Later Correspondence with Rafael Vázquez
In later correspondence Rafael confirmed that Don Ciriaco had
another brother José Dimas and one sister Francisca.
Rafael comes from the family of José Dimas.
José Dimas, Brother of Don Ciriaco Vázquez
According to stories from his family, in those days José Dimas worked for
customs or with a shipping agency in Veracruz.
One of his sons, Luis Pedro later became a Colonel in the Mexican Army.
Rafael wrote me in another letter:
Gen. Luis Pedro Vázquez |
A Story of Three Generations
In 1867, Coronel Luis Pedro
Vazquez, participated very young in the war against France when Maximiliano
invaded Mexico.
He also fought in the "Guerras de Castas" in Yucatan,
when the Mayan Indians were fighting for their independence from Mexico.
He also fought in the in the Revolution of 1910.
Luis Pedro Vazquez married my grand mother (Julia Romellón Barranco) in
Ciudad del Carmen, and they established their home in the city of Veracruz,
just in front of the Parque Ciriaco Vazquez.
My father, Pedro Rafael Vazquez Romellón, studied at the
school across the street (locally known as, the "Escuela Cantonal").
They had a good life because his father was in the army
of Don Porfirio Diaz, who became President. My grandfather
was at the moment "Teniente Coronel".
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Gen. Luis Pedro Vázquez |
Finally at the end of the Revolution, my grand father was
called to Mexico City, and was offered the position of
Director of the Military Academy in Mexico City, when it was at Chapultepec Castle.
He refused the job saying that he would never teach his military knowledge
to the “roba vacas” (as the Porfirianos called the Revolutionaries).
As a result of that considered insult the President (Venustiano Carranza,
I think) gave an order from Mexico City
and all the properties from the family where taken.
His Final Years in Poverty
After more of 50 years of service Luis Pedro lost his job in the army.
He got no pension and died very poor in Veracruz.
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El Capi |
Rafael´s Father
My father was the only one of his brothers who could study at the
university level, and attended the Escuela Nautica de Veracruz "Fernando Siliceo".
He worked as a photographer´s assistant at the Dictamen Newspaper
to help pay for his career.
My father was able to study because of the help he got from some of the
great men of the time in Veracruz, (Sres Malpica, Don Fernando Siliceo,
Maestro Benito Fentanes, among others),
that helped him. They knew the family, and the reasons why
they were suddenly in such poverty.
When he finished his Nautical School, my father worked for the Aguila
Oil Company (today British Petroleum) as a Merchant Marine Officer.
The company 1938 became PEMEX and he navigated Mexican
Tankers during the Second World War as a 1st Officer in the Tanker
"Tampico".
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Eight Mexican Tankers sank because of the German
torpedoes in the Gulf of Mexico in their effort to carry
the Mexican Petroleum to the American East Coast, petroleum
that was needed for the planned D Day, and later Recovery of Europe.
After the war my father was sent to navigate the Mexican Pacific.
When I was born in 1963 he retired from PEMEX after
32 years of service in Mazatlan. He continued to work for another 35 years
at the Escuela Nautica in Mazatlan, first as a professor, and later as the
Career Director. He retired at 90 years old, and he finally died al 94
in 2003.
When I wrote to ask
if Rafael had ever been to Veracruz, he replied:
Yes, I have been to Veracruz. The last time was in December of 1992, when
we had a family reunion, and a lot of the family got together. I had a chance to walk the city with my father explaining
how it was in his time (the times of the Revolution).
When we went to Ciriaco Vazquez Park, he explained everything.
He showed us the house where they lived and also where he was born.
Later, we went to the Panteon Particular to visit the tomb
of the old members of the family.
Fortunately I have filmed in video all the trip and as you can imagine
for us it is a treasure.
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In Front of the School
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Carried Away
Sometimes I get a little carried away and invade people´s privacy,
but my curiosity was up.
I wondered if the house where Colonel Luis Pedro Vazquez
grew up was still there.
Late on a Saturday afternoon, when there aren´t many people in the downtown
area I went back to the park and took some pictures around the park, and sent
them to Rafael to see if he had remembered anything.
This is the letter I received:
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Under the Watchful Eye
of Gen. Nicolas Bravo |
In Front of the School |
In Front of the School
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In Front of the School
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Muchas gracias por las fotos. No sabes qué
gratos recuerdos vinieron a mi mente cuando ví la casa de mi abuelos.
La casa es la que está al lado izquierdo de la casa de color verde, es
la que parece abandonada de dos pisos y que tiene unos letreros de que esta
en venta.
Esa casa representa mucho para mi pues es la casa es donde nació
mi padre y donde vivió su infancia. Aunque el gusto
les duró muy poco pues como te conté a la muerte de
su padre tuvieron que emigrar a Ciudad del Carmen
y años despues regresaron a Veracruz, pero
en condiciones de mucha pobreza.
En Mexico Los Niños Heroes son de los más famosos heroes del país y
nadie sabe que Ciriaco murió tratando de que ese mismo ejercito no llegara
a la ciudad de Mexico en 1847.
Muchas gracias y saludos,
Rafael Vázquez |
Callejon Holtzinger |
A Closer Look
Old abandoned houses are fascinating, especially in very old cities like
Veracruz. Nobody seems to pay much attention to them. So, I went in for a closer look to see if it was really abandoned.
My attention turned to the south side of the park, in front of the school.
The front door was probably located on the south to be sheltered from
"nortes", as well as to face the downtown area and la Calle Independencia
and the plaza some 3 blocks away.
Next to the house is a little "Callejón" that is partially restored to what
is must have originally looked like in the 19th Century. It is a peaceful little street.
This house was still inside the old wall that protected Veracruz, in front
of Fort San Juan. The wall was ordered demolished by Don Domingo
Bureau in 1880. |
The Colonel Luis Pedro Vazquez House |
The Colonel Luis Pedro Vazquez House |
The Colonel Luis Pedro Vazquez House |
The Colonel Luis Pedro Vazquez House |
A TV Antenna |
Signs of Life
I looked around for signs of life.
Unlike most of the abandoned houses in the area, I noticed the door was
half open. I had to take a look inside, but there was nothing but
a dark hallway. It would be awkward to walk into someone´s living
room so I backed away.
It looked like someone was living there. Above my head on a balcony
was a TV antenna, and next to the "For Sale" sign was a light meter.
Someone was still living in the house.
Perhaps this will be the last renter until this house is also finally demolished. The City of Veracruz has been trying to restore at least the facades
of some of these old buildings, but the task appears to be too much
for their resources.
It also looks like the real estate company that was trying to sell the house
doesn´t exist any more either. I tried the internet address and
got no response.
Perhaps one day I will go back and look for the person who lives there
and ask for a tour.
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La Prueba Cigar Factory
"In the hand of a connoisseur smoker" |
Unfinished Projects
I want to go to Cerro Gordo to see if there is a monument or a cemetery to the
soldiers who died there. It´s only about an hour from here on the way
to Xalapa.
Somehow, this feels like an unfinished project because I have uncovered
some additional information about a large abandoned
building on the west side of the Park.
It once housed "La Prueba Hermanos"
cigar factory. They exported fine quality cigars from Veracruz all over
the world.
"In the hand of a connoisseur smoker", was their motto.
It once had 300 employees in an elegant factory and had
500 hectares of land in Valle Nacional, Oaxaca, and another plant in
Puebla.
During the year when the weather became too hot in Veracruz they moved the
operation to Puebla.
More about this later along with some of their operation and
elegant advertising of the day...
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Una carta inesperada de la Escuela Francisco Javier Clavijero
Apreciable Sr. John Todd, Jr.
Le agradecemos sus comentarios con respecto la monografia de
la escuela "Francisco Javier Clavijero" tambien conocida como "Cantonal",
le comento que el nombre de la escuela oficialmente cambio, antes "Fco. Javier Clavijero" y
ahora "Francisco Javier Clavijero" sin abreviaciones,
si en algun momento encuentra informacion nueva o que pueda corregir en la
actual monografia le agradeceremos su valiosa aportacion a esta para tener una
de las pocas monografias e informacion de dicho recinto o institucion, es grato saber de
gente que se interese por estos temas, seria grato para nosotros que pudiera uds.
incluir en caracter educativo en su pagina en internet en la seccion que corresponde
al "Parque Ciriaco Vazquez" cuando hace uds. la mencion a esta escuela poder agregar
la direccion de internet de esta misma como difusion y
conocimiento del valor historico que esta representa, de antemano reciba uds. un cordial y afectuoso saludo.
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An Unexpected Letter from the Francisco Javier Clavijero School
Dear Mr. John Todd, Jr.
We appreciate your comments with respect to the the Monograph of
"Francisco Javier Clavijero" School also known as the "Cantonal", I comment that the official name changed
from "Fco. Javier Clavijero" and is now called "Francisco Javier Clavijero", if at any time you find any new information
or can add any corrections to the present monograph we will appreciate your valuable contribution about our area or
institution, it is good to know that others are interested in these subjects and we would appreciate if you could
include anything of educational nature on your internet page that corresponds to the "Ciriaco Vazquez Park". When you
mention the scho you can add our internet address
as a way to let people know more about the historic value that this represents, beforehand please recieve a cordial
and affectionate greeting.
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Hidden Stories from the Streets of Downtown Veracruz
Even today when I walk the streets of the old downtown area of Veracruz, I still look for people who might remember
some of the many stories of the past about the abandoned buildings which may soon be demolished.
Often these stories
come from many other countries in the world, and the people of Veracruz are the custodians of this
vast open air museum and are doing the best they can with the limited resources at their disposal.
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