Re: happy to find Esparza genealogy
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In reply to:
happy to find Esparza genealogy
1/23/02
Hi Jerry,
My name is Joe Esparza and I live in Taunton MA. I was born in San Antonio and still have my parents living there. I am the great-great-great grandson of Gregorio (Jose Cesario) Esparza through his son Manuel. There were two more Manuels after him who were my grandfather and great grandfather.
Gregorio had two other sons, Enrique and Francisco, as well as a daughter whose name I do not know. Their mother was Ana Salazar. Manuel married Melchora Leal, a descendant of Juan Goraz Leal the leader of the Canary Island settlers who arrived in San Antonio in 1731.
Gregorio's grandfather(whose name I would have to look up) came to San Antonio about 1797 according to church records at San Fernando Cathedral in San Antonio. I don't know any-thing concrete about his background before he came to Texas.
I have been to Esparza de Salazar in Navarra, Spain 4 or 5 times and know some people there who showed me some old books about the original Esparzas who lived there. They went off to the wars against the Muslims in the 13th century and eventually lost their land and title through marriage.
There are still many Esparzas in Navarra, but not up in the original villages. There are hundreds in the relatively small city of Pamplona (more than Madrid even) with many Esparzas in the areas along the Ebro, especially, Calahorra and LogroƱo (La Rioja)and Lodosa and Andosilla in Navarra. These are small farming cities and towns but the Esparzas of Navarra have lived there seemingly forever. These town date to and before the Coman Conquest. Sorry, there are no glorious ruins, just some crumbled walls and a few columns.
Still it's very interesting to get in touch with the homeland.
The books say that the Esparzas went into the service of the Kings of Catalonia (Valencia) and Castilla during the Reconquista. Therefore they ended up in Cadiz and Valencia and elsewhere in Spain. The first Esparzas to come to the New World came about 1570 to Santo Domingo and some islands in the Caribbean. An important settlement in Costa Rica is name Esparza after the town in Navarra. It is still there (you can find all of these towns on the internet.)
My e-mail is [email protected] if you have any questions.
Joe Esparza