Babilonia Family History

Miguel Angel Delis Babilonia (1933-2011)

2011-10-17T13:02:00.000-07:00

I'm saddened by the recent passing of a cousin, Miguel Delis Babilonia. I was fortunate to meet him and other family members through his nephew, the photographer and videographer Robert Babilonia, late of Washington DC. Miguel had a career in education, serving as principal and administrator of schools. He was of medium height and slight build, with black hair that contrasted with his skin, and it was impossible to tell exactly how old Miguel was.

The first time we met was when my husband and I traveled to Hato Rey to meet his mother, Rosairis, a vivacious woman in her 80s, who graciously sustained a conversation full of genealogical questions. Miguel cared for her, and I learned more about the Babilonias who settled in Quebradillas in the 1880s. Rosaris told me that the Estrella family came from Spain, then to Santo Domingo and on to Puerto Rico, where they established themselves in Camuy. Her grandmother, Jacinta Amalia Estrella Ostache (b.1850) was the first generation born in Camuy, and she married Manuel Miguel Astolfo Babilonia Talavera (1854-1926). He was my greatgrandfather Alicides' brother.

Miguel and his sister Katri both answered a question I was long curious about, why did Rodofito (as Manuel Miguel Astolfo was known) move east, away from Moca? Katri explained that Jacinta's father, d. Jose Cayetano Estrella Pallan was against slavery. Already a widower, he purchased slaves in order to secure their freedom, and was jailed along with them for it. Miguel told me that Rodolfito broke with his family over slavery, and moved east. There is a document in PARES that announces his appointment and transfer as a teacher to Trujillo Alto until that November, when he was relocated to Quebradillas. So it seems work and political beliefs blended in his leaving Moca for the east central area of the island. Unfortunately, Alicides remained stuck between pride and racist beliefs, preferring to acknowledge to his granddaughter that 'he used to own that family', after returning a passerby's good morning.

QEPD Miguel. I'll miss you.

Ambrosio Alicides Babilonia Talavera (1860-1951)

2011-05-30T09:48:00.000-07:00

It's great to connect with family, and there are always surprises. Yesterday, my cousin Amindra sent me a photograph of our Great Grandfather, Ambrosio Alicides Babilonia Talavera (7 Dec 1860-12 Jul 1951). His photograph lends a sense of what I learned of him, not the easiest person to deal with, despite the sweet first name, which he never used. A very proud man, always suited and wearing a tie.

Pedro Miguel Antonio Babilonia Talavera, his brother and brother in law, visited him almost daily before he died in 1947. Miguel (18 Nov 1867-16 Feb 1947) served as Alcalde of Moca in the early years of the twentieth century, and had a large family of 15 children with Monserrate Ramos Rosado (b.1876). Alicides only had 11 children with Maria Concepcion 'Concha' Lopez Ramirez (1863-3 Jan 1925); although they divorced, they lived next door to each other, she taking care of the girls, he the boys, until she died suddenly of a stroke. It was so sudden, they arranged her on a chair, got a photographer to take her last picture. I don't know if the image exists still, but this was a large photo in an oval frame, probably beneath a convex glass. She wore a long skirt and held a fan in one hand.

My grandfather, Felix Alicides or 'Alicidito' did not win any points for marrying my grandmother, Felicita Rodriguez Vale, a laundress of Taino descent. Both died before Alicides did.

Here he stands in his back yard, next to a young banana tree.

Branches: 5 April 1798 - The death of Cristobal Sotomayor Hernandez

2011-04-05T21:15:00.000-07:00

One of the features that Reunion (my genealogy program) has upon opening is a small window that lists whatever events occurred on this day; this particular one happened 213 years ago.

One of the persons listed was Cristobal Sotomayor Hernandez, born in 1768 in the town of San Sebastian del Pepino and who died on 5 April 1798, in Quebrada Grande, Moca. He married Manuela Lorenzo de Acevedo y Diaz on 8 Jan 1777 in Moca. She's my GGGG grandaunt, daughter of Capt. Juan Lorenzo de Acevedo & Martina Diaz de la Cruz, my 5th Greatgrandparents.

Cristobal was the son of Cristobal de Sotomayor and Rufina Hernandez, born sometime in the 1740s. His parents married in Arecibo, yet his father Cristobal was born in San Sebastian del Pepino (then a ward under the subdivision of Aguada), and his wife Rufina, in Aguada. This is a lot of ground to cover early in the 18th century, and probably involved sailing from one coastal point to another and riding inland. During this period, several Sotomayor clusters existed between Aguada and Arecibo/ Utuado area, possibly connected to those in San Juan.

Cristobal died young, "Fallecio en el sitio examinando Quebrada Grande" (Died at the site while inspecting Big Creek). Quebrada Grande is one of the branches of the Rio Culebrinas that snakes through a small valley near the present day Carretera 110. This snapshot from Google Maps gives an idea of the landscape.

Either he fell in, fell off his horse, or had a heart attack. He was only 30.
He and his wife had ten children.

Children of Cristobal de Sotomayor & Manuela Gonzalez:
Juan
Manuela
Jose Pablo
Manuel
Victorio
Cristobal
Andrea
Ypolita
Dionisio
Juana Maria

They may appear as Soto Acevedo in records for Moca or San Sebastian, rather than Sotomayor y Lorenzo de Acevedo. Cristobal appears as Sotomayor Hernandez in one record and Soto Hernandez in another. However, I haven't located additional records on their children yet, and imagine some of them lived into the 1850s and perhaps beyond.

Cristobal had a brother Mauricio Sotomayor, who was born in Arecibo. Mauricio married Maria Manuela Gonzalez Serrano. Their daughter, Maria de las Flores Sotomayor Gonzalez, wed Agustin Vera de la Rosa. For some reason, their identification changes from 'blancos' to 'pardos libres' to 'blancos' between the parish death records for their children. Previously, Maria de las Flores Sotomayor was incorrectly linked to another Mauricio Sotomayor Velez and his wife Maria Manuela Gonzalez y Ortiz de la Renta, which appears in Ramirez Brau's Origenes Portorriquenos. By cross referencing the available information, I was able to determine that this was the wrong Maurico Soto and Manuela Gonzalez. Still, they're probably cousins.

Sources:
Herman Reichard Sapia, Sotomayor Notebooks, unpublished manuscript, courtesy Dr. Haydee Reichard
Mabel Ruiz Sotomayor & Juan Sotomayor, "Notas sobre Cristobal Sotomayor [1763]" Unpublished transcription of parish records, ca. 1980.
Record transcriptions of San Sebastian marriages by Luis Moreno Perez & Francisco Corretjer MD
Andres Mendez Munoz MD, “Pobladores de San Francisco de la Aguada para comienzos del siglo XVIII.” Hereditas, 4:1 (Abril 2003), 55-71.
Generoso Eduardo Morales Munoz, Fundacion del Pueblo de Lares: anotaciones al expediente. San Juan: Imprentas Venezuela, 1946.
Enrique Ramirez Brau, Origenes Portorriquenos. San Juan: Impresas Baldrich, 1942.

Babilonia Family History

2010-12-14T23:09:00.000-08:00

Am busily finishing up my article, "From Mallorca to Moca, Puerto Rico: The Descendants of Miguel Babilonia Polanco (1741-1813)" for publication in Hereditas. This is the core for the book, which will include more descendants, and will be available for sale to the family in the coming months. More details to follow!

If you're interested in being included, please contact me.

Saludos Navidenos,
Ellen

How Johann Heinrich Wilheim Kleibring Geldmeier became Enrique Kleibring

2009-07-06T16:31:00.000-07:00

Foto Courtesy Kleibring archive, property of Edna Comas, MA

Recently, I encountered another Babilonia relative, a descendant from Tomas Babilonia's line- which made me think about Johann Heinrich Wilheim Kleibring Geldmeier, better known in Puerto Rico as Enrique Kleibring.

Kleibring was born in Oppensdorf in Lubeck in Westphalia Province, Germany on 1 May 1830. Like many relatives, he died of tuberculosis on 5 Feb 1890 in Moca, Puerto Rico, at the relatively young age of 59. His son in law, Tomas Babilonia, reported the death to the Registro Demografico before Judge Antonio Quiros Perez and secretary d. Juan Nepomuceno Miranda.

Kleibring's brief diary has details about his arrival in Puerto Rico. This document, El Diario de Viaje de Heinrich Kleibring was inherited by Edna Comas, MA, directly from her grandmother, Sarito Babilonia Kleibring, Heinrich Kleibring's granddaughter. Ms. Comas has done much to preserve her family's history, and appreciate her willingness to share some of these details with me.

Kleibring departed Germany on the ship Gesina in May 1830 and arrived that June in Puerto Rico to find employment as an ironworker. He worked a year on the Hacienda Maria Josefa owned by Charles Schomburg, and then entered into a partnership with Juan Schroeder, after which he took over the workshop in 1859. What he assembled there later became part of the Central Coloso. He worked there until 1867, when he sold the workshop to the firm of Segura and Robers. Anselmo Vive of Aguadilla, was his apprentice and later became a friend. Also mentioned is Federico Schroder, also born in Oppendorf and a schoolmate, who arrived on the same ship with Kleibring.

From Ramon Lopez, Kleibring purchased the machinery from the Hacienda Buena Esperanza for his Hacienda Enriqueta. Part of these lands probably comprised the former Hacienda Las Palmas, once owned by Jose de Quinones and his descendants. On the land of the Hacienda Enriqueta he built a Criollo colonial style home with hipped roof and balustrades that surrounds the upper level. As for the labor force needed to support the family and business, it required slaves and jornaleros (day laborers). [For more on hacienda housing, see Carol F. Jopling's Puerto Rican Houses in Sociohistorical Perspective. Knoxville: U Tenn. Press, 1988] It is not known if lists for the people who worked the Enriqueta are extant.

On Saturday 11 April 1868 he married Maria de los Dolores Sotomayor Riollano (6 Aug 1851-21 Jul 1884, Moca) when he was 33 and she 17. After her death in 1884, he did not remarry. They only had one daughter, Enriqueta Nicanora Kleibring Sotomayor, born in 1870, who married Tomas Babilonia Talavera in 1888. He lived with his daughter's family until his death at Hacienda Enriqueta in Barrio Palmar. Hacienda Enriqueta, which he named for his daughter, was sold to sugar magnate and financier Alberto Esteves Volkers in 1925, who restored and expanded the property in subsequent decades until 1950, when Esteves moved to Aguadilla. It was sold again in 1967 to Dr. Eleuterio Loperena, who restored the building and maintains Hacienda Enriqueta as a museum.

Enrique Kleibring Geldmeier was part of the history of 19th century German immigration to Puerto Rico. Literate and possessed of mechanical and business skills, he quickly learned Spanish and integrated himself into the early years of the industrial growth of the sugar industry. He never returned to Germany.

You can see a panorama of the ruins of the Central Coloso here

There's also a history of the Central Coloso in Spanish

Link on the Hacienda Enriqueta:

"La presencia germanica en Puerto Rico" by Haydee Reichard de Cancio, PhD:

Tomas Babilonia Talavera & Enriqueta Nicanora Kleibring Sotomayor

2009-04-17T19:06:00.001-07:00

Tomas Babilonia Talavera was my great grandfather's brother, and his first wife, Enriqueta Kleibring Sotomayor is one of my connections to the Sotomayor [often appears as 'Soto' pelao] families of Moca & Aguadilla.

Tomas was much more involved in legal administration, served as a judge and justice of the peace in Moca, in addition to being a hacendado. His signature appears repeatedly in Actas in the Registro Civil in the early 1900s.

Because of his marriage to Enriqueta, he eventually ran Hacienda Enriqueta after the death of her father, Johann Heinrich Wilhelm 'Enrique' Kleibring Goldmeier (1830-1890). Hacienda Enriqueta still exists, owned by Dr. Loperena, on Numero 2, the Old Road between Aguadilla and Moca. [You can even call the Alcaldia in Moca to book a visit- 787-877-3390; Fax 787-877-3560]

In the 1916 book by Sr. Don Arturo Lluveras, Hombres Notables de Puerto Rico y Venezuela: Bocetos Biograficos, is an entry under Aguadilla y sus Hombres.

Sr. Don Tomas Babilonia.

La inmaculada figura del ilustre hombre publico Don Tomas Babilonia, es de estas refinadas entidades que enaltecen la patria de nacimiento, como asimismo los pueblos en donde convivan.

Es un acaudado proprietario, conquistado todo, a fuerza de honradez y constancia, habiendo adquirido ante el mundo, la ciencia y la patria el mas alto credito, debido a sus dotes y a su honradez.

El Sr. Don Tomas Babilonia, goza ante el gobierno del mas alto prestigio, como politicamente hablando, su nombre es un institution, ante la sociedad borincana es altamente querido, primero por sus dotes intelectuales, y ultimo, porque es muy fino y correcto en todos sus actos.

El Sr. Babilonia es un verdadero altruista, amigo de ayudar a todo aquel que luche en pro del progreso y adelantado de la patria, lo demuestra sus alcanses y dotes intelectuales.

En fin, gloria a los que como el Sr. Tomas Babilonia honran a la patria de nacimiento. [30-31]

This doesn't tell us much, save that he knew how to read, and basically was a cultured guy. Together with Enriqueta, the only child of Enrique Kleibring and Maria de los Dolores Sotomayor Riollano, they had 8 children after marrying sometime in 1887:

Maria de los Dolores 'Lola' Babilonia Kleibring b. 1888

nino [parvulo] Babilonia Kleibring b.1889 d. 1889

D0lores Aniceta Babilonia Kleibring

Aurora Pascasia Babilonia Kleibring b. 1891

Maria Luisa Babilonia Kleibring b.1893

Maria del Rosario 'Sarito' Babilonia Kleibring b. 1894

Rosa Carlina Babilonia Kleibring b. 1896

Tomas E. Babilonia Kleibring b. 1901

In 1910, they lived on Calle Victoria in Barrio Santa Barbara, Aguadilla, where Tomas appears as Agricultor, along with his wife and children, and a criada (servant), Ricarda Gonzalez Cordero, 15.

On 5 December 1914, Enriqueta died of a kidney infection, and left with small children, Tomas sought another wife.

he married Aurelia Fradela Quinones of San German and lived on Calle Jose Barbosa 74, next door to my great grandfather, Alicides Babilonia Talaver.

Tomas & Aurelia had three children:

Concepcion Babilonia Fradela b. 1919

Joffre (1923-1987)

Purin

Also in their home were two servants; one a sister of my grandmother Felicita Rodriguez Vale, named Evangelista, who worked as a cook, and Juana Cardona Rivera age 12 in 1930. Tomas died of a combination of illnesses, hepatitis, a week of enterocolitis and three days of malarial fever on 10 September 1933.

I thought Tomas would be buried in the old cemetery of Moca, now gone, but while visiting the Old Cemeterio Municipal of Aguadilla, I found his resting place in a mausoleum of his first wife, Enriqueta, that overlooks the ocean.

Foto de Tomas y Enriqueta courtesia de Edna Comas

Foto del mausoleo, Ellen Fernandez-Sacco, 2006.

A family treasure (...memoria, no plata)

2009-03-19T22:39:00.000-07:00

A worn Spanish coin from 1777, featuring the visage of Charles III made its way from hand of Francisco Babilonia Polanco y Lorenzo de Acevedo (son of Capitan Miguel Babilonia Polanco & Benita Lorenzo de Acevedo) to Francisco & Maria Viviana Quinones Vives' son Adolfo Babilonia Quinones. Two generations later, I receive the photograph of it from my cousin Gaspar. He remembers his grandfather with it sometime in the 1950s, on his keychain.

From a website on Spanish milled coinage at Notre Dame, I learned that the hole in the coin functioned like modern checks, and a traveler would pin or sew several of them into the lining of their jacket to be used as needed. What amazes me is how the coin made it from one hand to another linking the 18th century to the present. It is not the intrinsic worth of the coin, which is little, but the chain of connections that caused it to be saved that imbues it with value.

Manuel Babilonia Acevedo (1804?- bef 1895) & Lucas Yllas (bc 1815)

2009-01-23T12:54:00.000-08:00

I found another reference to Manuel Miguel Narcisco Babilonia Acevedo in the transcriptions of Protocolos Notariales, Caja 1444 by Carlos Encarnacion Navarro. It seems there was a close relationship between Manuel Babilonia and Lucas Yllas, who was responsible for his two children, Juan Agapito and Maria Sebastiana, as tutor curador. What is remarkable is that he was 'born in Africa, widowed of parents who he did not know because he came to PR very young' Unfortunately there is no age for him nor for his children, who probably were born between 1835-1840. Yllas had enough property and knowledge of the system to prepare a will, although he was unable to sign his name.

Juan Agapito is most likely Agapito Yllas, who married Ulpiana Lassalle Quinones.

In Raquel Rosario Rivera's Los emigrantes llegados a PR procedente de Venezuela entre 1810-1848, there are three Yllas, one Juan Yllas, white, 14 from Cumana, and two who came via Venezuela but were from elsewhere -- Francisco Yllas (no additional details) & Jose Antonio Yllas from Barcelona, whose documents dated 1812 & 1814 respectively, while that of Juan Yllas dates from 1821.

Are they connected in any way? Perhaps with Juan Yllas from Cumana, since that is mentioned in the Testamento.

It would be amazing if additional documents could flesh this out further.

Testamento de Lucas Yllas 9-13-1851 fol.181 a 185-v en el barrio del Centro juridicción del pueblo de la Moca moreno liberto natural de África viudo de padres que no conoció por haber venido muy pequeño a Puerto Rico hallándose saludable y en su cabal juicio. No entra en la descripción de sus bienes que alega son de conocimiento de D.Manuel Babilonia de este vecindario que el manifestará. Declara haber sido casado y velado siguiendo según el ritual de la iglesia con María Monserrate Acevedo ya difunta y tuvieron hijos nombrados a Juan Agapito y María Sebastiana menores de 746 edad a los que nombra como únicos y universales herederos. Nombra por tutor curador de sus hijos a D.Manuel Babilonia y como contador partidor a D.Antonio Charneco y Sanz. Otorgado ante D.Casimiro Gutiérrez alcalde ordinario de este partido ante los testigos D.Gabriel Seguí, D.Pedro Alcántara Miranda y D.Manuel Babilonia y no firmó por no saber haciéndolo a su ruego el Sr juez,los demás testigos y de asistencia de que certifica =Cumana en Costa Firme (Venezuela) testado,no vale?=África entre lineas vale?.
Fuente:

INSTITUTO DE CULTURA PUERTORRIQUEÑA
ARCHIVO GENERAL DE P.R., FONDO DE PROTOCOLOS NOTARIALES
SERIE-AGUADILLA, PUEBLO-MOCA, CAJA 1444
ESCRIBANOS-OTROS FUNCIONARIOS, AÑOS 1-20-1848 a 1-31-1852

Transcrito por Don Carlos Encarnacion Navarro

Certificate of Recognition

2009-01-23T10:24:00.000-08:00

The Comite Familia Babilonia Inc.

organizers of the Babilonia Reunion last year, kindly awarded a Certificado de Reconocimiento for my research on the family. The committee used it to create banners listing the different branches of descendants from Capitan Miguel Babilonia Polanco's two marriages. These were displayed at the event.

I also want to give my sincere thanks to Nereida Segui Babilonia & the Babilonia Member Committee for her kind letter, the Certificado and a program for the activity.

Proclamation - Proclama Dia de Babilonia 25th of June

2008-09-17T19:39:00.001-07:00

Here's the proclamation for Babilonia Day in Moca. Since there's no known birth date, the date of death was used instead to acknowledge Capt. Miguel Babilonia Polanco. The document has a seal and was signed by Moca's mayor, Jose Enrique 'Kike' Aviles on the 17th of August 2008. You can click on it to see a larger image.

The next Reunion will be held in 2010, probably in November.

Dealing with slavery

2008-08-22T09:59:00.000-07:00

In Antonio Nieves Mendez's Historia socio-economical y cultural de Moca: 1772-1900 (Editorial Aymaco, 2004) p.85, he outlines the involvement of local parish priest Jose Balbino David, who was involved in selling and buying enslaved people between 1848 to 1852. In 1849, he sold Manuel Babilonia two slaves, Alejandro, 28 yrs old, native of Africa and Francisco, 25 years old, born in Puerto Rico for the sum of 750 pesos. [Fuente: Protocolos Notariales de Moca. Ano 1848, Caja 1444, f.22] This was after the Relacion de esclavos taken in 1846, and Manuel does not show up on there.

Manuel Babilonia is probably Manuel Miguel Narciso Astolfo Babilonia Acevedo, born about 1804. What happened to Francisco and Alejandro? Where did they go after abolition in 1873? Did they take the Babilonia surname?

One of his sons, Astolfo (from his second marriage ) moved to Quebradillas and was involved in buying slaves to free them. Slavery was apparently a bone of contention in the family at the time, and may be part of his motivation to move away from Moca.

This is all part of the other family history that's less well known.

El Manantial- The Babilonia Family Reunion- 25 Jun is now Dia de Babilonia

2008-08-18T23:09:00.000-07:00

At last count, some 534 Babilonia descendants gathered at El Manantial on Sunday 17 August, from 9AM to 9PM, meeting and enjoying each other's company. Family arrived from all over the US and PR from different branches, many with Babilonia as a maternal surname too. Hopefully there's a guest list of the attendees, who had a wonderful time. I anticipate that I'll be able to attend the next one!

Mayor Kiko Aviles sent a proclamation read at the Reunion that officially designated the 25 of June, Dia de Babilonia, or Babilonia Day in Moca. Capitan Miguel Babilonia Polanco died on 25 June 1813 in Moca. It's the only definite date found for him so far.

I'd like to thank my cousins Gaspar and Cookie for keeping me posted on the happenings there! Anibal Babilonia and his wife Millie Quinones spearheaded organizing the Reunion, and they are well known in Moca. Millie is also an accomplished lace maker, and their son Robert, a professional photographer. Many others helped to make the event possible.

I am currently reviewing available records to chart out the lineage of his first wife, Maria Mendez (1741-1796). According to Jorge Ayala, (who should be a distant cousin) she was connected to the Gonzalez line. If you do have any information, I would love to hear from you.

Surnames associated with Babilonia in PR

2008-08-16T14:08:00.000-07:00

Mendez, Gonzalez, Hernandez del Rio, Lorenzo de Acevedo, Lopez de Segura, Caban, Carive, Kleibring, Polanco, Quinones, Ramos, Ramirez, Romero, Sosa, Soto, Sotomayor, Talavera, Torres, Vives

Barrios & towns in PR:
Barrios de Moca: Pueblo, Cuchillas, Cruz, Marias, Naranjo, Rocha; Camuy, Quebradillas, San Juan

Largely settled in the Northwest area of the island.

Descendants article in Nuestra Herencia

2008-08-16T14:03:00.000-07:00

The Descendants of Capitan Miguel Babilonia Polanco of Moca, Puerto Rico, Part I was recently published in Nuestra Herencia 11:2, Spring/ Summer 2008 issue. Nuestra Herencia is the newsletter of the Hispanic Genealogical Society of New York. I'll be working on Part II shortly, which covers the children of the second generation.

Over 600 Babilonias to El Manantial tomorrow...

2008-08-16T13:59:00.000-07:00

I just spoke with my cousin Gaspar, and there are over 600 Babilonia descendants who will descend on El Manantial tomorrow afternoon. It should be an amazing event. Hopefully I'll have some images to post.

Capitan Miguel Babilonia Polanco

2008-08-11T23:08:00.000-07:00

The first Babilonia in Puerto Rico arrived from Mallorca, Balearic Islands off the coast of Spain sometime in the 1760s. Capitan Miguel Babilonia Polanco was born to Juan Amador Babilonia and Chatarina Polanco in 1743. His first marriage was to Maria Mendez (1741-9 Aug 1796) with whom he had 12 children. After she died, he married his wife's cousin, Benita Lorenzo de Acevedo y Gonzalez (1781-10 May 1861), and had 7 more children. By the time of his second marriage in 1797, both of his parents had already passed.

I've been investigating this line since the late 1990s, and have been involved with genealogy since then. Perhaps I should say, obsessed?

Babilonia Family Reunion- Sun 17 Aug 2008

2008-08-11T23:04:00.000-07:00

There should be a few hundred people going to Barrio Naranjo in Moca this coming Sunday to attend this event. Unfortunately, I won't be able to attend, but hope to post some information from the many cousins who will go.