Brief history

Brief History of Patrick and Bridget McIntyre

Patrick McIntyre (c1831-1901) married Bridget Stevens (c1829-1908) on March 3, 1851 in St. Attracta’s Roman Catholic Church, Toulestrane, County Sligo, Ireland. They had eleven known children. The first five were born in Ireland: Edward (1852-1931); Bartholomew (1854-1924); Mary (1856-1934); Dominick (c1860-1932); and Catherine (1861-1914). Patrick, his wife and five children, left Ireland in 1863 sailing on the SS Orient into New York harbor and finally settling in San Francisco, California where the last six children were born: John Dunn (1864-a1908); Elizabeth (1867-1869); William (1869-1879); James (1871-1874); Thomas (c1874-a1931); and Ellen (1879-1963). Patrick and Bridget homesteaded in Oregon in the 1880s. Patrick died in 1901 and Bridget died in 1908. They are both buried in Mt. Calvary Cemetery, Portland, Oregon.

Patrick's parents, Edward (c1805/6-1881) and Ann McIntyre (c1803/07-1889), both born in Ireland, also came to the US settling in the San Francisco area. From the records, it appears Edward and Ann came a few years before Patrick.


Friday, January 22, 2016

Elizabeth Jane Artiga (1923-2013) Survives 1927 Hurricane in Mazatlan, Mexico

Elizabeth (Betty) Jane Artiga was born to Mercedes McIntyre and Ricardo Artiga on February 16, 1923, at Mount Zion Hospital in San Francisco, California.  For unknown reasons, within her first year, Betty was sent to live in San Salvador with relatives.  Her Aunt Francisca (McIntyre) took care of her.  

Then in August 1927, when Betty was almost five years old, Mercedes, along with a servant, traveled down to San Salvador to bring Betty back to the United States.  This gap in years always puzzled Betty and, though she seeked for a reason as to why she had been sent to San Salvador away from her parents, she was never able to get an answer from her mother.  

On the return trip, Betty remembered anchoring in Mazatlan but from a little child's perspective, she did not understand what was happening or the gravity of the situation.  What she relayed to her daughter, Joan, was that Mercedes had gone ashore and had left her alone with a nurse for a long time.  It was dark and cold and Betty remembered being afraid. 

As it turns out, the ship manifest reveals that Betty's nurse was none other than Martha Herrera, the faithful member (servant) of the family whose name has shown as living with the McIntyres as early as the 1920 census.  According to Betty, Martha stayed by her side in the darkness unbeknownest to her that there was a hurricane raging all around her.  Once the storm had passed, Mercedes was able to come back to the ship and continue on to the Port of San Francisco thanks to the heroic efforts of the ship's captain.  

Joan Hamiton Zandona




This photo, provided by Joan Zandona, shows Betty Artiga at 4 years old. The doll and baby carriage are the same as shown in the newspaper clipping below. It is thought that both photos were taken the same day in 1927.

The newspaper article appeared on the front page of the San Francisco Chronicle, September 20. It tells of the hurricane that hit Mazatlan, Mexico, where she and her family were on September 10, 1927.


Click on the article to enlarge


More about the 1927 hurricane:

September 10th 1927 A Historic Hurricane Hits Mazatlan Written by Lloyd Goldstein.


"On September 6th 1927, to the South of the Gulf of Tehuantepec, a hydro meteorological phenomenon was forming. At high speed, the hurricane was intensifying along the coast, causing havoc for the entire coastline of the Pacific. On September 8th it was off the coast of Manzanillo, and on September 10th entered the Sea of Cortez and hit Mazatlan. It was the second worst hurricane of the season, with the only difference that the worst hurricane did not come on land, but was lost in the immensity of the ocean. The hurricane was devastating for both Mazatlan and much of the country.

"Uniquely, it was not the deadliest. Mazatlan survives with only 1 dead, commendable for the time: a child walked down the boardwalk in high waves when a wave took him. In total, the season left 184 dead across the Pacific, according to reports, while the 1926 season killed a 1,370, and in 1928, 3,411. In just 90 years, Mazatlan had gone from 3 to 30,000 inhabitants. Far was the memory of the 1902-03 plague, which had infected one of every 20 mazatlecos. Far was the memory of the revolution, even though it had been relatively noble in the port, compared with other parts of the country, leaving its batch of death and desolation. 

"Measuring the speed of the winds of a hurricane was not easy in those years. Normally ships gave wind reports, and for that the boat had to survive the shipwreck. On the other hand, hurricanes cause changes in atmospheric pressure, and is from the pressure that the power has been calculated: the smaller atmospheric pressure the greater the strength of the hurricane. The hurricane of 1927 registered a pressure of 987 millibars. For reference, the average atmospheric pressure at sea in the United States is 1313.25, and the lower register of a hurricane in history occurred recently, in 2005, when Hurricane Vilma ranged from the 982 to 882 millibars. 

"The waves from the hurricane of 1927 were memorable. Seven and a half meters tall, they were enough for flooding and rendered the railway lines inoperable. Pathways to Mazatlan had only less than 20 years of being built. With trains not running and damaged roads, the city was disconnected by land with the rest of the country. 

"Rainfall affected practically the entire country. The city of Acámbaro, Guanajuato, was reported to be flooded, and many displaced in Sonora crossed the border to take refuge in Nogales. The city most affected by the hurricane was Salina Cruz, Oaxaca. In it, even though there was a timely evacuation by the sudden change in air pressure, most of the deaths occurred, and the village of 5,000 inhabitants was practically in ruins. Salina Cruz had been affected by the opening of the Panama Canal, and had begun a demographic decrease that continued until 1947. Steam Bolívar, who had left Oaxaca on August 22nd, the road to San Pedro, California, never finished the tour. The British Cape of Good Hope ship and the charger Grace Dollar were also lost. 

"In Mazatlan, there was considerable damage to the fishing fleet, which in those years specializing in fishing for sharks – it would take more than 10 years that the shrimp culture was born in the Sea of Cortez."

Sources: 
San Francisco Chronicle, September 20, 1927, pages 1 and 3; accessed Genealogybank.com, January 17, 2016.
History of flood: MazatlanMyCity.com, http://www.mazatlanmycity.com/es/our-mazatlan-vintage-photographs.html accessed January 19, 2016.

Ricardo Ayala Artiga (1894-1987), Husband of Mercedes McIntyre

Ricardo Artiga with daughter Betty Jane (Artiga) Hamilton
and  3 grandchildren  L-R) Eve, Marguerite, and Joan - Dec. 1954.
Photo courtesy: Joan Hamilton Zandona





Ricardo Ayala Artiga was born in San Salvador, El Salvador in 1894. He is the son of Romualdo Artiga and Socorro Ayala. 

Ricardo married Mercedes McIntyre (1896-1978), daughter of Bartholomew McIntyre (1854-1924) and Concepción Ramos (d1913) on Christmas Day, 1921, in San Francisco, California














Ricardo's first known trip to the United States is in 1905 when he appears, at age 10, traveling with his older half-brother, Rafael, who is listed as a student. They traveled on the S. S. Newport which had stopped in ports in Central America and Mexico before arriving at the Port of San Francisco. His granddaughter, Joan Hamilton Zandona, remembers hearing her Grandfather was sent to the United States at a young age to be educated. She also believes he attended St. Mary's School for Boys in the Bay area, but no additional information on the school is known.

Ricardo Artiga entry; S. S. Newport  Passenger Manifest, August 25, 1905; in Selected Passenger and Crew Lists and Manifests; Ancestry.com database online (Washington, DC: National Archives), California, Passenger and Crew Lists, 1882-1959. Accessed  on-line January 15, 2016.


In his late teens, he is shown again on a passenger list coming to America, this time he and another half-brother, Carlos, are both listed as students. On this 1913 manifest he states his last permanent address was in the San Francisco area, so he may have been in San Francisco much of the time from 1905 to 1913. The ship the two were traveling on was the S. S. Laramacca, which departed from Puerto Barrios, Guatemala on November 27, 2013 and arrived at the Port of New Orleans on December 1, 1913.

Ricardo Artiga entry; S. S. Saramacca Passenger Manifest, November 27, 1913; in Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New Orleans, Louisiana, 1903-1945; Ancestry.com (Washington, DC: National Archives), Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, Record Group # 85. Accessed online January 15, 2016.

In June of 1917, Ricardo registered for the WWI US Draft as an Alien. At the time he was living at 301 Haight Street, San Francisco, California and was working as a clerk in a dairy delivery company on 19th Street in San Francisco. He was single and described as being short with a medium build, brown eyes and black hair.


"U.S. World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917," digital image by subscription, Ancestry.com (http://ancestry.com : accessed  January 15, 2016), Richard Ayala Artica, No. 88, Draft Board, San Francisco, San Francisco County, California; citing Selective Service Registration Cards, World War I, NARA microfilm roll Roll: 1544256; Draft Board: 09.

He married Mercedes Ramos McIntyre on December 25, 1921 in San Francisco. Joan Zandona recalls hearing from her mother that Mercedes and Ricardo were "matched up" as there were very few, if any, other Salvadorian families in the area.

Ricardo Ayala Artiga and Mercedes Ramos McIntyre marriage certificate, December 25, 1921, unknown repository, unknown repository address. Married by Peter Bennett, Catholic Priest, San Francisco, California.  The copy image of the document has been cropped and the church location information is missing. Document received from Joan Zandona, January 15, 2016 
They had one daughter, Elizabeth (Betty) Jane Artiga, born February 16, 1923 in San Francisco. At the time of Betty's birth they were living at 79 Del Mar Street in San Francisco. When reviewing the birth certificate below, it became apparent Elizabeth Jane's name had originally been written differently. One story Joan heard was Ricardo may have wanted to call her "Carmen" but Mercedes wanted a more American name. In any event, the edit was done on the original birth certificate, so we probably will never know what name was first written down.

When Betty Jane was born in 1921, Ricardo was employed as a bookkeeper for Gantner and Mattern, a swimwear manufacturer. In 1932, Gantner and Mattern was the first company to produce a topless swimsuit, the Wikie, for men! At this time, it was still considered indecent in many places for a man to swim without a tank top. Ricardo worked at Gantner and Mattern until it was liquidated in 1958.

Elizabeth Jane Artiga, California birth certificate no 1161 (19 February 1923), Department of Public Health, Vital Records, California. Image provided by Joan Zandona, September 18, 2013.


On June 29, 1942, Ricardo Ayala Artiga was granted U.S. citizenship. At the time they were living at 2337 Chestnut Street, Apt. 4, in San Francisco and he was 49 years old.
Ricardo Ayala Artiga, Naturalization record index card, Petition# 61499; AR# 4499989, (June 29, 1942); National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, DC. Image provided by Joan Zandona, January 13, 2016.

It is interesting to note, Mercedes, who was an American citizen at birth by virtue of her father's American citizenship (Bartholomew became a citizen when his father, Patrick, was naturalized in 1869), lost hers when she married Ricardo. This loss stemmed from the laws between 1907 and 1922 which said any female citizen who married an Alien lost her citizenship. Since Ricardo and Mercedes married in 1921, this was true for Mercedes. She reapplied and was granted citizenship in 1941, several months before Ricardo.

Mercedes McIntyre Artiga, Index to petition, no. 55941; AR# 4281434,  (November 10, 1941); San Francisco, U. S District Court, California.  Image accessed Ancestry.com, June 30, 2012.

Joan relates Ricardo and Mercedes relocated, in 1967, to Guadalajara, Mexico to retire. A few years later Mercedes was diagnosed with breast cancer and they moved back to San Francisco. Ricardo then returned to Guadalajara and Mercedes stayed with her daughter in the US where she died in 1978.

Ricardo married a second time to Raquel Grower Haro who was of Mexican descent. Betty Jane, her husband Martin Snipper, Joan, and her husband Larry Zandona, all flew to Guadalajara in 1981 and visited with Ricardo and his new wife. They also met Ricardo and Raquel's young son.

Before his death, Ricardo lived at Maria Benitez 366 in Guadalajara. He died of a stroke on February 23, 1987 at the age of 94 and is buried in Guadalajara, Mexico.

Ricardo Ayala Artiga entry, Death Certificate, no. 68163, dated February 24, 1987, Civil Registration, Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. Image provided by Joan Zandona, January 13, 2016.


Sources:
Documents provided by Joan Zandona, granddaughter of Ricardo Ayala Artiga and Mercedes McIntyre, and Ancestry.com. 
Information on Gantner and Mattern from the Vintage Fashion Guild:  http://vintagefashionguild.org/label-resource/gantner/. 
Information on citizenship: National Archives - http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/1998/summer/women-and-naturalization-1.html
Group photo: courtesy Joan Zandona