A Small Town Named Quivican ~ Destination for Celestino & Adelaide

As I continue my quest of the Hernandez and Luis surnames in my family, I continue to encounter the name of a small town and municipality in the province of Mayabeque in Cuba, called Quivican. 

As per family tradition, retold many times over, by several family members, it has been said that my Hernandez family first came to Cuba, from the Canary Islands, Spain, around the mid 1800’s.  
They decided to settle in the small town of Quivican, for some unknown reason.  It was in this area, that my grandmother, María Hernandez Luis, and her brothers and sister were born, between the years of 1870-1885. 

Since, I do not know the date or time-frame of when my Great-grandfather, Celestino Hernandez, immigratied to Cuba, it is also unclear, whether he was already married to my Great-grandmother, Adelaide Luis, when he left las Islas Canarias , or if they met in Cuba and then married.  I will check local churches in the area to see if their names appear in a marriage record book. 
As the tradition goes, he was a shoemaker in the Canary Islands and presumed that he continued to work in his trade in Cuba. 
As for Adelaid Luis, I have no information on her birth,  parents, siblings, emigration from the Canary Islands.  Her father's surname is Luis, and since she was from las Canarias, then I suppose that her parents remained there. 
That is pretty much, all that I know, and the reason their lives in the Canary Islands remains a mystery to this day. A mystery that I hope to solve.  

To recap, at this point, I am looking for dates and places of birth, marriage, names of parents,  siblings, date and place of emigration, and immigration.  

So, I begin my search with what I know and in effect will work forward to discover the past.  

1. My Great-grandparents were born in the Canary Islands, Spain, and immigrated to Cuba.
2. Celestino, was a shoemaker or tanner by profession, in the Canary Islands. 
3. They settled and made their home in Quivican, Cuba, where their four children were born.  
4. My Grandmother, Maria and her three siblings were born in Quivican, roughly between the years 1870-1884. I am not certain about their birth order, but I speculate, based on both, tradition and a rough timeline, that my grandmother was possibly the third child. 

Where is Quivican? 

Quivican, Mayabeque, Cuba. [1]

The town of Quivicán is a municipality located southwest in the province of Mayabeque, Cuba.  Quivican (Quibicán, the name of Taino origin), the tradition is that “Quivi”-  indicates “earth” and “can” indicates “red”, therefore, Quivicán signifies “Tierra Roja” or “Red Earth”. [2]

Quivican,  began as a colony, a parcel of land given to Jerónimo Vaca Renjifo, in 1569, to start a poultry breeding ranch. This area was known as the Villa de San Cristóbal del Sur. 

In 1878, the Governor General, approved and founded the town of Quivicán. 
The municipality of Quivicán was abolished and annexed to the municipality of Bejucal, in 1902, during the first American occupation of Cuba, until 1919. 

Quivican, is divided into neighborhoods— Pueblo, La Salud, San Felipe, Pablo Noriega, San Agustín, Guiro Boñingal, Güiro Marrero, Santa Mónica, Aguacate and Fajardo.

                                                        

   

             Photo 1: Quivicán, Mayabeque, Cuba            

             

           Photo 2: Coat of arms of Quivicán

Bejucal, Mayabeque, Cuba. [3]    
The town of Bejucal, also known as San Felipe y Santiago de Bejucal, was founded in 1713, by Captain Juan Núñez de Castilla. 

Originally, Bejucal, was a part of the province of La Habana, although, currently, it is a municipality, in the province of Mayabeque. 
The bordering towns, are Quivican and San Jose de las Lajas, to the south, and San Antonio de los Baños to the west, and the neighborhoods of Bejucal are Beltrán, Cuatro Caminos, Rancho Recreo, Buenaventura, Caguazo and Río Hondo.

                                  Photo 3: Bejucal 

             

                 Photo 4:  Bejucal Train Station

Bejucal, would have been the location name listed, for most records created in surrounding towns during the mid-1800's. 

Since civil registries did not begin in Cuba until about 1880, it is the local church records, that become very important. 
So, I begin a search of churches that existed in those areas during that time period. 
These records are extremely, important, since it is in these records— births, baptisms, marriages, and deaths, where we not only find, the birth location, and other pertinent information for the person whom the Record was created, but, we  can also discover the names of both birth parents, and their birth locations.  

Here is a Church Directory for the Diocesis de La Habana  (Directorio Eclesial) that may be helpful.  The following churches listed are just a few that I was able to find at this point.

Bejucal  
(San Felipe y Santiago de Bejucal) [4]

Parroquia de San Felipe y Santiago — Iglesia Parroquial de Bejucal [5] 

The church was consecrated in 1772. 

       

                 Photo 5: Iglesia de Bejucal 

Quivican 

1. *Iglesia de Ascenso de San Pedro Apóstol [6]   

Began, as a small chapel, founded around 1667, by the Bishop Juan de Santos Matias.
In 1759, it was converted to a Parish (Parroquia).      

Photo 6: Iglesia de Ascenso de San Pedro Apostol

2. Iglesia Parroquial de Quivicán, [7] 

Located at 23rd Ave between 22 and 24, Municipio Quivicán, Mayabeque province, Cuba. 

Originated as a small chapel, Ascenso de San Pedro Church, (Apostle of the Municipality), built in the 17th century. The new construction of the church began March of 1842, and was completed on 25 December of the same year. 

3. Iglesia de San Felipe. [8] 

Built in the second half of the 19th century.  Located at 12th Ave. e / 11 and 12, in the Park of San Felipe, town of the municipality of Quivicán, province Mayabeque, Cuba.      

     

Photo 7:. Iglesia de San Felipe

CubaGenWeb ~ 

If you have family that came from Cuba or are researching that area, then,I would recommend  CubaGenWeb.  It is a great resource!! 

As stated on their site... they suggest information and advice to help you get started and facilitate your own Cuban Genealogical research.  About CubaGenWeb  

Cuban Genealogy Club of Miami ~

While searching on the Cubagenclub website, I clicked on the link for Church and Synagogue records, however, I was unable to find anything related to my specific area. I scrolled down the page to the bottom menu and clicked on 'Links" -- this took me to another page -- "Links to Other Web sites".  I clicked on the link for "Cuban Genealogy Club of Miami"  which took me to their Home Page and found a link for "Databases" -- where there is a list of databases that included several Church Records.  I clicked on the town-- Havana, and this is where I found the church in Bejucal-- San Felipe and Santiago Church. The description says it is a list of  indeces of books for Births, Marriages, Deaths, Confirmation, generously donated by Andres Echazabal.  A very nice sizeable collection with a variety of date ranges. 

As I searched through the list of names, I found an entry for Luis Hernandez Luis  -- San Felipe y Santiago, Lib. 15,1874-1879    He is the last child born to my great-grandparents!   Of course, I will need to do further research to confirm that this is the correct person.  I was unable to locate my grandmother and her other siblings, so my search continues.... 

I created a Facts Chart spreadsheet to help me keep track of additional information I may locate.  

I realize that at some point, I will need to have feet on the ground at some of these locations, as there is only so much one can do online. However, until that point I will attempt to exhaust all possibilities. 

Do you have any ancestors from any of these locations?  I would love to hear your stories about your experiences.   

 

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Sources: 

1— Quivican: Wikipedia: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quivicán

2— “Tierra Roja”: Diario Mayabeque: http://diariomayabeque.cu/2016/12/quivican-de-mi-historia-a-tus-albores/

3— Bejucal: Havana Times: http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=116171 

4— Bejucal: Guije.com -estudios en la cultura y la historia de Cuba: http://www.guije.com/pueblo/municipios/hbejucal/ 

5—  EcuRed: provincial/index.htm  https://www.ecured.cu/Iglesia_Parroquial_de_Bejucal 

6— Wikipedia Español: http://www.esacademic.com/dic.nsf/eswiki/978741 https://www.ecured.cu/Iglesia_de_Quivicán 

7— EcuRed is a Cuban online encyclopedia built on MediaWiki softwarea: https://www.ecured.cu/Quivicán 

8— San Felipe: https://www.ecured.cu/Iglesia_de_San_Felipe_(Quivicán) 

Photos: 

Courtesy of:

1. Wikipedia— Quivicán, Mayabeque, Cuba

2. EcuRed— Coat of Arms of Quivicán

3. Wikipedia— Bejucal, Mayabeque Province, Cuba 

4. Havana Times— http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=116171 

5. EcuRed— Iglesia Parroquial de Bejucal:  (Aliuska jc.hlg)

6. EcuRed— Parroquia de San Pedro Apóstol:  https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Iglesia_de_Quivicán.JPG#mw-jump-to-license

7. EcuRed— Iglesia de San Felipe: https://www.ecured.cu/Archivo:Iglesia_Católica_de_San_Felipe.jpg 

90 Miles South of Key West

This has been a wonderful month— complete with family visits, helping my daughter with her newborn and toddler— our precious granddaughters, as well as a month of connecting and getting to know a new cousin. What a joy it has been to help her with one of her genealogy projects, as well as co-labor on our mutual research of our family surnames. 
The research continues, yet it begins on a deeper level.  

As I mentioned in my last post, my knowledge about the country of Cuba, is limited.
I know it is located 90 miles south of Key West, Florida, and that only two generations in my family, my parents and grandparents, were born in Cuba. That's it!!  

All previous generations, migrated from either, the mainland of Spain or the Canary Islands. 

Although, my DNA results do indicate a small piece of the pie with English, Irish and other European regions.  What?!?  Complete shocker, but for now, will have to put that on the back burner. 

So, first on the list, Cuba. 

In order to locate specific towns in Spain or the Canary Islands, I have to first, begin with Cuba, then work backwards from that point. I am aware of the challenges, and have my work cut out for me.

This leads me to... 
Step 1— learn about Cuba and its cities and towns, and then, 
Step 2— locate the local churches for those towns and locations where civil records would have taken place.  

Along the way, this will no doubt include learning about the historical time frames. As we all know the importance this plays, working together with our understanding in linking it all together with our information and weaving it into our historical accounts.  

As I begin, I am discovering towns and provinces that have changed from one municipality to another or has been acquired into another province entirely. 

In 2011, the municipality of San Antonio de los Baños, for example, was added to the newly created province, Artemisa, however, prior to to that year, it was in the province of La Habana. This is similar to situations that we run into, often with our U.S. research, in regards to county line and state boundary changes throughout history.
It is important to establish those dates and boundaries so we are not disapointed at the outcome when we research wrong locations expecting to find our target ancestor. So, to better understand, it is essential to study the geography and a bit of history for any country. 

During the colonization of Cuba, in 1879, the Spanish government created 6 Provinces, which are regarded as the “Historical Provinces”. 

The Historical Provinces are: 

1. Pinar Del Río. 

2. La Habana: Included the Isle of Pines, and two current provinces, Artemisa, Mayabeque. 

3. Matanzas. 

4. Las Villas:  Was once known as Santa Clara before 1940 and included three provinces of today— Cienfuegos, Villa Clara, Sancti Spiritus.   

5. Camagüey:  Known as Puerto Principe before1899, and included two current provinces— Ciego de Avila and part of Las Tunas prior to 1970. 

6. Oriente:  Prior to 1905, known as Santiago de Cuba. It included present day Provinces of Santiago de Cuba,  Holguin, Granma, Las Tunas, and Guantanamo. 

Today, there are 15 Provinces, 16 if you include Isla de la Juventud (Isle of Youth), which is actually, a “special municipality”. The last modification took place in 2010 and began functioning in 2011. The Provinces are further divided into 168 municipalities/towns.

Current Day (After 2011) Provinces:  

Province                           Municip        Cap City                 Found/Estab

Pinar Del Río                         11            Pinar Del Río              1867

1Artemisa (2011)                   11            Artemisa                     1818

2Havana (Ciud de La Hab)   15            Havana                       1515, 1592

Mayabeque.                          11         San Jose de las Lajas    1778 

3Matanzas                            13            Matanzas                    (4)1572, 1693, 1695

5Cienfuegos                           8            Cienfuegos                  1819

Villa Clara                             13            Santa Clara                 1689, 1690

Sancti Spiritus                         8            Sancti Spiritus             1514

6Cego de Avila (1976)          10            Ciego de Avila             1840

Camagüey                             13            Camagüey                  1528

Las Tunas                                8             Las Tunas                   1759

Granma                                  13             Bayamó                       1513

Holguin                                   14             Holguin                        1523

Santiago de Cuba                     9            Santiago de Cuba        1515

Guantánamo                           10            Guantánamo                1797

7Isla de la Juventud                 1             Nueva Gerona              1802

            

Now, that I have a chart of the main Provinces, and the capital city within each province, I can create a list of the towns that my family and ancestors lived in and place them with the correct municipality and province.  

Next, I will make a list of the Catholic Churches and Diocesis in each of those municipalities as well as addresses and contact information to begin the process of connecting the names and dates with their locations and begin to create a timeline for each ancestor. 

Hopefully, at some point I will be able to trace the point of entry for a specific time in history for those ancestors and possibly find a record of immigration that will document their place of origin, parents names, dates, etc. 

This process can take a while, but through patience and persistence, we will prevail.   :) 

Have you had any success in locating records for your ancestors who immigrated to another country? Would love to hear about your research experiences, in particular of any stories involving Cuba, or similar countries. 

Until next month. 

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Footnotes: 

 1One of 2 provinces (Artemisa, Mayabeque) created in 2011, from the former province of La Habana. Municipalities: Bahia Honda, Candelaria, San Cristóbal were originally part of the province— Pinar Del Río, prior to 2011. 

 2Municipality referred to as Ciudad de La Habana, La Habana, Havana. 

3Subdivided into 14 municipalities, in 1976 until 2010. In 2011, Varadero was merged into the city of Cardenas, thus Matanzas, now has 13 municipalities. 

4 Settled by Europeans: 1572, Founded: 1693, by 30 families from the Canary Islands, Established: 1695

5 Separated in 1976 from Santa Clara (known as Las Villa after 1940) which, was once a historical province in Cuba. The province of Santa Clara is nonextant today, however, the city of Santa Clara is the capitol of Villa Clara Province. 

6Separated from the province of Camagüey in 1975. 

7The 2nd largest Cuban island. Although it is listed as a province it is actually a Special Municipality of Cuba with 1 Municipality ‘Isla de la Juventud’   

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Sources

 1. Information and photos courtesy of Wikipedia 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Provinces_of_Cuba 

2. For further reading 

http://www.webhavana.com/CubaMaps/ 

http://www.cubagenweb.org/prov.htm