The third Escalante child was Maria Escalante. Maria was supposedly a twin. For the longest time I thought Maria was twins with Lupe, but that proved not to be the case. On the 1900 US Census, it stated that one of Rufina’s children had died already, maybe it was Maria’s twin that passed.

Be that as it may, Maria was the only girl in the family until 1903 when Panchita was born. She was the only girl in the Romo family too, now that I think about it. She followed her family as her siblings had done. Between the time her dad died in 1915 through 1917, she got married. Her husband was Gabriel Morales. Gabriel was born in Guadalajara, Jalisco. He was an attorney.

The two settled into domestic life and started having children. According to her Travel Manifest, dated 1928, her children were born: Helen (1917), Leonardo and Mary Luisa (1919), Arcelia (1924), and Gabriel (1926). She and her husband live in many different places, including Los Angeles, Mexicali, Jacumba, CA.

By 1926, Gabriel was making a name for himself in the Mexicali political world. In a November, 1926 article in “Heraldo de Mexico,” there was a discussion about the electric company wanting to leave Mexicali. “Mr. Gabriel Morales, Secretary of the Municipality” was quoted in the article.

Gabriel Morales 1926

In January 1927, the newspaper was relieved to find Mr. Morales was recuperating from a dislocation injury he suffered on New Year’s Eve, 1927, with friends and family at a ballroom.

gabrieljan151927

He is quite busy. March 1927 finds him returning on business from Mexico City.

His above manifest stated that his occupation was a lawyer. A District Attorney in Baja California, to be more specific. According to the newspaper, he went as “Secretary of the City Council.”

Gabriel was also mentioned in an article from a situation that takes place in July 1927. It involved his sister-in-law, Lupe, and his brother-in-law, Albert. But that ordeal will take several posts to get through.

June 1928 is the last time we see Gabriel mentioned in relation to Mexicali political business. He decided not to run in a district election.

Gabriel, June 1928

Eventually, the Morales’ moved to Mexico City. We know a little about what the family was doing because Tia Panchita went to visit her sister often. On a visit to Mexico City, Panchita’s second son, Ruben, died when he was about 3 or 4. When Maria’s son, Leonardo (yes, named after her father), went to medical school, Panchita made sure her son, Oscar, did the same.

Then one day, her son, Leonardo showed up to visit.

He was visiting Tio Ruben and Tia Cuca in Mexicali. One fascinating item on his manifest is “Sepulveda-Escalante” as a secondary name. What?? Did Gabriel Sr. die and Maria remarry??

In 1944, Arcelia Morales comes to visit Tio Ruben and Tia Cuca as well.

Wasn’t she lovely?  She stated her father is Gabriel Morales. She stated her mother was Maria Escalante, but that Maria was dead. That would have Maria dying in her 40s. The manifest stated that Arcelia wanted to stay in Mexicali permanently. I don’t think she did.

The last visit we see from one of Maria’s children was when Leonardo visited once again in 1950.

Leonardo was now a full medical doctor on his own. He was visiting. He was now married to Alicia Vildosola. If Leonardo stayed in the area, there was no further documentation. And the same with Areclia.

The Morales’ had established a life in Mexico City. It sounds as if several of the children wanted to come and reconnect with their Escalante family members. Did the other three children die early? Are their offspring living on in Mexico City?

Maria managed a family of 5 children and an educated husband with an active political career. She was a role model to her younger sister. She worked to educate her children for a better life back in the country from which her parents had come.