Asturian-American Migration Forum

Doing some research on the various Spanish surnames in Spelter, after World War II, I came up with the following, all of which migrated from Asturias, Spain.

ALONSO, ALVAREZ, ARIAS, BANGO, BLANCO, CUETO, FERNANDEZ, GARCIA, GONZALEZ, GUTIERREZ, HUERTA, LORENZO, MEDINA, MENENDEZ, MUNIZ, PEREZ, QUINONES, RODRIQUEZ, SUAREZ, VASQUEZ

These are just the surnames, as there were four different Menendez families, unrelated, in Spelter at the time, as an example.

In 2003 the only surnames that exist in Spelter are Alvarez, Bango, Medina, Menendez, Muniz and Quinones. Some of the other surnames do exist, however, in the Clarksburg area (Harrison County).

Hope this helps others in doing research on their family histories.

Ken,

Since you are from Spelter originally I wonder if you can provide some insight into whether new Univ of Micihigan head football coach Rich Rodriquez has any Austurian lineage. I believe he is from Grant Town, WV not far from Spelter.

My mother is Rosalie Manso from Fairmont City, IL, whose mother and father emigrated via Cuba and Florida from Piedras Blancas and Ranon before the Spanish Civil War. She has lived in Michigan since the 1950s and near Ann Arbor since 1974. I'm her only son but have five sisters, most of whom have moved away from Michigan. We're all Wolverine fans and have a renewed interest in our Asturian heritage, so it would be fun if coach is one of us, too!

Thanks for your help and Merry Christmas!

Kelly Boyd
Ann Arbor, MI

Rich Rodriquez has Astrurian roots, as does Barry Alvarez, athletic director for Univ. of Wisconsin. Rodriquez is from Grant Town, WV, near Fairmont, WV (approx. 20 miles north of Spelter). Alvarez is from Langeloth, PA, south/southwest of Pittsburgh. When WVU played Wisconsin in Morgantown, WV, a few years back, and Alvarez was then the Wisconsin football coach, none of the media picked up the significance of the Asturian lineage between the two (Rodriquez and Alvarez) and the closeness of the two towns (Grant Town and Langeloth) to Morgantown. As I have heard the crowd at the WVU game had a lot of folks from Langeloth and Donora, PA, at the game to see their native son, Alvarez.

Right now Rodriquez is not a favored son of WV, since he resigned as football coach and moved to Michigan. Lots of controversy over his leaving. Actually, there is a hatred for him at the moment in WV, which I haven't seen since Roy Williams, basketball coach, left Univ of Kansas for North Carolina. Check out the blogs on WBOY-TV in Clarksburg, WV, on Rodriquez. Pretty bad.

Anyway, Rodriquez is an excellent coach, but I am not sure his style of coaching and plays will fit the Big Ten against the likes of Ohio State. His coaching choked during the two most important games this year--South Florida and then Pitt (with a horrible record). The Pitt game eliminated WVU from the BCS championship, and dropped WVU rating from 2 to 11.
It will take at least two years to see if Rodriquez can coach in the Big Ten, in my opinion. Rodriquez graduated from North Marion High School, WV, and WVU, where he played football. He coached his first college at Glenville State College, WV.

My mother's father, Joe "Mike" Alvarez, was from Piedras Blancas. I still have some relatives in and near Piedras Blancas I have been told. As best as I can tell we are not related to Barry Alvarez.

Anyway, enjoy the Wolverines. Michigan has produced some great football in the past, and needs to get back on its feet and maybe Rodriquez can do it.

And a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you.

Ken

Ken,

Thanks for the quick response. It was with a certain amount of trepidation that I even made my inquiry, since I figured WV would likely be pretty upset about his leaving.

It will be very interesting to see if/how he fits in with the Big Ten. I agree that it will take a couple of years at least, but we did certainly need a fresh perspective, especially on offense.

Rather a shame that the media did not pick up on the Asturian/Spanish angle when Alvarez and Rodriquez coached against each other. Typical...as Limbaugh would say, it must not have "fit the template".

Thanks again. I'm trying to get some more background about my mom's family back in Asturias. We're hoping to put together a family trip in the next few years.

Kelly

I have a second cousin who just returned from Aviles/Piedras Blancas. He visted with some cousins and took pictures of my grandfather's/his father's house there for me.

I have an address for a distant cousin in Castrillon. I am not familiar with the area so I do not know where Castrillon is in relationship to Aviles or Piedras Blancas.

Like you I want to go visit the area, but don't know when. Seems we end up in Italy (Tuscany). Last time I was in Spain was in 1972 and in Madrid and surrounding area.

Hi, Ken & Kelly,

Castrillón is the county in which the city of Piedras Blancas is located. It's the next county to the west of the county of Avilés. These are very small counties, so you'd drive further traveling between Clarksburg and Spelter.

Castrillón is very pretty (although that's true of most of Asturias). We have a lot of members there, and many members whose families were from there before emigrating.

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Hola, Ken y Kelly,

Castrillón es el concejo en que está ubicada la ciudad de Piedras Blancas. Es el concejo más cercano por el oeste al concejo de Avilés. Son concejos pequeñitos, de manera que la distancia entre Clarksburg y Spelter sería más larga.

Castrillón es muy quapa (pues, es verdad de casi toda Asturias). Tenemos muchos socios de allí, y muchos socios de familias oriundas de Castrillón antes de emigrar.