Ancestry
Ramaytush
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The Ramaytush (pronounced rah-my-toosh) are the only original peoples of the San Francisco Peninsula. The term Ramaytush became a linguistic designation for a dialect of the Costanoan language that was spoken by the original peoples of the San Francisco Peninsula. Most, but not all, of the descendants of Costanoan speakers, however, refer to themselves as Ohlone or Costanoan. Prior to the arrival of the Spanish in 1769, the Ramaytush Ohlone numbered approximately 1500 persons and lived in ten small tribal groups.
Living descendants of the Ramaytush originate from the Aramai tribe and the village of Timigtac, located along Calera Creek in the city of Pacifica, San Mateo County. In the baptismal records of Mission Dolores, Aramai referred specifically to the area containing the villages of Timigtac and Pruristac. The primary family of the village at Timigtac was headed by Utchus (Ygnacio) and his wife Muchiate (Geronima). Their lineage was carried forward through their great-granddaughter, Leandra Ventura Ramos, whose children account for four branches of the family that produced living descendants. Leandra Ramos had Bay Miwok ancestry as well from the Saclan tribe in Contra Costa and Alameda counties. Leandra Ramos married Rafael Robles in 1825 and Eugenio Soto in 1839. Altogether, she had ten children. Five of her daughters married and had children, but only four are known to have living descendants in the present. Leandra and Rafael Robles lived in Santa Cruz where Rafael died in 1838. After his death Leandra married Eugenio Soto. The family lived in Santa Cruz until 1850 and then moved to San Mateo County where they lived at the Soto Ranch in Alpine. 
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The tribes of the San Francisco Peninsula include the Yelamu, Urebure, Aramai, Ssalson, Chiguan, Lamchin, Cotegen, Puichon, Olpen, and Quiroste. The first eight had the majority of its members baptized at Mission Dolores. The last three had the majority of its members baptized at Mission Santa Clara. Evidence strongly suggests that Ramaytush was likely the primary dialect of the Quiroste.
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The Aramai
Prior to the arrival of the Spanish in 1769, the indigenous inhabitants of the San Francisca Peninsula, referred to as the Ramaytush, numbered about 1,400 persons. They were divided into ten independent tribelets, including the Aramai that was situated on the west side of the San Francisco Peninsula in and around present-day Pacifica. The Aramai lived in two primary villages: the smaller village of Timigtac was located along Calera Creek, and the primary village of Pruristac was located immediately south in the San Pedro Valley.
The Aramai may have extended further south and included the Cotogen tribelet as well. In his interview with Henry Rowe Schoolcraft, Pedro Alcantara reported that there were five primary “tribes of the Bay of San Francisco . . .: the Ah-wash-tes, Ol-hones, (called, in Spanish, Costanos, or Indians of the Coast,) Al-tah-mos, Ro-mo-nans, and Tu-lo-mos. There were in addition a few small tribes, but all upon the land extending from the entrance to the head of the San Francisco Bay, spoke the same language” (Schoolcraft 1853:506).
Three in Alcantara’s list can be clearly identified with one of the ten Spanish tribelet designations. Fathers Palou and Gambon referred to the Yelamu as Aguazios (or Awashtes) in a 1783 report. One of the primary villages of the Ssalson was called Altagmu (or Altahmos), and of course the Olhones refers to the Oljon tribelet. Alcantara identified as Romonan and was born in the Cotegen tribelet, which was a small tribelet situated between the Chiguan and the Oljon tribelets along the Pacific coast. Milliken et al (2009) suggest that Romonan refers to the Aramai (260). Perhaps, then, the Cotegen were an additional band closely related to the Aramai and Chiguan, which would explain Alcantara’s claim to be from one of the larger tribelets of the peninsula, which the combined tribelets of the Aramai, Chiguan, and Cotogen would certainly represent.
Finally, the Tulomos is unrecognizeable as a potential tribelet along the San Francisco Peninsula. Milliken et al. suggest that the name may refer to the Tulare or Yokut people of the central valley (260). The Urebure tribelet would have been excluded from the list of five because of its small population. The larger Lamchin tribelet is conspicuously absent from the list, as is the Puichon tribelet, although the majority of Puichon were baptized at Mission Santa Clara as were the majority of the smaller Olpen tribelet.
Of the ten tribelets of the San Francisco Peninsula, the Aramai (villages of Timigtac and Pruristac) were the most politically influential. The headman of the village at Pruristac had at least three wives and six children. His children married the children of other headmen more frequently than any other headman. Aramai men accounted for nearly one-third of leadership positions at Mission Dolores, which is impressive given its comparatively small size. The Pruristac Headman's son retained an important status at the mission until his death in 1830.
The Aramai may have extended further south and included the Cotogen tribelet as well. In his interview with Henry Rowe Schoolcraft, Pedro Alcantara reported that there were five primary “tribes of the Bay of San Francisco . . .: the Ah-wash-tes, Ol-hones, (called, in Spanish, Costanos, or Indians of the Coast,) Al-tah-mos, Ro-mo-nans, and Tu-lo-mos. There were in addition a few small tribes, but all upon the land extending from the entrance to the head of the San Francisco Bay, spoke the same language” (Schoolcraft 1853:506).
Three in Alcantara’s list can be clearly identified with one of the ten Spanish tribelet designations. Fathers Palou and Gambon referred to the Yelamu as Aguazios (or Awashtes) in a 1783 report. One of the primary villages of the Ssalson was called Altagmu (or Altahmos), and of course the Olhones refers to the Oljon tribelet. Alcantara identified as Romonan and was born in the Cotegen tribelet, which was a small tribelet situated between the Chiguan and the Oljon tribelets along the Pacific coast. Milliken et al (2009) suggest that Romonan refers to the Aramai (260). Perhaps, then, the Cotegen were an additional band closely related to the Aramai and Chiguan, which would explain Alcantara’s claim to be from one of the larger tribelets of the peninsula, which the combined tribelets of the Aramai, Chiguan, and Cotogen would certainly represent.
Finally, the Tulomos is unrecognizeable as a potential tribelet along the San Francisco Peninsula. Milliken et al. suggest that the name may refer to the Tulare or Yokut people of the central valley (260). The Urebure tribelet would have been excluded from the list of five because of its small population. The larger Lamchin tribelet is conspicuously absent from the list, as is the Puichon tribelet, although the majority of Puichon were baptized at Mission Santa Clara as were the majority of the smaller Olpen tribelet.
Of the ten tribelets of the San Francisco Peninsula, the Aramai (villages of Timigtac and Pruristac) were the most politically influential. The headman of the village at Pruristac had at least three wives and six children. His children married the children of other headmen more frequently than any other headman. Aramai men accounted for nearly one-third of leadership positions at Mission Dolores, which is impressive given its comparatively small size. The Pruristac Headman's son retained an important status at the mission until his death in 1830.
References
Randall Milliken at al. Ohlone/Costanoan Indians of the San Francisco Peninsula and Their Neighbors, Yesterday and Today. Oakland, CA: Archaeological and Historical Consultants, 2009.
Randall Milliken at al. Ohlone/Costanoan Indians of the San Francisco Peninsula and Their Neighbors, Yesterday and Today. Oakland, CA: Archaeological and Historical Consultants, 2009.
Ancestry
Generation One
At the time of the arrival of the Spanish in 1769, the village at Timigtac numbered from ten to fifteen persons. The village leader, Ygnacio Utchús (SFD-B:00300) (nicknamed “el cojo” by the missionaries), was born about 1723, and his spouse Geronima Muchiáte (SFD-B:00384) was born about 1732. The couple had four known children (in order of birth): Acursio Enchequis, Martina Pispite, Francisca Xaviera Xilaíte (our ancestor), and Agustina Puctzim. Geronima Muchiáte was baptized three days prior to her death in 1782 and Ygnacio Utchús died a year later.
Generation Two
Francisca Xaviera Xilaíte’s second marriage was to Joseph Ramos on 31 October 1783 at Mission Dolores (SFD-M:00065). Theirs was the first recorded marriage at Mission Dolores between the gent de razón and a neophyte. Joseph Ramos was baptized 10 July 1731 at San Antonio, Singuilucan, Hidalgo, Nueva España, although his family was from nearby Valle de Tulancingo. He was a bachelor blacksmith at Mission Dolores who, beginning in 1776, traveled from Vera Cruz to San Blas and eventually arrived in San Francisco in 1779 (Scheutz-Miller). Francisca Xaviera Xilaíte and Joseph Ramos had only one child, Pablo Antonio Ramos, who was born on 25 January 1785 and was baptized at Mission Dolores five days later (SFD-B:00410). Joseph Ramos died a few months later in June 1785 and was buried in foundation of the third church, adjacent to the current Old Mission Dolores (Geiger 197).
After his father's death Pablo Antonio lived with his mother and step-father, Urbano Uléqes (SFD-B:00347), from the Ssalson tribe. Urbano Uléqes was the cousin of Francisca Xaviera Xilaíte’s brother-in-law, Baltasar Reyes. Though half Spanish, Pablo Antonio Ramos was classified by the padres as a neophyte from that point forward.
After his father's death Pablo Antonio lived with his mother and step-father, Urbano Uléqes (SFD-B:00347), from the Ssalson tribe. Urbano Uléqes was the cousin of Francisca Xaviera Xilaíte’s brother-in-law, Baltasar Reyes. Though half Spanish, Pablo Antonio Ramos was classified by the padres as a neophyte from that point forward.
Generation Three
Pablo Antonio was married at Mission Dolores on 30 October 1807 to Maria Agueda Ocissa (SFD-B:01651) from the Saclan tribe east of the Oakland Hills in present day Moraga and Lafayette.
Agueda Ocissa was baptized 30 December 1794 at Mission Dolores at the age of four. Her father, Eufrosino Cacnucché,(SFD-B: 01553) which translates to “Peregrin Falcon,” was not married to Agueda Ocissa’s mother, Heliodora Copitate (SFD-B:01577) but to another Saclan woman. Heliodora Copitate, on the other hand, married Heliodoro Ylupaché (SFD-B:001579) on 18 December 1794 (SFD-M:00424).
Pablo Antonio Ramos and Agueda Ocissa had two children: Ursula Hilariona (SFD-B:03637) who died at three years of age, and Maria Leandra Ventura Ramos who was baptized 14 March 1811 at Mission Dolores (SFD:04179). Leandra Ventura Ramos is the only surviving Ramytush Ohlone known to have living descendants in the present. Leandra Ventura Ramos is one-half Bay Miwok (Saclan), one-fourth Ohlone (Ramaytush), and one-fourth Spanish.
A carpenter by trade, Pablo along with several other skilled laborers moved to Sonoma in 1823 to build Mission San Francisco Solano. The family remained there for a couple of years, during which time Leandra Ramos met and married Rafael Robles. After the building was completed, Pablo Antonio Ramos and family returned to Mission San Francisco.
Agueda Ocissa was baptized 30 December 1794 at Mission Dolores at the age of four. Her father, Eufrosino Cacnucché,(SFD-B: 01553) which translates to “Peregrin Falcon,” was not married to Agueda Ocissa’s mother, Heliodora Copitate (SFD-B:01577) but to another Saclan woman. Heliodora Copitate, on the other hand, married Heliodoro Ylupaché (SFD-B:001579) on 18 December 1794 (SFD-M:00424).
Pablo Antonio Ramos and Agueda Ocissa had two children: Ursula Hilariona (SFD-B:03637) who died at three years of age, and Maria Leandra Ventura Ramos who was baptized 14 March 1811 at Mission Dolores (SFD:04179). Leandra Ventura Ramos is the only surviving Ramytush Ohlone known to have living descendants in the present. Leandra Ventura Ramos is one-half Bay Miwok (Saclan), one-fourth Ohlone (Ramaytush), and one-fourth Spanish.
A carpenter by trade, Pablo along with several other skilled laborers moved to Sonoma in 1823 to build Mission San Francisco Solano. The family remained there for a couple of years, during which time Leandra Ramos met and married Rafael Robles. After the building was completed, Pablo Antonio Ramos and family returned to Mission San Francisco.
Generation Four+
Leandra's Lineage
Leandra Ramos married Jose Rafael Robles at Mission San Francisco Solano on 7 January 1825 (SFS-M:00018). Rafael Robles was a one of the infamous Robles brothers who were reputed to have caused much trouble in Santa Cruz and Santa Clara counties, but apparently, Rafael was more temperate than his wilder brothers. As Leon Rowland claimed in his History of Santa Cruz, “Rafael went into the army and discipline induced in him a sober conduct.” In addition, Rafael was given the duty on occasion to survey land (Torchiana 342). Leandra and Rafael had four children and eventually settled in the village at Branciforte in Santa Cruz. While their only son died in 1840, all three daughters married and had children.
1. Maria de Jesus Francisca RoblesMaria de Jesus (Maria Francisca) Robles was born about 1825 at Santa Cruz. She married Jose de Jesus Sebastian Soria about 1842. The couple had at least four children.
Leandra’s first daughter, Maria Francisca Robles was renamed Maria de Jesus shortly after birth. She had four children with Jose de Jesus Sebastian Soria, the eldest of whom was Maria del Refugio Robles. She married Antonio Dutra de Vargas, a Portuguese farm laborer, on 1 December 1857 at Santa Cruz. The couple had several children, one of whom was Anna Dutra. On 5 January 1885 at Santa Cruz, Anna married Italian fisherman Giacomo “James” Marco Buero. In October of 1887 James Buero caught an eight foot long, one thousand pound sea turtle off the coast of Capitola. He struggled with the giant all night until help arrived in the morning. It was said to have been “the largest of its species that has ever been caught off the coast.” Anna Dutra and James Buero had eleven children, one of whom was Rose Buero.
References
“A Monster Turtle.” San Jose Mercury News, 14 October 1887. |
Anna Dutra Buero and grandson.
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2. Maria Domitila RoblesMaria Domitila Robles was born about 1830 at Santa Cruz. She married Jorge Salazar 21 February 1846 at Mission Santa Cruz. They had at least two children.
Maria Domitila Robles[i], Leandra's second daughter, was born about 1831. She married Jorge Salazar in Santa Cruz 21 February 1846. Like Domitila's father Rafael Robles, Jorge Salazar was the son of an original Branciforte poblador. His maternal grandparents were soldier Julian Rios and his wife Yrene, a neophyte from Tipu Rancheria near Santa Margarita. Domitila had her first baby, a daughter named in 1848 but the child died in 1850. On July 16, 1851 Domitila gave birth to Maria del Carmen Salazar. We don't know the circumstances of Carmen's early life or the fate of her parents who vanish from known records after 1851. Carmen may have been orphaned at a young age. By June of 1870 she is living in Watsonville with the family of her godmother and paternal aunt, Candida Rodrigues-Salazar. On the first day of August, 1870 she would marry Jose de los Santos Garner de Butron, a young man born and raised on his great-grandfather’s land grant Rancho La Natividad.
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Five generations beginning clockwise (left, front): Carmen Salzar, Domitila Garner, Helen Maze, living Spencer and daughter.
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Carmen and Santos would have long lives together and raise eleven children. Their first location was in the Paicines- Tres Pinos area where family stories say they ran a hotel and had some contact with the local bandit Tiburcio Vasquez. This was during a time when many native Californians felt oppressed by the new order, so it wouldn't be surprising to see Carmen and Santos sympathetic to Vasquez. Family legend also credits Santos with being part of the mob that lynched the anti-hispanic vigilante Matt Tarpey in 1873.
Later Carmen and Santos moved to the Alvarado District over the county line east of Hollister and made a living raising livestock. When Santos died in 1913 they had a small place closer to Hollister. Even though she lived her entire 91 years under the US flag Carmen would not speak English. One of her grandsons remembered being teased by his grandmother about being a gringo if he used English during his visits. He also remembered how she kept a shrine in her home for prayers and would send him out to buy her a small bottle of whiskey. My mother held memories of Carmen playing the guitar and smoking a pipe.
Carmen's first child, a daughter born in 1871, was cristened Domitilla Eliza. Domitilla married Blas Rufio Maze in Hollister in early 1891. Blas Rufio was the grandson of Blas Avila, a vaquero from Acaponeta, Mexico who came to San Juan Bautista around 1851 with his wife and young daughter Bruna. At age sixteen Bruna eloped with forty-five year old Joseph Maze who'd drifted into San Juan from the Indian Territories a few years earlier. On the day of their marriage Joseph Maze endorsed with his mark a deed conveying to Bruna a gift of 100 head of cattle and 40 horses "for her sole use and benefit". Their first child was Blas Rufio Maze, future husband of Domitilla Garner.
Domitilla Maze-Garner was proud of her heritage and her auburn hair. She had her family convinced she was pure Castillian Spanish based thinly upon her father Santos' great-grandfather, a Catalonian volunteer and friend of Father Serra. But when word got out about settlement money for anybody who could prove California Indian ancestry she surprised them all by announcing her trip to Monterey to get the record of the Spaniard's marriage to Margarita of Tukutnut rancheria on the Carmel River. That was the first time anyone had heard about any of the Indians in her ancestry. Domitilla had some harsh ways that were the subject of family gossip. But she's remembered kindly by others, praised for her tamales and her skill as a camp cook. She also made quilts and needlework still treasured by the family. Domitilla Maze had five children. Her first, Helen Bruna, was born at Lone Tree, San Benito County in 1893 and became Carmen’s first grandchild almost a year before Carmen gave birth to her own Josie Garner. Helen, my grandmother, was a temperate and sweet soul, a gift to us all and to the community of Hollister where she resided her entire 89 years.
Later Carmen and Santos moved to the Alvarado District over the county line east of Hollister and made a living raising livestock. When Santos died in 1913 they had a small place closer to Hollister. Even though she lived her entire 91 years under the US flag Carmen would not speak English. One of her grandsons remembered being teased by his grandmother about being a gringo if he used English during his visits. He also remembered how she kept a shrine in her home for prayers and would send him out to buy her a small bottle of whiskey. My mother held memories of Carmen playing the guitar and smoking a pipe.
Carmen's first child, a daughter born in 1871, was cristened Domitilla Eliza. Domitilla married Blas Rufio Maze in Hollister in early 1891. Blas Rufio was the grandson of Blas Avila, a vaquero from Acaponeta, Mexico who came to San Juan Bautista around 1851 with his wife and young daughter Bruna. At age sixteen Bruna eloped with forty-five year old Joseph Maze who'd drifted into San Juan from the Indian Territories a few years earlier. On the day of their marriage Joseph Maze endorsed with his mark a deed conveying to Bruna a gift of 100 head of cattle and 40 horses "for her sole use and benefit". Their first child was Blas Rufio Maze, future husband of Domitilla Garner.
Domitilla Maze-Garner was proud of her heritage and her auburn hair. She had her family convinced she was pure Castillian Spanish based thinly upon her father Santos' great-grandfather, a Catalonian volunteer and friend of Father Serra. But when word got out about settlement money for anybody who could prove California Indian ancestry she surprised them all by announcing her trip to Monterey to get the record of the Spaniard's marriage to Margarita of Tukutnut rancheria on the Carmel River. That was the first time anyone had heard about any of the Indians in her ancestry. Domitilla had some harsh ways that were the subject of family gossip. But she's remembered kindly by others, praised for her tamales and her skill as a camp cook. She also made quilts and needlework still treasured by the family. Domitilla Maze had five children. Her first, Helen Bruna, was born at Lone Tree, San Benito County in 1893 and became Carmen’s first grandchild almost a year before Carmen gave birth to her own Josie Garner. Helen, my grandmother, was a temperate and sweet soul, a gift to us all and to the community of Hollister where she resided her entire 89 years.
3. Maria Juliana del Carmen Robles
Leandra’s third daughter, Maria Juliana Robles, married Angelo Martinez about 1853. The couple had several children and were living in San Mateo County in 1860. Shortly thereafter Juliana and Angelo move to Pleasanton where Juliana remained with her children until at least 1875. Francisco Martinez was born to the couple in 1866 and Alberto in 1870. In 1875 Julian had an illegitimate child, Joseph Juan Bonifacio Garcia, with Francisco Garcia.
Maria Juliana del Carmen Robles was born about 1835 at Santa Cruz. She married Angelo Martinez about 1853. The couple had at least four children.
- Maria Leonora was baptized 12 August 1855 at Mission Santa Clara; she died in 1856.
- Facundo was baptized 9 March 1857 at Mission Santa Clara.
- Francisco Martinez was baptized 1866 at Mission San Jose.
- Alberto Martinez was baptized 1870 at Mission San Jose.
- Joseph Juan Bonifacio Garcia was baptized at Mission San Jose. His father was Francisco Garcia.
5. Maria Leandra de la Cruz Soto
Maria Leandra de la Cruz (Elena) Soto was born in 1839 at Santa Cruz. She has no known children.
After the death of Rafael Robles during the small pox outbreak of 1838, Leandra married Eugenio Antonio Soto on 20 May 1839 at Santa Cruz (SFZ-M:00835). Leandra and Eugenio had six children, of whom at least two daughters are known to have had children.
Jose Gregorio Robles was born in 1837 and died in 1840.
4. Jose Gregorio Robles
References
The section on Maria Domitila Robles was contributed by Pam Curry, a direct descendant of Domitila Robles.
The section on Maria Domitila Robles was contributed by Pam Curry, a direct descendant of Domitila Robles.
6. Maria de la Ascencion SotoMaria de la Ascencion Soto was baptized 2 June 1842 at Mission Santa Cruz. She married Clement Gutierrez at Mission Santa Clara 26 April 1858.
Leandra’s sixth child, Maria de la Asencion Soto, had one child with Marcus Chaboya. Arcadia “Carrie” Chaboya was born 12 January 1877 in Pleasanton and later moved to San Luis Obispo in 1886. Carrie had eleven children, and, at the time of her death in 1950, she had thirty-five grandchildren and twenty-six great grand-children. Carrie’s eldest daughter, Frances Valencia, was born on 19 October 1892 at San Luis Obispo (SLO-B:01668). Frances Valencia married William Salvador Cordero on 2 May 1914 at Santa Barbara; they had five children. Interestingly, the founders of the Cordero family in Alta California, Mariano Cordero and Juana Francisca Pinto, were the first couple ever married at Mission Dolores and would have been acquainted with Frances Valencia’s Aramai ancestors. Mariano Cordero and Juana Pinto were married on 7 January 1777 and remained in San Francisco until at least 1784 (SFD-M:00001). Five generations later, the families were reunited in the marriage of Frances Valencia (g-g-granddaughter of Francisca Xaviera Xilaíte) and William Cordero (g-g-grandson of Mariano Cordero).
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Acadia "Carrie" Chavoya, about 1914.
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7. Maria Rosalia Soto Maria Rosalia Soto was baptized 6 July 1845 at Mision Santa Cruz. She married Robert Evans on 26 August 1859 at San Mateo. They had nine children, at least two of whom had children.
Leandra’ seventh child, Rosalia Soto
References
The section on Maria Rosalia Soto was contributed by Carol Gannon-Hembel, a direct descendant of Rosalia Soto. |
Rosalia Evans Mueller, 1946.
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8. Maria Petra del Espiritu Santo Soto was baptized in 1847 in Santa Clara. She died in 1857.
9. Jose Ignacio Soto was baptized in 1850 at Mission Santa Clara. He has no known children.
10. Pio Francisco Soto was baptized in 1853 at Mission Santa Clara. He has no known children.