Life has been a little crazy!

I haven't forgotten about you! I know it's been a little over a month since I last posted, but I started a new job the week after my last post, so things have been a little hectic. I will return soon though with more family stories and research. (In fact, I've been able to add some new records recently with the new Mexican records on Ancestry!)

In the meantime, I will leave you with this photo of my great-grandfather who served in the US Navy as a precursor to the upcoming Veterans' Day holiday.

Gilberto Cardenas Ortega

Sources:

• Photo provided by Thomas Cardenas who obtained it from Amalia Cardenas Tristan.

Josef Konecny - The Bohemian Virtuoso

As I have said a couple of times before, my great-grandmother Rosemary gave me the genealogy bug. She had this way of giving just enough details in a story to have you hooked but leaving so many details out that you had no choice but to try to investigate the rest of the story. This post is about one of those teaser stories she told me.

When I was in middle school, I started playing in the school band. I had been a rockstar on recorder in elementary school (as much a "rockstar" as anyone can be on recorder), and I wanted to continue my musical pursuits into sixth grade.

My first choice for an instrument was violin. I had been fascinated by it for as long as I could remember. The first music class I remember was in kindergarten, and we learned all of the instruments' names and sounds. Of course, being a "Disney" kid, I had already known most of them thanks to the movie "Fantasia," but that didn't matter. I had decided the violin was my favorite.

Well, we didn't have a strings program (yet) at my school, so violin wasn't an option. I went with my second favorite instead. I decided to learn flute.

My sixth grade school photo. We were supposed to bring something that was
important to us to have in our photo with us. I brought my flute, and I dressed in my concert band shirt.
Personal Collection of Brittany Jenkins

When I met my great-grandmother in 9th grade, I told her about my musical adventures. Since my parents were not musical, and I only knew my grandmother to play a little piano, I thought I was the first person in the family to really pick up any kind of instrument. My great-grandmother corrected me. She said we had other musical talents in the family. She said we had a "virtuoso" in the family.

That was it. That was all she said. She didn't say who. She didn't say what kind of music. She didn't say what instrument. Just "virtuoso." It was several years before I found out who he was.

A pamphlet or brochure about Josef
Found in the University of Iowa Digital Archives

Josef Konecny was born in Vienna, Austria on 5 March 1883 to Johann and Anna Konecny. He immigrated to America with his family in 1890 at the age of 7.

While I'm unsure when Josef first started playing the violin, it is clear that he studied with Bohemian instructors. Otakar Sevcik, who was a professor at the Vienna Imperial Conservatory, is the man most associated with being Josef's tutor. This leads me to believe he started learning violin before he immigrated to America.

Clipping from Perry NY Herald, issue dated 3 December 1913

I know very little about Josef's young life, but I do know that he enlisted for the United States Army for World War I as a touring musician overseas for the troops. This seemed to jumpstart his touring stateside. He seemed to tour actively until about 1920 (that's when he starts showing up in newspapers less).

Sometime before the 1930 census, he married his pianist, Mary A. Tris. They stayed in Illinois through the 1940 census. I'm not sure what really happened to them after WWII (though I do see them in a couple of city directories in Illinois up until 1950), but I find Josef listed in the California Death Index in 1976.

I don't think Josef and Mary had any children, but I am still investigating their lives as a married couple, so it is still possible.

Taken from Josef's 1920 passport renewal application

Sources:

• 1900 Chicago, Cook County, Illinois U.S. Federal Census (accessed on Ancestry)
• 1930 Maywood, Cook County, Illinois U.S. Federal Census (accessed on Ancestry)
• 1940 Creve Coeur, Tazewell County, Illinois U.S. Federal Census (accessed on Ancestry)
• "Baraca Enterainment Course: Josef Konecny & Company," 3 December 1913, Perry NY Herald, Perry, New York (accessed on Chronicling America)
• Josef Konecny brochure (accessed at Iowa Digital Library)
• "Josef Konecny: The Bohemian Violin Virtuoso," 29 September 1920, Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune, Wisconsin (accessed on Chronicling America)
• Passport applications and renewal applications (accessed on Ancestry)

Rafael Cardenas Zepeda

Rafael Cardenas Zepeda was born 24 October 1890 in San Fernando, Tamaulipas, Mexico. His parents were Macedonio Cardenas y Cardenas and Agustina Zepeda Rodriguez.

He married at least three times. His known wives were Amalia Ortega Blanca, Herlinda (last name unknown), and Adelina Cardenas. Between all of his spouses, Rafael had at least the following children:

• Gilberto Cardenas Ortega
• Esperanza Cardenas Ortega
• Raul Cardenas
• Roberto Cardenas
• Rafael Cardenas

For this post, however, rather than focusing on his family life, I want to highlight Rafael's military service. Unlike my previously mentioned military relatives who served in the American Revolutionary War or the U. S. Civil War, Rafael, being Mexican, served in the Mexican Revolutionary War, sometimes referred to as the Mexican Civil War.

Rafael joined the Constitutionalist Army during the Mexican Revolutionary movement in 1913. He served under the command of General Antonio Medina. I know he was against the Huerta movement, but it seems from what I've gathered that even when some groups would be allies on one front, they were enemies on another, so other than knowing he was "anti-Huerta," I know little else about his side of the War.

Most of the reason I don't know much about his time in the Revolution is because my knowledge of Spanish is limited to what I learned before age 10 and what I can glean based on a working knowledge of French and some Latin. But I do know that during Rafael's time in the military, he worked his way up to Brigadier General.

One of the many medals that was given to Rafael.
They are all in the possession of his granddaughter, Amalia Cardenas TristanPhoto taken by Thomas Cardenas

Certificate in the possession of Amalia Cardenas Tristan
Photo taken by Thomas Cardenas

By 1918, he was the first head of the Department of Factories and Military Supplies under Venustiano Carranza de la Garza's presidency. (This leads me to believe Rafael and Venustiano Carranza were allies (more frequently than enemies, at least) in the War.)

While Rafael appears in few books and records, it seems he was rather successful in his professional life. He was a member of Congress, a federal deputy, and he also served as provisional governor of Tamaulipas. He was the governor-elect for the 1920-1924 term, but he only served four days until 8 May 1920 when he retired.

Photo of Rafael found in a book at Dickinson College, Carlisle, PA
(I forgot to write down the name of the book)

Rafael died in 1956 at the age of 66 of a myocardial infarction.

Taken from death certificate

I hope to find out more about the Mexican Revolution as soon as I learn a little more Spanish, but until then, I have to rely on the certificates, medals, and fantastic photos from my great-aunt Amalia. Hopefully, more information will be revealed to me soon.

Photo provided by Thomas Cardenas
Original in the possession of Amalia Cardenas Tristan

Sources:

• Condecoracion al Merito Revolutionario, Rafael Cardenas Cepeda
• Death Certificate, Rafael Cardenas Zepeda (provided by Thomas Cardenas)
• "Diccionario Porrua: Historia, Biografia y Geografia de Mexico" (found in a local high school library)
• Tamaulipas Bicentennial Site: Rafael Cardenas Cepeda
• Tamaulipas Bicentennial Site: Venustiano Carranza

Gilberto Cardenas Luebbert

I know very little about my ancestors from Mexico. In this post, we will begin to explore what little bit I do know about them.

I'll start with my grandfather, my most recent connection to Mexico. Gilberto Cardenas Luebbert was born on 8 August 1937 in Mexico. He was the second of four children born to Gilberto Cardenas Ortega and Enriqueta Frida Luebbert Schulz.

Enriqueta was Gilberto Cardenas Ortega's second spouse. His first spouse was a Texan. Her name was Virginia Placida Johnston. Gilberto also married a third time to a woman named Amalia Tristan Vera.

Enriqueta was also married a total of three times. Her other spouses names were Carlos Zolezzi Cavazos and Antenor Buenrostro. I do not know when she was married to either of these men as it does not seem they had any children together.

Through all of his parents' secondary marriages, Gilberto Cardenas Luebbert had four half-siblings. Their names were:

• Theresa Antoneta Cardenas
• Daniel Lawrence Cardenas
• Amalia Cardenas Tristan
• Gilberto Demetri Cardenas Tristan

Perhaps his parents' troubles in staying with one spouse influenced Gilberto in his own relationships as he was married six times in his life.

As far as I know, his first marriage was to my grandmother. In his late twenties, Gilberto Cardenas Luebbert married Barbara Rowena Hitchcock.

Enriqueta Luebbert Schulz, Gilberto Cardenas Luebbert, and Barbara Rowena Hitchcock
at Gilberto and Barbara's wedding reception. Provided by Thomas Cardenas.

Together, they had three children.

• Gil Enrique Cardenas
• Jorge Cardenas
• Krystal Rowena Cardenas

Since I do not know when he married which spouse, I will simply list the remainder of his relationships in no particular order.

Gilberto married Soledad Medina. Together, they had at least one child.

• Enriqueta Cardenas Medina

Gilberto married Hortensia Aguilera. Together, they had at least one child.

• Gabriela Cardenas

Gilberto also married Violeta (last name unknown) and Guadalupe (last name unknown).  He later remarried Hortensia, who remained his wife until he died.

I do not have any photos of Gilberto's other spouses, and I have only seen one or two photos of my dad's Mexican half-siblings. (My dad also has two other half-siblings from my grandmother's second marriage.) I wish I knew more than just some colors and numbers in Spanish so I would feel more comfortable contacting my relatives South of the Border. Until I learn the language though, I leave my brother to do most of the Mexican research.

I only met my grandfather once. We spent a couple of days together in 2010 while on a road trip from North Carolina to Pennsylvania with my aunt (his daughter) and her family. We spent most of those days sharing our love of World Cup Soccer watching it on television in the hotels where we stayed. We did send a few emails back and forth, but I wish I had asked him more about his life and relationships. That aspect of his life and his reasons for marrying/divorcing so many times is probably something I'll never be able to figure out or understand.

Gilberto died the year after I met him on 11 October 2011. He is buried at Jardines del Recuerdo. My brother managed to get this photo from one of Gilberto's brothers, Raul Cardenas Luebbert, last year for me since I needed proof of my grandfather's birth and death dates for my Daughters of the American Revolution application.

Photo of grave of Enriqueta Luebbert Schulz, Gilberto Cardenas Luebbert,
and (currently) three other people. Copyright, 2014

Sources:

• Brittany Jenkins, grandchild
• Gilberto Cardenas Luebbert, self
• Thomas Cardenas, grandchild
• Tombstone photo taken Spring 2014