In my search for finding a family for Simona, I found a pilot site for FamilySearch.org. At this site, I searched for my Grandfather Tiburcio Luna and his brothers, Lino, Miguel and Martin. Well I found them and a couple surprises too!
In searching this pilot site, I found the Baptismal Records for my grandfather and his brothers but one surprise was that my grandfather was listed as Jose Tiburcio De Luna. His brothers also had Jose before their name and were also De Luna. It even listed my great-grandfather as Salome de Luna. At first I was estatic to finally find the documents I needed to place my grandfather in Mexico but then that turned to an identity crisis. For all of my life, my maiden name was Luna, but now I find out that I am De Luna. It has an enormous affect on me for a day or two. I wondered why my Grandfather changed his name. It was on all of the documents that I had from the time he entered into the U.S., he always put down on his Immigration Manifest, the 1920 & 1930 Census and on his Petition for Naturalization and supporting documents that he was Tiburcio Luna. Even on the WWI Draft registration that was required in 1918, he put his name down as Tiburcio Luna. Why did he drop the De??? I wish I knew.
The other surprise I found was that in doing the search on the pilot site, I found not only Simona's Baptismal Registration, but also a daughter named Euphemia. Now I was puzzled! I had never heard of this name in any genealogical discussions with my dad or with any of my aunts and cousins that I have interviewed. I am still puzzled. My one logical solution is to interview my dad about this and to gain more information about the family. Hopefully this will shed some light on this puzzle and I will be able to unravel it. I also want to note that on both Euphemia and Simona's Baptismal Record, it shows my grandfather, their father, as Tiburcio Luna. This tells me that he presented himself as Tiburcio Luna and not Jose Tiburcio De Luna. Again....why?
So, my next step is to schedule a mutually agreeable time with my dad to ask him about Simona and Euphemia. Maybe Euphemia is my Aunt Jessies real name and "Jessie" is a nickname??? We will see.
