Asturian-American Migration Forum

In the 1910 Kings County, Brooklyn Census, Joseph Fernandez and his wife Catherine Mills are found living with their 37 year old Divorced son William and their 13 year old grandson John Fernandez [I do not know if John is son of William or George. This John is the right age to be the son of George Fernandez. Could he have went to stay with his grandparents after his Dad died in 1910?].

George W. died in 1910 and the 5 children went to live with different relatives, my grandfather went to an orphanage.

Assuming Jose and Catherine were married in Manhattan do you know if their marraige records go back that far?

Catherine and Patricia are Fernandez children. Only William and Robert are the Wilson's. I remember them well. Uncle Bill was the familly commedian.

Thomas and Anna moved to NJ around 1934. The family still living in Brooklyn and long Island would come for weekends.

So George was in the Military. Perhaps the pension file I mentioned was for him afterall. It may have been filed in the Civil War records by accident. I thought it was far to much of a coincidence: A man named George W. Fernandez with a wife Nina who applied for a widows pension in 1910. So it looks like the Government has a pension file for Nina Fernandez on file.

George W. did die in 1910, so I would think that should be him.

You can get the forms to request Military records and Military Pension records at the following website:

http://www.archives.gov/global_pages/in ... tml#part_a

Thank you very much for all the info, you have been a great help. I hope I can find where Jose came from in Asturias. I have copied out all your posts with the wonderful details Thnks again.

Dear Eileen:

Please send me a Private message or Email and let me know where to mail the documents I have.

I guess the e-mail I sent you yesterday failed or I need to get usze to this sites functions. Will try zagain many thanks for your excellant research.

Dear Eileen:

I will mail out the documents I have tomorrow. In the package I sent there is information on a Military Disability Pension request for a Jose Fernandez in the NY infantry. What is odd is the use of an alias: Oliber Juan. I am pretty sure it is Oliver Juan. I found out that in Asturias the "V" is pronounced as a "B".

I forgot to send you the NY Civil War Units in which a Joseph Fernandez served. They are:


Joseph Fernandez F 59 N. Y. Infantry. - - Union
Joseph Fernandez I 82 N. Y. Infantry. Private Private Union

I have no clue as to which one, if any, is your great great Grandfather.

You need to put in a separate request for a Pension file and Military records file. There is a cost (I think it is around $27 for a military file and $37 for a pension file), but in most cases it is worth it.

I requested the Military and pension records for my husband's GGG-grandfather. The Pension record was over 100 pages. Many of the pages were handwritten affidavits from the soldier himself.

I have been told that some of the records can include birth certificates, marriage certificates and other important documents.

It takes a few months to get the documents.

Take care,

For more information on obtaining vital records from NY see the following website:


http://www.pueblo.gsa.gov/cic_text/misc ... nycity.htm

Thank you Donna you are wonderful.

What is odd is the use of an alias: Oliber Juan. I am pretty sure it is Oliver Juan.

Curious, I have never heard of him having an alias. Maybe it will help locating him in Asturias. You keep finding all these neat little details for me.

He may have been in both, do they give dates of service for each one. The fee sounds well worth what you recieve and I may not need to search Manhattan records.

When I recieve the records you will be the first to know.

Dear Eileen:

I cannot guarantee that the Jose Fernandez AKA Oliber Juan is your ancestor. After all, there were two Joseph Fernandez's serving in the Civil War in NY Union units. But it is a start. I assume you received my package. I hope you can read the Census forms. Let me know if you have any trouble.

Oh, I forgot to mention I sent a census form for Leon Fernandez. I was really impressed with your family. They all seem to have done very well in America. If I remember correctly, Leon was a banker and his children were accountants and such. That is impressive for a 1st generation American in the late 1800s!

Hi, I don't think Oliber would be an alias as much as an alternative spelling or misspelling. I've noticed that some of my Asturian friends (often older folks) get confused about whether to write a "b" or a "v"--which is as Donna says because the sound or phoneme is the same. This is true both in Castilian and Asturianu (and Galego).

Generally, if a "v" is used in one language, it's used in all, and the same with "b". But there are exceptions:

• verano - branu
  cadáver - cadabre
  avellana - ablana
  verraco - bracu
  Javier - Xabel

So it could be that Oliver uses a "b" in Asturianu.

There is a list of first names in Asturianu here: http://www.guiastur.com/CULTURA/REFRANE ... OMBRES.htm
but Oliver is not on the list.

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Hola, no pienso que "Oliber" sería un alias tanto como una ortografía alternativa o la escritura incorrecta. He notado que algunos de mis amigos asturianos (a menudo los que tienen más años) se confunden sobre si hay que escribir un "b" o un "v." Es, como Donna dice, porque el sonido o el fonema es igual. Esto es verdadero tanto en el castellano como Asturianu (y Galego).

Generalmente, si un "v" es usado en una lengua, es usado en los otros, y el mismo con "b". Pero hay excepciones:

• verano - branu
  cadáver - cadabre
  avellana - ablana
  verraco - bracu
  Javier - Xabel

Entonces podría ser que Oliver usa un "b" en Asturianu. No sé.

Hay una lista de nombres de pila en Asturianu aquí: http://www.guiastur.com/CULTURA/REFRANE ... OMBRES.htm
pero Oliver no esta en la lista.

It is an odd situation. On the Pension record the soldier is listed as:

Jose Fernandez, Alias: Oliber Juan

I do not know if this Jose Fernandez is her relative or why he had an alias, but he was the only NY Civil War Veteran that applied for a pension under the name Jose Fernandez. That is why I sent her the information.