Spanish Civil War Refugees in the U.S.

[Corsino]

Jomaguca,

Muchas gracias.

Actually, I don't think that I had it too bad in France, under the circumstances. Probably the worst thing was that I was very young and naturally missed my family.
As for the other children in the group that was brought to the U.S., it is possible that some returned to Spain or located their relatives. It is also possible that others didn't have the motivation to search for their families.
My sister Aurora in Spain, searched for my whereabouts for years but eventually gave up. Even my oldest living brother, who was considered the family authority, announced that " Corsino esta muerto".
But maybe some of the children , or their relatives, are still searching......
QUIEN SABE ?

Corsino.

[Corsino]

I just received the list of the Spanish children that were brought to the U.S. by the AFSC. Although the group photo that I have included 23 or 24 children, the list has only 17 names, so I may ask the AFSC if this is the complete list.
Besides me, there's two children from Oviedo, and one from Llanes. I don't recognize some of the other birthplaces.
I know that they had my birthplace wrong, so it's possible that there are other errors.

Name.........................Birthplace

Abadie, Elvira..............Barcelona
Abadie, Luisa...............Barcelona

Fernandez, Benigno......Oviedo
Fernandez, Manuel........Oviedo

Fernandez, Jose............Bilbao

Fernandez, Corsino.......Guelgo

Garcia, Juan.................Bentarique

Garcia, Rosario.............Almeria

Giron, Eusebio..............Renteria

Llerandi, Maruja............Llanes

Luis, Germinal...............Barcelona

Ribares, Antonio............Vicien Huesca

Ribares, Jose................Loporzano

Ruiz, Antonio................Molin de Rey
Ruiz, Juan....................Molin de Rey

Ruiz, Jose....................Barcelona

Saez, Augustina...........Alfaro

[Corsino]

OOPS !
Although I had the names and birthplaces columns separated, they ran together when they appeared on the post. I hope it doesn't cause confusion.

Corsino

[Corsino]

TWO FOOTNOTES TO THE LIST OF CHILDREN :

!. Eusebio Giron is the younger brother of Arsenio Giron who departed with the fourth group.

2.Maruja Llerandi is the younger sister of the four Llerandi children who departed with the fourth group.

From these notes, I get the impression that we were the fifth group, and four other groups were brought previously. The AFSC brought children from other nationalities too, so I don't know how many other Spanish children came.

Corsino.

[Corsino]

Bob,

Thanks for separating the two columns on the list.
I have requested information on a few additional names which I had, but are not on the list. So if I get more names, I'll add them to the list. Also, I have their birthdates, and could add them if it would help.

If anybody on this forum has a good map of Spain with a good index and cares to spend the time researching..........it might be helpful to add the province where the various towns are located. Some appear to be small towns and I have no idea where they are located.

Corsino.

[Terechu]

Corsino, I've checked the Post Office zip code book and found the provinces where these towns are located:

Name.........................Birthplace

Abadie, Elvira..............Barcelona
Abadie, Luisa...............Barcelona

Fernandez, Benigno......Oviedo- Asturias
Fernandez, Manuel........Oviedo - Asturias

Fernandez, Jose............Bilbao - Vizcaya

Fernandez, Corsino.......Guelgo - Asturias

Garcia, Juan.................Bentarique- Almería

Garcia, Rosario.............Almeria

Giron, Eusebio..............Renteria - Guipúzcoa

Llerandi, Maruja............Llanes - Asturias

Luis, Germinal...............Barcelona

Ribares, Antonio............Vicien - Huesca

Ribares, Jose................Loporzano - Huesca

Ruiz, Antonio................Molin de Rey (could be Molino del Rey, Granada?)
Ruiz, Juan....................Molin de Rey

Ruiz, Jose....................Barcelona

Saez, Augustina...........Alfaro (La Rioja)

NOTE: There is a Bentarique in Murcia and one in Almería. I presume that Juan and Rosario García are brother and sister, so Juan must be from Almería. There was no listing for Molín de Rey, but Molino del Rey, in Granada.

Hope this gets us a little further.

Cheers
Terechu

[Corsino]

Terechu,
Thanks for the information it's a big help. I did a little research too, on a map of Spain.

These are some comments about the list and/or town locations:

1. I think that 'Molin de Rey' might be Molins de Rei near Barcelona. This is because I think that the three Ruiz were brothers.

2. I found two Alfaro, one near Valencia, and the other in north-central Spain, near Tudela.

3. I agree that Rosario Garcia and Juan Garcia were probably sister and brother, because I have a photo of them together.

4. I think the Ribares were brothers. Although their birthplaces are in different towns, they are close together. Also, I always thought they were brothers.

I have e-mailed the AFSC archivist for more information, because the number of children on the list is fewer than in the group photo. I have a photo of three Izquierdo children (two boys and a girl) which are not on the list. I think that a few Spanish children must have come on an earlier trip than I did.
Hopefully, I can fill-in the gaps soon.

As for locating the children's whereabout in the U.S., I think it's going to be a difficult task. I have written three e-mails to other organizations, and haven't received answers yet.

Corsino.

[Corsino]

Sweeney.
I read that you found relatives in Spain by writing letters to everybody that had a certain surname in various towns. How did you find their addresses?
It sounds like a good way (unless it's a big city with 100 people with the same surname).

Corsino.

[Terechu]

Corsino, I wonder if this bit of info might be of any use, but some years back a lady named CARMEN GUILLERMINA LLERANDI from California was looking for her relatives in Asturias through a genealogy site on the internet. Unfortunately I don't remember anything else, other than she was a nutrition specialist in a clinic within the Los Angeles area. It could be a false lead, of course, but Llerandi is a very rare Asturian surname.

---------------------------------------
Corsino, no sé si esta información podría ser útil, pero hace unos años una chica llamada CARMEN GUILLERMINA LLERANDI de California estaba buscando parientes en Asturias a través de un foro de genealogía de Internet. La pena es que no recuerdo nada más que era especialista en nutrición en una clínica del área de Los Angeles. Podría ser una pista falsa, claro, pero Llerandi es un apellido asturiano poco común.

Terechu

[Corsino]

Terechu

Thanks for the information on Llerandi. Although the list includes a Maruja Llerandi ( I assume it's a Maria), there's a note that implies that there were three other Llerandi children. Hopefully, the AFSC archivist will send me another list of names. I don't recall a Maruja, but at that age I was not interested in girls and anyway, boys and girls were kept fairly well separated.

Corsino.

[Terechu]

Corsino, this Carmen Llerandi was in her late 30's early 40's, so she could well be the daughter of one of the boys.

Terechu

[Corsino]

Terechu

You are correct. Maruja's age in 1942 was 9 years old and she was the youngest Llerandi. I don't know if any of the other three Llerandi children were boys though, but it's likely that at least one was a boy.

Corsino

[jomaguca]

Corsino, estoy aquí de nuevo para darle mi opinión sobre la busqueda de familiares, SWEENEY es prima segunda de mi padre osea mi bisabuela y su abuela eran hermanas ,pero nosotros no supimos de ella hasta el año 2003, por mediación de unos primos de GIJÓN ,qué supieron qué ella estaba buscando a familiares a través de internet ,mí padre enseguida se puso en contacto con ella por e-mail ,pero referente al apellido como Usd. dice ella lo tenía mejor, porqué el apellido VERDIN no es tan común como el suyo qué es FERNÁNDEZ ,en eso estoy de acuerdo con Usd, pero a veces hace más el qué quiere qué el qué puede, no es así? yo me alegraría qué entre todos le pudieramos ayudar y en eso esta. :lol:saludos y ánimos qué entre todos podrémos.

[Corsino]

I got an answer from the AFSC about my request for additional information.
The archivist is mailing me all lists that include Spanish surnames. He says that one list includes three children with Izquierdo surnames, which I especifically had asked him about. Actually, I don't think there will be very many new names.
I must say that if all organizations were as helpful as the AFSC, life would be much easier.

Corsino

[Bob]

If there are four children and the oldest is a girl, there is a 7/8 chance that at least one of the others is a boy.

Bob Martinez