Asturian-American Migration Forum

Hello,
I am named for my paternal grandfather, Manuel Alvarez. I am the third child of four children. My sister passed away in 2005. My hobbies include ham radio and fly fishing. Currently, I am working on my father's horse racing in Cuba and his claim that he played soccer in New York and South America.

My father, Arsenio (Albert) Alvarez Alvarez was born in April, 1902, at his family's farm located in the el consejo de Grado and the village of Vega de Peridiello. Dad was the eighth child of nine. His twin sister died during child birth and my grandparents, Manuel and Manuela Alvarez named him Arsenio after the doctor that saved his life.

From his birth and baptismal certificates, I have found the following names of his grandparents, my bisabuelos:

Abuelos Maternos:
Josepha Suarez de Reconco de Grado
Pedro Alvarez de Vega de Peridiello de Grado

Abuelos Paternos:
Fernando Alvarez de Vega de Peridiello de Grado
Isabel Granda de Trasmonte de Las Regueras

Dad and his brother, Ramon migrated to the Clarksburg, West Virginia, in 1920. In 1937, he became a horse trainer.

This site is a great legacy and tribute to our Asturian heritage. I appreciate the opportunity to participate. I have attached a photograph of my grandparents.

Manuell "Manny" Alvarez
Jefferson County, West Virginia
June 30, 2011

Hi Manual. I used to live in buckhannon and bought Chorizo off a lady in Clarksburg who was an Alvarez (perhaps your sister). My family settled in Donora and made the sausage there and the Chorizo i got in Clarksburg was very close to my families - Sure do miss it and need to look into making my own when I retire and have time. I now live around Bridgeport.

Jan Gonzales

Jan, you can still get chorizo in Clarksburg, but it's not as good as Josephine Alvarez'. Hers was the best.

Ron: Yes Josephines was great and I have another source here that some cousins in Donora also come down for but the sausage I ate as a kid had something additional or just maybe it was a product of the times that will never be exactly replicated. Still got the recipe and have experiemented some with my store bought smoker but still work to do to get to perfection - should have plenty of time in near future for that.

The secret to smoking chorizos for best flavor, I think, is to smoke them for quite a while at a low temperature. If the fat starts to drip, the temperature is definitely too high. I usually use apple wood shavings rather than chucks because it produces more smoke, and apple wood is my family's traditional smoking wood. It produces a very good flavor. Cherry wood is good too, but gives a darker flavor to the finished product. You can preserve the chorizos by covering them with hot melted lard, as my grandparents did, or wrapping them tightly is plastic and freezing them, as I do. During WWII, my grandparents shipped chorizos to their son in the Philiippines by using the hot lard method. No spoilage. However, I prefer not to take a chance.

Manuell Alvarez wrote:[...]
My father, Arsenio (Albert) Alvarez Alvarez was born in April, 1902, at his family's farm located in the el consejo de Grado and the village of Vega de Peridiello. Dad was the eighth child of nine
[...]
Dad and his brother, Ramon migrated to the Clarksburg, West Virginia, in 1920. In 1937, he became a horse trainer.

Hello Manuell and "Asturian-American" community

I see that Manuell posted this entry two years ago, but I hope he can read this reply

I am Juan Jose Rodriguez, from Aviles, Asturias. My paternal grandmother, Maria Alvarez Alvarez was born in Vega de Peridiello in 1907. She was the youngest of nine children. She told us that some of her brothers and one sister migrated to West Virginia before Second Republic was proclaimed in Spain in 1931. I remember some of their names: Elvira, Ramon, Arsenio... My father, Angel Rodriguez Alvarez, remembers when Ramon came back to Spain on early sixties.

Well, may be I am wrong, but with these facts I think your father Arsenio was the brother of my grandmother Maria. Consequently, you must be the cousin of my father.

So, Manuell, what do you think about all of this?

Greetings from Spain

Hola Juan

The names Elvira and Ramon sound familiar to me, based on my father's memories of West Virginia. When did they live there? Unfortunately, my father died in 2007, and I can no longer ask him what he remembers, but some of our other members still live in West Virginia.

Bob Martinez

Hi Bob,

Thank you very much for your reply. My grandmother died on 2005, so I can't ask her about them, but I was talking on phone with my father this afternoon, after discover this site and he remembers when Ramon returned to Spain on early 60 and when he died on mid 60. He remembers too that Ramon never was married or had children. Elvira was married, but he doesn't know if she had children or where she lived. I have no more information about them.

Now I guess I have to investigate much more on family history

Anyway, thank you very much Bob

No hay de que. You are very welcome. Ron Gonzalez may remember something about the family. He still lives in WV.

Every time someone dies, we lose memories and valuable information about our ancestors.

Bob