Asturian-American Migration Forum

My name is Servio Garcia and with a name like that you might think that I speak Spanish like a native; well think again! My Father was born in Spain and he and his siblings spoke Spanish fluently.

My reason for joining this forum is twofold. 1) I am looking for information for my first visit to Spain. 2) To learn more about the Spanish culture and in particular the area where my Father was born - Asturias.

My wife and I will be visiting Spain the first week of June and plan to make a side trip to my Father’s birthplace; at least I think it’s his birthplace. I have been trying to locate Catholic Churches/Chapels in Santa Maria del Mar, Piedras Blancas, and Oviedo by phone and/or e-mail but I’m not having any luck. Would you be able to direct me to someone that may be able to help me out with this?

I plan to visit the cities/villages noted above on Thursday, June 6 and would like to arrange a visit to the church if possible.

My Father’s information is below:

• First Name (Sergio) and Last Name/s (Garcia Lòpez);
• Place of birth (Asturias, Arances, Santa Maria del Mar);
• Date of Birth (August 4, 1901)

I will include a family tree and a short document of memories from a few of my uncles to provide you some background about our family.

Thank You,

Servio Garcia Jr.

P.S. Note the spelling of my given name... Somehow my Father’s given name was changed here in the good old USA from Sergio to Servio. So from that point on all of his USA records reflect the Americanized spelling!

This is the simple listing of our beginnings in Asturias, Spain followed by some memories from my uncles Angel and Louis Garcia.

Benito Garcia and Serafina Lopez Family Tree
Teresa Menendez married to Gabino Lopez, date unknown
Serafina Lopez b. 1861(?), d. 2/10/40
Maria Menendez married to Nicolas Garcia
Benito Garcia b. 1865(?), d. 4/16/44
Benito Garcia marries Serafina Lopez, circa 1882
Teresa b. 1883, d. 1905 (in Spain)
Maria, b. 12/1/1885, d. as child in Spain
Baldomero b. 10/7/1887 d. 5/17/88
Ysabel b. 12/30/1889 d. 5/15/78
Aurora b. 11/5/1892, d. 6/26/86
Odulia (Julie) b. 7/7/1894 d. 5/14/67
Manuela b. circa 1890, d. as child in Spain
Sophia b. 12/7/1897, d. 9/8/87
Gabino b. 5/25/1900 d. as child in Spain
Sergio (twin) (Servie) b. 8/4/1901, d. 5/19/74
Luis (twin) b. 8/4/1901, d.
----------------------------------------------------------
The Memories of Louis Garcia as told to his son, Richard and memories of Angel as told to his grandson Steven Garcia.

Louis believed the family lived in Arances, Santa Maria del Mar, Spain. Benito Garcia left Spain for Cuba in 1904. His oldest son, Baldomero, came to Cuba in 1905. They stayed with a relative, Francisco Lopez, who was a partner in a company that made some type of dessert. The relatives wanted them to stay in Cuba, but Benito and Baldomero came to the United States. Benito got various jobs in Cherryvale, Kansas, and several towns in West Virginia. He worked in the zinc furnaces and for Gresselli Chemical Company. He finally settled in Clarksburg, West Virginia. The rest of the family, except for Baldomero, was still in Spain.

Angel's recollection is that the family was from the village of Piedras Blancas in the Province of Asturias. I think the "Santa Maria Del Mar" of Louis' account is perhaps where the family stayed prior to leaving for America or an even tinier village near Piedras Blancas.

A graduate student from University Missouri Saint Louis came to the Spanish Society and interviewed many of the older Spaniards. I was present for one of the interviews with Angel and Joe (Gas) Garcia and have a copy of the student's paper, “The History of Carondelet". The story they told was that Piedras Blancas is a mountainous, rocky area near the northwest coast of Spain. The people who lived there were very poor and made their living mining and smelting lead from in the hills. "Colonies" of Spaniards from Piedras Blancas were established in places where mining and refining of ore were prevalent such as Detroit, Lackawanna, NY, Clarksburg, WV, Western Pennsylvania, East St. Louis, Carondelet, Cherryvale, KS and Henrietta OK.

Angel reflected - When Benito and Baldomero came to America the plan was to save enough money to send for the rest of the family. Benito and Baldomero worked as waiters in a New York hotel, but they never were able to save enough to send for the family. Serafina (Benito’s spouse) had to sell all of the family's property in Spain to raise enough to bring the rest of the family to America. They first settled in Clarksburg, WV.

Louis said his Mother - Serafina came to the US in 1908 with the rest of the children. The exception was Ysabel, who was married in Spain to Benito Cueto, and they came to the US at a later date. The family, with Serafina, boarded a ship at Vigo, Spain, and described the ship as a cattle boat. That boat took them to Liverpool, England, where they boarded the Lusitania. They debarked at Ellis Island and went from New York to Clarksburg, West Virginia by train and streetcar.

The family moved to East St. Louis, Illinois in 1915. Around 1917 or 1918, the family moved to St. Louis, Missouri. Sometime later, most of the family moved back to East St. Louis, Illinois. Even after marriage, much of the family lived there within a few blocks of one another for many years.