Juan Betancourt Mangual & Matea del Pilar Asencio
One of the things many women faced prior to the 1950s was the inability to support themselves. Many girls were married off young because they brought no value to bringing in sustenance other than working as a maid for a richer household. Most women had no choice but to remarry immediately or soon after their husbands died or faced starvation or the possibility of being homeless. For this reason, you’ll discover many women marrying immediately or soon after their spouses had passed.
In viewing records, I saw that with Matea del Pilar Asencio Alvarez as I saw her mother Maria Florentina Alvarez Castillo face the same fate. I can tell you that it even went down one further generation as my 2nd great grandmother, who is Matea’s granddaughter, faced the same exact fate. Women had no other available option other than living with another relative.
If they were elderly and found themselves widowed, these women had to rely on living with one of their children. Valentina’s mother Rosalia Betancourt Asencio did exactly that; she lived with Valentina until she passed away in 1911. Below is a visual to see the four great grandmothers that I descend from.
So now that I’ve provided the visual and background to the female line, I want to speak about Matea del Pilar Asencio Alvarez’s descendants. You can read more on Maria Florentina Alvarez Castillo on a previous post.
Matea del Pilar married Juan Betancourt Mangual in Trujillo Alto in December of 1819 at the Parroquia Exaltacion de la Santa Cruz. They would remain married until around 1839 which is when he passes away. Matea then marries Calixto Perez sometime around 1840. With Juan, Matea del Pilar had 9 children according to the will that was filed on October 3, 1856 which is probably when Calixto Perez passes away as he isn’t listed on the 1860 Census and she is listed being widowed living with her son Juan Betancourt Asencio along with two of her children, Modesto and Catalina.
Per the will filed, the family had 72 hectors and a home in Quebrada Grande in Trujillo Alto. With Calixto, Matea had 3 more children. So in total Matea had 12 children between both husbands. Most of Matea’s children were married at the time of Calixto’s death and it seems that she was able to live on her own for her remaining years. She probably had one of her children that remained living there with her as it was customary to see this in households.
Now as for the children, I was able to locate the death records to all of the Betancourt Asencio except for Isabel; she seems to have disappeared or she may have died before 1885. However, I did locate her on the 1860 Census married to Francisco Hernandez Rivera and her seven children.
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| Betancourt Asencio Children |
As for the Perez Asencio children, although I found Juana Luisa birth and baptism record in the church book, I didn’t locate her on the 1860 Census living with her mother. It just may be that she was already married and move away to another local town. I also haven’t been able to locate any death records for all three children as the church death books were not filmed by the LDS but do exist and are stored in the San Juan Archdiocese.
I’m hoping to discover more about the life of these strong women who had to face uncertainty upon the death of their spouses. I’m sure it must have been hard for the children to see someone seated at the table where their father once sat.
We may have common ancestry. My maternal grandmother's line is Bentacourt / alamanz, Trujillo Alto.
If your line is Betancourt from Trujillo Alto then yes we are related. Sorry I haven't been checking the blog as I am in school. I tend to update it once classes are out. Hope many of the posts are helpful in your research.
Hello! I am a direct descendant of Maria and Calixto are my great great great grandparents. I am descended through their daughter Catalina Perez who married Pedro Martinez. They had 12 children!
Maria and Calixto are my great great great grandparents. I am descended through their daughter, Catalina Perez, my great great grandmother. She married Pedro Martinez and had 12 children! Juan Martinez Perez, my great grandfather married Rafeala Peña Peña (her parents were 1st cousins), and they had 8 children. Take care!
Rick Arnau Vergara
Hi Rick, Nice to meet you, that makes you another cousin. 🙂 I hope that these blog posts have been helpful to you. 🙂 Have a Happy New Year!
Both my parents hail from Caguas, Puerto Rico. On my mother's side, (in which we are distantly related), my maternal grandparents hail from Juncos and Aguas Buenas, PR. I was born in Brooklyn NY and now live in Santa Rosa, CA (home of Charlie Brown and Snoopy)!
All my best!
Rick Arnau Vergara
Love the reference of Snoopy. 🙂
Berryblue!
You are amazing! Last night, I was reading further back into the family. I was reading Maria Florentina Alvarez Castillo's paternal grandmother, Teresa Cueto, my 6th great-grandmother and her husband Antonio Alvarez, and their son, Gregorio Alvarez.
AMAZING! I am so grateful for you digging out the information. I am learning how to use PARES…! Do you know who Gregorio Alvarez married. Her last name would have been Castillo. Thank you again!!!
Distantly related,
Rick Arnau Vergara
I hope your New Years was exciting!
Found the post! 🙂 To answer your question, I'll post it here too.
He married Ana Maria del Castillo Jimenez. Her parents are Juan del Castillo and Antonia Jimenez. They were married in San Juan.
I maintain a public tree on Ancestry. There is a reference to where you can find the record. Here is the link to the tree. I do my best to keep it clean and have no duplicate entries. I am re-adding in record references if it they are missing; Ancestry deleted my data awhile back so I reentered everything.
http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/75892737/family
Thank you for sharing! I'm so grateful!
I am also a descendant of Matea del Pilar Asencio.
Nice to "meet" another cousin. 🙂
You're most welcome! Anytime primo. 🙂
You're most welcome! Anytime primo. 🙂
My 2nd great grandparents were Juad Betancourt Mangual and Matea del Pilar Asencio. Thank you so much for the info you have shared. Would love to e able to access the actual records regarding their marriage in 1809 and the will after Calixto Perez' death. I'm at a point where I'm running out of places to research. Thanks again for sharing.