Angelica Gumucio Presnell ENGL 1102 04/14/2014 A Step Back in Time Curiosity Killed the Cat As a child I had

always been a curious one, always asking why, where and how, annoying the crap out of my parents with my questions. As I grew older my curiosity grew even more but instead of annoying my parents with my questions I googled everything even what the meaning of my last name was. This curiosity started when I was in middle school, mostly Latinos attended my middle school but they my middle school had a good mix of everything. My family was the only South American family in my town and I always felt like I was never Latina enough because I did not speak like a Mexican or ate what a Salvadorian typically did and I was ridiculed for it. Sometimes I would be made fun of because I was not dark enough or Latina enough for my friends because my culture and background was different from theirs, and as I grew older I saw that this was very common among Latinos overall. But children can be mean and I how to learn to deal with that meanness all 1

throughout my middle school days. I was ashamed of where I came from but high school somehow changed all of that for me. My background is very diverse, my mom being born in Peru and my dad being born in Bolivia and me being born in the United States, not only did I live an Americanized life but also was able to enjoy my Latin culture through my parents. Like mentioned before, in middle school I became ashamed of my Latin side because of my peers and my teachers, I really did not understand what it meant to be Latina at 10 years old but for many it was not seen as a positive trait during that time, I was confused on my identity. I would even stop speaking Spanish because when my teachers would hear me they would bark at me This is America, you speak English in America, not Spanish! It is not easy trying to embrace two cultures that dont exactly go hand in hand with each other because of past conflicts and one big issue which is immigration but that is for another paper some other day. High school came along and not only did I embrace being Latina but before my senior year I got to travel to Peru for almost two months and fully indulge into the Peruvian culture that I had never really cared for while growing up. Of course two months is not even long enough to find out about my family and my ancestors from my moms side but it was long enough to become proud of my background and make me want to learn more about what being a Peruvian Latina was all about. When I came back from that trip, I felt renovated, rejuvenated and also had the Peruvian accent attached to my words so I sounded pretty cool in my mind. In the now, March 2014, I am no longer afraid of speaking Spanish or talking about my Latin side but now its more like word vomit, I can never stop! This is

where my curiosity in learning about my dads side comes in. Last summer, I traveled again to Peru and instead of going with my mom; I traveled alone and was able to experience a different side of Peru, a grown up side. I drank, I danced, I hiked, and I cried, all the things I could not do with my mom being there (my mom is a tad bit of a worried some women). I was able to see my grand mother in a whole new way. I never really grew up with my grandmother so the time I got to spend with her I was able to see how hard working she was even at 88 years old and how much respect my family gave her because she was the matriarch of the family. I was humbled by my grandmothers hard work during my trip and the desire to have grown up with my grandmothers like some of my family grew as well. I also realized how lucky I was with everything that I have while my family in Peru is not as fortunate but still happy. But I felt that something was still missing in me and that was the history of my dads side, I needed to create that connection that I had created with my moms side. I have only been to Bolivia once and that was like 19 years ago so I barely remember the trip. As a child I was really connected to my dads side but now not so much, especially since all my cousins are over the age of 40 and I am barely starting to get a taste of what life is truly about. My half-brother did some research about our last name and our family coat of arms but I also never really cared much for it when I was younger. But now that I have been indulged somewhat into my moms side, it is time to indulge and discover my dads side and his/our ancestors. I do know that my ancestors come from Czech Republic, well at least that is what I have been told from many of my family members, so it must be true, but I want to know how do

people decide to go from Czech Republic to Bolivia and of course the WHY? It would be really cool if I could go back to the Czech Republic and actually explore and trace back the areas that they have lived in. What is in a Name? Gumucio, my last name, my dads last name, and the last name I hope to keep during marriage just because I think it is so unique and want to keep my lineage and ancestry going. I was embarrassed of my last name as I was growing up because people did not know how to pronounce it but now I just correct them and embrace how unique and quite amazing it is, it has also been the topic of some very interesting conversations or people just being curious and wondering where I come from. As I googled my last name I got over 800,000 results, looking over some of these results, I see people with the last name Gumucio, actually hundreds of peoples with the last name Gumucio, images, articles written by people with the last name Gumucio and a link to a website called Gumucio.com. I click on it and bam, just what I was looking for, not only does it have blogs of people with the last name Gumucio but an article of someone who was in the search of his ancestors and with the last name Gumucio. The article is In Search of My Ancestors, by Marcelo Gumucio, who happens to be a relative but not sure how close of a relative he is, but I think I have heard my dad or some other family members speak of him. But first lets take a step back and examine my last name Gumucio. Marcelo Gumucio writes that Pedro Saez de Torrezabal adopted the last name Gumucio early in the XV century (circa 1430). He also states that from the information that he has gathered that our last name Gumucio points out the local nobility and education 4

that the lineages during that century have had. My last name is also autochthonous meaning that it is an indigenous Basque name and has no translation to it and is prestigious due to the Basque background of it. During this time period a Gumucio Mayorazgo was established, meaning that a type of family trust/testament was created in order to keep the family lineage going and so it has. Now there are many versions on how to spell my last name, from Gumuzio to Gumucioeche, but the most commonly used version is Gumucio and it has been used for hundred of centuries. According to Marcelo, the reason for the different spellings is because of the different locations that the family has settled, each location tracing back to Czech Republic has a way of saying things so the spelling changes derives from the different speech patterns of people they have met and also of the people that have married into the family. But for now the spelling is Gumucio and the pronunciation is GU-MU-C-IO, and if I say so myself, it is a very, very unique last name. A Blast From the Past Now of course tracing back to someones ancestry is no easy task and lots of research must be done and lost of sleep and lots of cups of coffee and so on. Well thank the lord for the Internet because I did not lose sleep and I really do not like coffee. What did help me out on how to start my search regarding my ancestors was a book by Gilbert Doane titled Searching for Your Ancestors: The How and Why of Genealogy. This book not only indicated me on where to start but made me look at the search in a whole new way, the way Doane puts it is that searching for your ancestors is not just about digging up bones but about embracing those bones and

the surroundings of that time period, embracing all aspects of life and actually putting yourself in their shoes to understand what your ancestors went through. I really liked what Doane wrote and it made me even more eager to start my search. The best source Doane says is to start with family members because they are able to a recollect certain memories and usually have artifacts that have been passed down from one person to another and so I did. I first talked to my dad and started with his childhood. My dad is named Wenceslao Carlos Gumucio, he is named after his dad and his first named is Czechoslovakian and has been passed down from ancestors. One of my half-brothers also has that first name as well and as much as I dont like that name I do want to keep passing it down our lineage. The picture to the right is of my dad (the little boy that is right is the middle of everyone) and of his family members. I am not entirely sure who everyone is and neither does my dad remember but just looking at this picture and at my dad being a child is quite amazing. Well what my dad has told me is that my great great great great grandfather lived in what is now modern day Czech Republic but because of famine during that time they decided to set sail to the new world. I researched this famine and there was a food shortage during the 18th century in Europe because of diseases so it must be true. My ancestors were of

nobility in Europe so coming to the New World was accessible to them. So they set sail to the new world and made home of what is now present-day Bolivia. Someone else that has told me this is my cousin who grew up in Bolivia, her name is Lourdes Sulc and also my half-brother Charles. I have asked them for some proof but unfortunately the proof is back in Bolivia and most of it has been destroyed after my grandmother passed away many years ago. Well back to how everything began, so not only did our ancestors live in Czech Republic but also they moved from there to Spain and that is where most of my research comes from and also from Bolivia since most of my family lives that now. So as I have researched for this paper I have gotten in contact with cousins and family members in the United States and Bolivia about my ancestry, I have also a phone call spoken to Marcelo Gumucio and yes we are related, he is actually an uncle of mine and has given me information by the pound. So as I write this paper the more I am learning about myself and about the direction of where this paper is headed. Spanish Blood There is written information from 1410 that our ancestry can date back from and that is where I am going to startin Spain. All the information that is available about the members of our extended family in the XV and XVI Centuries points to their being educated and well-to-do people of local nobility who married well and who enjoyed the right Basque pedigree, which is that time meant a lot. As mentioned before in 1578 a mayorazgo was established by Martin de Gumucio and still exists to this day but not many people have access to it but I am working on

gaining access to it now. All this information comes from my uncle, Marcelo Gumucios article and some of it from our interview as well. So I am going to start with Martin de Gumucios great-great grandfather, who makes him my great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great and so it keeps going but you get the point grandfather. This mans name was Pero (Pedro) Saez de Gumucio born around year 1450, he was the first man to have the last name Gumucio or is know as the first person to have the last name Gumucio because of the autochthonous prestigious Basque background it has attached to Gumucio. So above is Pedros family tree, his brother Juan did not change his last name but Torrezabal did eventually die out. According to Doanes geneology book a lot of last names are in fact locations, which is the case for the name Gumucio that is preceded in the middle ages. In other words, it wasnt that in the Middle Ages a Gumucio came from another land and founded the place of Gumucio but instead, early on in time, the name Gumucio was given to a location and when Pedro Saez de Torrezabal moved to Gumucio, it became necessary for him to give his identity in the traditional way and by stating where he came from was that way. Since he came from Gumucio, he became Pedro Saez de Gumucio and from there on it begins. Now I dont want to bore you with all the technical things and make this some boring research paper so this is just important information to you the reader and to myself as to where and

how the last name Gumucio came about but trust me my background is pretty interesting. So now I go back to Martin de Gumucio whom was born 1520 and died 1584, and according to Marcelo, we still do not know how he relates to us but only by the fact that he has our last name but Martin plays in important role so bear with me in trying to explain this whole lineage.

First, he married Mari Urtiz de Isasi Zamudio. This was an arranged marriage because Martin was only 16 years old at the time his first son Pedro was born. The joining of the Gumucio-Isasi families might have been one designed to consolidate wealth and power. The Gumucio wealth came from Martins great-grandfather Sancho de Torrezabal, who passed it on to his son Pedro de Gumucio, Martins grandfather, and he to his son. We know that Martins mother brought half of the properties in Gumucio into the family. It looks like one house came from his father; one from his mother, and the third came from his wifes inheritance. We know that Martin inherited his familys patrimony when his father died in 1539 (Martin was 19 years old). It is documented that he managed the ironworks factory and that his wife Mari Ortiz was intimately involved in the business. Around the year 1575, Martin also inherited the patrimony belonging to his deceased son and daughter in law Pedro de Gumucio and Maria Saez de Basozabal Careaga. Martin had 4 children with his first wife: Catalina de Gumucio Isasi, Bernardina de Gumucio Isasi, Lope de Gumucio Isasi, and Pedro de Gumucio Isasi. In 1563, Martin married a 2nd time because his first wife had died; he married Teresa Ruiz de Ubilla. Her first marriage

already connected her to the Gumucion clan by her first husband who was Symon de Arratia and he was the grandnephew of Ochoa Martinez de Gumucio. Ochoa was Pero Saez de Gumucios brother and Martin de Gumucios uncle. Now Martin and Teresa are the ones who establish the Gumucio Mayorazgo because of all the properties attained. The Mayorazgo was passed on from one generation to the next, giving preference to male heirsugh patriarchy at its finest. Lope did not inherit the Mayorazgo as it was a custom because he was born of Martins first marriage and the Mayorazgo was created during Martins second marriage. Lopes son Martin was selected to inherit the Mayorazgo because he was Martin de Gumucios grandson and Teresas nephew (Jurdana de Garay, Lopes wife was Teresas niece). When the Mayorazgo was established, it was written following the traditional practices and starting with Martinico, stipulated the hegemony of first-born rights. The descendants of Martinico de Gumucio Garay, who inherited the Mayorazgo descend from Lope de Gumucio Isasi lineage. So finally I can say that my ancestry comes from Lope de Gumucio Isasi. In the case of the family Mayorazgo, the succession was as follows: from Martin de Gumucio Garay (1569-1614), to Antonio de Gumucio Estrada (1590-1639), to Juan Baptista de Gumucio Garaitaondo (16321703), to Juan de Gumucio Leguinazabal (1659-1713). It is at this point in our familys history that the traditional manner in which the Mayorazgo is passed down changes and takes an irreversible turn: tradition is betrayed and violated by Juan de Gumucio Leguinazabal and our family will be irrevocably fractured into those who inherited the wealth and those who didnt. There always has to be that one person

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to ruin it all but at the same time patriarchy with Juan dies because he names his first daughter Sebastiana, his sole heir in his will, women rule! New Lands Bring New Life
So I am gonna skip a lil and go to the part of where Gumucios travel abroad into new lands because everything after Sebastiana gets so technical and confusing according to Marcelo. The first arrival of a Gumucio in South America is on April 22, 1751 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. On that boat was Francisco de Gumucio Goiri Astuena, whom realized how difficult it was to ship products from Argentina to Potosi, Bolivia and he decided to move to Bolivia to work in the thriving silver mining business. Francisco once in Bolivia had a relationship with Michaela Santos and they produced two children out of wedlock: Sebastiana de Gumucio and Santiago de Gumucio. Francisco de Gumucio made his fortune in the mining business before he was 40 years of age. He then moved his primary residence to Cochabamba, Bolivia where he became Regidor Perpetuo de la Villa de Oropeza (member of Cochabambas city council), an honorary position in the upper echelons of local government. Once installed in Cochabamba he decided to settle down. Now Cochabamba, Bolivia is where my own father was born and his siblings so the connection to my dads family is getting closer and closer! Francisco married Juana Manuela Garcia and both of

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them bought together hacienda La Chimba from the Spanish government, which to this day still exists, and crazy enough I visited this place on my first trip to Bolivia as a child.

The first direct ancestor ever born in Bolivia goes by the name of Jose Gabriel de Gumucio Garcia (3/18/1784 to 1/13/1864). He served as Mayor of Cochabambas local government, and in 1840 was elected Cochabambas first senator. Jose married Maria de Los Angeles Echichipea and they had 11 children. The picture to the right is some of Jose and Marias children. My Coats of Arms Because there are so many different lineages of Gumucios, each lineage has specific coats of arms. My familys coats of arms has evolved in time but the latest version has been around for about 100 years, so it is still new compared to other coats of arms. The coat of arms represents our family and the people in our family, and it also represents the power and wealth of our ancestors more specifically my

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great-grandfather, my grand father and my dad. I dont have the old versions of our coats of arms but I have seen coats of arms from other Gumucio families and in one way or another they all relate in design and meaning. The picture to the left is my familys coats of arms, stamped on our glasses at home. We also have an actual shield hanging above my parents television in the living room. The horn on the left side of the image signifies a strong voice of the Gumucio family and the right side it has 4 circles which signify my great-grandfather, my grandfather, my dad and then my oldest brother. The circles mean that the Gumucio family is a never-ending circle and for the Gumucio last name to be passed down. The depiction of a bull inside of the circles signifies strength and power. I love my familys coats of arms and I think it is super unique that we have one, I think it would make an awesome tattoo too! Gumucios in the 21st Century My family keeps on growing and growing. In the past 10 years new baby Gumucios have been born in the United States and in Bolivia. My 2 half-brothers have babies of their own and my cousins and uncles and aunts have also passed down the Gumucio last name. I never met my grandfather and I really never knew

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my grandmother but I know that seeing this new generation of Gumucios growing up would make them extremely happy. I know my parents are ready for my sister and I to give them grandchildren but of course they know that will only happen later on in life. It is quite amazing seeing my family grow though and it is quite amazing learning and being able to pass down the history of my family to younger generations. This whole investigation has created an extreme sense of pride in my last name and my background, but I have also become even prouder in being a Latina with such a diverse history. The purpose of this was not to just educate myself on my ancestors but to be able to pass this article down for others to read about our history and how the Gumucios came about and for me that is the biggest accomplishment.

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Bibiliography Doane, Gilbert H. Searching for Your Ancestors: The How and Why of Genealogy. Gumucio, Marcelo A. In Search of My Ancestors: From Vizcaya to California. Ann Miller, M2 Design, Inc., Apr. 2008. Web. "Gumucio Directory." Gumucio Directory. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2014. Sulc, Lourdes. Facebook interview. 4 Mar. 2014. Gumucio, Marcelo. Phone interview. 28 Mar. 2014.

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