Asturian-American Migration Forum

I am researching my granfather's family in Clarksburg, West Virginia. He was known as John Menendez. He married Edna Voelp. His brother, Angel (called Pat) married Edna's sister, Elizabeth (Bess or Betty) The parents were Sabino Menendez and Josefa Artimez. John was a merchant marine and lived in New Your City for awhile. His sister Carmen later lived in Niagara Falls. My grandfather had only one child, Joan. She now lives in Virginia. I'd like to hear from all cousins.

My grandfather, Victor Martínez Artíme, was born in Salinas. Some members of the family used Artíme and some used Artímez. He lived in Spelter (Ziesing) for quite a while, and them moved his family to Niagara Falls, where he lived close to a woman named Carmen, who was his cousin. I think her name was originally Artíme or Artímez. I'll check with my parents (who still live in Niagara Falls) later today or tomorrow.

My grandfather's mother was Maria Artime Ovies, a native of Gozón (a district like Castrillón, not a village or town), which borders Castrillón (where Salinas is located). She was 32 years old and living in Salinas when my grandfather was born. (She would have been born about 1862.) Her father was Miguel Artime, already deceased when my grandmother was born, who was a native of Gozón (San Martín de Podes, I think). Her mother, Florentina Ovies, was also a native of Gozón. I may have copies of death certificates for some of these ancestors.


Bob Martinez

Bob, Sounds right to me! My "cousin" Carmen married her cousin Marcellino Artimez. She d. 1989, He in 1983. Children of Sabino & Josefa: Joseph (Pepes); Leo; Ramon; Manuel (aka Joe Blair); Mary; Carmen; John (Sabino); Concha (Co) and Angel (Pat). There were a total of 14 but I don't know what happened to the rest. I have the parents marriage records and death records. The children were born in Salinas except Carmen & Pat. Sabino Menendez y Lopez parents were Don Antonio Menendez y Suarez and Dona Maria Lopez y Cuesta; Josepha Artimez y Alonzo's parents were Manuel Artimez y Ovies and Dona Maria Alonzo y Garcia.

Does this look familiar?

I spoke with my parents a short while ago. They both remember Carmen and Marcellino well. Carmen was indeed Carmen Artime(z), and was a cousin of my grandfather, as was her husband. My dad remembers Concha, and that Carmen's sister lived in NYC. Of of the sister's sons may have been named Leo. Carmen had two children. One of them, Joseph, lives in Lewiston, NY, not far from Niagara Falls. The other son, James (Jaime) married a Guarina woman, moved to Bolivia, and then married (or lived with) a Bolivian woman.

Carmen lived on Byrd Avenue in Niagara Falls, off Portage Road near 16th Street. My dad remembers Marcellino as Marcello, a very handy person (possibly a welder) and a great story-teller. He also remembers that Carmen made fried donuts and called him and his brothers to have some. My mom remembers that Carmen taught her how to make my grandmother's bollinas recipe (which is in the recipe section of the forum), and that she was a very nice person, well liked by everyone. She has many of Carmen's recipes.

My dad met John many times. He also remembers two families called "los terribles" and "los parulus", but I dont know how or if they are related.

Oddly enough, after hearing from you today, I got a private email from another person who is also most likely a distant relative of mine and quite possibly yours. I encouraged her to post her material on the forums (she had tried, but got error messages) so we can all benefit from it and share our information with her.

Bob Martinez

It's wonderful that Bob and Sweeney are making family connections!

If anyone has trouble using the site, please let me know! I'll need to know what you tried to do and what message you received. We don't want anyone to be left out because of technical problems.

You can email me at "admin at asturianus.org" (move the spaces and replace "at" with @) or use the private message system built into the forum.

Or you can also to post a reply to the Can't post? Getting error messages? thread, which is in the Need Help? section of the forum. You do not need to be registered to post to this section of the forum.

Bob and Sweeney,

Did you know that there was an Ovies family in Moundsville, West Virginia? I'll have to ask my cousin Bob about it, and see if he can't shed more light on the situation. If I remember correctly, they owned a store there.

S.

My father called a few minutes ago to report that he had been thinking about Carmen since our conversation yesterday. He said that Carmen's husband, Marcello, was nicknamed Bujan. Carmen's sister was named Mary. Carmen's children were Leo (the oldest, but Dad is not certain of the name) and Mario (the youngest). Carmen's father was named Sabino, and my father remembers him from West Virginia. Carmen was sometimes called Carmen Sabino to distinguish her from other Carmens.

My father recalls seeing Mario several times. When my dad and his family lived on the second floor of Krystek's (not sure of the spelling) house on 22nd Street in Niagara Falls, Carmen's family lived on the first floor. My grandfather later (1940) built a brick house on the same block of 22nd Street.

Bob Martinez

Can we trade info? Here's mine:

My grandfather, John Menendez, was a merchant marine before the war. John married Edna Mae Voelp, 11 Oct 1932. They had only one child: Joan Menendez. He and my grandmother lived in Brooklyn, NY. At some point Sabino Menendez & his parrot came to live with them. I have a photo of him with my mother when she was about 4 or 5. Around 1940 they moved to Mobile, AL. After the war they came to New Orleans.

Joan Menendez married B. Alton McCulley in 1954 in New Orleans, LA. They had: Cathleen C McCulley, John A McCulley and Joseph M McCulley. They divorced and Joan later married Douglas McCoy, Sr. They had Douglas "Chip" McCoy, Jr. Joan currently lives in Hampton, VA; Cathy in New Orleans; Joseph in Summit, MS.

John McCulley died 21 April 2003. John married Deborah O'Shea. They were divorced. He has a 16 year old son, Shane Alton McCulley living in Natchitoches, LA.

Cathleen McCulley married Irwin Langhoff. We have one child, Allyson Langhoff.

Joseph McCulley and Chip McCoy are unmarried.

Pat Menendez married Elizabeth Catherine Voelp. Both are desceased. They had one son. Raymond Sabino Menendez. He married Susan Ireland. They later divorced. They had two children: Adam Menendez and Katie Menendez. Raymond died September 11, 2001 in Topeka, KS of lung cancer.

Mary Menendez, a sister of John & Pat, married Leo Consentino. Their son, Mario is still living. He and his wife Palo live in New York City. Palo is very sharp & has lots of information to share.

Sorry this was so long but maybe we can piece more of the puzzle together!

I have no Alonzo ancestors that I know of, but I do have Alonsos.

My grandfather's (Victor Martínez Artime) father, José Martínez Alonso, was a native of Muros de Nalon, and was 46 years old and living in Salinas when my grandfather was born (He would have been born about 1848.)

My grandfathyer's paternal grandparents were Gregorio Martínez, a native of Muros de Nalon, and a day laborer. He was living in Salinas when my grandfather was born; and Aurelia Alonso, also a native of Muros, and also living in Salinas when my grandfather was born.

Bob Martinez

Hi,
I just received transcripts of my grandparents Baptism and marriage certificates from Parroquia San Martin De Laspra, Castrillon, Asturias, Espana.

There are a couple names that I have seen on this forum, so I thought I would let you know what I found.

On my Grandmother's Baptism certificate her Padrinos (godparents?) are listed as: Epesiro Alvarez and Josefa Artime. Her maternal grandparents are listed as Miguel Artime and Florentina Ovies. Her paternal grandparents are listed as Juan Luis Verdin and Teresa Lopez.

My grandfather's maternal grandparents are Federico Menendez and Josefa Ruiz.

I have seen the name Josefa Artime and Ovies listed in this forum. Could they be related to each other?

I am pretty sure Padrinos means godparents. Am I correct in this assumption?

The Priest at this Church is great. I received my certificates in a few weeks. I sent my request in Spanish and English and sent a self-addressed envelope. I also sent a small donation to the parish and some additional money to cover postage (I could not buy the International return postage Coupons at my local post office).

Re: Donna Sweeny's Miguel Artime & Florentina Ovies

My great-grandfather, Sabino Menendez y Lopez. His parents: Antonio Menendez y Suarez and Maria Lopez y Cuesta.

His wife, Josefa Artimez y Alonso. Her parents: Manuel Artimez y Ovies and Maria Alonso Garcia.

The above was transcribed from their civil marriage record.

Could Miguel Artime & Florentina Ovies be related to Manuel and Maria?

Yes, padrinos are godparents. The word can also be used to describe a second in a duel (not too likely in this context) or a sponsor.

What are the dates you have for the people mentioned? Floentina Ovies was my great great grandmother (my grandfathers's maternal; grandmother). She was born in Gozon, and her daughter, Maria Artime Ovies (my great grandmother and my grandfather's mother) was born about 1862. Miguel Artime was my great great grandfather. He was also a native of Gozon. If the dates are right and the people are the same ones, Josefa Artime would have been the sister of Maria Artime Ovies.

It seems unlikely that there would have been two couples with the exact same names in the same small town. I think we are third cousins.

Bob Martinez

Bob, I just came to the same conclusion; We are possibly cousins!

My grandfather was born in 1888. His name was Donato Artime Menendez. His parents were Francisco Artime Ovies and Amalia Menendez Ruiz. His paternal grandparents were Miguel Artime and Florentina Ovies. His Maternal grandparents were Federico Menendez and Josefa Ruiz.

My grandfather married his cousin Florentina Verdin Artime (b 1891). Her parents were Guillermo Verdin Lopez and Maria Artime Ovies. Her paternal grandparents were Juan Luis Verdin and Teresa Lopez. Her maternal grandparents were Miguel Artime and Florentina Ovies.

My grandmother told me her family owned a Hotel in Salinas and that her father (or perhaps her grandfather) was once Mayor of Salinas.

It is very likely we are cousins. I have my grandparent's transcribed baptism and marriage certificates if you want a copy.

I couldn`t help wondering about a certain Santiago Artime that I know, here in Asturias.
He must be about 30 yrs old, and lives in Candas, in the Cape Penas area (that is, very close to Salinas and that).
Artime is NOT a common family name at all, as far as I know. Maybe he is a relative of yours.
Anyway, the funny thing on all this is that this Artime has become the second separatist (Asturian nationalist) city councellor in Asturian history. You can see a pic of him at

http://www.andecha.org/

Thanks very much for the link and the information. The Artime ancestors in my family are indeed from Gozon (Samartin de Podes, I think, on the other side of Cabo Penas), but--as you pointed out--the distances involved are very small.

I would not be surpised to find that he and I are related. He is politically active. I was president of our faculty union at the university where I work for 30 years, something that is also rare, at least in the EEUU.


Bob Martinez