Puzzle Pieces

Note: *Click throughout entries to view documented proof*


My research gathered over the last 4 days have been both plentiful and frustrating. On one hand I've found so much information on certain sides of m family, on the other hand the side of the family that I originally start this quest for seems to have disappeared after the 1930s.

Here is what I started with and what I know thus far:

Mom's Side:

Grandma Josie's side: Conrado Segrua *Line 22* and Anastacia (Rojas) Segura *Line 26* migrated to Morenci Arizona on November 24 1908 from the El Paso, Texas Border. They previous lived in a town in Mexico called Lagas -although having been written twice in handwriting it could be Logas and a number of other possibilities. Either way the town does not sound familiar, but then again I know nothing about Mexico except for TJ and Rosarito. Moving on - It appears that Ana's father's name was Magdeleno Rojas *Line 26* and Conrado's father was Cecilio Segura, *Line 22* which makes sense since this was also the name of one of his son's (grandma Josie's brother Cecilio, whom I remember as Uncle Cecil). In all the records I've found so far, Conrado always mentioned his father's surname instead of the more common mother's maiden name. I wonder if this is because his mother was already gone or if there is another reason for him to chose his father's surname instead of his mothers. Not much is known about Ana's mother except that her maiden name was Liscano (found on idex of death record).

Having been born on April 18 1882 she was 5 years younger than Conrdo who was born on November 26 1887. I know they lived in Morenci Arizona up until the 1930's when they lived in the San Antonio area of Los Angeles *Line 95*. Conrado died on 22 of November in 1943, which would have made my grandmother 24 when he died.

Grandpa Ernie's Side: Is the side of the family I'm having the most trouble with. Maybe it's because kern county was not as developed as Los Angeles was, maybe those records just haven't been added to an online database, or grandpa's mother (Lupe Arvizu Avila) just stopped participation in voting, census, etc after 1930. *Line 63*- *Last name under "A"* Still I'm not able to find a death record. I KNOW she died. There has to be a record of it somewhere, but there isn't. Not being allowed to attend his own mother's funeral while he was in the military, there aren't any stories that I can remember about her death. I don't know what she died of, how or where. I suspect however that having been born in 1885 she would have been in her 60's when she passed sometime in the 1940's. I did find a decree of distribution involving Lupe Avila Ernest Avila, Ethel Espinoza and Eglentina Pacheco. I assume by the title of the document that this was basically her will. this document was filed October 27 1945. Assuming that she passed in 1945 she would have been exactly 60 years old, but still I'm not sure until I find a death record. However, she must have been alive on May 19th 1945 as there is a newspaper article naming her as Ernest Avila's mother when he was wounded in the war. *Fresno Bee* It also shows her address at the time as being 325 C Street in Arvin, CA. This is the second time I've seen this address so far.

As for Andres Avila, whom we're told was Grandpa's father, I have very little stories here and there, as well as a letter that Auntie Tiny (Eglentina) wrote to grandma Josie, which was later passed on to my Auntie Carole: This is what I know so far. He was SUPPOSEDLY a member in Pancho Villa's gang. Having allegedly lived in Chihuahua, Mexico before coming to the US, that would make sense since that was where Pancho Villa was also from. Andres, had three other siblings (Antonio, Maria and Carla). "The family lived in Gallup, New Mexico in 1921" - I'm told. Who's family, I'm not sure. 1921 would have been a year before my grandfather was born on February 3rd 1922. Everything I know about Andres is all speculation and stories. I have not been able to find documentation on him at all. I'm told he left when grandpa Ernie was was 3 which would be 1925. I don't know if Lupe ever married Andres or if he ever divorced him. I don't know if she was married before that, having given birth to 2 daughters with the last name Pacheco. I don't know if that father died or she divorced. Again there is nothing on her that i can find so far.

Dad's Side:

Mainly focusing on My mother's side of the family right now, there hasn't been much on Dad's side yet. I did try and look for the name Purdue but with no luck. This side of the family will develop more later when I shift my focus. I need more info from the family first which might be difficult since Grand Bob's mother had a different last name and a secret will discovered fairly recently

From here, I'm going to request a series of document that I found on the Kern county website of public records. I'm also going to ask them to look up marriage records for Lupe Arvizu/Avila/Pacheco. My information and research is pretty scattered at the moment, but hopefully once I find out more I can fill in the holes in order to create a more compressive story to tell.