Earlier in the year (a few months ago actually), while I visited Puerto Rico I made sure to revisit the Archivo Diocesano in San Juan. Here, my goal is always to try and find marriage
dispensas (marriage permissions) given to my ancestors who needed permission to marry cousins of varying degrees. This specific time I was searching for my 4th great-grandmother’s marriage record who in Maunabo, Puerto Rico married for a second time on the 19th of July 1860. Her name was Dorotea Ramos Martínez and her second husband’s name was Manuel Ruiz Soto. I was interested in finding out more about Dorotea and potentially finding how she and her husband were related.
 |
| Matrimonio – Dorotea Ramos Martínez & Manuel Ruiz Soto [FamilySearch] |
Searching through the 1860 marriage dispensations of Maunabo I found no mention of Manuel and Dorotea. There could be a few reasons for this: misplacement of the dispensation, it was never actually registered, damaged and tossed, etc. However, I came across the surname Martínez on various dispensations. Since I couldn’t find my ancestor, I decided to invest some time looking at these Martínez dispensas a bit. Interestingly enough, I discovered that each of these marriage dispensations all tied back to a family I had in my family tree. Out of the four dispensas in Maunabo with the surname Martínez I had located – all of them tied back to my 6th great-grandparents José Martínez and Águeda de Soto. In this post, I will explore this family’s migration, connections, and a theory of consanguinity.
Origins
My connection to José Martínez and Águeda de Soto comes to me via my mother’s side of the family. Their daughter, Andrea Martínez Soto, was born in Maunabo in 1804 and the next five generations would live in the Maunabo/Yabucoa area – meaning my family lived in this area at least 145 years! Andrea is only one child of the 13 that I have been able to identify for this couple – sometimes José appears as José Antonio, since I don’t have a baptism record for him I haven’t been able to confirm his full name though seeing as how the wife constantly appears as “Águeda de Soto” (sometimes just as ‘Soto’) I think it’s safe to assume this is the same couple. Andrea is also not the first born of the bunch, she had a few siblings come before her. It seems that the family has its origin in Guayama based on some baptism records I was able to find, the earliest being in 1795 of their son Felipe Martínez Soto. Another son Pedro Martínez Soto is estimated to have been born in 1792 but so far I haven’t been able to find a baptism record for him.
Later, in 1804 Andrea was born in Maunabo. This means that around that 9 year gap the family was either in Guayama or Maunabo or even in Patillas, a town located between the aforementioned towns. Based on the older map I found of Puerto Rico, you can see that the towns were divided up differently and thus the borders of what was once Guayama are different than what they are today. A few other records help us narrow down where they were and when – For example, in May of 1798 José Martínez and Águeda Soto served as godparents to a child named Marcelina in Guayama, while in December 1801 they were godparents to a child named Saturnino Güisado in Maunabo.
 |
| Family Migration – Guayama to Maunabo [Google Images] |
Our timeframe for their move has now shortened to between May 1798-December 1801. This is why documenting other events that occurred in the lives of your ancestors is important, thanks to their service as godparents I can more accurately predict where certain children might have been born!
Family Structure
Through my searches, I have been able to identify 13 children so far for my 6th grand-grandparents, which for the early 1800s isn’t too surprising. Attached below is a chart for all of the children of this couple, they include: Florencia, Felipe, Pedro, Justa, Fabiana, María, Victoriano, Andrea, María 2º, Fermín, Hermenegildo, Cipriana, and Juan Martínez Soto. María (1802) and the rest of her younger siblings were born in Maunabo while her older siblings were probably born in Guayama. Fabiana who is guesstimated to have been born in 1798 falls within the cusp of years around their move.
 |
| Children of José Martínez and Águeda de Soto [Personal Photo] |
I’m not exactly sure however when many of these children died or even when José Martínez and Águeda de Soto themselves died in Maunabo. For whatever reason the Maunabo death records were not digitalized and/or added to FamilySearch. I’m just hoping they actually exist and weren’t damaged, lost, or destroyed!!
Los Dispensados
(1828) Eleuterio Garay Martínez + María Martínez Soto
2º grado de consanguinidad en línea trasversal igual
This first marriage I have was dispensed was between María 2º (I title her with 2º -second- since she was the second María born to my 6th great-grandparents) and Eleuterio Garay Martínez, though I don’t have their actual dispensa since most begin the 1840s, it mentions in their church marriage record that they have a 2º grado de consanguinidad en línea trasversal igual. Having their parents’ names and looking at their trees, it would seem that Cayetana and José were both siblings seeing as how they’re both Martínez and no other surnames overlap – with that being the case, it would seem that Cayetana and José were siblings and both from Guayama.
August 1872- Manuel de los Reyes Martínez Ban + Gregoria Lebrón Díaz
2º grado con 3º grado de consanguinidad
Manuel de los Reyes Martínez Ban is my 1st cousin 6x removed, the son of Fermín Martínez Soto – my 6th great-uncle. As you can see from the chart below, their relationship stands at a 2nd and 3rd degree of consanguinity by how they’re related. Manuel de los Reyes’ dad is a brother to his wife’s grandmother, meaning Fermín and Justa are brothers and sisters.
September 1872- Manuel de Jesús Martínez Colón + María Vicente Rivera Martínez
3º grado de consanguinidad
Manuel de Jesús Martínez Colón is my 2nd cousin, 5x removed. His grandfather was Felipe Martínez Soto while his wife’s grandfather was Fermín Martínez Soto, brothers to Andrea Martínez Soto – my 5th great-grandmother. This is the second child of Fermín Martínez and his wife María Josefa Ban to marry a cousin.
1882- Luis Lebrón Martínez + Ramona Martínez Colón
2º grado de consanguinidad
Both Luis Lebrón and Ramona Martínez are my 1st cousins, 6x removed. Their respective parents, Fabiana Martínez Soto and Juan Martínez Soto, were siblings. Here we have two more of my 6th great-uncles/aunts having their lines intermix. That brings it up to 5/13 siblings that have children marrying cousins – who knows how many others there are!
Another Martínez connection?
1860 Dorotea Ramos Martínez + Manuel Ruiz Soto
2º grado de consanguinidad
As you saw earlier Dorotea Ramos and Manuel Ruiz were said to have a 2nd degree of consanguinity. This should mean that one of their grandparents was related to their spouse’s grandparent. The question though is: who? I’m not sure how tangled this family becomes, is it just the Martínez that are all related or is there a connection through the “de Soto” branch as well? I’m not sure if there’s an easier way to find out since I don’t have the record to tie these branches together. However, as I continue to discover other relationships I am able to better determine the relationship between all of these cousins.
The question then becomes: Why was this family constantly marrying into each other’s lines? Based off records, it seems that this family was a pardo libre mixed family so there wasn’t a need to keep pure lines. Yabucoa and Maunabo were towns full of other families, I have lines from Maunabo that managed to avoid marrying into themselves; so why didn’t this Martínez family do the same?
Truly, what stories are being held between the webs of this complicated family tree?
