As a family historian, I have been really fortunate to have access to various internet tools to get this job done. It was much harder “back in the day” when you had to guess dates and send away for paper hard copies from state agencies.
Recently, I got connected with several new-to-me family members via Facebook. When I see they have old pictures of their family posted, who also happen to by MY family as well, my heart gets all race-y, like I’ve been doing aerobics, but without all the sweating.
So this week, I have seen on Facebook a few Palacios family members. I know of them because Tio Ruben married into their family. I even have them listed on my tree on Ancestry because I love making branches bigger.
But two things happened that have changed my “oh-so-well-thought-out” theory of family lines. I saw a picture of the Palacios family, and Ancestry released 200 million new documents from Mexico. My theory was shattered. So here is the rewrite.
Francisco Palacios was the son of Jesus Palacios and Consuelo Soltero. He was born around 1873 in Phoenix, AZ.
Francisco Palacios. Photo Courtesy of L. Escalante.
He married Herminia Sanchez in Santa Ana, Sonora, Mexico. Here is a picture of her on a Travel Manifest from 1927.
Herminia Sanchez de Palacios, 1927.
Tia Cuca Palacios-Escalante’s nephew had a great picture of his family on his page. It’s this one. He let me borrow it. (Thank you Ramon)
The Palacios Family. (Back row (L-R) Chuy Estrada, Victoria Valencia, Dolores Figueroa, Francisco Palacios, Jose Cruz Palacios, Armida Valenzuela, Francisco Fernandez, Maria Montijo, and Cuca Escalante. The lady sitting on left, I could not find a name for. Herminia is sitting on right.
These were Herminia’s children, minus two, not in the picture. I thought it was odd that Armida was in there, as I had always thought she was Francisco Sr’s sister. I HAD thought she was Tia Cuca’s aunt. Thanks to the new documents I could now find, I discovered the truth!
Civil Registration of Jose Maria Valenzuela and Armida Palacios’ wedding. March 2, 1914.
She is Tia Cuca’s sister. AND she was married to Jose Maria Valenzuela (Rufina’s brother). What this means for me is that her children were first cousins to my Grandfather Alberto. WHAT??? According to the above document (and a little help from spanishdict.com), Jose Maria was a widower. He was 38 years-old when he married his 16 year-old bride, Armida. She was young when she was married! Here is her dashing older husband.
Jose Maria Valenzuela’s travel manifest, 1927.
This explains how Ruben met his wife in Santa Ana, Sonora. He must have gone to see his uncle. And met the lovely Palacios daughters and brought one home.
Tia Cuca and Tio Ruben’s wedding day. Matron of Honor: Francisca Escalante de Garcia. Best Man: Alberto Escalante. If anyone knows the little girls names, please tell me.
But this was a difficult new idea to wrap my brain around. I stayed up late a few nights trying to draw the following diagram. It should really be 3-D. But this is the best I could do.
The Valenzuela Family Tree.
Now I am hoping that Palacios cousins will look at this and give me some feedback. But, if I have this right, Ruben was first cousin to Armida’s children AND their uncle by marriage. I guess I can now call her Tia Armida, as she is my great-great-aunt. I don’t know if Armida’s family was close to her other sisters-in-law, Guadalupe V de Garcia or Margarita V de Samaniego. Anybody? Anybody?
There was a tradition in the 1940s-1950s in our extended families. When couples were transitioning to new circumstances, such as new marriages or moving, many children were sent to live with other relations. My aunt was sent to live with Tia Chuy Palacios Estrada for a while. The general idea had been Tia Chuy was just sweet to take the girls in. However, if Armida was Alberto’s aunt, then the Palacios family was our family too.
I must take this moment to once again mention that none of these details were known to my mom or aunt. I did go with my parents to interview Tia Cuca in 1991. I trusted that my Spanish-speaking elders would tell me any vital information I might need to know. This information is on the tape. You can even hear acknowledgement from them, but no one mentioned it to me. So, I had to wait 25 years to discover it on my own. Thank you, thank you very much.
Francisco Palacios died in 1940. I found his Death Registration today.
Death Registration of Francsico Palacios, 1940.
I have much of this information fleshed out on my Escalante family tree on Ancestry. If I have it wrong (gulp), any help would be so very greatly appreciated. While I work to be annoyingly careful on who gets on the tree, I can obviously make mistakes. It did not occur to me that Tia Armida would have been so young when she married. [My paternal grandmother was 13 when she married. Shaking my head at a rookie mistake.]
BUT, it sure made for a fun week of searching and connecting the dots. All over again.
tneranch 
Love your blog! So many twists and turns in those branches!
Thank you! For reading AND for letting me bounce crazy theories off of you. 🙂
Do I fit on the Branch anywhere?
Hello! If you could tell me who your grandparents are I am sure we can find a branch for you. 🙂
I am related to you!!
How wonderful! I am so glad you found this blog site. My mom, Edith Escalante, loves her Tia Cuca and Tia Chuy. She misses the times where the families would get together.
Hola somos nietas de José cruz palacios Sánchez
Welcome! I am happy you came to look around.
COMO PODEMOS ENCONTRARTE EN FACEBOOK ? SOY NIETA DE JOSE CRUZ PALACIOS SANCHEZ Y ESTAMOS EN ENSENADA BAJA CALIFORNIA.
Hello! I am on Facebook! Edwina Kersten. I am friends with Ramon Palacios, Manuela Toledo, or Leonardo Escalante. 🙂
Hello! I am so sorry for seeing your post so late. I hope you are well. I would love to chat with you if you have any questions!
Hello, my Grama Francisca (panchita)
And my tia Cuca were sisters, so that makes us familia . Jesse Fernandez Palacios.
Hello Jesse, I’m so glad to meet you. I hope you find this interesting. My family tree has bloomed. Let me know if I can answer any questions you have. Your cousin, Edwina
este documento es un invaluable tesoro de nuestros ansestros aqui son nuestras raices compartan familia!!de donde venimos!!los quiero familia.
Thank you so much, Ramon.
Hola soy Armida Palacios Cervantes hija menor de Guillermo Palacios Sanchez hermano de mi tía cuca de Mexicali gracias por tu información y dedicación a este bella historia .
Hola, Armida! Thank you for reading. I am so grateful for your kind words.
Edwina, my name is Elvia Estrada my brother Edward our father is Jose Cruz palacios our mother was Emma sepulveda from Santa Ana Sonora my mom was born 1927 my brother and I were born 1952 and 1954 we both live in California .
Elvia, Thank you so much for sharing your information with me. I will update my family tree. If you see any large holes in my list of family, please let me know! I want to make sure that I give accurate information. 🙂
Hi,
My grandfather was Jose Cruz Palacios Sanchez and my grandmother was Eliza Montes Rodriguez. They had 5 children. His daughter, Xochitl Palacios Montes, is my mother.
I started a Family Tree on ancestry and took the DNA test. We should connect the family history and continue to add accordingly.
“Garcia Palacios Family Tree”
I used a couple of your pictures:)
Thank you!
Hello there!
Thank you so much for reaching out. I would LOVE to look at your tree. Working takes time away from my researching. 🙂
Any help you can give with my tree would be very much appreciated.
Edwina
Hopefully this will get a response! My maternal grandfather’s name was Librado Palacios Garcia. After doing research via my great grand mother (Viviana Garcia Palacios) I found my great great great grandfather, Nasario Sanchez Palacios he was married to Rafaela Herrera Chapa and they had six children. I’m related via Imeldo Palacios. Does this ring a bell with anyone? They lived in Zapata, TX.
My goodness. I think you may be part of my family tree. My grandparents are both Palacio(s). Similar to your story, my grandfather went to visit family and came back with a wife. I say Palacio(s) because my grandparent’s fathers were brothers but one went by Palacio and the other Palacios. (It was something that they did to sound more Saxon). They had a sister, can’t remember her first name but she married and became a Diaz. They are from Hermosillo, Sonora.
Please do contact me missbarron83@yahoo.com