Today I want to focus on my 4th great grandfather Juan Calderón Nazario, a native of Vega Baja, Puerto Rico and the father of my 3rd great grandfather Augustin Calderón Meléndez. But the story gets interesting here!
Juan Calderón Nazario according to his death certificate was born about 1829 and the legitimate son of Juan Calderón and Concepción Nazario both natives of Vega Baja and deceased by the time Juan passed away.
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| Vega Baja, Puerto Rico [Google] |
Juan Calderón was never married to my 4th great grandmother according to all the records I have found. Cresencia Meléndez always appears as single in her records and never really mentioned with Juan Calderón. My 3rd great grandfather went on to pass the surname “Meléndez” to his children rather than “Calderón” and so my great grandfather ended up becoming Meléndez. Juan Calderón never appeared on a census record and I don’t have access to Vega Baja’s church records so I had to rely on the information of his children and grandchildren to truly find out if he was their father/grandfather.
Here on the 1910 Census we see my 3rd great grandfather along with two his brothers living in Manatí, a town to the west of Vega Baja and carrying the surnames “Calderón Meléndez”. I know this is my 3rd great grandfather because the wife is Ana Morán and my 2nd great grandfather José Meléndez Morán is listed as one of the children.
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| Calderón Meléndez Brothers, 1910, Manatí, Puerto Rico [FamilySearch] |
Since all of Juan Calderón’s children were born before 1885, I can’t find their birth records but I can look at this children’s and nephews’/nieces’ birth records to find Juan Calderón. Here is an example of Agustin and Ana’s daughter carrying the surnames Meléndez Morán rather than Calderón Morán.
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| María Luisa Meléndez Morán, Death Record, 1893 [FamilySearch] |
Agustin’s brother, Victoriano, however did use the surname Calderón for a good portion of his life. In 1897 Victoriano married his wife Raimunda González Rodríguez and we can see that he used the surnames “Calderón Meléndez” and listed his parents as Juan Calderón and Crescencia Meléndez. Also, when his daughter was born in 1918, she took the surname Calderón González.
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| Victoriano Calderón Meléndez, Marriage Index, 1897 [FamilySearch] |
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| Victoriano, son of Juan and Crescencia, Marriage, 1897 [FamilySearch] |
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| Deogracia Calderón González, Daughter of Victoriano, 1918 [FamilySearch] |
I’m not sure if there are descendants of Juan Calderón who still carry the surname “Calderón” rather than Meléndez, it seems that many of them switched over to Meléndez even if they began with Calderón. Something interesting about this Calderón paternal line is that the paternal haplogroup is R1b1b2a1a2f*, which is commonly found in Ireland, the Basque country, Britain and France. It makes me wonder where Juan Calderón Nazario’s paternal lineage is from. Hopefully one day I’ll be able to trace this line further with the help of Vega Baja church records!
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| R1b1b2a1a2f*, Calderón Haplogroup [23andme] |
