Por Steve G. Apodaca |

A while ago, I found out that my ggg-father Francisco Bonal is listed as "hijo de padres no conocidos"(parents unknown) in both his marriage certificate and matrimonial information. I haven't been able to find his baptism, so I started looking at his children's baptisms for clues. Interestingly, I found that some of their godparents had the surname Bonal. That led me to the marriage of Felix Santiago Cabrera and Maria Josepha Bonal (godparents of the youngest of Francisco's child).

I researched this couple, suspecting that Maria Josepha Bonal might be related to my ggg-father, and guess what I found on her, she's also "hija de padres no conocidos" (parents unknown). Well, that disheartened me a little because I couldn't prove anything. However when I looked at their matrimonial information, I found a letter that the priest wrote about the couple. In that letter, he still writes that Maria Josepha Bonal is daughter of unknown parents and there's something crossed out after that statement. When I zoomed into the image, I was able to read what the priest tried to cross out: "criada en la casa de Nicolas Bonal y de Juana Maria Perez" (raised in the house of Nicolas Bonal and Juana Maria Perez). Here's the link to this image if you want to read it: https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1-18698-24217-39?cc=1874591&wc…

Interestingly, this couple, Nicolas Bonal and Juana Maria Perez, are also the godparents of another of my ggg-father's children. And also, they appear as the godparents on Maria Josepha Bonal's marriage. Did the priest just try to cross out a mistake he wrote? Were they really the step parents of Maria Josepha Bonal and the priest decided, after writing the names, that that was too much information? I hope my message was not confusing. There's enough proof that all these people knew each other. I understand that there's no proof for what I'm about to write, but I have a feeling that my ggg-father Francisco Bonal got his surname from this crossed out couple. No, I'm not writing this on my family file yet, but I can't stop thinking about this.

What do you think?

Steve in NC.

Hi Steve,

I'd like to give an opinion based on how I've tried to compile my tree. I have come to some opinions of who and what should be on my tree by godparents and assuming things from the records I read. Ultimately, I decided not to build my tree on conjectures, because I want it to out live me, and I would like to pass something along that is as accurate as I can possibly make it. It's a question, I think, you have to ask yourself. How accurate do you want your tree to be?

I have seen what you have described with your 3X gr grandfather in the records I'm looking through for Tepetongo in Zacatecas. Not that unusual, but often the children were left at the doorsteps of the people who they've taken their surnames from. It may be because the birth mother decided to leave her child at the real father's door step or perhaps the birth mother knew this family was well off enough to take care of the child, can't say for sure. In Tepetongo, their was a Gertrudis del Muro, who had a couple of children left at her doorstep. Later, I found she was a benefactor of the church and town. Probably why children were left at her door.

Also, "criada" could mean she worked as a servant in the home.

Thanks,
Barbara

Genealogy Research