Dezaldoymore

Road Trip to Trinidad, Cuba: Love and photographs of 1948

Ay, Chica! — Fri, 12 Sep 2025 05:50:13 +0000

An Engagement Trip for Chiqui and Pepín

My parents both grew up in Havana, but I don’t really know the story of how they first met.

There’s only a vague memory of hearing that Chiqui and Pepín, as they were known to their families, were introduced through my aunt’s school mate.

But I do remember my mother mentioning something about celebrating their wedding plans.

It was with a little travel adventure, although I never knew the details. Fortunately, I recently saw that on the back of several photographs from that trip my mother had written “Viaje de Compromiso”, or Engagement Trip, 1948.

Engagement trip? It seems to me that such a thing was not a tradition in Cuba in the 1940s.

I imagine, instead, that the idea for a trip from Havana to Trinidad, Cuba belonged to my maternal grandparents and, most likely, was my grandmother’s wise inspiration. It would be a thoughtful gift and an opportunity for all to get better acquainted.

Of course, my grandparents had to travel with Chiqui and Pepín. They would serve as tour guides and chauffeurs and, also, as the chaperons required for a respectable young lady.

At the time, my mother was only 19 years old and my father, 22.

Why a visit to Trinidad?

Travel plans for this Engagement Trip must have been exciting for the young couple. It was to be a formal trip as new fiancés and the start of big changes ahead of them.

And I also wondered how they decided on the destination. This Engagement Trip could have been to any number of beautiful locations near Havana.

Why choose Trinidad, which was then a slow, 10-hour drive from the Cuban capital?

My grandparents actually had a good reason to visit that small and very historic city on the southern coast of Cuba.

Trinidad, as I now know, was a significant place in the family history of my grandfather René De Zaldo.

His father, Rafael, had been born in Trinidad a 100 years before their visit.

Rafael DeZaldo y Cueto came into this world in 1847, at the same time as his mother died in childbirth.

Exciting 1940s roadtrip, and their first flight in an airplane

Since traveling from Havana to Trinidad by car would take about 2 days with stops, my grandparents decided that they would all fly, and then drive. And for my parents this would be the first time either of them would travel in an airplane. Of course, that wasn’t so surprising in the 1940s, and especially in Cuba, because back then air travel was still a luxury and quite expensive. And that made it all the more special and exciting. My grandparents were already familiar with flying, especially my grandfather who was one of the first licensed pilots in Cuba.

Traveling by airplane, however, did not mean that there would be no road trip. Since Trinidad didn’t have an airport in 1948, the flight on Cubana Airlines would have been from Havana to Camagüey, Cuba. And from there it was still another 4 hours by car to finally reach Trinidad. It was a long journey , but I’m sure my father didn’t mind the extra car ride. He was traveling with his camera, so the road trip was a chance to take even more photographs of the unfamiliar countryside and tropical views along the way.

With beautiful old photos, I got to travel with my parents through central Cuba

Growing up, our parents never shared with me and my brother the enchanting photographs my father took during their engagement trip.

In fact, we never heard much about their early lives in Cuba, before they decided to move to New York in 1957, which was pre-revolution. And I don’t remember our parents ever sharing stories about their experiences and impressions during the journey they took to Trinidad before they were married.

Years later, my father’s photos from that road trip ended up in a box at my brother’s home. I only first remember seeing them after my brother selected a few to scan and print in 2006.

More recently, after years of researching into our family’s era in Cuba, I took an interest in that collection of old images. And I’ve loved looking through those pictures every now and then because I keep seeing something new.

A little research and some Google Maps have helped me get familiar with the places my parent visited during their trip.

And those new details, together with the discoveries I’ve made about the lives of our parents and generations of their families in Cuba, have transformed those 1948 photographs into fascinating glimpses into my past.

Never thought of my father as an artist, but his photographs of old Cuba are lovely

Sometime around the age of 22, my father bought himself a camera in Havana and started taking pictures. He had previously studied some art and architecture in school, and the few sketches of his that survive show that he developed quite a skill for drawing.

He clearly also had a talent for photography.

My father, who ended up working in civil engineering for the Port Authority of NY and NJ, was known to be a practical man. He liked to build things “nice and square”, as he would say in his strong, Cuban accent. I can’t imagine anyone ever describing him as creative or romantic.

Yet as a young man, when life seemed easier and he was in love, my father took more time to frame the beauty around him.

My father certainly took a lot of pictures during their Viaje de Compromiso to Trinidad. Maybe he was just still excited about his new camera.

But I believe it was the stunning landscapes along the roads through central Cuba, as well as the enduring colonial architecture in Trinidad, that enticed my father to shoot such a wonderful variety of images.

Artful landscapes and photographs that captured moments in time

Surprisingly, my father had a wonderful eye for composition and for capturing a perspective that was intriguing.

Of the photographs my father took during the visit to Trinidad, few are shots of people just standing in front of the camera

Instead, his photos mostly frame grand vistas of the distant mountains and interesting views of the colonial buildings and plazas in the historic downtown.

Yet, the images most special to me are the ones which capture my family in unique moments in time.

These are more intimate photos of casual scenes, and they offer insights into the characters or the personal dynamics taking place.

In one image, for instance, my father got a quick shot of four people standing on one of Trinidad’s old streets and looking towards the building before them.

My young grandmother, only 38 at the time, stands with a camera to her eye, smiling and confidently taking a photograph. (I didn’t imagine my grandmother ever taking photos.) And behind her is my mother, in her bright summer dress calling out loudly to someone beyond the scene. (Yes, my mother acting boldly was a trait I was familiar with and remember fondly.)

The last two people in that photo are my grandfather, with his hand on his hip, and standing close to him, a gentleman whom I believe was a cousin. I barely met my grandfather René, and it was nice to see him looking so relaxed next to a family member who he probably didn’t see often.

As I gazed at that unposed photograph I could imagine standing happily among these relatives of mine.

And through that captured scene I sensed that these people were genuinely enjoying their time together, that they were “cariñoso” or affectionate, and that my father – the fiancé – would be welcome into my mother’s family.

Vintage views of Trinidad’s old town center

Trinidad is a historic city, one of the oldest in Cuba that was founded for the Spanish Empire. The settlement of Villa de la Santísima Trinidad, it’s original name, was established in 1514.

Amazingly, the city center has many old buildings, some centuries old, that are almost unchanged today. They are all still wonderful to photograph.

And these traditional homes, churches and public plazas that are the same ones that my great-grandfather, and great-great grandparents, walked by in the early and mid-1800s.

In Trinidad’s historic downtown you can still experience the main church in the town center – the Iglesia de la Santísima Trinidad – rebuilt in the 1870s. Beside it is the former palace of the Brunet family, constructed during the late 1700s.

And about a block away you can easily see the tall tower of the old monastery, or the Convento de San Francisco, finished in 1814.

And while I’ve never yet been to Trinidad, I think the most picturesque spot in the heart of the city is its town square, or Plaza Mayor.

This public space, from the 1850s, is charming and elegant. Its walkways cross between tall palm trees and leafy tropical plants, and the entire plaza is surrounded by a wrought iron fence and Spanish colonial buildings that feature shaded verandas and red-tiled roofs.

My father’s perfectly framed view of the Plaza Mayor from the balcony of the Palacio Brunet (not accessible today) is my favorite of his photographs from 1948.

Photographs reflecting the surrounding mountains in the Valle de los Ingenios

A good place in downtown Trinidad to appreciate the city’s geographical location is up in the monastery’s bell tower, which is still open to visitors .

From there, looking out of each of the four tower archways, you get a 360-degree view of the extended parts of the city, as well as of the surrounding mountains and the valley known as Valle de los Ingenios, or the former Valley of the Sugar Mills.

Another important and historic landmark – not far from Trinidad’s town center – is the tower of the former Manaca-Iznaga sugar plantation.

It’s an impressive site and much the same now as when my parents visited in the 1940s, although my father captured a photograph that made the watch tower seem more abandoned and haunting than those taken in recent years.

History of Trinidad and the growth of Cuba’s Valley of the Sugar Mills

The history of Cuba is forever tied to the history of Spain. Soon after the Spanish arrived on the island, the first sugarcane plants were grown in the rich soil around Trinidad, and by the mid-1700s the region was transformed into the center of Cuba’s sugar industry. This sweet crop, always in demand, grew on large plantations that created immense wealth for their owners. But this wealth developed, and was only possible, by the labor of their slaves. Trinidad’s infamous Valle de los Ingenious continued growing and producing sugar with slave labor until almost the end of the 1800s.

The beauty of the verdant landscape in this valley still remains, yet I imagine that tremors from the past still echo in the winds across all of Cuba.

When I finally get to visit Trinidad, I know my experience will be overwhelming. Those haunting echoes of slavery will mix together with the emotions I will feel from just being able to walk the same cobblestoned streets — and be within the same spaces — where two generations of my De Zaldo family lived during the first half of the 19th century.

Few families living in Trinidad during that period would have been able to distance themselves from involvement in the sugar and the slave industries. Unfortunately, I confirmed the details of my ancestors’ activities and relationships in those trades. The research process to make those connections to my family has been fascinating, but the facts will forever be difficult to reconcile.

What I do wonder is how many of those historical details and family stories my grandparents were aware of during that visit to Trinidad and the Valle de los Ingenios.

My mother certainly knew nothing of those stories. She barely had details to share with me about her own grandparents, let alone the life of a great-grandfather born in 1806.

My father’s 1948 photographs of Trinidad captured older views of the Cuban colonial city

Photographs my father took with his camera in the 1940s offer views that are both similar and quite different from those taken today.

For instance, in the center of Trinidad, the Spanish colonial landmarks are very close to each other, so a good photographer can take striking images from a few key spots.

If you stroll near the main church and the former Brunet palace (now the Museo Romático) that are in front of the Plaza Mayor, it’s possible to frame those two handsome buildings into one shot that will also include the monastery’s classic bell tower just a block away.

Photographs almost like the ones my father took over 75 years ago are easy to come across today online.

However, Trinidad has changed a bit since 1948.

The historic section — now a UNESCO World Heritage site — has been well-preserved by its residents. But beyond the downtown, new buildings have since been built and some older ones have disappeared.

My father captured one 18th century structure that is now gone.

While up in the bell tower downtown, my father had framed a view up the north hillside showing only a scattering of small buildings. And at the top of the hill you can see what was once a convent and hospital, first constructed in 1716.

This large white structure, referred to as La Popa, had been expanded through the 1800s and was already abandoned when my parent visited. However, today the site is a ruin, with only the front facade of the old chapel barely standing.

So wonderful to travel back to a Cuba in other times

These old photographs, rediscovered, are my new treasures.

Through them I see the landscapes of Cuba as my parents did when they were only about 20 years old and just imagining their future together. The images have also helped me form new impressions about my grandparents, who I’m slowly learning were quite extraordinary people.

Even the photo prints themselves are special. Developed back in the 1940s, this batch of Trinidad images were printed in half-tone, a process which makes each image appear through lighter and darker dots on paper.

And now with a sepia color blended into the old black and whites, the new versions seem warmer, softly textured and frozen in time.

To me, this collection is beautiful and meaningful, rich with both the history of previous generations and that of Cuba’s intriguing and conflicting past.

Road Trip to Trinidad, Cuba: Love and photographs of 1948

What I discovered about Rene DeZaldo and his motorcycle days

Ay, Chica! — Fri, 02 May 2025 15:37:15 +0000

The story behind that old family photo, Cuba 1915

So many questions. Who could possibly know the answers?

It wasn’t easy to discover why my grandfather was on that Indian Motorcycle in the photograph dated 1915.

But I love a good research challenge, and this project was important to me. I’d barely met my grandfather, and such a story from his lifetime was particular intriguing.

I kept looking occasionally online for clues, but nothing appeared in Google for “René De Zaldo”, “Indian Motorcycle and Cuba”, or other variations I tried.

Instead, I first got lucky uncovering other family stories I had also been searching for.

But eventually, driven by my insistent curiosity, I managed to find enough details to explain what was happening in that image.

It’s hard to describe the feeling – part joy, part “victoire”!

This was early in my family search days, and it had all started because no one in my family, especially my mother, knew anything about her father René’s exciting life as a young man.

Over the years, I often noticed that old framed photograph of my grandfather, René De Zaldo y Parra. I’d see him standing by his moto, dressed in racing gear and surrounded by other racers and spectators.

I would glance at the image and always wonder:

• When and how did René get interested in motorcycles?
• Where did that scene take place?
• And was it really a race? Did my grandfather win?

Although the people who would remember were gone, I was hoping to find existing information from that era that might hold the answers.

Then, late one night in 2016 while trying a Google search again, I finally came upon the printed resource I had been hoping for.

And as if by some modern form of magic, I was suddenly peeking online into my grandfather’s early life through the pages of old Motorcycle Illustrated magazines.

New digital information had come online

What I had found was a link to a newly digitized collection of the New York City Library.

Volumes of the printed copies of Motorcycle Illustrated, the popular trade magazine first published in 1906, were still in existence and were available at the library.

But with these digital copies, now anyone could easily view several decades of the old magazines online.

This meant that I could search for a key word within the text of the magazines to possibly find information about my grandfather.

Could my grandfather René be in that popular US magazine?

At first I was surprised that my grandfather would appear in an American magazine. I believed that in 1915 my grandfather René was living in Havana, not the US.

But I was excited that I might find some relevant clues.

After all, René was riding an American brand motorcycle in that old photograph — an Indian Motorcycle.

And I had also found my grandfather traveling from Havana to New York City on several occasions during the 1910s. Maybe his visits to New York had inspired his interest in the new and fast-speed world of motorbikes.

At least, those early issues of the magazine might offer insights about what was happening with motorcycles and the Indian brand in Cuba at the time.

Since the turn of the 1900s, imports from the US were popular and more Americans were traveling to Havana.

Did I find anything good?

I took advantage of the keyword search function for those online issues.

And, yes, I found the clues and the insights I was hoping for.

In fact, those recently digitized copies of Motorcycle Illustrated ended up giving me the answers to just about everything I had wanted to know.

My grandfather was in Motorcycle Illustrated several times in 1915 and 1916

Inside that trade magazine I found surprising details about René. And I followed two years of his life as he traveled between Havana and the US.

I discovered news articles about my grandfather’s activities, even images of him, in several issues from 1915 through 1916.

There were also articles related to Havana and Cuba, describing the popularity of motorcycles and cars on the island or the condition of roads that, by 1916, were being used by a growing number of the world’s first motorized vehicles.

It was a fast-changing era.

With the details in those old magazines, plus other information I had found online, I started piecing together a snapshot of my grandfather as a young man in his mid-20s. It was a part of his life that I knew nothing about, and neither had my mother.

The stories painted a new picture of René and his family during the 1910s.

And they also made me realize from where I might have inherited some of my own interests and personality traits.

René de Zaldo: Indian Motorcycle dealer and motorcycle racer in Havana

It turns out that my grandfather was the Indian Motorcycle dealer in Havana, Cuba, from about 1914 to 1917.

And to answers those early questions I had, he was in race gear in that old photograph because he was competing the “Cuban 68-Mile Classic”, as reported in a 1915 issue of Motorcycle Illustrated magazine.

Did René win that race? Apparently, not.

Instead it was his brother, Rafael de Zaldo, who took 1st Place. (Tio Rafael also rode motorcycles?!?)

Discoveries

René sells the first motorcycles to Havana Police Department, 1915

Motorcycle Illustrated - December 9, 1915

The earliest issue of Motorcycle Illustrated that mentioned my grandfather was from December of 1915.

It featured a photograph of René together with members of the Havana police. Apparently, my grandfather had sold the police department four Indian Motorcycles to use for traffic duty.

These motorcycles were the first ever used by Havana’s police force, replacing horses that had been the form of transportation for centuries.

In the image from the magazine, below, you can see six Havana police officers and a sergeant in their fine uniforms of the day.

Standing behind them is my grandfather. René is dressed in a white linen suit, starched shirt, and a panama hat. He was then a young man of 26 and living in Cuba since 1901.

Click to enlarge

INDIAN-MOUNTED POLICE IN CUBA’S THRIVING CAPITAL

“Motorcycle Squad Attached to Havana City Force With Twin Machines Furnished by R. C. DeZaldo, Wigwam Representative for Havana and Outlying Province”

The caption under the photograph reads:

“Indian-Mounted Police in Cuba’s Thriving Capital – Motorcycle Squad Attached to Havana City Force With Twin Machines Furnished by R.C. DeZaldo, Wigwam Representative for Havana and Outlying Province”

“Wigwam” was Indian Motorcycle’s somewhat witty reference to its headquarters in Springfield, Massachusetts, and “Wigwam Representative” was used to refer to the dealer network.

I don’t know how many Indian motorcycles my grandfather sold during his time as a dealer in Havana, but by 1919 there were _______ registered motorcycles in Cuba, an impressive number.

Havana police on horseback, 1913

Havana police on Indian Motorcycles, 1915

Rafael, my grand-uncle, also loved motorcycles in Cuba

Motorcycle Illustrated - December 30, 1915

Finding a picture of my grand-uncle Rafael De Zaldo y Parra on a motorbike in Motorcycle Illustrated of 1915 was incredible.

I knew very little about my grandfather’s brother Rafael ― now I knew that both DeZaldo brothers loved to ride.

News about Rafael De Zaldo, or Ralph, winning that race in Havana appeared in the magazine’s issue of December 30, 1915. This report included only a photograph, with a title and caption. But those few words gave me a wealth of information and has kept me searching for more details about motorcycles and vehicle racing in Cuba since the start of the 1900s.

According to one of my cousins, our grandfather said that it was Rafael who was the serious motorcycle racer. He loved to race, and won often.

Click to enlarge

WINNER OF THE HAVANA RACE

“Ralph de Zaldo, Son of Havana Indian Dealer Who Came First in Recent Cuba 68-Mile Classic” The Havana Indian dealer mentioned in the caption was my grandfather. And the winner of that race was not his “son,” but instead his brother, Rafael.

In the image found in the magazine, above, you see Rafael riding the latest model Indian Motorcycle and wearing fine leather riding boots and gloves. He’s also dressed in a white collared shirt, bowtie, and a cap.

Other photographs I’ve seen more recently of Rafael confirm not only that he really enjoyed his motorcycles in Cuba, but he also had a great sense of style.

(Link to posts about the DeZaldo Brothers: LINK)

I’m still not sure where that motorcycle race took place ― it might have been in or near Artemisa, in the Havana area. The caption in this magazine issue called the race the “68-mile Cuban Classic”, yet I haven’t found reference to a race of that name anywhere else.

Can you inherit a love for motorcycles?

I’d never heard anything about a family member interested in motorcycles before my brother found that image of my grandfather on his Indian.

Yet somehow, in high school, motorbikes caught my attention. I eventually got my own motorcycle when my two sons started riding, and I loved speeding on sandy trails and challenging them to dirt jumps.

Then, suddenly, my research led me to discover that both a grandfather and a grand-uncle had been serious motorcycle enthusiasts on the island of Cuba. The DeZaldo brothers, René and Rafael, were confident enough to race those early two-wheeled machines on sandy, dirt roads.

Could I have inherited a thing for motorcycles through in my genes?

René De Zaldo, Indian Dealer in Cuban Capital

Motorcycle Illustrated - September 21, 1916

It was actually my grandfather’s headshot that first appeared to me online from these magazines.

Just imagine ― I’m at my laptop creatively trying to Google something that explains a 100-year old photograph of a man on a motorbike, when, on the screen, I’m presented with a formal photograph of my grandfather.

And below the image I see just a few words that put everything into context. Crazy.

That picture of René, seen below, was included in the September 21 issue of Motorcycle Illustrated of 1916.

René was clearly a well-dressed young man, posed wearing a handsome suit, broad neck tie, and pocket handkerchief in the fashion style of the era.

Click to enlarge

FROM THE HAVANA WIGWAM

“Rene De Zaldo, Indian Dealer in Cuban Capital, Who Paid a Recent Visit to the Hendee Factory at Springfield to Sign Up for the 1917 Allotment”

There was no article associated with my grandfather’s image, which is only explained by the caption below.

But there was enough information in that caption to learn for the first time that my grandfather was indeed the Indian Motorcycle dealer in Cuba and that he was traveling from Havana all the way to Springfield, Massachusetts to visit the manufacturer’s headquarters.

The caption reads:
“FROM THE HAVANA WIGWAM: Rene De Zaldo, Indian Dealer in Cuban Capital, Who Paid a Recent Visit to the Hendee Factory at Springfield to Sign Up for the 1917 Allotment”

Springfield, Massachusetts

Hendee Manufacturing Company, which started in 1901, was the original name of the factory that made the Indian Motorcycle. The company name was changed to the “Indian Motorcycle Manufacturing Company” in 1923.

Did you know that Indian was America’s first motorcycle company?

(It was 1903 when Harley Davidson started.)

CannonBall Baker in Cuba, 1912?

When I learned that Indian Motorcycle had sponsored the legendary Erwin “CannonBall” Baker in 1912 on a southern trip that took him through Cuba, I wondered: Did the De Zaldo Brothers see CannonBall in Havana?

Learn about CannonBall Baker’s journey in 1912, well before his record-breaking ride across the US in 1914. (LINK to my post …)

A second visit by René to the Indian Motorcycle headquarters in Springfield, Massachusetts

Motorcycle Illustrated - July 6, 1916

In a July issue, I learned that my grandfather had made an earlier visit to the Indian Motorcycle factory ― separate from the visit mentioned in the issue from September 21, 1916.

The news of this visit was posted from Springfield, Massachusetts, Indian’s headquarters, and it described René’s update to the manufacturer about business in Havana.

Click to enlarge

GOOD RECORED FOR HAVANA POLICE INDIANS

“Rene DeZaldo who represents the Indian in Havana, Cuba, was a recent visitor to the big plant of the Hendee Mfg. Co. in this city…”

René De Zaldo reports on the Cuba business at Indian Motorcycle headquarters

Per the article in 1916, my grandfather, or Señor De Zaldo, shared some valuable information with headquarters.

First he reported on the great track record of the Indian motorcycles that he had sold to the Havana police the year before. The machines hadn’t even needed a tube or tire change since being put into service.

Señor De Zaldo also summarized about business in Cuba and any affects caused by World War I, which had started in Europe in 1914.

My grandfather also mentioned that roads in the city of Havana were paved and provided good driving conditions for motorcycles and cars.

“Señor De Zaldo stated that tobacco growers in Cuba were not as prosperous this season as in previous years by reason of the European war cutting off a part of their market. Sugar growers, he said, were doing well. Cuban roads are mainly lime and are very dusty, but in the city of Havana, asphalt streets are laid.”

Separately, I had found my grandfather traveling to New York, via Ellis Island, in the summer of 1916. He may have been on his way to visit the Indian factory in Massachusetts.

While in New York for that trip, René stayed at the original Hotel Empire in Manhattan, across from today’s Lincoln Center.

(The hotel building in this image was torn down and re-built in 1922.)

More news on the Havana Police Indian Motorbikes

Motorcycle Illustrated - November 25, 1915

I few articles related to my grandfather and motorcycles in Cuba were harder to discover in the magazine text.

For example, I finally found another report about the Havana police department’s new motorcycles that were sold by my grandfather, René de Zaldo. However, the paragraph didn’t include the words “police,” “motorcycle,” nor “de Zaldo”.

This article I found by text searching for the word “cycling”.

In the 1910s, motorcycles were still associated with bicycles ― they were basically just bicycles with motors. And they were also often called “machines,” “mounts,” and “motorbikes”, so if you searched for “motorcycle” you might miss some relevant news.

The magazine’s article, below, talks about the “brand new traffic squad” of the Havana Police in the section entitled “Cycling Brevities from Havana”.

You can also read how “speeding” was a new problem on roads and why motorcycle riders in Cuba were up in arms about having to get a driver’s license.

The Harley-Davidson dealer in Havana was even arrested!

CYCLING BREVITIES FROM HAVANA

“The winter season opened in Havana with the inauguration of a brand new traffic squad. 12 men, and mounted on 7 h.p. Indian of the 1915 model.

While riders expect to be annoyed considerably until the motor cops ace down a bit, it is generally believed that they will in time do very effective work.

The squad was created by General Sanchez Agramonte, chief of police who has plenty of good ideas about regulation traffic.”

Research Notes

A lucky find: One more motorcycle image from Havana, 1915

Photo found by just flipping through the 100-year old issues in person

It was only by chance that I found a separate photo of Havana’s police sergeant in Motorcycle Illustrated. It had not come up through a Google search, nor even with a text search within the magazine’s digital files online.

I discovered the image only while flipping though the pages of the real magazines ― original issues that had been printed over a 100 years before.

Visiting the New York City Library in 2019

In 2019, I traveled to the New York City Library in Manhattan to view, and touch, the bound volumes of those old Motorcycle Illustrated issues that are in the library’s collection.

They were the same issues I had seen online, but I wanted to capture some higher resolution images of the articles and the photographs related to my grandfather.

How different it was to be together with those vintage magazines

Looking through those old trade magazines was a very different experience from seeing them online.

It was quite moving to touch (very carefully!) the paper of the printed pages, most of them so well preserved.

And I loved handling the huge volumes of original magazines and carrying them from the Special Requests desk to the large library tables there in Manhattan. (I looked through two dozen bound sets.)

Most of the pages are in black and white, but the vibrant colors of the magazine covers and featured advertisements are rich, and even better when you see them in person.

The graphic designs of the 1910s are wonderful ― a blend of the decorative Art Nouveau style and the practical ad layouts and copy used to entice buyers of those early motorcycles.

I carefully turned each page, taking in the visual details and the simple stories that were considered newsworthy for the time.

And I kept imagining René and Rafael looking through those same issues when they were young, each of them enthralled with the motorized machines they were so crazy about.

The last article I found

Motorcycle Illustrated - November 25, 1915

DEMONSTRATING VARIED USES OF POWER TWO-WHEELERS

Par of caption reads: “… 4, Sargeant Alvarez, Police Traffic Chief of Havana, Cuba;…”

Another photo of an Indian Motorcycle René sold in Havana

Flipping through the printed issues at the library is how I found the image, above.

It was in a volume of magazines from 1915, and I recognized the uniform.

It was familiar because I had seen the same uniform in the photo of my grandfather with the new Havana traffic squad. I took a look at the caption, and sure enough, the caption read, “Sargeant Alvarez, Police Traffic Chief of Havana, Cuba”.

And he was riding the very same Indian Motorcycle that my grandfather René had sold!

The collection of images the magazine had assembled on that page was simply to highlight creative uses of the new moto machine: “Demonstrating Varied Uses of Power Two-Wheeler”.

In the 1910s, sales for motorcycles grew quickly, and riders were excited about the adventures they could take on them.

But they were also harnessing the power in this new vehicle technology to get work done – like leveling a bumpy dirt road or hauling stuff in an empty side car.

In the Cuban capital of Havana, they were also using the motorcycle for work.

Managing the traffic of a growing number of cars and motos was a growing problem by 1915. And it couldn’t be done by the Havana police on horseback, as was the norm just two years before.

Where I Found This Magazine Resource

Copies of original printed issues of Motorcycle Illustrated magazine were located at the New York City Public Library. Then in 2014, they were “Digitized by Google”.

I finally came across the magazines online in 2016.

The library’s collection has only several years of the magazine – from 1908 to 1922. (Fortunately that range was perfect for me to find my grandfather.)

How to access this resource (updated October 2024)

NYC Public Library’s collection, including digitized copies and details to access the print copies in person:

LINK https://www.nypl.org/research/research-catalog/bib/b12093830?originalUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fcatalog.nypl.org%2Frecord%3Db12093830~S1#view-all-items

To see the printed copies you must contact the library before your visit to request the volumes you wish to see. (Details in link, above.)

Copies are located at the following library location:

Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library (SNFL)
455 Fifth Avenue Fifth Floor New York, NY 10016

Hathi Trust (“a not-for-profit collaborative of academic and research libraries”) hosts the digital copies of these Motorcycle Illustrated volumes.

You can read them online and download 1 page at a time.

Link to Hathi Trust collection:
https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/008608578

Marriage of María Ignacia and Cecilio in Cádiz 1788

Ay, Chica! — Sat, 19 Apr 2025 18:51:36 +0000

New life together in the dynamic old city of Cádiz

María Ignacia Valiente y Mariscal was not from Cádiz. She was born in Mexico City, part of colonial Spain, in 1772.

And Cecilio de Zaldo y Huerta was also a forastero, or stranger, in Cádiz. He was from today’s La Rioja region in northern Spain, born in the small village of Valgañon in 1758.

Yet on their wedding day they stood together in the ancient port city of Cádiz, side-by-side, before the altar of the church of San Lorenzo. María Ignacia was only 16 years old, and Cecilio was 30.

What, then, had led them to Cádiz and to be joined in marriage in 1788?

I have theories, but I’m still missing some facts.

So many situations could have influenced their journeys to this new place.

What is certain is that in 1788 Cádiz was still the center of trade and culture between Spain, its rich colonies of the Americas, and the major powers of Europe.

Perhaps they had come to Cádiz because the city represented opportunity. It also offered, at that time, the most international experience anywhere in Spain.

Some promise of good fortune had drawn these two people – my 3rd great-grandparents – to this vibrant and enchanting city.

What had brought Cecilio and María Ignacia to Cádiz?

Before Cádiz, Cecilio seems to have lived a few years in Madrid, and it was probably business and the connections he had made in the capital that led him to Spain’s primary port in Andalusia.

In 1784, while in Madrid, Cecilio had received his Hidalgo status (a Spanish form of lower nobility, without a title). And by the time he got married at age 30, he already had some solid life experience.

María Ignacia, by contrast, was only age 16 when she began her life together with Cecilio. She probably traveled across the Atlantic Ocean from Mexico to Cádiz with her parents, or perhaps with another family member.

Whichever their paths, the couple would experience life together in Cádiz during years that were both exciting and enormously historic – from 1788 to about 1840.

Their years in Cádiz would be fulfilling and very active in historic events

It seems to me that María Ignacia and Cecilio shared a mostly happy and active life together in Cádiz.

One reason was because they both came from fairly wealthy families of good social standing. (María Ignacia also received her Hidalgo status.)

But I also believe the couple lived a “good life” because they both — María Ignacia as much as Cecilio — were involved in organizations and social causes that they felt were important.

These activities, in addition to those efforts that are always part of raising children, must have given them a strong sense of purpose and fulfillment.

The good times, and the bad, affected their family and decedents

Of course, they experienced hardships, as well.

And many of the difficult times were brought on by circumstances affecting the entire region of Cádiz — including a series of epidemics, repeated naval attacks on the city, and even outright war against Napoleon’s army.

All of the events that occurred during Cecilio and María Ignacia’s lifetime in Cádiz – in both prosperous and challenging times – profoundly affected their family.

These experiences would later influence the lives and choices of their descendants in the years that followed.

¿Por qué sigo los pasos de mi familia en Cádiz, de hace 225 años?

Ay, Chica! — Sat, 25 May 2024 05:26:13 +0000

Sigo descubriendo más detalles sobre mis antepasados en el Cádiz de 1812

Durante ya mucho tiempo, he estado siguiendo los pasos de María Ignacia y Cecilio por el Cádiz de hace unos 225 años atrás.

¿Y porque?

Porque ha sido posible hacerlo.

Puedo hacer clic en mi teclado desde cualquier lugar y encontrar un detalle nuevo que me revela aún otra historia increíble sobre la vida de personas que son mis antepasados.

Te puedes imaginar lo adictivo que eso podría ser.

Y es porque Cecilio y María Ignacia – mis 3º bisabuelos – dejaron sus huellas perdurables en la historia de Cádiz.

Ambos llegaron a esa ciudad en la década de 1780, cuando Cádiz era el centro comercial y cultural de España y su imperio. Es donde vivieron, prosperaron y formaron su familia hasta que fallecieron alrededor del año 1840.

Y siendo que los dos – Cecilio tanto cómo María Ignacia – participaron en muchas de las actividades y acontecimientos que ocurrieron en Cádiz durante tiempos extraordinarios, los dos dejaron rastros que aún se pueden encontrar.

Mi única opción para encontrar rastros de Cecilio y María Ignacia era buscar en linea

Fue hace unos 5 años cuando encontré los primeros detalles sobre María Ignacia Valiente y Mariscal (nacida en 1772) y Cecilio de Zaldo y Huerta (nacido en 1758).

Todo esto comenzó porque quería conocer algo más sobre mi abuelo De Zaldo. Empecé a buscarlo por Internet, pero al principio solo terminé descubriendo a su abuelo, Ramón de Zaldo, quien era hijo de María Ignacia y Cecilio.

Mi madre, Adela de Zaldo y Moré, nunca había oído hablar de ninguno de esos tres nombres: María Ignacia, Cecilio, o Ramón.

Mi madre apenas tenía información para compartir sobre su propio padre (mi abuelo), con quien había vivido mientras crecía felizmente en el seno de una familia numerosa en La Habana.

Sí pudo compartir algunas anécdotas maravillosas sobre su padre y su familia en Cuba. Pero no parecía recordar esas relaciones familiares más distantes, ni las historias que a lo mejor había oido.

Y yo no tenía a nadie más a quién preguntar.

Así que recurrí a Google y a fuentes de investigación en línea, y comencé a encontrar el tipo de información que mi madre nunca podría haber conocido.

Encontré historias sorprendentes, incluyendo sobre una mujer al principio del siglo XIX

Lo primero que descubrí fue sobre María Ignacia.

No había esperado encontrar nada sobre ella, una mujer al comienzo del siglo XIX, excepto tal vez su nombre como esposa.

Todavía me siento incrédula al enterarme de que María Ignacia formaba parte de una organización benéfica de mujeres en Cádiz, una de las primeras de España, que ella ayudó a establecer.

Esto era notable porque en la España de su tiempo, a las mujeres no se les permitía participar en casi nada fuera del hogar.

Luego comencé a encontrar más información sobre Cecilio, apareciendo él en varios puestos y participando en diferentes agencias gubernamentales, sociedades, y asociaciones comerciales a lo largo de los años.

De esta manera seguí descubriendo nueva información y otros detalles sobre Cecilio y María Ignacia.

Y a medida que aprendía más sobre las organizaciones y causas en las que ambos participaban, las personas con las que colaboraban y los eventos que vivían, me quedé casi hipnotizada.

No solo era la cantidad y variedad de información que estaba encontrando, sino también el escenario de su vida que se estaba desarrollando.

Fue todo tan sorprendente.

¿La fundación del Banco de España? ¿Viviendo en la ciudad durante el Asedio de Cádiz por Napoleon? ¿El famoso artista Goya?

¿Qué más podría encontrar sobre estos antepasados?

Todavía hay una gran cantidad de información para descubrir – entre los recursos disponibles en línea, además de los archivos y las colecciones de las bibliotecas a las que solo se puede acceder en persona. Cómo me encanta este proceso de búsqueda y hallazgo.

Pero, la verdad es que necesito dejar ya de investigar.

O, mejor dicho, tomar un descanso.

Y es porque durante años estoy prometiendo a mis primos que iba a hacer un repaso de lo que he aprendido hasta la fecha sobre la vida en Cádiz de nuestros 3º bisabuelos y de su hijo Ramón, el abuelo de nuestro abuelo.

Esta presentación de las historias que tengo planeado, una experiencia digital completa, está muy atrasada.

Mis primos no saben nada del Cádiz que perteneció a Cecilio y María Ignacia, y me hace mucha ilusión que ellos también se sorprendan e hipnoticen con estas historias.

Además de sentirme hipnotizada, me volví más decidida.

Investigué más a fondo para encontrar los detalles que llenarían los vacíos o confirmarían las relaciones con personas que posiblemente conocían.

Y con el creciente número de documentos que se escaneaban y cargaban en línea en todo el mundo, aproveché esas nuevas fuentes de investigación a lo largo de los años.

Las estrategias creativas en mis búsquedas dieron sus frutos, y ha sido emocionante.

Estaba aprendiendo mucho sobre una ciudad y una época de la historia de España que eran tan cautivadores y de que conocía muy poco.

Y tuve que replantear por completo lo que había imaginado antes sobre esta familia no muy lejana.

Me había imaginado a mis parientes más cercanos viviendo en Cuba durante esos años, no en España haciendo historia ellos mismos a través de acontecimientos mundiales de gran alcance.

Mis fuentes de información genealógicas son amplias, y sigo encontrando pistas

Hasta este punto, la información que he descubierto sobre Cecilio y María Ignacia es suficiente para reconstruir el ritmo de sus vidas.

También he identificado lugares relacionados con su hogar y sus actividades para visualizar los caminos que tomaron mientras caminaban por el centro de la ciudad de Cádiz donde vivían.

Todos estos detalles sobre mi familia, personas que nacieron hace más de 250 años, los encontré principalmente buscando y haciendo clic en línea.

Los detalles aparecieron en documentos, directorios y periódicos de la época; en libros antiguos, archivos y relatos personales de origen español, francés y británico; y también en trabajos y artículos de investigación histórica más recientes.

Incluso recursos de siglos pasados en Estados Unidos, México y Portugal me han proporcionado información para unir hechos y conectar a las personas que Cecilio y María Ignacia habían conocido.

Volver a aprender historia me dio el contexto para entender su mundo

En mi búsqueda para entender a Cecilio y María Ignacia, también estoy dedicando tiempo a estudiar la historia de su época.

¿Cuál era su visión del mundo durante esos años transformadores que unieron los siglos XVIII y XIX?

Es cierto que la historia es mucho más atractiva cuando tienes una conexión con una época o un evento específico. Y en el caso de las historias familiares, tanto las perspectivas más amplias como los detalles menores ponen a sus antepasados en contexto.

Para entender la época de mi familia en Cádiz, he tenido que volver a aprender las historias inter-relacionadas de España, Gran Bretaña y Francia, de las colonias en todas las Américas, y de los Estados Unidos, que acababa de declararse un país independiente en 1776.

El final de los años 1700s y principios de los 1800s fueron tiempos revolucionarios y contenciosos, cuando el control de la tierra, las rutas comerciales y los gobiernos se desafiaban continuamente, y las alianzas y los mapas a ambos lados del Atlántico cambiaban cada pocos años.

Pero, en realidad, dentro de esos eventos más grandes, son las pequeñas historias las más intrigantes.

Por ejemplo, descubrí que Cecilio y María Ignacia eran amigos de diplomáticos que negociaron tratados con Francia y los Estados Unidos, y que Cecilio invirtió en una nueva cosecha que había sido traída de México a la región de Andalucía en España para crear un producto necesario en la industria textil.

Estoy segura de que a través de la escuela secundaria y la universidad me enseñaron muchos detalles interesantes sobre este período de la historia entre Europa y el Nuevo Mundo. Pero no me causaron una impresión duradera.

Ahora, sin embargo, tengo una motivación más fuerte para recordar.

Esta vez, esos detalles están agregando un cierto color y riqueza para visualizar unas historias que realmente quiero aprender.

Por supuesto, estas historias de Cádiz han acaparado la mayor parte de mi atención últimamente. Pero también he estudiado épocas posteriores que están relacionadas con los hijos y nietos de Cecilio y María Ignacia.

Muchos de ellos emigraron, viajaron a menudo y, al igual que sus padres o abuelos, estuvieron directamente involucrados en acontecimientos históricos mundiales.

Ahora, con una mejor comprensión de las relaciones a través del Atlántico a lo largo de varios siglos, puedo entender cómo las circunstancias afectaron las vidas de María Ignacia, Cecilio y todos sus descendientes, incluyéndome a mí.

Estas lecciones de historia — que me ayudan a imaginar cómo mi familia percibía el mundo — son las que no olvidaré.

Los mapas me ayudaron a visualizar lugares y cambios urbanísticos en el Cádiz

Además de los documentos antiguos y estudios recientes, los mapas han sido una maravillosa fuente de información.

Fueron muchos los mapas creados durante esos años que detallaban la estratégica ciudad y puerto de Cádiz.

Algunos muestran las situaciones durante los ataques enemigos de Gran Bretaña y Francia, y otros reflejan los cambios urbanos de los años antes, durante y después de que María Ignacia y Cecilio vivieran allí.

Las calles y sus nombres cambiaron a menudo en la ciudad amurallada de Cádiz a finales de los años 1700 y a lo largo del los 1800s.

Me apoyé en mapas antiguos — y en la ayuda de dos historiadores y profesores gaditanos muy amables — para localizar los lugares donde la familia había vivido y frecuentado.

Este proyecto fue bastante divertido para mí, aunque un poco difícil de resolver.

Y una vez más, Google, o específicamente Google Maps, fue una herramienta moderna y útil. Hizo posible hacer “zoom” por el casco viejo de Cádiz desde mi computadora o iPhone para ver su diseño urbano y echar un vistazo a los edificios a nivel de calle.

Caminé de forma virtual, en línea, por muchas partes de Cádiz antes de visitar por primera vez el año pasado.

Todas mis investigaciones hasta la fecha — a través de la historia, los documentos impresos y los mapas — solo me han dejado con más preguntas y más ideas sobre cómo, y dónde, buscar a continuación.

Voy aprendiendo más sobre esta familia en Cádiz, y también algo sobre mí

Mi motivación en todo esto ha sido conocer bien a estos antepasados, y no solo recopilar una lista de fechas y lugares para un árbol genealógico.

¿Quiénes eran Cecilio y María Ignacia?

¿Dónde habían estado antes de Cádiz? ¿Y qué había sido importante para ellos en la vida?

Es increíble lo mucho que he encontrado, las historias que he reunido y cómo me estoy familiarizando, poco a poco, con estas dos personas fascinantes.

Y al reflexionar sobre lo que sé hasta ahora sobre ellos, reconozco que algunos de sus intereses y prioridades en la vida son similares a los míos.

Quizás alguna parte de María Ignacia o Cecilio, de alguna manera, me ha sido transmitida a través de las generaciones de mi familia.

Sus actividades en Cádiz crearon el ambiente en el que criaron a sus hijos

Además de conocer a esta pareja, también quería tener una idea de cómo había crecido su hijo, mi 2º bisabuelo Ramón de Zaldo.

Ramón nació en 1806.

¿Cómo había sido su infancia y sus años de educación, antes de viajar a América, ir y venir a Cádiz, y luego nunca más regresar a España?

Si se observan los detalles de las actividades de María Ignacia y Cecilio es posible hacerse una idea de la vida doméstica y social de la familia durante aquellos años en Cádiz, entre 1780 y 1840.

Y parece que sus ideas políticas, sus amigos y socios, además de la guerra napoleónica y otros acontecimientos históricos en Cádiz durante esa época, crearon los ambientes y las conexiones sociales que luego influyeron mucho en la vida de Ramón y de los otros dos hijos de María Ignacia y Cecilio.

Cómo me encantaría visitar a estos dos fascinantes antepasados míos

Con todo que he encontrado, todavía no estoy satisfecha.

Quiero conocer más a estas dos personas — a Cecilio, y sobretodo, a María Ignacia.

Desde que comencé a aprender sobre ellos, he tenido tiempo de considerar sus situaciones y las decisiones que tomaron en la vida.

Y todavía me atraen sus historias.

Es porque esta pareja dinámica estaba continuamente involucrada en los eventos que sucedían a su alrededor. La participación de María Ignacia en actividades públicas fue lo más impresionante.

¿Qué me pareció tan intrigante?

Por un lado, tenían intereses contrapuestos. Socializaban entre su clase mercantil adinerada y con amigos aristocráticos, pero también se mantuvieron activos en mejorar la vida de personas mucho menos afortunadas.

También se colocaron en la primera línea del deber.

Durante los terribles años de guerra en España, en los que el país luchaba contra Napoleón, los esfuerzos de ambos tuvieron un impacto directo: María Ignacia en el bienestar de los soldados en batalla y Cecilio en el suministro de alimentos de la ciudad, así como en la continuidad del gobierno nacional que se había trasladado de Madrid a Cádiz durante la guerra.

Y a lo largo de los años, el trabajo de esta pareja, aparentemente incansable, contribuyó al desarrollo de la cultura, la educación y la industria en la ciudad que fue su hogar adoptivo.

Trato de imaginarme estando con ellos en persona, viajando a través del tiempo para mirarlos a los ojos.

Cómo me encantaría escuchar sus voces, mientras compartíamos un jerez fresquito junto a un balcón abierto en su casa, y luego pasear con ellos por las calles estrechas y los paseos marítimos del Cádiz de su tiempo.

Mientras escribo estas palabras, casi puedo sentir esa experiencia, y casi sentirlos, a María Ignacia y a Cecilio, aquí conmigo.

Felizmente, todavía hay pistas a seguir

Mantengo una lista de diferentes ideas que podrían conducir a nuevos hallazgos. Sé que hay algo más que puedo aprender sobre estos antepasado.

¿Qué más estaban haciendo en Cádiz hace más de dos siglos, Cecilio y María Ignacia y también sus hijos?

Cada nuevo detalle que descubro — ya sea otro conocido o esfuerzo comercial, conexión familiar o viaje inesperado — me da otro vistazo a su vida cotidiana y una mayor comprensión para imaginar quiénes eran.

Qué suerte que todavía me quedan pasos por seguir y nuevas sorpresas por encontrar.

Why am I still following the steps of my family in Cádiz, over 225 year ago?

Ay, Chica! — Sat, 18 May 2024 21:16:24 +0000

I keep discovering more details about my ancestors in Cádiz, Spain around 1812

For a long time now I’ve been following the steps of María Ignacia and Cecilio through the world of Cádiz, Spain about 225 years ago.

Why?

Because it’s been possible to do so.

I can click at my keyboard from anywhere and find a new piece of information that reveals yet another amazing story about the lives of people I’m related to.

You can imagine how addictive that might be.

The fact is that Cecilio and María Ignacia — my 3rd great-grandparents — each left their enduring footprints in the history of Cádiz.

They both arrived in that city sometime in the 1780s, when Cádiz was the commercial and cultural center of Spain and its empire. It’s where they lived, prospered and raised a family until they passed away around 1840.

And since both of them — María Ignacia as much as Cecilio — were so involved in the activities and events occurring in Cádiz during extraordinary times, they left discoverable traces just waiting to be found.

My only option for finding traces of Cecilio and María Ignacia was to search online

About 5 years ago, I came upon the first details on Maria Ignacia Valiente y Mariscal (born 1772) and Cecilio de Zaldo y Huerta (born 1758).

It all began because I wanted to know more about my grandfather De Zaldo. I started looking for him online, but at first I only ended up discovering his grandfather, Ramón de Zaldo, who was María Ignacia and Cecilio’s son.

My mother, Adela de Zaldo y Moré, had never heard of any of those three names — María Ignacia, Cecilio, or Ramón.

My mother barely had information to share with me about her own father (my grandfather), whom she had lived with while growing up happily among a large family in Havana.

She did share a few wonderful anecdotes about her father and family in Cuba. But she didn’t seem to recall those more distant family relationships or stories that she might have heard.

And I had no one else to ask.

So, I turned to Google and research sources online, and I began to find the kinds of information my mother could never have known.

Surprising stories appeared, including about a woman at the start of the 1800s

The first thing I discovered was actually related to María Ignacia.

I had not expected to find anything about her, a woman at the turn of the 1800s, except perhaps her name as a wife.

I’m still incredulous to have learned that María Ignacia was part of a women’s charity organization in Cádiz, one of the first in Spain, which she helped to establish.

This was remarkable, because in the Spain of her time, women were not permitted to take part in almost anything outside of the home.

I then started to find more information about Cecilio, seeing him in a number of positions and involved in different government agencies, societies and trade associations through the years.

The discoveries, and added details, about Cecilio and María Ignacia continued.

And as I kept learning more about the organizations and causes they both took part in, the people they collaborated with, and the events they lived through, I became mesmerized.

Not only was it the amount and variety of information I was finding, but also the picture that was unfolding.

It was all so surprising.

The founding of the Bank of Spain? Living through Napoleon’s Siege of Cádiz? The famous artist Goya?

In addition to mesmerized, I became more determined.

I dug deeper to find the details that would fill in gaps or confirm relationships with people they possibly knew.

And as increasing numbers of documents were being scanned and uploaded worldwide, I rode the wave of new research sources becoming available to me, seemingly every week, through the years.

The creative strategies in my searches paid off, and it’s just been exhilarating.

I was learning so much about a city and an era in Spanish history that were both exciting and unfamiliar to me.

And I had to completely reframe what I had imagined before about my not-too-distant family.

I had pictured these closer relatives living in Cuba during those times, not in Spain making history themselves through far-reaching world events.

What else could I find about these ancestors?

There’s a great deal of information still out there – the resources available online, plus archives and library collections that can only be accessed in person. I love this process of search and find.

But, really, I do need to stop researching now.

Or, rather, take a break.

You see for years I’ve been promising my cousins that I was going to complete an overview of what I’ve learned to date about the lives in Cádiz of our 3rd great-grandparents and of their son Ramón, our grandfather’s grandfather.

This presentation of the stories I’ve been planning, through a digital experience, is long overdo.

My cousins know nothing about the Cádiz of Cecilio and María Ignacia, and I’m so excited for them to be amazed and mesmerized by these stories, too.

My sources for genealogical information are broad, and I keep spotting clues

To date, the information I’ve found about María Ignacia and Cecilio is enough to reconstruct their lives fairly well.

I’ve also collected place locations related to their home and activities to visualize the paths they took as they walked through the city center of Cádiz where they lived.

All these details about my family, people who were born over 250 years ago, I found mostly by hunting and clicking online.

I came across this information in documents, directories, and newspapers of the era; in old Spanish, French and British books, archives and personal accounts; and in more recent historical research papers and articles.

Even resources from past centuries in the US, Mexico and Portugal have provided me with information to join facts and connect the people that Cecilio and María Ignacia had known.

Re-learning history gave me the context to understand their world

In my research to understand Cecilio and María Ignacia, I’m also delving into history.

What was their outlook on the world during the transformative years bridging the 18th and 19th centuries?

It’s true that history is so much more engaging when you have a connection to an era or specific events. And for family stories, you want both the broader perspectives and the details to put your people into context.

To relate to my family’s era in Cádiz, I’ve needed to re-learn the interrelated histories of Spain, Britain, France, the colonies in all the Americas, and the United States which had just declared itself an independent country in 1776.

The late 1700s and early 1800s were revolutionary and contentious times — when control of land, trade routes and governments was continually being challenged, and the alliances and maps on both sides of the Atlantic were changing every few years.

But, actually, within those larger events it’s the smaller stories that are the most intriguing.

For instance, I discovered that Cecilio and María Ignacia were friends with diplomates who negotiated treaties with France and the US, and that Cecilio invested in a new crop that had been brought from Mexico to the Andalucía region of Spain to create a product needed in the textile industry.

I’m sure that through high school and university I was introduced to many interesting details about this period of history between Europe and the New World. But they made no lasting impression on me.

Now, however, I have a stronger motivation to remember.

This time those details are adding color and richness to visualize stories I really want to learn.

Of course, recently these Cádiz-era stories have grabbed most of my attention, but I’ve also studied the history of later periods related to the children and grandchildren of Cecilio and María Ignacia.

Many of them migrated, traveled often and, like their parents or grandparents, were directly involved in historic world events.

Now, with a better understanding about relations across the Atlantic over a few centuries, I can see how circumstances affected the lives of María Ignacia, Cecilio and all of their descendants, including me.

These history lessons — helping me imagine how my family perceived the world — are ones I won’t soon forget.

Maps helped me visualize locations and urban changes in Cádiz

In addition to old documents and recent studies, maps have been a wonderful source of insight.

There were many maps created during those years detailing the strategic city and port of Cádiz.

Some show the situations during enemy attacks by Britain and France, and others reflect the urban changes from the time before, during and after María Ignacia and Cecilio lived there.

The streets and their names actually changed quite a bit in the walled city of Cádiz between the late 1700s and through the 1800s.

I relied on old maps —and on the help of two very kind historians and professors in Cádiz — to locate the places the family had lived and frequented. This project was quite fun for me, although a bit of a challenge to work out.

And again Google, or specifically Google Maps, was a modern tool that made it possible to zoom into an ancient city from my laptop or iPhone and to explore its layout and see street views of the old buildings.

I walked virtually, online, through much of Cádiz before I ever visited for the first time last year.

All of my research to date — through history, printed documents and maps — has only left me with more questions to be answered and more ideas on how, and where, to search next.

As I get to know this family in Cádiz, I’m also learning about myself

My motivation in all of this was get to know these ancestors well, not just collect a list of dates and places for a family tree.

Who were they, Cecilio and María Ignacia?

Where had they been before Cádiz? And what had been important to them during their lives?

It’s amazing how much I’ve found, the stories I’ve assembled, and how I am becoming so familiar, bit by bit, with these two fascinating people.

And as I reflect on what I know so far about them, I recognize that some of their interests and priorities in life are similar to mine.

Perhaps some part of María Ignacia or Cecilio, in some way, has been passed on to me through the generations of my family.

Their activities in Cádiz formed the circumstances in which they raised their children

In addition to getting to know this couple, I also wanted to have an idea about how their son had grown up, my great-great-grandfather Ramón.

He was born in 1806.

What did he experience through his childhood and years of education, before he traveled to the Americas, back and forth to Cádiz, and then never returned again to Spain?

If you take in the details of María Ignacia and Cecilio’s activities it’s possible to develop a sense of the family’s domestic and social life during those years in Cádiz, between 1780 and 1840.

And it seems that their political ideas, their friends and associates, in addition to the Napoleonic war and other historic events in Cádiz during that era, all created the environments and a set of social connections that later greatly influenced the lives of Ramón and of María Ignacia and Cecilio’s two other sons.

How I'd love to visit with these two fascinating people who are related to me

With all that I have discovered, I’m still not satisfied.

I want to become more familiar with these two ancestors of mine, Cecilio and, above all, with María Ignacia.

Since I first started learning about them I’ve had time to consider their situations and the choices they made in life.

And I’m still so drawn to their stories.

It’s because this dynamic couple was continually engaged in the events happening around them. María Ignacia’s participation in public activities was most startling.

What did I find so intriguing?

For one thing, they had contrasting interests. They mingled among their wealthy merchant class and with aristocratic friends, yet they stayed active to improve the lives of those in Cádiz who were much less fortunate.

They also put themselves in the front lines of duty.

During the horrifying years of war in Spain when the country was fighting against Napoleon, both of their efforts made a direct impact: María Ignacia on the welfare of soldiers in battle, and Cecilio on the city’s food supply, as well as on the continuity of the national government which had re-located from Madrid to Cádiz during the war.

And through the years, the work of this seemingly tireless couple contributed to the development of culture, education and industry in the city that was their adopted home.

I try to imagine being with them in person, traveling back in time to look into their eyes.

How I would love to hear their voices, as we shared a fine sherry by an open balcony in their home, then to walk with them through the narrow streets and along the waterfront promenades in the Cádiz of their time.

As I write these words I can almost feel such an experience, and almost feel them here with me.

Happily, there are still clues to follow

I keep a list of different ideas that might lead to new findings. I know there’s even more I can learn.

What else were they doing in Cádiz over two centuries ago, Cecilio and María Ignacia and also their sons?

Each detail I find — be it another acquaintance or commercial endeavor, family connection or unexpected journey — gives me another peek into their day-to-day lives and greater insight to imagine who they were.

Thank goodness there are steps left to follow and new surprises to find.

Remembering my mother, Adelita, and her gifts to me from Cuba

mainA1 — Wed, 08 Nov 2023 08:05:36 +0000

One of the cutest memories my mother gave me from her childhood in Cuba was of her, age 4 or 5, in the kitchen of their Vedado home reading out loud.

Little Adelita would sometimes sit on a counter with a book in hand, reading in English to ‘las criadas’ or the maids.

My mother often smiled as she told this story because at age 4 or 5 she could neither read, nor yet speak English very well.

I can just picture my mother as a petite girl, often with a big bow on her tiny blond head, speaking with confidence and sitting upright and proud. She’s convinced that ‘las criadas’ are falling for her charade.

Since birth, she’s heard enough American English to pronounce some real words and to deliver the sounds and distinct cadence that to her young ears should pass as the perfect fake ‘ingles’.

Of course, my mother always gave a sample of her fake English each time she described that scene. So funny – it did sound American.

Little Adelita. (Adela De Zaldo y Moré)

In so many early photos, she’s wearing a big bow on her tiny blond head.

Like an actress honing her craft, Adelita would apparently stop by the kitchen often to put on a grand performance of some kind while dinner was being prepared around her.

The maids, one of whom would have had to help perch her up on the kitchen counter, must have been somewhat entertained by little Adelita’s constant theatrics and bursts of energy around the house.

A few surviving photos say everything about my mother as a child

I know little about that house in the Vedado neighborhood of Havana where those events took place, or even about the people who would have passed through there.

But not long ago I re-discovered photos of my mother from that era, and you can tell that she was trouble, in an exuberant kind of way.

Adelita and Elenita de Zaldo y Moré, posing on their balcony.

My mother’s older sister, Elenita, often in those same photos, might not have always considered Adelita so cute.

My aunt Elenita was more reserved and elegant, and certainly more thoughtful and patient than my mother. And you get the impression from those pictures that little Adelita – or Chiqui, as the family called her – probably both entertained and exasperated her.

“Ay, Chiqui!,” I could hear Elenita say.

Chiqui would have been the one running through the house on an adventure, or making some insistent and vocal demand. Her personality seems to wriggle out from those wonderful black and white images that survive.

Adelita in a toy airplane. Always posing, as if putting on a show.

Thinking back to my childhood, I can relate to some of those demanding antics as a little girl – yes, you can call them bratty.

And my own two sons definitely inherited some of those more exuberant little Adelita traits – like always coming up with busy adventures in and around the house, or putting on performances in person or in front of a camera.

Those more assertive parts of our personalities – mine and of my sons – I know came from my mother, and the thought makes me smile.

Adelita’s stories would bring Havana’s past to life

As I grew up, far from Havana and any Cuban family, my mother’s vivid stories about her childhood would bring her memories to life. She rarely offered many details, just enough color, flavor, and sounds to take me back to those times.

Like her stories about the street vendors passing near her home – the “pregoneros” selling fruits and vegetables or candies in 1930s Havana.

For example, to describe the tamales vendor, my mother would mimic his call to customers as he walked down the street, shouting out, “Pican… y no pican…. los tamales!”

She loved to perform his cry, accentuating the Cuban pause between words and a strong staccato on the first syllables.

Even my sons remember hearing that story from my mother, and they can now perform the tamales vendor’s exact call with perfect rhythm, timing, and distinct Cuban flair.

Havana street vendor, early 1900s. Photo courtesy Library of Congress-Prints and Photographs Division.

Her memories reflected the closeness of her family

Another great memory I loved to hear was about the times Tio Alberto would sneak out with my mother and her sister – when they were a bit older and bedtime was still so early – to go get “fritas y batidos”, or Cuban-style burgers and milk shakes.

Tio Alberto would knock on the sister’s bedroom window from the big wraparound porch, and off they’d go to enjoy an extended evening out in downtown Havana.

I don’t think my grandparents, or other relatives who lived in that house, would have been upset about those adventures with Tio Alberto.

It was a large and extended family, and it seemed that regular visitors would often stop by their comfortable home. My mother would mention the tradition of big family dinners, or the occasional small gathering with music out on the spacious front porch.

Those stories and others I’ve heard from her childhood made it clear to me that finding ways to enjoy life with family and friends was important, in spite of the challenges that were always present in day-to-day Cuba.

Remembering my mother today brings me happy thoughts

I’ve never been to Cuba. But those special memories my mother shared with me are now my very own.

Her stories recreated the happier and more animated moments of her childhood. And the scenes they described played out from her singular perspective – as the youngest in a family that seemed in a constant whir of activities, characters, and events.

And if there were a few unhappy memories from her life in Havana through the 1930s, 40s and 50s – and I’m sure there were – she rarely spoke of them.

What’s the point in remembering such things? I believe avoiding less pleasant thoughts is a philosophy she learned from her father, René, and I am thankful for that.

Ay, Chiqui!

As I remember today my mother, Adela De Zaldo y Moré, on this anniversary of her passing in 2014, I do miss her and her wonderful charms.

And there are many people in many places, during her 84 years, that were touched by my mother’s special style. It’s nice to know that they would all smile when thinking back to those moments of experiencing Adelita in life.

But my smiles feel full with true happiness because my mother gave me, in her most endearing way, the only memories I have that bring her Havana childhood and Cuban family to life.

Why is René DeZaldo on an Indian Motorcycle, 1915?

mainA1 — Wed, 08 Nov 2023 08:04:20 +0000

A single photograph prompted my online family search

What first stirred my imagination was a single photograph.

It was a captivating image in black and white, but just one of many my brother had found in an old family photo album. He decided to digitize it, then put it in a frame and gave it to me as a birthday gift. This photograph sat in my dining room for years, and I noticed it often.

In the photo was my grandfather, René de Zaldo, standing by an old Indian motorcycle.

You can see René surrounded by a small group of bystanders and fitted in the race gear of motorcycling’s early days — circa 1915.

I knew little about the photograph, and I had so many questions

The image itself gave few clues to help understand it. And nothing was written on the back of the print. So, just imagine the questions I had.

What was the story of that scene?

How did René De Zaldo get started with motorcycles?

And was it really a race? Did he win?

Who could I ask to learn more about my grandfather René?

I tried asking my mother about that photograph of her father, René De Zaldo y Parra.

But by the time I really wanted to know more about my grandfather, my mother could hardly answer where René was born.

I assumed he was born in Cuba. However, she would often say her father was born in Mexico City, but occasionally would think it was in San Antonio, Texas.

Where, then, was that photograph taken? Was it in Cuba? Mexico? Or somewhere in the US?

There were few other people in my family I could ask to get a reliable answer.

And I could not have asked my grandfather myself. I had only known him for about a year when I was six years old and circumstances had brought us together in Lisbon, Portugal. He passed away in Lisbon a few years later, and I never saw him again.

There were no photographs of my grandparents or other relatives around the house when I was growing up, and we rarely saw family.

So after several years of noticing my grandfather looking out to me from that framed and compelling photograph I just had to find some answers. That image of him and his Indian motorcycle kept calling to me…

It was 2011 I decided to simply google “René De Zaldo”.

It took me a while to finally find the full story behind the intriguing photo of René and his 1915 Indian. The story is amazing, and so was my adventure of putting it all together.

Along the way, however, my Google searches online continually uncovered more extraordinary stories than I ever could have imagined – about René, and about other near relatives I had never even heard of.

I think I’ve been very lucky.

How many more hidden gems of family information will I be able to find?

Finding lost family stories because I could just “Google it”

When I started my Google research, I wasn’t really expecting to find much. Maybe I would learn some simple dates of major life events – like birth, marriage, or death.

As it turned out, I have discovered wonderful tales about my close and more distant family, with adventures occurring in world locations I did not consider.

And I’m finding these specific events and pieces of stories documented in books, magazines, letters, and official records that were published across centuries and continents.

What made possible my thrilling, and relatively easy, success in family history research?

It’s all thanks to the advent, and continuing process, of digitization. We can now simply “Google” keywords and find related digitized copies of printed information and images online.

The DeZaldo y Moré family – so much more than I expected

I had sensed that the De Zaldo y Moré stories (my mother’s side of my family) would be fascinating. And it’s true — with René and the De Zaldo side of the family traveling often across the Atlantic, and the Moré family side well-established in Cuba for centuries.

How would I have ever discovered it all before?

Now, here I am finding details, or new clues, about René’s motorcycle and so much more, just sitting at my laptop or searching from anywhere on my phone.

What more will I discover today?

The memories I once had of Cuba

mainA1 — Sun, 05 Nov 2023 01:28:42 +0000

I don’t remember, now, how I used to imagine my family in Cuba.

My parents were both born in Havana in the late 1920s, but I heard only a few stories from them about their childhoods. And since I barely met my own grandparents, let alone extended family, I had very little input in trying to visualize my past.

My father would speak of feeling like an immigrant in Cuba because his parents were both born in the Galicia province of Spain, and they seemed to associate mostly with the large Gallego community in their new land.

It was easy for me to imagine the arrival of my father’s family to Havana, especially since I had visited the birthplace of his parents in northwest Spain several times.

Thoughts about my mother’s family, however, were hazy.

Her mother’s side of the family seemed to have been a long time in Cuba. My mother enjoyed the chance to grandly pronounce the double last names of those Cuban-born grandparents, and she was able share with me some details and personal memories about the family members she encountered most often.

Yet, my mother was missing any specifics beyond the generation of people she had known.

Details about her father’s DeZaldo family – my maternal grandfather’s side – were even fuzzier.

My questions about this DeZaldo family were often answered by my mother with only wistful reveries of vague stories she had overheard, or about visiting relatives from elsewhere.

Little Adelita was the youngest cousin of her father’s DeZaldo family. She just didn’t remember those stories from before her time.

She had spent her early years often visiting the DeZaldo estate in the countryside of Havana, and she loved to reminisce with tales formed by her favorite childhood memories.

However, since she was the youngest cousin on her father’s side, my mother didn’t have many direct memories of her DeZaldo relatives, who were much older or who lived overseas.

I guess she just had never heard the stories of that family’s international travel adventures or exciting events from well before her time.

She did try to remember and share information with me, but I sensed that my mother’s recollections were sketchy.

She also had a propensity for coming up with answers or explanations that you knew were barely grounded in fact. Entertaining, yes, but my many questions about my extended family remained unanswered for years.

My mother’s stories about Cuba were simple. Yet they came alive through her expressive style.

Adelita De Zaldo y Moré

Havana, circa 1951

My mother, Adela de Zaldo y Moré, was a charming character – expressive, warm-hearted, and simpática. She always left a pleasant impression on everyone she met.

And although she may not have had many details about her family, it is mostly because of her unique collection of stories – usually told with enthusiasm and a touch of drama – that I’ve always imagined Cuba to be elegant, strong-willed, earthy, and culturally diverse.

The stories she shared were simple – rich snapshots from her life growing up in Havana, without analysis of cause and effect. They described happy memories, and never communicated any sense loss or regret.

Those stories she offered were perfect for helping me create my own visions about a place and the people I had never known.

Now, I am imagining Cuba differently.

It’s an evolving view – adapting to new details and changed impressions. My perspective about my past is no longer the same.

And I keep noticing how I don’t quite remember how I pictured it all before – my close and distant family and the journeys of their lives.

Dezaldoymore

Road Trip to Trinidad, Cuba: Love and photographs of 1948

An Engagement Trip for Chiqui and Pepín

Why a visit to Trinidad?

Exciting 1940s roadtrip, and their first flight in an airplane

With beautiful old photos, I got to travel with my parents through central Cuba

Never thought of my father as an artist, but his photographs of old Cuba are lovely

Artful landscapes and photographs that captured moments in time

Vintage views of Trinidad’s old town center

Photographs reflecting the surrounding mountains in the Valle de los Ingenios

History of Trinidad and the growth of Cuba’s Valley of the Sugar Mills

My father’s 1948 photographs of Trinidad captured older views of the Cuban colonial city

So wonderful to travel back to a Cuba in other times

Road Trip to Trinidad, Cuba: Love and photographs of 1948

This is the heading

What I discovered about Rene DeZaldo and his motorcycle days

The story behind that old family photo, Cuba 1915

So many questions. Who could possibly know the answers?

New digital information had come online

Could my grandfather René be in that popular US magazine?

Did I find anything good?

My grandfather was in Motorcycle Illustrated several times in 1915 and 1916

René de Zaldo: Indian Motorcycle dealer and motorcycle racer in Havana

Discoveries

René sells the first motorcycles to Havana Police Department, 1915

Motorcycle Illustrated - December 9, 1915

Havana police on horseback, 1913

Havana police on Indian Motorcycles, 1915

Rafael, my grand-uncle, also loved motorcycles in Cuba

Motorcycle Illustrated - December 30, 1915

Can you inherit a love for motorcycles?

René De Zaldo, Indian Dealer in Cuban Capital

Motorcycle Illustrated - September 21, 1916

Springfield, Massachusetts

A second visit by René to the Indian Motorcycle headquarters in Springfield, Massachusetts

Motorcycle Illustrated - July 6, 1916

René De Zaldo reports on the Cuba business at Indian Motorcycle headquarters

More news on the Havana Police Indian Motorbikes

Motorcycle Illustrated - November 25, 1915

Research Notes

A lucky find: One more motorcycle image from Havana, 1915

How different it was to be together with those vintage magazines

The last article I found

Motorcycle Illustrated - November 25, 1915

Another photo of an Indian Motorcycle René sold in Havana

Where I Found This Magazine Resource

Marriage of María Ignacia and Cecilio in Cádiz 1788

New life together in the dynamic old city of Cádiz

What had brought Cecilio and María Ignacia to Cádiz?

Their years in Cádiz would be fulfilling and very active in historic events

The good times, and the bad, affected their family and decedents

¿Por qué sigo los pasos de mi familia en Cádiz, de hace 225 años?

Sigo descubriendo más detalles sobre mis antepasados en el Cádiz de 1812

Mi única opción para encontrar rastros de Cecilio y María Ignacia era buscar en linea

Encontré historias sorprendentes, incluyendo sobre una mujer al principio del siglo XIX

¿Qué más podría encontrar sobre estos antepasados?

Mis fuentes de información genealógicas son amplias, y sigo encontrando pistas

Volver a aprender historia me dio el contexto para entender su mundo

Los mapas me ayudaron a visualizar lugares y cambios urbanísticos en el Cádiz

Voy aprendiendo más sobre esta familia en Cádiz, y también algo sobre mí

Sus actividades en Cádiz crearon el ambiente en el que criaron a sus hijos

Cómo me encantaría visitar a estos dos fascinantes antepasados míos

Felizmente, todavía hay pistas a seguir

Why am I still following the steps of my family in Cádiz, over 225 year ago?

I keep discovering more details about my ancestors in Cádiz, Spain around 1812

My only option for finding traces of Cecilio and María Ignacia was to search online

Surprising stories appeared, including about a woman at the start of the 1800s

What else could I find about these ancestors?

My sources for genealogical information are broad, and I keep spotting clues

Re-learning history gave me the context to understand their world

Maps helped me visualize locations and urban changes in Cádiz

As I get to know this family in Cádiz, I’m also learning about myself

Their activities in Cádiz formed the circumstances in which they raised their children

How I'd love to visit with these two fascinating people who are related to me

Happily, there are still clues to follow

Remembering my mother, Adelita, and her gifts to me from Cuba

A few surviving photos say everything about my mother as a child

Adelita’s stories would bring Havana’s past to life

Her memories reflected the closeness of her family

Remembering my mother today brings me happy thoughts