Hello WikiTreers!
WikiTree Challenge #9 is now complete. We spent a fun and collaborative week working together to build up an impressive list of ancestors based on the seven starting people chosen by the Society of Hispanic Historical and Ancestral Research (SHHAR). We were challenged with finding ancestors from Mexico and the United States, with some very challenging brick walls scattered throughout the branches. Once again, our group of researchers did a fantastic job of tracking down family members and documenting them on WikiTree.
In what seemed like a short week, our challenge participants added or connected more than 3,966 relatives within seven degrees for the seven starting people! The highest amount of people were added to the lines for Cora Grumbels, who gained 1,253 relatives in one week! All but one of the seven lines were connected in unique ways to the global tree, with some being connected through multiple branches.
Altogether, more than 49 WikiTreers made 6,636 edits to connected profiles. Groups were quickly formed to tackle the more difficult lines, with emphasis on Spanish baptism records. We had people readily available for translations to obtain all details from those records.
MVP: Guillaume Albasini
Top Bounty Hunter: Guillaume Albasini
Team Captain: Jay Menchaca
All contributors ● Scoring explanation ● Research resources ● Connections to all contributors
Our seven starting profiles:
- Cora Grumbels gained 1,253 new relatives, bringing her CC7 to 1,260. Cora was raised as an adopted child in a large land-owning family.
- Timoteo Morin Milan gained 262 new relatives, bringing his CC7 to 266. Timoteo helped found a medical clinic in San Antonio, Texas.
- Loretto Coronado gained 386 new relatives, bringing his CC7 to 389. Loretto was a wealthy cattle raiser that migrated to the United States, developing a large vineyard in Napa, California.
- Sebastian Constantino de Arce gained 209 new relatives, bringing his CC7 to 987. Sebastian, of Mexico, enlisted and was assigned to the troop of guards serving under Alférez José Velázquez. He later helped establish missions in California with Father Junipero Sierra.
- Ramon Lopez gained 163 new relatives, bringing his CC7 to 166. Ramon went throughout life receiving no sacraments (baptism, communion, or marriage rites), which is rare in a Catholic culture.
- Francisco Felix Rodriquez gained 485 new relatives, bringing his CC7 to 496. Family lore states he was one of Pancho Villa’s generals.
- Desiderio Jesse Gonzales gained 205 new relatives, bringing his CC7 to 402. Desiderio descended from the (native) Mescalero Apache. He served six years in the US Army in the Philippine Islands during World War 2.
