DECEMBER  2003
Editor: Mimi Lozano, mimilozano@aol.com

          Dedicated to Hispanic Heritage and Diversity Issues
          Publication of the Society of Hispanic Historical and Ancestral Research © 2000-3
http://members.aol.com/shhar      714-894-8161

May your Holidays be a Time of Family Joy
and Warm Memories

Descendants of Vicente Martinez and Procora Vergara 
Gather from all over the United States

Thank you to Capri Alan Martinez for sharing the photo.  
Click for Martinez-Vergara family pedigree information.  

A man of honor should never forget what he is, 
because he sees what others are.

Baltasar Gracian, 1601-1658
Spanish Jesuit philosopher and writer
Source: Character Counts: Josephson Institute of Ethics

UNITED STATES

"The illiterates of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, 
but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn."
Alvin Toffler, Critical Thinking Proponent 

May 29, 2004

Tribute to a Generation: National World War II Memorial
 

by Richard J. Griego, April 2002
All Rights Reserved

  Reprinted with permission, La Herencia Volume 36 Winter 2002 
Editor: Ana Pacheco  http://www.herencia.com

His name was Arturo, but he was known to his camaradas as Count Dracula or just el Drácula, and he was my brother-in-law, at least for the short year that he and my sister were married. The unusual nickname was given to Arturo at age fifteen when he was working as an assistant in a funeral parlor. One day the body of a young lady friend of his came in and Arturo picked her up and started waltzing around with her. The shocked employees asked what he was doing. Arturo said that he was giving his friend her last dance. One of the guys said, "Man, you look just like Count Dracula." and from that point on the saga of el Drácula began.

My father disliked Arturo, saying he was a pachuco and a marihuano. The year was 1948, I was only eight years old and I was warned to stay away from el Drácula, who himself was only sixteen. But there was an alluring attraction to him. He had flashing hazel eyes, pale skin and sandy hair slick-backed into a ducktail, which was made darker with pomade. Arturo was handsome, slender and tall with a sauntering walk; he would swing his arms slightly from side to side and sway his shoulders. He wore long-sleeve lisas buttoned all the way up to the neck, baggy pegged-pants (drapes with reet pleats) worn high on the waist and fitted tightly at the ankles, and highly shined calcos with pointed toes. Count loved the borlotes (dances) at the Old Town Society Hall (la Ruca) and the Armory in downtown Alburque. When he danced, he moved his feet but slightly and gently rocked to the rhythm. He made the woman come to him, while he just stood there and twirled her around. The girl did all the work; he was cool and aloof. Count was a natural leader. He seemed older than he was and although he was the youngest, he became the head of his clica in the Sawmill neighborhood of Alburquerque. El Drácula era un bato de aquellas y siempre andaba muy bien entacuchado. (El Drácula was a right on guy and he was always well dressed).

Around my parents Arturo always spoke in respectful reserved tones, but when he was with fellow chucos, el Drácula tioricaba el totacho de los tirilongos (el Drácula spoke the language of the cool dudes). When the batos met they would greet each other with a backward motion of their heads. Órale, they would say. Their speech was full of words and phrases like: la ruca (the girl or old lady); que agüite (what a drag); ponte trucha (be aware, heads up); nel, ése (no, man); me la rayo (I swear); mi jefita (my mom); simón (yes); chale (no); la güisa (the girlfriend); carnal (brother or good friend) and necesito jando pa’ ir al mono con mi jaina (I need money to go to the movie with my girlfriend). Around outsiders the pachucos were reserved and hermetic, with a dangerous air about them. I didn’t understand a lot of what they were saying until my cousins (who were chuquitos themselves) would tell me the meaning of some of the vocabulary. Moreover, I would be immediately rebuked if I ever used some of the pachuquismos in front of my parents. Once, I inked a "pachuco cross" on the web between my thumb and forefinger with a pen. Youngsters used to do this and then prick the ink with a pin in order to achieve a permanent, if crude, tatoo. I had not reached that point when my father spied the offending cross on my hand and made me immediately wash it off with an admonition to me never to try that again.

Who were these pachucos? Why did they talk that way? Why were they despised by so-called respectable people? What happened to them? It wasn’t until I grew up and started reading and talking to people that I began to develop a realistic picture of la pachucada. There are several books on pachucos, at least one major film and, more recently, a national public television special. Yet, no single source covers all the bases about this fascinating group among our people. One of the early commentators on pachucos was Octavio Paz, Mexican poet, writer and Nobel laureate. In his classic book Laberinto de la Soledad he writes,

"El pachuco no quiere volver a su origen mexicano; tampoco – al menos en apariencia – desea fundirse a la vida norteamericana. Todo en él es impulso que se niega a si mismo,

nudo de contradicciones, enigma. Y el primer enigma es su nombre mismo: ‘pachuco’, vocablo de incierta filiación, que dice nada y dice todo. Extraña palabra, que no tiene significado preciso o que, más exactamente, está cargada, como todas las creaciones populares, de una pluralidad de significados. Queramos o no, estos seres son mexicanos, uno de los extremos a que puede llegar el mexicano."

Paz was an insightful observer, but he got a lot it wrong. First of all, the term "pachuco" comes from a nickname for the city of El Paso, which was often referred to as "El Pachuco" or simply "El Chuco". Groups of youth from El Paso migrated to Los Angeles in the 1930s and they were referred to there as pachucos. These young people brought with them the language of the barrios, which contained influences from the Mexican underworld, which spoke a dialect that had its origins (in part) in the language of Gypsies called caló. This Gypsy language in turn is the Spanish adaptation of Romani, the original tongue of the Gypsies that migrated to Europe.

The Gypsies of today, numbering some 12 million scattered throughout the world, have their origin in India. The ancestors of the Gypsies formed lower caste artisans and workers in the Rajput Confederacy of northwestern India. In the 11^th century Muslims, from what is now Afghanistan, under the leadership of Mahmud Ghazni invaded India and defeated the Rajput Confederacy. Many of these lower castes fled in order to avoid massacres and slavery. There were three branches of this migration: a group that was to become known as the Rom or Roma entered into Europe, while the Dom migrated to the Middle East and the Lom went into Western Asia. The Roma left India through the upper Indus Valley and followed the Silk Road into Persia. Their migration continued on to Armenia, Byzantium, Greece and Rumania. From Rumania, the Roma split up into

smaller groups and these then found their separate ways into the countries of Europe. By the 16^th century Roma could be found from Norway in the North to Greece in the South and from Spain in the West to Poland in the East. The dark-skinned Roma were

misnamed "Egyptians" by Europeans and this name came to be "Gypsies" in English and "gitanos" en español (derived from "egiptanos").

The languages of the three emigrant Gypsy groups were closely related to Sanskrit, from which modern Indo-Aryan languages are descended. The language of the Roma is called Romani and it derives from the word "rom" which means "man". Meanwhile, Roman borrowed from the languages of those countries along the way of their travels.

The caló of Spain has many Romani words, but its grammar is based on the Spanish language. In contrast Domari, the language of the Dom, has many Arabic loan words, but its grammar is essentially Sanskritic.

Roma found hostility and oppression everywhere they went and there were attempts to extinguish their Romani language. Gypsies have constituted the quintessential pariah group in Europe owing to their dark skin, foreign tongue, nomadic ways, and their fierce independence and defense of Gypsy culture. Roma operated at the margins of society and, in response to discriminatory laws, some got involved in shady or criminal activities, which gave rise to stereotypes that have plagued the entire people. In Spain due to

continual pressure against their language, the gitanos developed caló, a linguistic symbiosis of Romani and Spanish. The gitanos called their dialect zincaló meaning "a man of the plains" and this was eventually shortened to caló. The language we associate with Flamenco music, cante and dance is caló gitano.

Gitanos came from Spain to the Americas early on. Indeed, there were a few Roma on the third voyage of Cristóbal Colón. Various expulsion attempts of the Roma from Spain were made as early as 1499 and beginning in the 16^th century substantial numbers

of Roma were shipped off to the Americas, while others came of their own volition.

Many gitanos were transported to the New World out of a desire to get rid of them, in stark contrast to the shipment of Black Africans who were brought to the Americas for

economic reasons. Gitanos continued to be exploited and persecuted in the Spanish colonies in which they came to form an underclass. In Mexico, as elsewhere, some

gitanos eventually became involved in extra-legal activities. This then is the origin of the underclass and underworld associations of caló.

Not all who could speak or understand caló in Mexico were gitanos or criminals. Indeed, caló set the tone and spirit for a lot of underground culture in Mexico. The use of some caló in one’s speech would often be a mark of "hipness" by the user. Even in Spain, the flair and innovativeness of caló inspired poets and novelists to use this vernacular of Andalucía, where gitanos were concentrated, in their works. For example, Miguel de Cervantes used caló-flavored speech in his Rinconete y Cortadillo. And in Mexico some of the most expressive and characteristic expressions are in fact caló terms. For example, the useful and malleable chingar is derived from chingarar, a caló word meaning "to quarrel". The concept of mexicanos as being los hijos de la chingada (the sons of the violated one, i.e., of la Malinche) is at the very core of the Mexican psychological makeup. One can refer to the writings of Octavio Paz and Carlos Fuentes for extensive commentary about this complex phenomenon.

There have been two foci of the pachuco world: El Paso (El Chuco) and East Los Angeles (East Los). El Paso is a caldron of conflict and creativity, a place where worlds collide – the Mexican and the North American. Thus, El Paso is a fount of culture, where many of the cultural attributes that characterize Chicanos throughout the Southwestern United States (El Norte to mexicanos) are created, developed and transported to the rest of Aztlán (as the Southwest is known among Chicano nationalists). Certainly, much of pachuco culture was created in El Paso. However, Los Angeles is where the full expression of pachuco culture took place and where its most assertive expressions were displayed for all to see. Today’s picture of the pachuco in the public imagination was developed and disseminated in the balmy climate of the City of the Angels. Two popular L.A.-based movies featured pachuco styles. In Zoot Suit, Edward James Olmos plays El Pachuco wearing his zoot suit and speaking caló. The Mask, with Jim Carrey, features this star also wearing a zoot suit, although the movie is not explicitly about pachucos.

Language especially was created in El Paso, Los Angeles and throughout the Southwest and caló gitano influenced the language of the marginal Chicano classes. The young people of these classes, also known as tirilongos or tirilones, adapted other elements besides caló gitano into their speech. A wonderful aspect of the language of the pachucos, which here will be called caló pachuco, is its inventiveness and spontaneity. While the basic matrix of caló pachuco is standard Spanish, it has a variety of other linguistic features listed below.

Arcaísmos. These are words from old Spanish that are common in New Mexico and in rural areas of Mexico. Pachucos also utilized such words, being that they were sometimes from these communities. For example: asina – así; mesmo – mismo; muncho – mucho; lamber – lamer (from this comes lambe and lambiscón – kissass).

Anglicismos. These are terms that are derived from English or that have been literally translated into Spanish. For example: birria (bironga) – beer; clica – gang (from "clique"); ganga – gang; dátil – a date (with a person); guachar – to watch (Ay te guacho, gacho.); guaino – wino; songa – song; dar quebrada – to give a break (La jura no me quiere dar quebrada, carnal.); escuadra – a square or unhip person.

Aztequismos. These are words that come from náhuatl, the language of the Aztecs. For example: chante – home or house (from chantli - home); chicloso – well dressed, sharp (from tzictli – glutinous milk produced by the sapodilla tree), also chicloso means "glutinous" in Mexico, and chicle – gum – also derives from tzictli; mayate – black man (from mayatl – a black bettle); tacuche – suit (from tacuchi – to bind with cloth), verb form – entacuchar – to dress. Various sources attribute chante as deriving from "shanty". However, the English "shanty" probably comes from the French chantier – lumberman’s hut – or from the Irish sean tig – old house. Since chante is an old word that exists and is used in central Mexico, far removed from English influence, it is certain that "shanty" has no relevance. Note that chantarse or achantarse means "to get married" in pachuco – you are setting up house when you get married – similar to the standard Spanish casa (house) and casarse (to get married).

Caloísmos. There are two types: terms imported directly from caló gitano, i.e., from Spain, and those from caló mexicano, native to México. Caló mexicano can also be called jerga mexicana (Mexican slang) and it is associated with the underworld, although the reach of the slang goes beyond the criminal class.

Caló gitano: bute (or buti) – much, very; calcos – shoes; catear – to hit with a fist (from catar – to knock down, trample), also cato – blow from a fist (from cate – a blow); chota – police ("informer" in caló); chavalo – boy (from chaval – young man); jando – money (derives from jandoró – money); jarana – guitar ("diversion" in caló); lima (also lisa) – shirt; sardo – soldier; vaisa – hand. Also, bato (vato) – guy or boy – is probably derived from the caló gitano word chibato (chivato) – young man. Also, bato means "father" and bata "mother" in caló gitano, so I’m sure that the pachuco word bato is caló in origin, rather than of New Mexican Spanish origin as is stated in some sources. For example, A Dictionary of New Mexico and Southern Colorado Spanish by Rubén Cobos states that possibly bato is derived from the name of a shepherd in the play Los Pastores. I favor the caló derivation.

Caló mexicano: apañar – to steal; filero – knife; jura – police (from jurado – jury or jurar – to vow); nel (or nela) – no; tando – hat; totacho (or tatacha or totacha) – language; trola – a match.

Metaphors. These are standard words that are adopted with changes or extensions of meanings. Thus, al alba – alert, sharp, smart – usually "at dawn" – (the early bird gets the worm, i.e., is sharp); borlo (borlote) – a dance – the standard meaning is "tumult"or "uproar"; carnal – brother – ordinarily "sensual" or "related by blood"; descontarse – to leave – from descontar –"to discount"; rayarse – to swear (to God) – customarily rayar means "to make a line on"(rayarse probably refers to making the sign of the cross on oneself); refinar – to eat – usually "to refine"; teórica – speech, talk – "theory" in standard speech (from this comes teoricar (or tioricar) – to speak); yesca – marihuana – usually "tinder" or "fuel".

Plays on words (alterations). Calmantes, Montes. – instead of Cálmate, Montes; cora – heart – from corazón; nelson – no; Nos vidrios. - instead of Nos vemos.; ¿Ontablas? – instead of ¿Donde estabas?; ¿Qué pasión? – instead of ¿Qué pasó?; simón, sirol – sí; viroles – frijoles; Ya estufas. – instead of Ya estuvo.; Ya sábanas. – instead of Ya sabes.

The metaphors and alterations exemplify the true sense of playful spirit and inventiveness of the language of the pachucos.

Inventions or words of uncertain origin. Chale – no (some sources claim this derives somehow from the English name "Charles", but I doubt this); clemo – penny; frajo – cigarette; güisa – girl (Diccionario de Caló – El Lenguaje del Hampa en México by Carlos Chabat states that this means "girl" in caló mexicano, but Linda Fine Katz in her UCLA master’s thesis "The Evolution of the Pachuco Language and Culture" states that güisa comes from güisáo – "brothel" in germanía, a more general European slang associated with criminal classes. The pachuco word jaina – girlfriend – is usually attributed as deriving from the English "honey" (for example, Cobos and Katz), but Chabat lists jaña as mujer o amasia and jaño as hombre, so it seems to me that jaina is a variation of jaña and has nothing to do with "honey". Also, ramfla (ranfla) in pachuco caló means "car". Cobos claims ramfla comes from the English word "rambler" (which I doubt), while others state that ranfla is a Mexican colloquialism for "old vehicle".

Some English words associated with drug culture are actually derived from caló pachuco, although such sources as The Dictionary of American Slang give other origins, such as American Negro slang, for these words. For example: "reefer" (marihuana cigarette) – from grifa (pachuco for marihuana); "roach" (marihuana butt) – from roncha – same meaning; "toke" (a "hit" of marihuana) – from toque.

Thus, the language of the pachucos was complex and inventive. The term caló (without modifiers) in the Southwest has come to designate this pachuco linguistic melange, extending the original meaning of caló as simply the language of the gitanos.

In New Mexico I have encountered those who say that pachuquismo was a Los Angeles phenomenon and deny that our home was ever a stage for pachucos. This is a historical blindness induced by shame and antagonism. How do these good folks explain the following interview conducted in the 1970s (from Caló Tapestry by Adolfo Ortega):

"Yo me crié en Alburque, en la ciudad. Yo ni cuenta me daba que había otra lengua. Los batos allá en el barrio, todos hablaban así. Los batos locos, tú sabes, todos tiorican así. … Yo podía comunicarme con otros batos y nomás escuchando el totacho de ellos de volada me daba cuenta de qué parte del estado eran. … Los chucos y los batos, son igual carnal. Antes que hubieran batos locos, les decían batos chucos. Como, bueno, yo tengo treintaicinco abriles de edad, ya no estoy chavalón. Cuando yo me estaba criando

allí en Alburque, ése, pues en ese tiempo cuando le preguntaban a uno que de qué raza eras, todos los batos decían ‘pachuco’. En esos tiempos me crié yo, en los tiempos de los pachucos, que fue el primer revolucionario que hubo." The interviewee was from the barrio of Barelas, right there in the Duke City.

World War II marked the zenith of pachuco cultural influence among la raza. Pachucos soared onto the national stage due to the infamous "Zoot Suit Riots" that occurred during June 1943 in Los Angeles. It would be more accurate to call these disturbances the "Sailor Riots" since they were characterized by attacks by American sailors and other servicemen on zoot suiters. Conflicts over access to women aggravated the relations between the mostly white servicemen and zoot suiters, who were mostly Black and Mexican. The Chicano zoot suiters or pachucos were also targets because they were viewed as avoiding military service by means of questionable tactics and they were conspicuously different in language, dress, deportment and skin color.

A zoot suit featured a knee-length coat with outrageously padded shoulders. The zoot suiter topped things off with a wide-brimmed pancake tando (hat) and a long gold chain hanging down to his knees. The zoot suit, which required yards of war-rationed material, became the symbol of the pachuco uniform and attitude and it was a target of disdain and attacks by the servicemen in Los Angeles in 1943. The harassment spread to all Mexican American youth, pachuco or not, some of whom had the bad luck simply of affecting the zoot suit style of dress. The servicemen often stripped the zoot suiters of their clothes and sometimes cut their ducktails. Local newspapers played an important role in fomenting an atmosphere of racial hysteria against Blacks, Filipinos and Mexicans that resulted in violence. Meanwhile, the police stood aside or even aided the rioting servicemen. The Los Angeles City Council got into the act by making it "a jail offense to wear zoot suits with reet pleats within the city limits of L.A.". Mexican Americans throughout Los Angeles became confused and frightened over the hatred and violence directed against their youth. A lot of raza did not care much for pachucos themselves, but it disturbed the Mexican community that many non-pachuco youngsters were also the targets of racist attacks. Finally, the military authorities did what the L.A. city fathers failed to do; they clamped down on the servicemen by declaring Los Angeles off limits and the riots came to an end. No disciplinary actions were taken against the servicemen, but the jails were full of Mexicans and Blacks. Race riots later spread to Phoenix, Chicago, Philadelphia and New York during that hot summer of 1943.

Pachucos were alienated from both traditional Mexican American society and from the mainstream American way of life. Youth everywhere have questions of identity – who am I? how do I confront the world? Caught in a no-man’s land between lo mexicano and lo gringo, the pachucos fashioned their own reality from the tools at hand: a language – caló; a music – swing, jazz and, later, mambo; a social network – la clica; and a mode of dress – the zoot suit (which was incorporated from the styles of Harlem). Certainly, rebellious youth everywhere do similar things, but mainline Anglo American kids were not the victims of racism and class discrimination as were the pachucos. La pachucada flaunted an independent spirit that would not take any crap from anyone.

During the Chicano Movement of the late 1960s and 1970s pachucos became a symbol of resistance and cultural pride. Pachuco caló was incorporated into the language of the Movement and one saw the spectacle of Chicano university students tioricando (o tratando a tioricar) en caló. Pachucos themselves were thoroughly non-political and they never sought to organize their communities outside of their own immediate clicas. Thus, it is ironic that the distant and alienated pachuco was redefined as a revolutionary, a cultural hero.

As for Count Dracula, he left Albuquerque for San Francisco. There he worked at Fantasy Records, an outlet for West Coast Jazz – Dave Brubeck, Gerry Mulligan, and the like. Count’s job was to press records in plastic disks of red, yellow, green and blue – all brilliant colors. He would combine the colors on a single disk and make psychedelic combinations long before the hippies came up with the idea. Count y los músicos guachaban los discos voltear y escuchaban la música mientras que se ponían locos.

Count was into drugs – marihuana and harder stuff. His second wife finally gave him an ultimatum to choose either drugs or her. He chose her and cleaned up his act. My mother asked Count a few years later why he couldn’t have gone straight sooner, when he was married to my sister. He just smiled and shrugged his shoulders, although it was clear that he regretted his previous behavior. Count died at the young age of 40, the victim of chemical poisoning that he contracted at a job with a refrigeration company. I got the chance to visit him a few years before he passed away and he was gracious and generous with me in spite of the conflict he had with my family. His daughter (my niece) ran across Dave Brubeck a few years ago and he still remembered Count fondly. Many people found Count unforgettable.

Pachucos had their day in the sun during the 1940s and 50s. Their heirs in the 1960s and 70s were the vatos locos or cholos and today it is the homeboys who carry on the spirit and some of the tradition of the pachucos. The spirit of the pachuco speaks to us even to this day. My son plays guitar in a global Latin music band and I had occasion to be at one of his gigs. That night I heard newly arrived mexicanos de México tioricando en caló and the band played ‘Gitano" by Santana and a song by the Gipsy Kings. Count would have felt right at home. … ¡Ponte trucha! Aquí viene el Drácula, bien entacuchado.

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The Bank of America has divided the Hispanic market into three segments - new arrival, transitional and established- offering basic bank accounts to the first group, mortgages and retirement accounts to the second, and brokerage services and other more sophisticated products to the third.

Many banks are focusing on the $20 billion in money transfers Hispanics send to Latin America every year. Since early last year, nearly 300 banks, looking to edge their way in, have begun accepting the Mexican consular card, virtually the only ID available for millions of illegal immigrants who are big remittance senders. 

Remittances offer banks "the opportunity to turn an un-banked consumer into a consumer of the bank," Alice Perez, head of Hispanic marketing for U.S. Bank, said recently in congressional testimony.

In dollar terms, retail and food-service sales of tortillas have nearly doubled in a six-year period to $5.2 billion in 2002, up from $2.8 billion in 1996, said the association, which predicts $6.1 billion in sales in 2004.

The word tortilla comes from the Spanish word torta, which means round cake. What we know today as the corn tortilla was, according to an ancient Mayan legend, invented by a peasant as a gift for his monarch. The flour tortilla originated either in Texas as a convenient food during roundups, or in northern Mexico to form burritos for people working in mines or fields.

Bernardo de Galvez

Community organizations, service, business and historical groups 

On November 1, 2003, Mr. Curtis Porter, Sons of the American Revolution (SAR) member, accepted two Hispanic American Heroes Series (HAHS) awards at the Los Angeles Athletic Club.  The first was in recognition of the contributions made by the SAR for their efforts to include decendents of Hispanic soldiers who fought under the Spanish flag in support of the American Revolution into the SAR.  The second, was awarded to Mr. Clarence Lucas, SAR member and founding Executive Committee member of the HAHS.  His extraordinary efforts on behalf of the Galvez Project were considerable and resulted in a successful first year. 

SURNAME

VERGARA

Este noble linaje guipuzcoano del género de los topónimos, tuvo su primitivo solar en la villa de Vergara, de donde tomó su nombre, extendiéndose después por el resto de las Vascongadas, Navarra, ambas Castillas y Andalucía, hallándose presente en el continente americano desde los primeros momentos de su descubrimiento y conquista.

Hubo un importante asentamiento en la anteiglesia de Bedarona, en Vizcaya, y en la Villa de Elizondo, en el Valle navarro del Baztán. Esta última casa solar se denominó de Echandía de Anzamborda y sus miembros fueron reconocidos como nobles, en diferentes años, por los Tribunales de aquel Reino.  Esta voz euskera, significa “huerto elevado entre zarzas; pastizal, jaro superior”, según los principales filólogos vascos.

Don Juan Pérez de Vergara, hijo de don Pedro Ibáñez de Vergara, eran vecinos de Tolosa en 1346; don Miguel de Vergara, de Legazpia en 1384; don Pedro López de Vergara, era Escribano de Mondragón en 1392, e igual cargo desempeñaba en Oñate en 1447, don Juan Pérez de Vergara. Todos los lugares mencionados, enclavados en la provincia de Guipúzcoa, donde esta familia probó repetidamente su calidad en diferentes poblaciones en las que fijó su residencia.

El hábito de la Orden Militar de Santiago, lo vistieron después de las probanzas nobiliarias correspondientes, los siguientes Caballeros:

Don Francisco de Vergara y Alava, de Salvatierra y Ufardín, electo fiscal del Real Consejo de las Ordenes Vitoria, 1651, don Juan Antonio de Vergara y Arriola, Pumarejo y Ramírez de Aguilera, Madrid, 1667; don Antonio de Vergara Azcárate y de Avila, Cádiz, 1650; el Capitán don Miguel de Vergara y de Larretea, Elizondo, Navarra, 1681; don Lucas de Vergara Pardo y Rozas, Capitán de Caballería del Regimiento de la ciudad de Lima, Perú, 1775, y don Antonio de Vergara Urrutia y García de Espinaredos, Sevilla, 1644.

En la Orden de Calatrava, fueron admitidos:

Don Cristóbal de Vergara Grimón, Realejos, Tenerife, Canarias, 1646 don Lucas de Vergara Pardo y Ponce de León, Fernández Pardo y Tenreiro, Pisco. Perú, 1699, don Juan de Vergara Pardo, hermano entero del anterior Pisco, 1695, y el Capitán de Caballos don Fernando de Vergara y Ruiz del Castillo, Fonzaleche. Logroño, 1713.

Don Juan Ruíz de Vergara y Díaz de Alava, Sánchez de Vergara y Díaz de Esquivel, natural de Villoria. Salamanca, ingresó en la Orden de San Juan de Jerusalén el año 1553, después de efectuar las pruebas de nobleza correspondientes.

Ante la Sala de los Hijosdalgo de la Real Chancillería de Valladolid, litigaron por la posesión de su nobleza de sangre gran número de personas de esta estirpe entre los años de 1525 a 1771, despachándose gran número de Ejecutorias por diferentes soberanos españoles.

Don Carlos II, por su Real Decreto de 18 de enero de 1666, concedió el título de Marqués de Acialcázar a don Baltasar López de Vergara y Grimon, Señor de la villa de Acialcázar, Alguacil Mayor del Santo Oficio y Caballero de la Orden de Calatrava, perteneciente a una noble rama de este linaje afincada en las Islas Canarias.

Las armas de la casa primitiva de los Vergara, se organizan así:

EN CAMPO DE ORO, UNA ENCINA DE SINOPLE, FRUTADA DE ORO, Y UN LOBO DE SABLE ATADO CON UNA CADENA DE ORO AL TRONCO. BORDURA DE GULES, CON OCHO SOTUERES DE ORO.

El Estado Noble de la Villa de Madrid, admitió en su seno en los años que se indican, a los siguientes individuos:

Don Francisco de Vergara y su hijo don Felipe, en 1631; don Diego de Vergara Gaviria, en 1661; don Domingo de Vergara y Azcárate, en 1660; don Martín Marcelino de Vergara y Ramón, en 1698; don Manuel de Vergara y Ruiz Basán, en 1713; don Diego Valerio, don Juan Manuel y don Martín de Vergara Sáenz Diez, en 1800, y don José Emeterio y don Juan Manuel de Vergara y Gaviria, Martínez Terroba y Muro, originarios de Torrecilla de Cameros, Logroño, en 1800.

El primer Vergara que piso tierra americana, parece que fue don Cristóbal de Vergara, natural de Vergara, que pasó en 1500 a este continente con el Comendador don Alonso Vélez de Mendoza.

Don Jerónimo de Vergara, natural de la Isla Española, hoy República Dominicana, hijo de don Jerónimo de Vergara y de doña Juana Hernández de Niño, pasó a la Nueva España en 1527, participando en la conquista de Colima con don Pedro Sánchez Farfán.

Don Gaspar de Vergara, natural de Villaflores, Salamanca, donde nació por 1510, hijo del Secretario Vergara y de doña María Hernández Girón, pasó a la conquista del Perú en 1535, haciéndolo después con el Adelantado don Diego de Almagro a Chile, y posteriormente con el Capitán don Diego de Valdivia al intentar nuevamente la conquista de aquel Reino en 1539, fundando la capital de Santiago, en 1541. Fue Regidor de Santiago el año 1548, acompañando al Gobernador en la fundación de la ciudad de Concepción, en 1550, donde tuvo el cargo de Regidor de su primer Cabildo.

Don Juan Martínez de Vergara, natural de Gibraleón, Huelva, hijo de don Juan Martínez de Vergara, originario de la villa de Vergara y de doña Isabel Alonso de Gibraléon, fue el progenitor de distinguida rama que hasta hoy conserva su descendencia en Chile. Pasó a la guerra de este territorio en 1601, bajo el mando del Gobernador don Alonso de Rivera, como soldado de la Compañía del Capitán don Ginés de Lillo, obteniendo el grado de Capitán en 1628, disponiendo su última voluntad en Valparaíso e 1668, este Caballero había contraído matrimonio en 1634 con doña Magdalena de Leiva Sepúlveda, en la que procreó diferentes hijos, con rama en Talca que todavía pervive.

Don Juan Martínez de Vergara, hijo de los anteriores consortes, nació en Chillán hacia 1645, y de él procede una ilustre familia chilena, de la que son miembros distinguidos:

Don Ramón Vergara Donoso, Diputado de Cauquenes y Constitución, 1864-1867; don Francisco de Vergara y Leiva Sepúlveda Alvarez de Toledo, Diputado suplente por Talca al Primer Congreso Nacional de 1811, consorte de doña Maria del Rosario Rencoret Cienfuegos, padres ambos de don Francisco de Vergara Rencoret, Diputado por Talca en el periodo1864-1867, acaudalado propietario, dueño en Santiago de una chacra ubicada en lo que hoy son las calles Vergara y Carrera, quien edificó un suntuoso palacio estrenado en 1876 con un baile de honor del recién elegido Presidente de la República, don Aníbal Pinto Garmendia, donde fueron presentadas en sociedad señoritas de este apellido.

En México se estableció en el primer tercio del siglo XVII, don Antonio Urrutia de Vergara, nacido en Villafranca de las Marismas, Sevilla, en 1598, oriundo de la villa de Vergara, quien tuvo los cargos de Alférez, Capitán, Sargento Mayor y Maestro de Campo, dignidad esta última conferida en 1643, poseyó el Hábito de Santiago en 1644, fundo varios mayorazgos y era considerado en su tiempo como uno de los hombres más ricos de México y también famoso por sus innumerables obras  de filantropía.

En el padrón de la ciudad de México realizado el año 1689 aparece don Luis de Vergara, originario de las Islas Canarias, en donde había contraído matrimonio antes.

ORANGE COUNTY, CA

THE PHILHARMONIC SOCIETY OF ORANGE COUNTY

A lively Christmas tradition featuring Mariachi Los Camperos de Nati Cano, Ballet Folklorico Ollin, City of Angels Ballet, Los Cenzotles, and special guest

               JOSE FELICIANO!              

Tickets are $69, $45, $30, $20
But now, with our special offer,

RECEIVE 50% OFF THE TICKET PRICE (MINIMUM 4 TICKET PURCHASE)  Call (949) 553-2422 for more information

MINIMUM 4 TICKET PURCHASE

*limited seating available *no adjustments to prior purchases

Mention code : FIESTA

Tickets for Fiesta Navidad are $69, $45, $30 and $20. Tickets are available at all Ticketmaster outlets, www.ticketmaster.com, and the Orange County Performing Arts Center box office.

For more information about Fiesta Navidad, call the Philharmonic Society of Orange County,   Chantel Chen at (949) 553-2422, ext. 231, email: chantel@philharmonicsociety.org or visit the website  http://www.PhilharmonicSociety.org   TICKETS: $69, $45, $30 and $20. Tickets on sale now.  Available at all Ticketmaster Outlets,  http://www.ticketmaster.com, and the Orange County Performing Arts Center box office.

"Navidades"with Ballet Folklorico de Mexico de Amalia Hernandez   
December 20, 2003 / 7 pm
California Theater of Performing Arts 
Tickets: $22, $32, $37 and $42 (no discounts available) 
INFO/Tickets: Mary Chavez at (909) 884-3228

                                              *** LA POSADA MÁGICA ***
December 9-12th, 8 pm 
Orange County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Members & Friends are invited to a Special Event! South Coast Repertory presents LA POSADA MÁGICA - a music-filled show with Latino flair!  Call 714-708-5569.

Photos by Stephen Hussey 
7th Annual Veterans Day Celebration
Saturday, November 8, 2003, California State University at Fullerton
A Tribute to Mexican-American POWs and Iraq War Veterans

Strengthening Families

Mr. David C. Lizárraga