I recently posted about finding more records on FamilySearch via the “Images” search function which allowed me to find more records on my family from Vega Baja.
Amongst these records was the 1858 Census which located a few of my Calderón Nazario ancestors living in the neighborhood of Pugnado Afuera. I wanted to focus my post today on the second find of interest to me – this was related to my Morán line.
On the section provided above, you can see that Basilio Morán Colón, 30 years old, was married, white, and a day laborer (jornalero) who was unable to read or write. His wife was named Rosario Calderón Nazario, 25 years old, also white, and also unable to read or write. Their children included Jesús Morán Calderón, 2 years old, and Agustín Morán Calderón, “menos” (likely to mean, under one year of age).
The next couple was also of interest because Pedro shared the same surnames with Basilio Morán Colón, he was in a similar age range, and also married to a woman surnamed Calderón Nazario.
So the two questions I wanted to answer were –
1. Was this Basilio Morán my fourth great-grandfather?
2. Was there a relationship between Basilio and Pedro Morán Colón?
Let’s take a look at these questions and what we could answer based off the found census records.
1. Was this Basilio Morán my fourth great-grandfather?
In the past, I have posted about my fourth great-grandfather Basilio Morán and his wife/wives? Flora and Rosario. For a long time, I believed that both women were one and the same. However, these Vega Baja census records helped to prove that this was not the case and it is evident in the 1858 census with Flora living with her father Juan Calderón and siblings (image below), while Rosario appeared as Basilio Morán’s wife (image above).
Similarly, Flora was born about 1842 which makes sense as to why she did not appear in the 1841 census record. Rosario on the other hand was listed as María del Rosario and living with Juan Calderón and Concepción Nazario. Also in the house in 1841 was María del Carmen, which helped to prove that these women living close by in 1858 were sisters.
So we can deduce a few things from these two census records:
- Basilio Morán did not marry Rosario Calderón Nazario until after 1841, as Rosario was single in this census record.
- Based on earlier investigations, it is likely possible that María del Rosario passed away and that Basilio later married Flora Calderón Nazario.
- Therefore, Basilio should appear single in the 1841 census as well.
But before we search for Basilio, we need to straighten out a few things between Basilio and his wives Flora and María del Rosario. From this point on we are going to consider them two separate wives as we have the evidence to prove that they were not one and the same.
Basilio Morán &
Rosario Calderón
We know that Basilio Morán married María del Rosario Calderón Nazario after 1841 and likely in Vega Baja, Puerto Rico. From the information located in the Civil Registry, we know that they had about three children named Felipe, Maximiliano, and Juan all born about the 1860s-1870s. Because Vega Baja church records are not online we cannot easily confirm when they were born (or solve this mystery with those records!).
Rosario likely died sometime around their births and no later than 1890. It seems that she died at least before 1885 since no death record was found for her in the Civil Registry records.
Basilio Morán &
Flora Calderón
Based on records from the Civil Registry, it seems that Basilio had a relationship with Flora shortly after María del Rosario’s death. From the located records they had at least four children named Flora, Rosa, Natalia, and Ana. They also seem to be born in the 1860s-1870s which leads me to believe that Basilio may have married Flora shortly after Rosario’s death.
I am missing my third great-grandmother’s (Ana Morán Nazario) birth record and marriage record; however, her death listed her as the daughter of Flora Calderón.
Flora died in 1903 in Vega Baja, Puerto Rico, where she was listed as the wife of Basilio Morán. If I can locate a census that is closer in time and listed them together, that would be helpful in confirming their relationship.
As it stands Basilio Morán Colón was likely my fourth great-grandfather based on the information located.
2. Was there a relationship between Basilio and Pedro Morán Colón?
The first step in answering this question was to locate these men in the 1841 census in Vega Baja. Luckily (and maybe not surprisingly), Pedro and Basilio were found a few pages before the Calderón family, also living in the neighborhoods of Pugnado and Algorrobo.
Pedro Morán, 23 years old, appeared with Juan Basilio Morán, 8 years old, along with Felipe Morán, 3 years old, and Dominga Morán, 24 years old living with their parents Pablo Morán, 60 years old, and María Silveria Colón, 45 years old.
The structure of the census is a bit weird, in my opinion. If you look at the entire page, Pablo and María Silveria appeared near another family, therefore, making it hard to see where one starts and the other beings. Typically, I look at the section where it says hijos (children) and see what their surname is to determine the head of the household’s name and where to stop. In this case, the children were surnamed Morán.
If you look at the census, you can see a second set of hijos after a first set. These children included two surnames, Rivera and Morán. Then you see someone named Juliana Colón, 80 years old, widowed and a Ramón de Rivera, 26 years old, single. I believe that Dominga Morán and Ramón de Rivera likely had Nicolasa Rivera – though they may have not been married when they did. Then you see two daughters with the surname Morán (could they be Pedro’s daughters?).
Juliana Colón was either Pablo’s mother or María Silveria’s mother. Another document we’ll analyze shortly gives us a better answer. However, based on the ages, I would argue that Juliana was likely Pablo’s mother since it was odder at this time period for women to have children in their 40s.
Felipe Morán Colón
The young, now much older, Felipe Morán Colón who was listed in the 1841 census died in 1886 in Río Arriba, Manatí, Puerto Rico. Felipe was married to Antonia Ayala with whom he had six children named Simeón, Pablo, Paula, Sinforosa, José, and the informant [Basilio] Morán Ayala. His parents were listed as Pablo Morán Colón and María Colón Olmo, both natives of Vega Baja, and deceased.
This is only one piece of evidence to support my hypothesis that Juliana Colón was Pablo’s mother (and potentially some confirmation bias here as well), but for now I will consider it to be correct based off the ages and this death record.
It is possible that other death records list Pablo Morán as a Morán Colón; however, for the sake of my sanity and this post I won’t go on searching for more confirmation… yet!
Who was Pablo Morán Colón?
Pablo Morán Colón would be my 5th great-grandfather. He was likely born about 1781, listed as blanco (white) in the 1841 census, and a labrador (laborer). Likely he married María Silveria Colón Olmo in the early 1800s. We would need to wait to gain access to Vega Baja’s records in order to confirm their marriage and learn more about their parents.
Interestingly though, I was able to find a 1839 census that listed only property owners in Vega Baja and I was able to find a Pablo Morán!
This census does not provide us information about the individuals in the home, if not, about the land Pablo Morán used in 1839. It is super interesting to see what he owned such as 4 cuerdas of land (and what he grew), 2 pigs, 6 hens and one house. Numerically is listed what I imagine is the value of each of these items in pesos – the money being used at the time in Puerto Rico. Similarly, we have measurements such as carga, fanega, and quintales related to production and weights of the items on the left.
This was a super cool find because it allowed me to gain a glimpse into the life Pablo Morán would have had in the mid-1800s. This is why it is very important to exhaustively conduct research by searching high and low for new records, even when one thinks they don’t exist.
With these record, I was able to take some of my branches back to the 18th century in Vega Baja, Puerto Rico!
Cover Photo Source: 1841 Municipal Census, Vega Baja, Puerto Rico, population schedule, Barrios Pugnado and Algarrobo, p. 68v, Pablo Morán household; FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ : accessed 26 May 2025); citing Caja 24, Censo Poblacional, Vega Baja, 1841.