -

and Manuela - a native of [?? ibidem?] -

They were godparents José Castañón and [Eudocia? or Eudoria? This is a guess. They are old regal names.] [Larcía? that is a name, but I'm not sure of this spelling]

[Gardia?] González to whom I advised [of] the spiritual relationship

and their obligations. Of which I certify Felix Granda =signed=

Notes [in the] margins: none

copy fundamentally [substantially] of its original.

And let it be recorded, [issue/announce... I will also put it in another place for comprehension's sake] I [presente is a formality, I think, for the one copying and affirming this data] am pleased to announce that I sign and stamp [this] in Santa Cruz de Mieres on

the twenty-seventh of August of one thousand fifty and one

Don Jesús [Muñiz?] [Prada?] and [Prieto?]

=============

I hope that helps.

-----------------

Espero que te lo ayudará.

Bueno yo voy a poner lo qué pude leer:En la parroquia de Santa Cruz de Mieres, Arciprestazgo de Lena,Diocesis de Oviedo , el día 13 de Abril de 1886,Don Féliz Granda bautizó solemnemente a un niño qué nació el dia anterior es decir el 12 de abril de 1886, en esta parroquia y se llamó Rufino, hijo legítimo de Casimiro Vega Díaz natural de Tamón de Carreño y de María Martínez Arango natural de Tamón,abuelos paternos Francisco natural de Tamón y Petronila natural de Tamón( idem quiere decir igual), abuelos maternos Manuel natural de Tamón y Manuela natural de Tamón. Fueron padrinos Jóse Castañon ,y a partir de ahí no veo muy bien el escrito, lo siento no poder traducirla entera.
------------------------------------------------
Transl. Terechu

Well, I'll write down what I could read: In the parish of Santa Cruz de Mieres, Archpriestry of Lena, Diocesis of Oviedo, on the 13th of April 1886, Mr. Féliz Granda solemnly baptized a boy, born in this parish on the preceding day, that is 12th of April 1886, and he was named Rufino, legitimate son of Casimiro Vega Díaz, born in Tamón de Carreño and María Martínez Arango, born in Tamón. Paternal grandparents Francisco, born in Tamón and Petronila, born in Tamón. Maternal grandparents Manuel, born in Tamón and Manuela, born in Tamón.
Godparents were Jose Castañón...and I can't read the rest too well. Sorry but can't translate the whole document.