In this post I want to focus on a rather interesting surname in my family that I have never seen out of the island: Chéverez (we will talk about its variations in a bit). This is a surname that almost exclusively belongs to Puerto Rico; similarly the surname Lamboy/Laboy does not seem to be very common out of the island – which I have posted about before.
So I will talk about my connection to the surname Chéverez and how both sides of my family have connections to this name via Toa Alta, Puerto Rico.
My Chéverez Connection
My connection to the Chéverez family occurs twice in my family tree: One branch comes from my father’s side of the family and the other from my mother’s side. Below are my two connections to this family via my ancestors.
Father’s side: Juana Negrón Chéverez, daughter of Juan Negrón and María Chéverez. This branch was from Toa Alta and later moved into Corozal which is how I connect to it via my great-grandmother Mercedes Ortiz Marrero (a native of Corozal).
Mother’s side: José Miranda Santos, son of Monserrate Miranda Padilla and María Guadalupe Santos Chéverez. José and his parents lived in Morovis, but María Guadalupe descends from Toa Alta via her grandfather Felipe Chéverez Rosado, son of Manuel Chéverez and Apolonia (sometimes Polonia) Rosado.
My parents do share DNA with each other rather far back and it is possible that they come from the same Chéverez family in Toa Alta from the 18th century, specifically seeing as how this was not a very common surname and they are from the same town.
Origins of the surname
The surname Chéverez is rather elusive and fairly difficult to pinpoint. A search on the INE (Instituto Nacional de Estadística) does not yield any results for Chéverez, Chéveres, Chévere – all of the fairly common surname variations we find on the island. Usually when a surname exists in Spain you are provided with a sort of heat map that shows where the surname is common on the peninsula, Chéverez is not one of those surnames.
In her book Thoa Arriba, Toa Alta, Una historia: Ensayos históricos y culturales, Gloria Tapia Ríos explores the Chéverez family (amongst other lines) and their potential origins. She explores the contemporary use of the word “chévere” to mean ‘cool’ in Puerto Rico and also found in other countries of the Caribbean (sources point to slave origins for this origin of the word) while also exploring some of the oldest members of this family in Toa Alta.
One of the other findings outside of the island is the name Miguel de Chevers y Toro, a theologian from Pamplona living in the 17th century. One of the last interesting theories provided is that the word could be a creolized word of other words such as chevalier (knight) or related to “cheche” or “chenche” (noun used to describe a brave or valiant person).
A quick search in the PARES Spanish Archive website for “Chevers” brings up the said Miguel, but also interestingly brings up a Matías Chevers Geoghegan, a native of Killian, Ireland who is signing up to be a knight for the Order of Santiago.
As you can see, there is no one clear theory as to the origin of this surname. If I had to say… honestly I really don’t know. I would imagine that the surname came from a bastardized spelling which ultimately created the surname we have today.
This is the theory that others have applied to the surnames such as Clas, Molfi, Soliván (Glass, Murphy, Sullivan) – surnames also found in Puerto Rico of interesting origin, said to arrive via Irish/English immigrants to the island.
Chéverez in Toa Alta
My most researched line would have to be that one via maternal side of the fmaily via Felipe Chéverez Rosado (my 5th great grandfather) and so I will focus on that branch and its connection to Toa Alta. Which the help of other Puerto Rican genealogists I have been able to eke out some more genealogical information about my Chéverez branch.
Felipe was said to have married in Corozal, Puerto Rico in the year 1818 to Teresa de Jesús Santiago Ocasio. Felipe Chéverez Rosado was the son of Manuel Chéverez and Apolonia/Polonia Rosado while Teresa de Jesús was the daughter of Raimundo de Santiago and Anastasia Ocasio. Both sides of the bride and groom trace back to Toa Alta.
Amongst Felipe’s siblings were Gerónimo, Gertrudis, and María Romualda – all three siblings seemed to have also lived in Corozal for likely most of their lives because that is where each of them married.
My interest lies in my ancestor Manuel Chéverez. In Thoa Arriba, Toa Alta, Una historia: Ensayos históricos y culturales Gloria Tapia Ríos mentions:
“Gerónimo quien nació en Toa Alta en 1788, fue el nieto del antiguo capitán de las milicias urbanas de Toa Alta, Guillermo Chéveres. El padre de Gerónimo, Manuel Chéveres, casó con María Polonia Rosado” (Pg. 122).
This would mean that Manuel Chéverez, my 6th great-grandfather was the son of Guillermo Chéverez – though I do not have proof for this and I would have to go back and check the sources Gloria Tapia Ríos used, let’s entertain this idea for a bit!
Guillermo Chéverez
The book mentions that Guillermo Chéverez was married to Rosalía (Rosa) Vásquez and this can be confirmed via other found records from Toa Alta. The book mentions that from this relationship at least nine children were born:
- Juan (abt. 1790)
- Juana (abt 1791)
- Inés (abt 1792)
- León (abt 1793)
- Isabel (abt 1795)
- Joaquín (abt 1797)
- Manuela (abt 1799)
- Manuel (??)
- José María Chéverez (??)
I would imagine that there should be some more spacing between the first children who were all born successively one year after another. Usually, there is a two year gap between children which makes sense from a biological standpoint.
If this Manuel listed as a child of Guillermo Chéverez is the same Manuel Chéverez, father of Gerónimo Chéverez, then we already come to a bit of an anomaly. Since Gerónimo was born in 1788, Manuel would have to have been born before 1770. It is still possible that Manuel is one of the children but it seems odd that Manuel was born and then 20 years later the couple started having children again. This does not match up with birthing trends/style seen in those times. So could there have been two separate Manuels? It is possible! There is a Manuel Chéverez who marries a María Cintrón in Toa Alta in 1826, meaning that this Manuel Chéverez would have been likely before 1808. However, the record is so damaged that is is very difficult to make out the names of the bride’s and groom’s parents. I can slightly make out what I think is “Rosa Vásquez” for Manuel’s mother but then again it could just be my mind playing tricks on me.
Similarly, José María Chéverez is listed with no birth year, however Jose María Chéverez married in Toa Alta in 1827 to Calixta Vásquez. There he is listed as the son of Guillermo Chéverez and Rosa Vásquez, while Calixta is listed as the daugther of Juan Santos Vásquez and Juana Quiles. Their marriage had to have been approved by the church since José María and Calixta are cousins and they are separated only by two degrees of consanguinity. Meaning that Rosa Vásquez and Juan Santos Vásquez were related to one another. If José María Chéverez was at least 18 years old when he married, this would put his birth year in the early 1800s, in line with other children for Guillermo Chéverez and Rosa Vásquez.
Guillermo Chéverez was listed in Gloria’s book as a “capitán de las melicias urbanas” (Capitan of the Urban Militia) meaning he likely had some social status with this rank.
I am able to track Guillermo’s presence/origin in Toa Alta via two documents:
1. His presence in the “Partido de Toa Alta” giving donations for the construction of the “Holy Cathedral Church of Puerto Rico” (likely read: San Juan) where he donated 4 reales in 1801.
2. His death record in San Juan where it mentions he was originally from Toa Alta, his wife’s name, and even the names of his parents in 1818.
Document #1
Above listed at the bottom of the list we have Guillermo Cheveres, though there is no other identifying information about him, we can almost certainly confirm that this is the same man in question. Here he appears in 1801 giving 4 reales (money at the time of the Spanish empire) from his residence in Toa Alta. Though this is not a vital genealogical record it can help us learn more about an ancestor in question and even limit ranges for years of death, for example.
Document #2
Above we have the death record for Guillermo Chéverez (spelled here as Cheveres) in San Juan, Puerto Rico! This is why it is important to expand your search into neighboring towns when you do not find an ancestor’s record in the town they said they were from. His death mentions that he was buried in the Cemetery de María Magdalena de Pazzis (which is actually where my paternal great-grandparents are buried!) in litore. Apparently “in litore” in Latin means “on the shore/coast” – could Guillermo Cheverez mean buried near the water?? This cemetery is at the edge of San Juan near the water and next to El Morro so that would be an interesting burial! I also wonder if it just means towards the edge of the cemetery.
The record states: Guillermo Cheveres, a native of Toa Alta was the legitimate son of Nicolás Chéverez and Man(a) (likely Manuela) Vélez, married to Rosalía Vásquez, 56 years old, did not leave behind a will/testament, received his last rites. With this record it places Guillermo Chéverez at a birth date of around 1760 or earlier and now we have another generation of the Chéverez branch, Nicolás Chéverez! Honestly I am not sure if this is common knowledge in regards to Guillermo seeing as how Guillermo’s death record is unindexed and located in San Juan, not Toa Alta.
Chéverez & DNA
I have mentioned the Chéverez before in a post where I talk about the prison records of Puerto Rico. In that post I mentioned Ramón Chéverez Ortiz, son of José del Carmen Chéverez and Ramona Ortiz – my 2nd cousin, 3x removed – however here the Chéverez branch goes back to a Basilio Chéverez with whom I am not sure (yet) if I have a relation/ connection with. I connect with Ramón via his maternal side of the family. Nonetheless, it is interesting to notice his complexion – an obvious ode to our mixed genes.
A genetic connection I do have with my Chéverez line and DNA testing is my father’s side of the family who I had mentioned before was Juana Negrón Chéverez, daughter of Juan Negrón and María Chéverez. Via one of my paternal aunts I was able to trace María Chéverez’s maternal haplogroup back in time since my paternal aunt is a direct female descendant directly from her.
Above you can see that via my aunt Manuela Rivera is a part of the C1 maternal haplogroup. This group can be traced five generations back to María Chéverez, my 5th great-grandmother with origins in Toa Alta, Puerto Rico. Granted, this is a maternal haplogroup which means that likely María’s mother was not a Chéverez herself and thus this group likely comes from a different surname. Equally it is important to note that María Chéverez was likely born at the end of the 18th century, which means that the possibility of pure blooded Taínos was very slim to almost none. Likely, though María Chéverez carried the C1 indigenous haplogroup it is much more likely that María was already a descendant of various mixes including (and not limited to) Spanish, African, and Taíno genes. Only further investigation into her past can help us learn more about her origins, however, for the time being there are no records available to identify her parents or her maternal surname – important pieces or clues in the search for anyone’s ancestors.
Conclusion
As you can see, there is still a lot to be researched when it comes to the Chéverez family of Puerto Rico; the same can be said for my Lamboy/Laboy branches as well. There is no clue for this family’s surname and the records so far do not point to any origin off of the island.
It would be interesting to see if any males have tested their DNA to see where the Y-DNA haplogroup for the Chéverez point back to in time.
Are you a descendant of the Chéverez from Toa Alta?
Cover Image Source: “Locator Map Puerto Rico Toa Alta”, Dr. Blofeld, highlighted (19 July 2010) – Wikimedia Commons (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Locator_map_Puerto_Rico_Toa_Alta.png : accessed 6 April 2024).
Well well, I just read about a Geronimo, from my Father side they are
From Utuado/Jayuya/Ciales area. Manuel had a boy Name Benito there was son call Manuel then another Benito and from the last one was married to a Figueroa, but all these in The Utuado/Jayuya area.