Out of Mexico

This post reviews the unusual set of circumstances surrounding the birth, childhood and adolescence of my great-grandmother, Aurora Moya Ramírez (descent: Ralph James O'Hagan > Wade Benjamin O'Hagan), who was born February 3, 1896 in Hidalgo del Parral, Chihuahua, Mexico to Mauro Moya Villa (1871-1955) and María Praxedis Ramírez (1879-1904).  (Doubled surnames indicate paternal and maternal surname, respectively, per Hispanophone tradition.)  At the time of Aurora's birth, Aurora's father Mauro was married to Paulina Santiesteban Zapién (1871-192?), and her mother was unmarried. Designations concerning legitimacy were still important in late 19th-century Mexico, and interestingly, Aurora was baptized an hija natural ('natural child'). This ecclesiastical designation is typically reserved for the child of two unmarried parents.  The fact that Aurora was not baptized ilegítima ('illegitimate') -- a term typically reserved for a child born to two parents, one of whom is married and the other not, or both of whom are married but not to one another -- suggests that someone in the family had some influence over the baptizing priest.

Aurora Moya Ramírez
Baptismal Record
April 22, 1896
(www.familysearch.org)

It appears that Aurora was sent by her maternal grandmother, Josefa Ramírez Díaz (1847-1937), to live with the family of Aurora's maternal grandfather in the hills south of Parral, in what is today San Juan de Heredía in the state of Durango.  However, the identity of this maternal grandfather is unknown, since all of Josefa's own children, including Aurora's mother María Praxedis, were baptized as hijos naturales ('natural children').  The family resident in San Juan de Heredía was that of Atanacio Heredía Olguín (1853-?) and Concepción Enríquez Blanco (c1857-1912).  Aurora carried the maiden name Enríquez for the first portion of her adult life -- at least through the latter 1920s -- and because of this, I have assumed the Enríquez side of the Heredía-Enríquez family to be that of Aurora's maternal grandfather (i.e., Concepción Enríquez was Aurora's great aunt).

Josefa Ramírez Díaz, circa 1901
(courtesy of Helen Serna)

At this time, Aurora lived with her mother, María Praxedis and a half-sister, Soledad (1891-198?).  However, it is clear from a letter from father Mauro dated March 17, 1927, that Aurora made at least one visit to Parral to visit her father, at which time she was sent with a letter from her mother, which Mauro kept for several years and sent to Aurora following the above-mentioned date (although that letter now appears to be lost).  How Aurora's mother and father met, what the nature of their relationship was, and the degree to which they communicated during Aurora's first years are entirely unknown.

In mid-1901, at the age of five, Aurora was taken by her maternal aunt, Concepción Ramírez (1873-1942), who had married Rafael Murillo in Parral earlier that year, to live in California, where the family settled in Saticoy (Ventura Co.).  Grandmother Josefa and maternal uncle José would following in 1903.  In letters dated January 31 and March 17, 1927, father Mauro indicates that the Murillos left Parral 'without telling [him] anything', that for a long time he could not get word of Aurora's condition, and that when he finally managed to, it was news of her death from influenza.

Concepción Ramírez and Rafael Murillo Varela
Wedding, Hidalgo del Parral, Chihuahua, Mexico
January 26, 1901
(courtesy of Helen Serna)

Aurora grew up as an adoptive daughter in the Murillo family, and was surrounded by her extended maternal family in Ventura Co.  It appears that her half-sister, Soledad, who was left at San Juan de Heredía in company with her mother, attempted to write letters to Aurora and the maternal relatives they shared, to little avail.  After Soledad and Aurora were reunited in the latter 1920s, Soledad indicates in a letter dated April 1, 1927 that, although she wrote the family in 1904 to tell them of her mother Maria Praxedis' death, the rest of the family had stopped writing her in return.  In a letter dated May 3, 1927, she had the following to say regarding the dynamics between their mother and the rest of their maternal family, which speaks to the great amount of unknown regarding María Praxedis' ostracization:

Me dices que nunca supiste de mí, me extraña, pues aún conservo cartas tuyas, de Rafael, de mamá Chonita [Concepción Ramírez], y de José, todas dirigidas a Parral, las cuales no dejé de contestar.  Pero por lo que me dices en tu carta, creo que las tuyas sean apócrifas, o más claro, para que me entiendas, redactadas por los tíos y quinenes interceptaron las mías.  Hicieron mal en tratar de arrancar de tu corazón no tan sólo el cariño sino hasta el recuerdo de nosotros. [...]

Yo también ignoro, Aurora, el "porqué" te distanciarion de nosotras, quizás, y que es lo que creo, el estado de salud de nuestra madre y las circunstancias por qué atravesaba, le obligaron a ceder, pero ya comprenderás, con qué dolor!

Mi madrecita, nada me habló al morir, pues veía que me ponía triste cuando trataba de hacerlo, comprendía que me desgarraba el corazón y tal vez por ello se privó de hacerlo.  Probablemente ni ella volvió a saber de Uds., a mi me dejó recomendada con mi tía Concha y mi tío Atanasio... 

[Translation (mine):

It's odd that you say you never found out about me, because I still have your letters, Rafeal's, Chonita's and Jose's, all sent to Parral, which I never stopped answering.  But from what you tell me, I think that yours were fakes, or rather, so as to be clearer, that yours were edited by our aunts and uncles and those that intercepted mine.  They were wrong to rip out of your heart not only our affection but any memory of us whatsoever.

I also don't know, Aurora, the "why" behind their distancing you from us, but perhaps, and this is what I believe, our mother's state of health and the circumstances behind her quarreling forced her to give [you] up, but you must realize, with what anguish!

My poor mother, she didn't speak to me when she died because she could see that it made me sad when she attempted to do so, she understood that it tore my heart out, and perhaps because of that she prohibited herself from doing it.  Probably even she never found out about you all again -- she placed me in the care of my aunt Concha [Concepción Enríquez] and my uncle Atanacio...]

Although childbirth out of wedlock was extremely controversial during this era, the differential treatment of Aurora and Soledad suggests that there were additional conflicts between María Praxedis and her family that led to Aurora's (for all intents and purposes) abduction, none of which are known.  It appears that she came to lose all contact with family in Mexico, most notably with her father Mauro Moya.

Murillo-Ramírez-Moya Family
Santa Paula, CA, circa 1912
(courtesy of Helen Serna)

It was in California that Richard Thomas O'Hagan (1882-1956) met Aurora, likely in 1914.  (This goes against a date of 1915 or 1916 suggested in my December 31, 2012 post, based on an April 1, 1927 letter from Soledad in which she mentions Aurora having been 'away from home' for 13 years.)  Their marriage date and location remains unknown.

Somehow, perhaps through Richard,  Aurora became reacquainted with her father Mauro.  Some of these letters, dating from 1927, 1929 and (one from) 1939 still survive.  The first letter, dated January 31, 1927, is addressed to Richard, and suggests that the two had just recently made contact, perhaps earlier that month or in late 1926.  I am working on typing and translating these letters, and will distribute them at a later point, but there are some details worthy of summary. Several letters in the spring of 1927 are geared towards arranging a possible visit by the O'Hagan family to Chihuahua city, where Mauro and this second wife, Sara Reyes Maltos, then resided.  They discuss Mauro's customs agent in El Paso, necessary sums of money, road conditions.  There is even talk of making their visit permanent -- the quality of the schools, the possibility of Richard finding automotive work, etc.  Unfortunately, such a visit never seems to have materialized during Aurora's lifetime.  In letters dating from the first half of 1929, Mauro still speaks of the long-sought visit of his daughter, and when he receives word that the family is contemplating a move from Camp Baldy, CA, he encourages them to come to El Paso, TX, so that, if they cannot come to him, he and his family might be able to travel there.  Mauro even offers Richard the name of a contact of his in order to procure good work swiftly there.  Yet again, there is no indication that Mauro, wife Sara and their two sons ever made such a visit.

Sara Reyes Maltos and Mauro Moya Villa
1920s
(courtesy of Marco Aurelio Moya Reyes, Chihuahua, Mexico)

Following this, there is a ten-year gap in the letter record.  Mauro writes on April 13, 1939 (with the family by then permanently in San Luis Obispo), worriedly inquiring about Aurora's health, as she had just undergone an (undescribed) operation at General Hospital.  The details of the family's moves in this ten-year period are summarized in the December 31, 2012 post, but unless more letters surface in the future, the correspondence between Aurora and her father during and following this period will go untraced.  Aurora died on September 11, 1947 in San Luis Obispo, CA, of a ruptured spleen.  It was not until after her death that Richard journeyed to Chihuahua to meet his father-in-law.  Aurora's maternal aunt (and adopted mother) Concepción Ramírez de Murillo had died in 1942, although maternal uncle José would live until 1968. Grandmother Josefa lived to be 89, passing away on March 22, 1937 in Ventura. Half-sister Soledad died in the 1980s in El Paso, TX, already over 90 years of age.  In a letter to her first cousin Elvira dated April 29, 1981, Soledad indicates that she maintained contact with Ted O'Hagan following Aurora's death in 1947 and Richard's in 1956, but after Ted passed away in 1968, her contact with the O'Hagan family ceased.  With the loss of these individuals, the ability to uncover further details surrounding Aurora's early life all but disappear, although I aim to search for more letters with various O'Hagan descendants.  Of further interest is grandmother Josefa's early life, as she had seven children but never married and hence there is no record of a father for any of the children.  Also of interest is Aurora's mother Maria Praxedis' life -- that she seems to have been sent away with her two daughters by her own mother certainly suggests an unusual something to cover up.  Aurora and Soledad do not share the same father, and so uncovering further details about María Praxedis' early life will likely shed light on who Soledad's father was.  Any bits of knowledge are welcome!

Aurora Moya Ramírez
Near Flagstaff, AZ, circa 1918
(courtesy of Marco Aurelio Moya Reyes, Chihuahua, Mexico)