Official Blazon of Pedrógão do Alentejo

Digging for the Treasure of the Pedrogo Family History By Frank Lago and Ralph Colón

enealogy research leads to a unique adventure. About five years ago my friend and coworker, Ralph, shared with me that he had done his DNA through Ancestry and was especially interested in his father's background, the Colón's. His mother's lineage is well documented however, there was little information regarding his father's ancestors. Once we began exchanging stories regarding our respective Puerto Rican family history we couldn’t stop. The family tree, like many others, remains a work in progress that can only improve with time, patience, and persistent research.

Francisco Colón (Aka: Pedrogo), Puerto Rico

This journey brought interesting twists. It turns out that the surname Pedrogo is guiding our present research. Coincidentally Ralph often heard his father, Francisco Colón, referred to as Pedrogo. He believed as a young man that Pedrogo was his father's nickname. In the traditional Spanish order of surnames, the father's name is listed before the mother's, as in Francisco Pedrogo Colón. In the United States if there is a double last name, the last listed family name is designated as the father’s: Francisco Colón Pedrogo. Because of the above Spanish cultural logic, the mother's name, Colón, is commonly misinterpreted as the patrimonial name in countries like the United States. Additionally, it seems that as the forebears marry neighboring villagers in Spain and Portugal, and when they immigrate to Puerto Rico, they take the Spanish interpretation of the name of their family’s town of origin, Pedrógão, (do Alentejo, Portugal). The adopted last name is written as Pedrogo in Spanish, and as Pedrógão in Portuguese. Before the family acquired their town’s name, their actual patronym was documented as Gómez, Gomes or Goumes.

Church of Pedrógão Grande village: the lovely Mother Church, with origins in the 12th century, restored in the 16th century.

Mother Church of Pedrógão (of Alentejo) Built in 1604, this Mother Church, whose patron saint Nossa Senhora das Candeias (Our Lady of the ‘Lanterns’), preserves very little of its original construction. The interior of a single nave has been completely modified.

A Google search for Ralph's father Francisco Colón was initiated. We quickly discovered a document that included Francisco’s name, work history, and his father's surname: Pedrogo. A treasure was found, while pursuing the Pedrogo bloodline, in ‘El Blog de Mary Miranda.’ Apparently, Mary has historical records and a photo of Ralph's grandfather, Francisco Pedrogo Reyes. "He looks just like my grandfather," says Ralph. Discoveries such as these, confirm our findings, or put us to the task of further uprooting answers to new questions. We continued our research, with newfound energy, on familysearch.org, and obtained more leads. We proceeded to order microfilms from the LDS Church at my local Family History Library and viewed them onsite. The Puerto Rico, Pedrogo, descendants who we have traced appear to be related to Gabriel Zacarias Pedrogo. This research has its peaks, valleys, and detours.

Francisco Pedrogo Reyes, born in Puerto Rico

There was information to interpret from old manuscripts in foreign languages. Spanish and Portuguese documents were often written in elaborate cursive or faded print. Additionally, there is always a wealth of information to break down. We were very motivated to dig further. Once we joined Ancestry.com, we subsequently found a solid lead. We discovered the Roman Catholic marriage record of Gabriel Zacarías Pedrogo and Petronila Báez. This was due to the painstaking research conducted by Ralph's distant cousin, Eduardo Huertas. Zacarías was born in the town of Villanueva del Fresno, Badajoz, Extremadura, Spain. So many of the ancestors' sacraments were performed in Villanueva del Fresno, in the Parish of the Immaculate Conception (Parroquia de la Inmaculada Concepción).

Villanueva del Fresno: castle

Note: As you can see, this is the first time we come upon the last name Gomez, and we see that Mr. Manuel Gomez has attached his place of birth, Pedrogo, to his last name.

Sometimes the records that we are looking for no longer exist as in the baptism of Josef Francisco Pedroso therefore we continue searching for the marriage record of his parents. The following is the marriage arrangement for Manuel Gómez and Francisca Núñez: Registos parroquiales, 1672-1935, Matrimonios 1675-1902, Microfilm #1543159 Items 4-12 Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah, LDS Church: Nuestra Señora de la Concepción Villa Nueva del Fresno, Badajoz, 5 mayo 1732, Desposorios y Velados de Manuel Gómez con Francisca Núñez.

Continuing the journey into Portugal slowed down our progress. The old world language was a barrier. One example: the Gonzalvez acronym is spelled in a way that it can easily be misinterpreted as Gomez. At this point we needed assistance. We found the gifted and professional Portuguese genealogist, Isabella Baltar, who researches Portugal, the Azores and Brazil. Through https://myportuguesegen.blogspot.com Isabella was able to decipher the records online therefore continuing our quest.

Isabella found the following: Death record for Francisca Nuñes - 2 Jun 1780, Parroquia Nuestra Señora de la Concepción, Villanueva del Fresno, Badajoz - Extremadura, Spain. FamilySearch.org - Film # 008125179.

It appears that the entire Roman Catholic Church records are available for the country of Portugal online. If you would like to see the originals or research Portugal click on https://tombo.pt. If you would like to see the original records or research Portugal, go to https://tombo.pt: Scroll down in the following order: Distrito, Beja; Municipalities, Vidigueira; Freguesias, Pedrógão. On the Pedrógão page scroll down to the baptisms, matrimonies, and death records. The film number and the baptism range are included in section 1690-1704 no. 336, etc.

Manoel Gomes was baptized on Dec 26, 1697, the first son of the first marriage of Manoel Gomes born in Pedrógão and María Rodríguez born in Brinches part of Serpa. Baptisms from 1690 - 1704 image no. 164.

[MICROFICHE IMAGE OF MARRIAGE RECORD/CERTIFICATE]



The following baptism of Manoel's sister, Anna Guomes gives us the name of the grandparents. The baptism of Anna was on May 10th, 1703, it states the following (Baptisms from 1690-1704 image no. 336):

We were unable to find the marriage record for Manoel Goumes and María Rodríguez. We came upon the baptism of Manoel Gomes, baptized on March 8, 1673, son of Manoel Goumes and Ana Fernández. They were all born in Pedrogão.

Baptisms from 1663-1690, image no. 75:

[MICROFICHE IMAGE OF BAPTISMAL RECORD/CERTIFICATE]



Following the above, Isabella finds the marriage record of Manoel Guomes and Anna Fernandez, dated July 28, 1669, in Pedrogão, Vidigueira, Beja Portugal. None of the grandparents' names are yet mentioned.
Casamientos 1656-1690 image no. 39:

[MICROFICHE IMAGE OF MARRIAGE RECORD/CERTIFICATE]



This is only an abbreviation of the excitement and renewed energy that we experienced during the research. How lucky were we? This took persistence and perseverance. You just don't know what you'll find until you try.

PER THE RESEARCH OF ISABELLA BALTAR: The following records took place in Pedrógão, Vidigueira, Beja, Portugal.

1. Manuel Guomes and María Rodrígues were married and had four children. The children from this marriage were:
i. Manuel baptized on 26 Dec 1697 image no. 164.
ii. Maria baptized on 11 Oct 1699 image no. 216.
iii. Anna baptized on 10 May 1703 image no. 336.
iv. Thome baptized on 15 Jan 1707 image no. 125.

2. Manuel Guomes married Anna Fernandez on July 28, 1669 image no. 39. The children from this marriage were:
i. Luis baptized on September 28, 1670 image no. 052.
ii. Manoel baptized on March 8, 1673 image no. 75.
iii. Elena baptized on March 28, 1675 image no. 98.
iv. María baptized on October 20, 1677 image no. 118.
v. Catarina baptized on December 18, 1681 image no. 154.
vi. Ana baptized on September 24 1685 image no. 198.

REFERENCES:
Libro: Historia de la Instrucción Pública en Puerto Rico hasta el año de 1898 - autor Cayetano Coll y Toste, 1910. "Maestro de Primeras Letras" don Zacarias Pedrogo 3 Sept. 1824, Bayamón, otro: 27 Jul 1836, Toa Alta.

Gazeta de Puerto-Rico. February 2, 1843. "De la Pública de Coamo Zacarías Pedrogo primer libro de caligrafía".

Libro: Economía, política y esclavitud en la jerarquía eclesiástica… página 51. "A pesar de que los municipios pagaban el sueldo del maestro, las familias pudientes pagaban ciertas cantidades adicionales, circunstancia que favorecía que ante cualquier problema de pago por parte del Ayuntamiento las familias pudientes llegaran a acuerdos con los maestros para seguir su actividad docente sólo con los alumnos más adinerados, algo que desde luego era preferido por estas familias no sólo por cuestiones de clase sino también por cuestiones raciales. El mismo capitán general De la Torre cuando destina de nuevo a Antonio Aguayo a la escuela de Bayamón alega como circunstancia positiva que tuvo "mayor número de jóvenes […] y de la clase blanca" que Zacarías Pedrogo, quien la desempeñaba con muchos alumnos pardos...".

Ancestry: https://www.ancestry.com Utah. Tim Sullivan, CEO, 1983. The largest for-profit genealogy company in the world, it operates a network of genealogical, historical records, and genetic genealogy websites.

Arquivo Distrital Beja Parroquia de Pedrógão: Serviço dependente da Direção-Geral do Livro, dos Arquivos e das Bibliotecas (DGLAB). Pedrogão (paróquia da Vidigueira, Beja, Portugal), Director Anita Tinoco, 3/26/2009. https://digitarq.adbja.arquivos.pt/details?id=1042584.
The Beja District Archive holds a diverse universe of archival heritage, around 500 documentary funds, including original documents from 1420 to the present day, in various types of support, fulfilling its main mission of safeguarding, appreciation and disclosure of this heritage.

El Blog de Mary Miranda: WordPress: https://marymiranda1.wordpress.com/mi-genealogia/.
Posted and written by Mary Miranda.
Family Genealogy, podcasts and more. Blog is supported by WordPress website and blog creation tool and content management system (or CMS).

Family History Library: https://www.familysearch.org/en/ Salt Lake City, Utah, US, 1894.
It is operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and is closely connected with the Family History Department of same church.

My Portuguese Gen: powered by Google's Blogger: Posted and written by Isabella Baltar, 2010. https://myportuguesegen.blogspot.com/
Find your Portuguese ancestor through the thorough research of Isabella Baltar.

NOTES:
¹ Thought Company. Children in early Christianity were given the sacrament of baptism within a day or two of their birth to wash away original sin. It was common practice that the children were encouraged to be baptized within seven days of birth. Menino Santo (Santo Niño) or Holy Child most likely refers to Manoel Gomes's birth on Christmas eve or day, which followed with a baptism a day or two later, on December 26, 1697. https://www.thoughtco.com/colon-last-name-meaning-and-origin-1422481

MORE ARTICLES BY FRANK LAGO:

Researching your Puerto Rican Family History
Frank Lago y su encuentro con sus antepasados
El Registro de la Propiedad en Puerto Rico
Mi búsqueda genealógica de las familias Lago y Echeandía en los archivos del gobierno vasco