The Rivers and del Rio Surname Connection

   

   Genealogy has been one of my long time passions for a while now. But over the last few months I've developed another one. I frequent our local Goodwill stores searching for art that others have discarded. The photo on the left is one of those framed pieces that I've recently purchased.. When I saw it, it spoke to me and I knew that I had to take it home! Texas and Louisiana are a large part of my heritage. When I started my research to find out where my ancestors came from, I found that many had been there since Texas was ruled by Spain. 

  My research on my Rivers line was one that took me down that Spanish trail. I had no idea where my Rivers family came from and our "set" had always been told that they weren't related to the other Rivers in our community that appeared to be of Native American or Hispanic descent.  But over the years, I have collected enough information that leads me to the conclusion that my 2nd great grandfather Joseph “Hosea” Rivers was the son of Pedro del Rio and Maria Eulalia Sanchez. In the paragraphs that follow I will attempt to list the information that I have collected and explain why I believe we are of Spanish heritage.

         I knew very little about my family tree and the ancestors that would one day populate it. When I started climbing the Rivers branch I  knew my dad's great grandfather was “Hosea” Rivers and my mom's great grandmother was Lena Rivers. Lena was Hosea’s sister and this made my parents third cousins! (I'll save that story for another blog!)

          I started my search at the Shreve Memorial Library in Shreveport, Louisiana.   One of the first things I did was to browse books about Sabine Parish and list the names that I found which might belong in my tree. In one book I found a Jose Rivers listed in a chapter called Neutral Strip and Pioneers. Unfortunately, I have not been able to connect Jose to my family. It seems there were many "Jose" during that time. 

 http://files.usgwarchives.net/la/sabine/deeds/nspio.txt

The passage listing Jose Rivers was as follows:
          “A large number of the first immigrants to Sabine parish settled on what was designated Rio Hondo lands, the original title to which was based on a Spanish grant to the settler, in return for some stipulated service to be or having been rendered, or other considerations. The residents on these lands in 1805 were Joe Leaky, John Waddell, Christopher Antony, Thomas Hicks, Jacob ‘Winfree, Jose Rivers…..” 

          The next step was to go through the Sabine Parish census records to look for Hosea or Lena, and to figure out who their parents were. I found a listing on the 1870 census that was of interest to me. Remember I stated that Hosea Rivers had a sister named Lena. On this census I found a Peter Rivers 59 years old listed with his wife Mary age 48, both born in Texas, and listed in the household was the following children, Polly, Manuella, and Josepha. 

Listed next door was a Lena Rivers 24 years old, with two small children. The reason that I was compelled to believe that this was Hosea’s sister and that the person next door was her father is that Lena had named her son, my great grandfather, Peter. This could have meant she had named him after her father. 

          Shortly after I had started my genealogy, my father was able to obtain copies of research that a cousin of his had done. The charts for “Hosea” listed his father as Peter Rivers. Although they had not listed his mother I believed that there was a good chance that Peter on the 1870 census was my 3rd great grandfather. 

          In 1997 I contacted a family friend in Zwolle about the Rivers family. My first husband had been a Rivers and I was actually trying to get information for my daughters. Since I also had Rivers in my tree, she put me in touch with her cousin Alene Rivers Wright.  Alene had already spent many years researching the Riverses, trying to make a connection between the different families.

          In April 1997 Alene wrote me a letter with the information that she had on the "Hosea Rivers and Nancy Parrott Rivers family. Included in it was the names of four of Hosea's children. The given names and dates matched the information that I had previously received from my father's cousin. However, I was surprised to see the name was originally Del Rio.

Maria Alda –  B: May 1869 (Immaculate Conception, Natchitoches)

Jose Del Rio –  B: 1872 –  (St. John’s Church in Many)

Laura Lorena Del Rio –  B: October 24 1878 (St. John’s Church in Many)

Oscar Rivers –  B: June 24, 1893, Died: August 6, 1935 (“Our Dead” by J. B. Sanders)

         Alene's information also provided the names of Hosea's parents and his siblings.        Pedro Del Rio and Maria Eulalia Sanchez –  Married February 10, 1833 (“Natchitoches” by E. S. Mills, pg. 59- they were from San Antonio de Vega). Pedro’s parents were Manuel Del Rio and Maria Paria and Maria Eulalia’s parents were Josse Leander Sanchez and Maria Tomasa Martinez.

Children of Pedro and Maria:

Marie Candido Del Rio born 1834

Hilario Del Rio born February 2, 1837

Joseph Del Rio born December 24, 1840

Pantaleon Del Rio born 1841?

Maria Lina Del Rio born November 20, 1841

Jose Macario Del Rio born 1842

Maria Feliciana Del Rio born May 14, 1843

Paulo Del Rio born December 23, 1849

Maria Paula Del Rio born Feb 13, 1856

Gulliarme Del Rio, born November 19, 1856

Maria Manuelle Del Rio born October 24, 1858

Maria Pacela Del Rio born Feb 13, 1859

       Even though the last name was different, the dates and names matched the information that I had already found. Peter and Mary Rivers on the 1870 census had two daughters in their household. The daughters Polly 15 and Manuelle 12 from the census corresponded with the dates from Alene's letter. Fifteen year old Polly was the right age to be  Maria Paula born Feb 1856 and twelve year old Manuelle matched Maria Manuelle born October 1858. .

        At the time, I had  two possibilities for “Hosea”. There was Jose Macario born 1842 and Joseph born Dec 24, 1840. It is apparent that “Hosea's” exact age is unknown, his grave marker listed March 1846, his death certificate says December 25, 1845 and the 1900 census says January 1847. Since he is documented as being born between 1845 and 1847, it is just as likely that he could have been born earlier or the dates that Alene provided may have been incorrect. Alene also listed a Maria Lina as a daughter of Pedro and Maria. I believe this is “Hosea’s” sister and my 2nd great grandmother on my mother’s side of the family.

        Shortly after receiving the information from Alene, I receive a pedigree chart for my daughters, which was prepared by the Apache Choctaw Tribal office in Zwolle. Again I found the names of Pedro and Maria Eulalia Sanchez listed as the parents of “Hosea” Rivers. I must say that up to this point the pieces seem to fit.

     
          In other genealogy books I have found baptisms and confirmations for the children of Pedro and Maria Del Rio and Jose and Nancy Rivers. In 1847 three of Pedro and Maria’s children were confirmed, Feliciana, Joseph, and Maria Lina.   Feliciana and Maria Lina’s godparents were Jose Vincente Micheli and Bibliana Carmona; Joseph’s godparents were Jose Vincente Micheli and M. A. Bormella. These confirmations took place at Los Adaes. In 1856 Guillarme and Maria Paula were baptized, their godparents were Theodore Kintero and Maria Jesusa Bargas. In 1858 Maria Emanuelle Anastacia was baptized and her godparents were also Theordore Kintero and Maria Bargas. These baptismal records are recorded at the Immaculate Conception Church in Natchitoches.

          In 1999 I visited with Mrs. Pearl Rivers Jones, who remembered her grandfather "Hosea" Rivers vividly. Mrs. Jones supplied me with another puzzle piece. Mrs. Jones has in her possession furniture that her grandfather "Hosea" purchased from his sister Polly who lived in the Natchitoches area. Polly was one of the children listed in the 1870 census for Peter Rivers.    

            Through the years and with the help of the computer I have found several of “Hosea’s” siblings. Guillarme anglicized his name to William, Pantaleon to Leon, Hilario changed his to Eli, and Feliciana Del Rio married Antonio Charnac (Ezernack). I hope that I haven’t confused you with all these facts. I’ve tried to list them in the order I received them and explain as best I could how they all fit together leading me to believe that our ancestors were of Spanish descent. 

          My daughter says that as Americans we are mutts. Our pedigree charts are filled with many nationalities and I’d like to say that I am proud of every single one of them: the French, the Scotch Irish, the Italian, the Native American and the Spanish. I hope that you can also be proud of your heritage, because our ancestors and the lives they lived had an effect on who we are today.

          Thank you for taking the time to read my blog. If you are interested in the Rivers family from northwest Louisiana, please feel free to comment below. I welcome any thoughts or questions you might on this family or even any comments on my blog. I'm always looking for ways to improve!