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<\/a>\u201cMy son and I are here at the workshop to try and find out information on my husband Michael\u2019s side of the family,\u201d Ellis said. \u201cHis great grandmother was an Aguilar. I am doing this because I want my children to know where they came from and who they are. I think this will give them a better understanding of themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n
Georgia Callian, the DESD research workshop chairperson, helped the Ellis\u2019 look through all the old books, reports, and photographs that she brought to the workshop for information on the Aguilar family.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have this workshop three times a year here in Old Town to help people look up their family genealogy,\u201d Callian said. \u201cThen on the last Saturday in June, we have a big celebration, called \u2018Descendants Day,\u2019 where all the descendants of the people of early San Diego get together and socialize.\u201d<\/p>\n
Old Town was a close-knit community where everyone knew and looked out for each other.<\/p>\n
Callian traces her own ancestry to the Machado Family of Rancho Buena Vista and Rancho El Rosario \u2014 which was a large ranch in Mexico. She is also related to Jose Antonio Yorba, who arrived in San Diego aboard the “San Antonio” as one of the Catalonian Volunteers that accompanied the ships.<\/p>\n
\u201cWorking on family history is like being a detective. Searching through the materials to find the true picture of the past,\u201d Callian said.<\/p>\n Corey Braun, a San Diego City Planner, was also at the workshop. He is the great-great-great-grandson of Bonafacio Lopez, who built an adobe on the side of Presidio Hill and another in Sorrento Valley in the early part of the 1800s.<\/p>\n \u201cBonafacio Lopez \u2014 who was the regeator [arbitrator of cattle disputes] for Old Town \u2014 was the son of Ignacio Lopez, who was born at the Presidio. Ignacio Lopez, in turn, was the son of Juan Francisco Lopez, a Leather Jacket soldier who marched up from Sinoloa with Father Serra and Captain Portola in 1769 to found the city of San Diego.<\/p>\n Juan Francisco was married to Feliciano Arballo. They met and married at Mission San Gabriel in 1775 when Abarallo was traveling with the people Spanish Indian fighter and explorer De Anza was taking up from Tubac, Arizona and founded the Presidio in San Francisco.\u201d<\/p>\n Braun is also related to Marcos Crosthwaite, grandson of Phillip Crosthwaite, the owner of Rancho Poway and a participant at the historic battle of San Pascual in 1846.<\/p>\n \u201cMy grandmother used to tell us stories about our family\u2019s exploits, that is how I got interested in family history,\u201d Braun explained.<\/p>\n Samuel Ames, also at the workshop, is a fifth generation San Diegan. He recently returned here to retire after serving as an art professor at Rhode Island College for many years. He is related to the Ames\/Serrano family of Los Coches Rancho and Rancho Aqua Hedondia.<\/p>\n \u201cI am here to complete the family history,\u201d Ames said. \u201cWhat you see is that you are part of something much larger than just your family. You are a part of the history of California.\u201d<\/p>\n The Old Town Descendants was originally founded in 1980 by Elena Orozco (State Parks and a descendant), Henry Israel (descendant) and Alexa Luberski-Clausen, the State Parks Historian. The idea for it actually first arose in 1969 with the 200th anniversary of the City which was celebrated by the founding of Old Town as a California State Park.<\/p>\n Twelve years later, in 1980, Luberski invited all early San Diego descendants to come to the opening of the restoration of the Estudillo Adobe in Old Town, which had finally been completed. Such a large and enthusiastic number of people showed up that Luberski and Braun decided to make \u201cdescendants day\u201d an annual event.<\/p>\n In 1990, Callian became the chairperson of the group and started the genealogy research workshop program in 1991.<\/p>\n \u201cOur mission as descendants is to keep our history alive,\u201d Callian said. \u201cSan Diego has a complex past. Most people think California began with the Gold Rush or when Anglos first came here. Many think San Diego began with Alonso Horton. But it goes back much farther than that! We start with the Native Americans from pre-contact period, whom are still with us, then the Spanish Colonial period and the period of \u2018Los Californios,\u2019 when we were a part of Mexico.\u201d<\/p>\n Callian said the group exists to help people research their roots and their family\u2019s local history. And, if curious native San Diegans bring in old photographs, Callian said they will even assist in identifying them.<\/p>\n \u201cIt has been shown when adults and\/or children know their past, they have a better sense of purpose, place and identity,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Connie Rascon Gunther is the current chairperson of Descendants. She attended the workshop in the morning to continue research of her Adolfo Savin and Cota families. Gunther visited Old Town during the first Descendants meeting with her mother Consuelo, the great-great-granddaughter of Adolfo Savin. He was a prosperous French merchant who provided loans or owned buildings in Old Town, such as the Cosmopolitan, the Gila house, a house on Juan Street and the Protestant Cemetery.<\/p>\n The organization was recently renamed \u201cDescendants of Early San Diego\u201d or DESD, and its membership is full of rich native San Diego history. DESD Committee members also include, Dr. Leonor Perez, Vice Chairpersons\u2019 daughter is related to Juan Francisco Lopez and Maria Feliciana Arballo who were on the Anza Expedition.\u00a0 Secretary Linda Jacobo is a direct descendant of Jose Manuel Machado, Ramon Cota and Albert Benjamin Smith. Smith earned acclaim in 1846 when he climbed the flagpole in Old Town Plaza to re-raise the American flag while under fire from Mexican soldiers. He also served as one of San Diego’s earliest County Assessors and Superintendent of Schools.\u00a0 Another DESD active member is Abel Silvas, whose family is affiliated with the Juaneno Band of Mission Indians, and Acjachemen Nation.<\/p>\n For further information about the DESD or their ongoing research workshops, contact Georgia Callian at geocal1769@gmail.com<\/a> or search for \u201cDescendants of Early San Diego\u201d on Facebook.<\/p>\n<\/a>