Leonardo Escalante….I didn’t know much about him when I started this journey. What I’ve heard from my grandfather, Albert, is that he remembers travelling on a wagon to get supplies with his dad. He was little, but it must have been a wonderful memory. And that is the only memory I’ve really heard. But what about his background? Where did Leonardo settle down? His avoidance of being in any census made me wary of his profession once I found it. What exactly would I find?

Luckily for me, when I was looking for his sister, Anna Romo, in the 1900 Census, my brain turned on. I decided to browse around and see who Anna’s neighbors were. And then, the blinders came off. Her next door neighbors in 1900 were none other than “Leonardo Scanlant” and his family. Ah ha! Awesome! And boy…. that really IS being close to your sister.

Leonardo living next door to his sister’s family in Hueneme Township 1900. Courtesy of ancestry.com.

So much information in one place! And kindly enough, a list of the children in birth order. Lovely. They appear to have come to the United States in 1898. The census tells us that Leonardo is a Farm Laborer, along with David Romo, at this time. It would be interesting to know whom he worked for. They seem to know The Gonzalez family well, as they were godparents to several of the children. The Gonzalez’ were California born. They worked as laborers who eventually end up with their own ranch. Eduardo Gonzalez is a Horse Trainer the last time he is on a census.

**Fascinating female trivia: The cenus asked quite personal questions. How many children have you had? How many are still alive? Anna had 9 babies, but only 3 living. Amado, the baby, dies before they leave Ventura County. Rufina had 6 babies, with 5 still living. Rumor had it that Maria was a twin. Maybe that was the baby who died. Sister-in-law tensions could have been high where one woman was more successful in her childbearing than the other.**

It seems that everyone is working differently in a meager 10 years. The 1910 Census finds Leonardo’s family in Santa Paula, CA. He is a few doors down from the Romo family. Leonardo is no longer working on the farm. He owns a pool hall.

In the last decade, three more babies came into the picture. Jose, the eldest son, has left the home. Leonardo Sr is the owner of a Pool Room. His son, Leonardo Jr, owns his own Barber Shop. On the form you will see “OA” next to their names. This indicates they are “working on their own account.” This is amazing news. David Romo is the manager of a Pool Room. Can you get an idea of who he works for? And David Jr is a barber in his own right as well.

City directories are becoming popular. And now my great-grandfather is no longer shy about being found.

Leonardo Sr and Jr at their respective businesses in Santa Paula, CA 1910.

Interesting factoid: The Pool Room and Barber Shop took up the same space. (Calling the health inspector!).

One of the last things I found on Leonardo in Ventura County was a bill of sale between Leonardo with Rufina and Simon Cohn. Cohn purchased a lot in Colonia from the two in September, 1910, for $10 in gold coin. They had been property owners as well. Hard work paying off? Inheritance money from his parents? (More on this theory when I discuss Anna Romo in Ventura County. She bought quite a bit of property with quite a bit of gold.)

Leonardo and Rufina selling land to Simon Cohn, Colonia, CA.

Then, they leave.

What happens to make both families, with successful business opportunities, leave their homes of over 10 years? I have no idea. I’ve read that Santa Paula was going through a Mexican backlash by the 1920s. It must have been something quite profound to get them out of their social group to move down the coast.

The youngest child, Fernando, was born in Los Angeles in 1914. Leonardo died in New Delhi, Orange County, CA (now Santa Ana/Tustin area) in 1915 of tuberculosis. Rufina and her 9 children were near the Romos for approximately 4 more years. And then the the story changed. Again.

For the longest time in my searching I figured Leonardo Escalante was an only child. No family member had ever told me differently. We usually see our genesis story as “it begins with two people.” I knew they were. To find anything else though was difficult. My great-grandfather didn’t leave many clues for me to follow. I was starting to think he avoided government forms or was always on the move. I later discovered that it was the census takers inability to spell Escalante properly that was the difficulty.

For a while there, I had been caught in the ease of online document hunting. I was also at a research stand still so I did some old fashioned work. I requested Tia Panchita’s certificate of baptism from Santa Clara Church, Oxnard, CA.

Her godfather was the same as my grandfathers’, Eduardo Gonzalez (of Gonzalez Road, Oxnard, CA fame). But her godmother was a woman named Anna Romo. Who?? Well, now. Isn’t that odd? And how fun! I could investigate a new person.

Back on Ancestry, I dug up Anna Romo. I found several forms on her. I even managed to find this tiny picture of her, at age 79. The best surprise was that her full name was Anna Escalante de Romo! She was Leonardo’s sister.

Ana’s travel manifest from 1941.

Be still my investigative heart! Now that she was family, I could order her death certificate. That form was another wealth of information. Anna Romo died at the home of her sister, Maria Ramirez de Barbachano. Maria was listed as half-sister. In a very short span of time Leonardo had two sisters. The family tree just got fuller.

Ana Escalante was born in 1862 in Hermosillo. Leonardo came next in 1866. Not too long after, their father dies. Their mother, Mariana, remarries Juan Ramirez. They have a daughter together, Maria Lucia Ramirez born in 1870.

Maria in Mexico. Probably before her marriage.

Anna married David Romo. They left Sonora and moved to Ventura County, CA where they lived for almost 20 years. They later moved to Orange County, CA. Leonardo loved this sister. He and his family followed. Maria married Manuel Barbachano. He was in charge of the San Pedro Custom House in northern Sonora. Later they moved to San Diego where he was in charge of customs at Tiajuana.

Due to Leonardo’s early death in 1915, his children never met their Tia Maria. The Escalantes and the Romos knew each other very well, especially the older children. However, my grandfather never mentioned them. I’d bet money though, he named one of his sons after Rodolfo Romo,  who would have been his playmate and friend as they were around the same age.

I do believe that Leonardo had more siblings. I haven’t found them yet,  but they are out there some where. If anyone who reads this can give me a few hints, I’d love to follow up.

I started the Escalante Family journey 3 years after my grandfather died. My need for connection to his roots started growing after he was no longer available to answer all of my questions. Then I remembered that in the 7th grade I had done a report on him and his family. I had even gone far enough to record the conversation on cassette tape. Antiquated technology? Yes. But now, it’s a treasure.

I had asked him some very basic questions at the time. Who were your parents? Where were they from? Who were your siblings? And that became the foundation of all future research.

Our beginning starts with my great-grandfather, Leonardo Escalante. He was born in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico, in 1866. His parents were Leonardo Escalante and Mariana Bustamante. [One thing you will find here are many Leonardos, but try to stick with me.]

My great-grandmother is Rufina Valenzuela de Escalante. She was born in 1868 in San Pedro Palominas, Sonora, Mexico. Her parents were Guadalupe Valenzuela and Francisca Moreno.

Having worked on this history for almost 30 years, I have seen how many people focus on the paternal line of a family. I give big shout outs to the women in my family. I love Leonardo, but he couldn’t have those 9 children on his own, now could he? And from those 9, holy moly! There are a plethora of us thanks to Rufina.

Caveat: I am not one to invent history where I cannot find it. This is probably one of the reasons I’ve gotten only so far. There are many an Escalante’s in the pages of Mexican history. But unless I can find specific links, I can’t claim them. My mantra is “if you want to be related to someone famous, go get famous. Just don’t get infamous.” 🙂

So here are Leonardo and Rufina in pictures. I hope one day to find a clear picture of Rufina, but as of now, this is what we have.

Rufina with her three youngest children (L to R): Lupe, Fernando and Alberto.

I will limit my findings to their 9 children and some of their grandchildren that have passed on. I want to give those living relatives their privacy. So hopefully, you know to which child you are related. You can choose from:  Jose Maria, Leonardo, Jr., Carlos, Ruben, Maria, Francisca, Alberto, Guadalupe and Fernando.