Manuel Flores and Manuela Vera are my mother’s parents.
I found it difficult to document their lives. There are fewer records and less mentions in the newspaper. What I do have is a living witness to their lives, my mother. The clues she provided sent me in directions I would never have found on my own.
My Mother provided me my initial starting points:
· Manuel’s mother, Pascuala, lived in KCMO
· Manuels’ mother, Pascuala, was married to Manuela’s brother Pedro
· She recalled an Aunt Nicolasa who lived a street or two over
· She recalled Anastasia Rodarte and her children
· She believes Manuela had several brothers
I struggled a long time to understand the relationship Manuel and Manuela had before their marriage. My Mother jokes that “she is her own Grandma”. The easiest description of their relationship is that before Manuel’s Mother Pascuala became my Grandmother Manuela’s mother-in-law, she was my grandmother’s sister-in-law. See what I mean about confusing.
My process for researching has me going all over the place. Different types of records, different times, new people, missing people, and conflicting data. Besides having fewer records, the discrepancies in those records made it confusing to determine the facts. So confusing that I will present most of the information as it is on the documents and then present what I think is the likely truth.
The first record I have is the 1910 Census. On this record Pedro Vera (Manuel’s stepfather) is identified as a recent immigrant living in Florence, KS. Florence is about 40 miles northeast of Wichita. I had never heard of this town having any family history. Also on the record are Pedro’s wife, Pascuala, and two children. Manuel and Jesus.
1910 Census - Pedro and Pascuala Vera
The names, ages and sex of the children align with my grandfather (Manuel) and his sister Jesus (Jessie or Aunt Jay). The last name of all family members is recorded as Vera. But later records correct Manuel and Jesus surname to be Flores. The family is shown to have immigrated in 1909. Pedro’s job is shown as Rock Crusher. Also living in the home are Pedro’ brother-in-law, Angel Rios (Pascuala’s Brother) and probably his wife, another Pascuala.
Note: Several relatives share the same name and can be confusing. I will differentiate by adding a relation after these name reference to my grandparents Manuel and Manuela. For example, Manuel’s Mother, Manuel’s Uncle, Manuel’s Son.
Florence, KS was a railroad town. Investors developed the town in anticipation of the railroad planning a necessary stop for services. There is also a quarry in the area that needed labor to take advantage of the railroad transportation options.
Here are links to articles and news broadcast about Florence history.
Legends of Kansas - Florence, KS
KAKE Wichita - Florence's Latino roots followed the railroads
My first records of the Vera/Flores in Kansas City is a marriage license for Pedro and Pascuala dated 3/13/1914.
Marriage Application - Pedro and Pascuala 3/31/1914
Marriage License – 3/31/1914 Pascuala and Pedro
There is one immigration record of Manuela Vera crossing the border on 9/18/1916. She was accompanied by her mother, Anastacia Guerrera. I determined that Manuela’s parents were Clemente Vera and Anastasia Guerrera. I will cover this discovery of them in later in this blog.
Immigration – Manuela Vera, border crossing
I was unable to locate a marriage record for Manuel and Manuela. Considering they lived on the Westside I expected to find a marriage license from Jackson County, MO. I uncovered other Westside relatives who married at other locations. This includes locations such as Belton, MO in Cass County and Olathe, KS. I haven’t been able to figure out why this would occur. Mom believes it might have had something to do with how quickly a license could be obtained. If you have any idea post a comment! Mom is not certain but remembers a wedding anniversary date of June 22nd. She does not remember the year. She recalls seeing it on a paper in her grandmothers’ drawer. Are those records still in the family? Possibly with Aunt Jay’s (Manuel’s sister) family?
The 1920 Census has Manuel Flores and Manuela Vera living on the Westside at 2126 Terrace St, Kansas City, MO. They are in the home of Pedro and Pascuala and their other children Jesus, Joe, Beatrice, and Alfonso.
This is a confusing record because Manuel and Manuela are not identified as a married couple. Manuel is 18 and Manuela 17. According to their son Refugio death certificate, he was born in 1919. But there is no record of him in the 1920 Census.
Also confusing is Manuela is identified as the daughter of Pedro Vera. The age difference between Pedro and Manuela makes this possible, but other records make this unlikely.
There are many discrepancies between records. Especially with the name, age, and immigration year. I wonder what it was like for immigrants to be interviewed for the census in 1920. There must have been language barriers. Was there some hiding of the truth or deception on the part of our relatives?
Joe and Beatrice became known to me as my mother’s Uncle Joe and Aunt Bea. They are Manuel’s half-siblings. Both had interesting lives as musical performers. My mother had interactions with them into her adult life. I discovered that Alfonso died a few months after the 1920 census.
Death Certificate: Alfonso Vera 6/22/1920
It was frustrating to not find a 1930 census record for Manuel and Manuela Flores. Although I did find records for many of their other relatives. Including Pascuala and Pedro, Jessie and her husband Seferino, Bea, and Joe.
Manuel and Manuela’s children are:
Refugio 4/15/1919 – 4/5/1940
Isabel 3/25/1922 – 1/9/2010
Emily 10/25/1924 – 6/20/1925
Margaret 6/11/1926 – 10/15/2010
Amelia 8/10/1929 -
Polly 6/16/1931 – 10/15/2013
Manuel 11/18/1933 – 5/20/2008
My mother had no awareness of Emily before I found the death certificate. Surprisingly my mother Amelia would use the nickname Emily.
Death Certificate – Emily Vera 6/20/1925
Manuela died on 12/1/1933. Her date of birth on this certificate is difficult to read but appears to be February 29, 1906. Her headstone shows a birth year of 1902. Neither was a leap year. I could not find any Mexican records for her birth which is unfortunate since I believe I found records for her brothers. If you have another source for Manuela’s birth please share it with me! My mother believes her mother Manuela's birthday is February 28, 1902.
Death Certificate – Manuela Flores 12/1/1933
Manuela died from Tuberculosis. The terrible disease affected other family members as well and was the cause of death for her son Refugio. Manuela had given birth to her youngest son Manuel 13 days prior to her death. The death certificate indicates she was under care of the physician from 11/13/1933, a few days before Manuel’s birth. Manuela’s parents are identified as Clemente Florez and Anastacia Gonzalez. I believe the first names are correct, but the last names are not. The information on the certificate was provided by a clerk at the hospital she died at.
Refugio Flores died 6 months prior to the birth of his son, Refugio Flores Jr. Refugio was married to Mercedes Lara. I found no marriage certificate for them in Jackson County. Mom remembers her brother’s funeral service at her Aunt Jay’s home. He had glass covering his coffin because of his TB.
Death Certificate – Refugio Flores 4/5/1940
Obituary – Refugio Flores
The 1940 Census records Manuel and his children living at 909 23rd Street, KCMO. Manuel’s occupation is listed as a trucker at a freight depot. My Mother remembers this home. It was near Our Lady of Guadalupe Church and School. The members of the family at this residence and their ages on the record are:
Manuel 38
Isabell 18
Margaret 13
Amelia 10
Polly 8
Manuel 6
1940 Census - Manuel Flores and family
Manuel’s mother, Pascaula, passed away in 1944. Pascaula lived at 2337 Jarboe. My mother remembers living at her home. Pedro left sometime after the 1930 Census. Most likely he returned to Mexico. My Mom does not remember ever seeing him. Mom recalls writing letters on her Grandma Pascuala’s behalf to her husband, but as far as she knows there was never a response.
Obituary - 3/4/1944 Pascuala Vera
Death Certificate – Pascuala Vera 3/2/1944
From later records associated with Manuel’s death in Chicago, it was identified that Manuel’s parents were Refugio Flores and Pascuala Rios. It was a surprise to learn the name of Manuel’s father. But it does explain why Manuel named his first son Refugio. It is uncertain why, but Manuel left Kansas City for Chicago around 1943. He remained in Chicago and my mom remembers rare visits from him in those years after he left Kansas City.
Death Record – Manuel Flores, Cook County, IL
Obituary – 8/30/1963 - Manuel Flores
Manuel, Manuela, and Refugio are buried at Mount Saint Mary’s Cemetery in Kansas City. Manuela and Refugio are buried in the same gravesite. Several other of their family members are buried in this cemetery.
Headstone – Manuela and Refugio Flores
Headstone - Pascuala R Vera
By the early 1940s, my mother Amelia recalls her grandmother Pascuala was in poor health. With her mother and older brother deceased, her older sisters hospitalized, and her father absent, my mother and her younger siblings were placed in orphanages. Mom and Polly were in the St. Joseph Orphan Girls Home. Her brother Manuel was in a boys orphanage. My mom does not recall why, but Polly did not stay at the orphanage very long. My mother remained in orphanage facilities until high school graduation.
The following are my Mother Amelia’s memories:
She went to St. Joseph Orphan Girls Home around 4th grade
She was sent to boarding school at St. Peter's in Joplin, MO for high school
She returned to St. Joseph's her senior year to attend Redemptorist HS. Graduating in 1948
First home she remembers was at 909 West 23rd Steet, near Our Lady of Guadalupe Church
Second home was in basement of house on Jarboe. A few houses from her Grandmother Pascuala and Aunt Jesus
Third home was her Grandmother Pascuala’s at 2329 Jarboe. Aunt Jessie lived at 2337 Jarboe
She and her younger siblings attended school at Our Lady of Guadalupe. She was in an “open air’ classroom. They wore coats. This was most likely because of TB concerns.
A nun at school would sometimes give her food to take back to Isabel, who was ill at home.
Boxes of food would occasionally be brought to house. Possibly some kind of social services
Uncle Joe Vera (Manuel’s half-brother) and wife wanted to adopt Polly, but Manuel objected.
During her senior year (1947/1948) at Redemptorist HS, she stayed with Anastasia and/or Nicolasa over a weekend.
Across the street from Pascuala lived two people who would be important to her life. One was Zenaida Quiones and the other Anna Diaz.
Zenaida was one of my Mom's best friends. She became more affectionately known as Sadie Espinoza. Sadie’s brother Sam would marry mom's sister Margaret.
Anna Diaz is more affectionately known as Annie Villanueva. Anna married my father’s brother Elias.
Extended Family
Immigration records provided much information about what I believe are the birthplaces of Manuel and Manuela. These records also provided information about Manuela’s parents and siblings.
Starting with Manuel’s sister Jesus, her husband applied for citizenship and documented his wife’s birth and immigration. From these we learn that Jesus (Aunt Jay) was born in at Minillas de Tlacates, Zacatecas, MX and entered at El Paso, TX in August 1908.
Immigration – Seferino Montoya
Nicolasa Vera lived on the Westside in 1940 at 2325 Monitor PL, two blocks from my mother. Nicolasa also applied for citizenship. From her application her birth name was Nicolasa Baron. She was married to Valentine Vera. They eventually divorced, but on his application from 1950 he provides his birth place as Zacatecas, MX. Interestingly, Valentine’s birthday is February 14, 1892. In 1950 he is married to his second wife, Dominga. Valentine reports his entrance into the United States on August 23, 1915. My mother Amelia was familiar with his three older children, Anastasia, Rafael, and Harriet.
Immigration – Nicolasa Vera
Immigration – Valentine Vera
I then looked for death records for Valentine and hit the gold mine! Valentine died on March 27, 1952. His obituary identified four surviving brothers:
Clemente Vera Colorado
Serapio Vera Ontario, CA
Julio Vera Oakland, CA
Peter Vera Mexico
Obituary – 3/28/1952 - Valentine Vera
Obituary – 3/29/1952 - Valentine Vera
At the beginning of this article I said that Manuel’s stepfather was Pedro, married to Pascuala. I also said that Pedro left Pascuala and it was thought that he returned to Mexico, as my mother recalled writing letters on behalf of her grandmother. Additionally, there were family folklore that some of the brothers had moved on to California. This obituary seemed to confirm both of these!
I researched each of these brothers for births, baptisms, and marriages in Mexico. I was able to find this data in Mexican church and civil records:
Pedro Vera DOB 1/31/1889
Valentine Vera DOB 2/14/1892
Clemente Vera DOB 11/23/1894
Serapio Vera DOB 11/14/1896
Julio Vera DOB 8/24/1899
There were others, some who passed away in Mexico. All of these were the children of Clemente Vera and Anastasia Guerrero.
Clemente and Anastatia were married January 2, 1877
Clemente’s parents are Victor Parga and Maria Paz Vera.
Anastasia’s parents are Francisco Guerrero and Augustina Casteneda.
There are immigration records of Clemente crossing the border a few times. He brought grandchildren across the border so they could be with their parents. I have been able to follow these relatives on their eventual move to California.
I have been unable to find death or burial information for my great grandparents Clemente or Anastasia.
My final opinion:
Manuela Vera Flores 9/28/1902 - 12/1/1933 place of birth Guadalupe, ZAC, MX
Manuel Flores 12/10/1901 - 8/30/1963 place of birth Minillas, ZAC, MX
Minillas and Guadalupe are a little over 10 miles apart.
I will make additional Vera documents available in a separate blog.
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