Velasquez, Dora Marina (b. 11 OCT 1930, d. ?)

Reference: 96

Change: Date: 14 MAR 2001

Reference: 98

Change: Date: 14 MAR 2001

Reference: 298

Change: Date: 14 MAR 2001

Reference: 103

Change: Date: 14 MAR 2001

Note: Maria YBARRA
Birth Date: 3 May 1910
Death Date: 21 Mar 1998
Social Security Number: 461-54-3242
State or Territory Where Number Was Issued: Texas

Death Residence Localities
ZIP Code: 78539
Localities: Edinburg, Hidalgo, Texas

Note: JOHN THOMPSON CUNNINGHAM, the old soldier and efficient postmaster of Graham, represents Young county settlers of the era of the early seventies and is passing his twenty-seventh year of his citizenship here. Texas made his acquaintance in 1873 and between Brownsville and Graham more than half the span of his years has been passed.

Like many young soldiers of the Civil War, Mr. Cunningham wandered away from home ties a few years subsequent to the close of the struggle and sought fame or fortune in a new and untried country. His somewhat brief career as a nomad started from Jones county, Iowa, in 1866, at which time he went down into Newton county, Missouri, and tried the hill country of that land as a farmer for a year. He then drifted into Central Kansas and at Wichita secured employment about the stock yards of the Santa Fe Railway Company, at Wichita and in time became superintendent of the same, but in the employ of Shanghi Pierce, a once noted stockman of the Lone Star state. While in Wichita he made the acquaintance of John McAllen, an Englishman with large cattle interests on the Rio Grande river, and was employed by him to bring two thousand head of cattle from the Texas ranch to Lincoln, Nebraska.

When Mr. Cunningham had reached the Rio Grande ranch and reported ready to start on his return with the stock, Mr. McAllen's failure to sell his cattle at the price he expected caused that nabob to abrogate his part of the contract and our subject was set adrift in a strange country to shift for himself. He declined a menial position on the Englishman's ranch at Santa Nita and the first thing that presented itself was a position as a teacher in the public schools. He passed the necessary examination at Brownsville and taught a three months' term there in the court house of the county. Next, he got into the government service cutting hay to supply Fort Brown at Brownsville, Fort Ringold in Star county, Texas, Hidalgo and Santa Marie in Cameron county, where the ranch was located. He remained some three years, and while in this region he married. Having decided to retrace his steps toward the North, he crossed Young county en route and was induced by the prospects of the year 1878 and the general promise of that then frontier country to locate and his permanent citizenship in the state and his residence in the county dates form that time.

John T. Cunningham was born in Delaware county, Ohio, August 10, 1844. His was an early family to the settlement along the Scioto in Delaware county, for his father, Robert Cunningham, was born there in 1815. The latter was a son of a Scotch-Irishman, a carpenter and the husband of Isabel Kincaid, who died in Delaware county leaving children, John T. and Isabel, wife of T. H. Reeves, of Tulsa, Indian Territory. In 1849 Mr. Cunningham, Sr., responded to the forty-nine call of the Eldorado of the Pacific and died some time after reaching his destination.

Having been left an orphan at so young an age John T. Cunningham was taken by Gilbert Potter, who reared him to maturity and looked after his physical and mental welfare as efficiently as his ability and the circumstances of the times would permit. In 1854 Mr. Potter moved out to Jones county, Iowa, where the scenes of the farm afterward greeted him and where the log school house did its part in the training of our subject's youthful mind.

In July, 1862, Mr. Cunningham enlisted in Company B, Twenty-fourth Iowa Infantry, Captain W. F. Rigby and Colonel Byam's regiment, and for the first year or more served in the Western Department of the Union army. He participated in the Coldwater expedition to Mississippi, in the Vicksburg campaign and siege and up Red River with General Banks and back to New Orleans. Here the regiment was shipped to Washington, D. C., and from there joined Sheridan in his Virginia campaign and fought at Winchester and Cedar Creek. Following this service the command was sent to Savannah, Georgia, from where it joined in the closing scenes of the war in North Carolina, participating in the last stand made by the enemy at Goldsboro, North Carolina.

Returning to Savannah with his regiment Mr. Cunningham was discharged in August, 1865, reached Washington by ship and attended the Grand Review of the Federal armies there the following month.

Returning home after an absence of three years, Mr. Cunningham resumed civil life as a farmer. For five years he directed his efforts toward the vocation of his boyhood and in 1866 he yielded to a desire to find new scenes and work out his destiny among new friends and he set out on his nomadic career.

Settling in Young county, Mr. Cunningham located on a farm eight miles east of Graham and passed two years there. He then took up his residence in the city and engaged in house painting here, in the main, until his final appointment to the mail service of the government.

Mr. Cunningham married, in Cameron county, Texas, Miss Ida J. Handy, who came to Texas from Eagle, Wisconsin, and was a daughter of C. C. Handy, a New York man, who died at Brownsville, Texas, in 1875. Mr. Handy married Miss Elisa Hiltz and Mrs. Cunningham, Mrs. Nellie Daugherty, of Hidalgoa, Texas, and Milton S. Handy, of Waco, are the issue of their union. Mrs. Cunningham was born in 1854, and is the mother of Belle, wife of T. E. Matthews, of Graham, with children, Joe Lee and Edgar Doke; Olive Maud, wife of H. G. Arnold, assistant postmaster of Graham, with children, Maud and John Henry; John M., who died at eighteen years; Lue Ella and Ben Harrison.

Mr. Cunningham served Graham as deputy United States marshal for several years in the eighties, and being of the right political faith Mr. McKinley appointed him postmaster of the town in 1897 to succeed G. H. Crozier and he was reappointed by President Roosevelt in 1902. He is an Odd Fellow, a Republican and a member of Rosseau Post, G. A. R., No. 60. He is adjutant of the post and is judge advocate on the staff of John L. Boyd, commander of the Department of Texas.


B. B. Paddock, History and Biographical Record of North and West Texas, (Chicago: Lewis Publishing Co., 1906), Vol. I, pp. 669-670.

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JOHN T. CUNNINGHAM
JOHN THOMPSON CUNNINGHAM, the old soldier and efficient postmaster of Graham, represents Young county settlers of the era of the early seventies and is passing his twenty-seventh year of his citizenship here. Texas made his acquaintance in 1873 and between Brownsville and Graham more than half the span of his years has been passed.

Like many young soldiers of the Civil War, Mr. Cunningham wandered away from home ties a few years subsequent to the close of the struggle and sought fame or fortune in a new and untried country. His somewhat brief career as a nomad started from Jones county, Iowa, in 1866, at which time he went down into Newton county, Missouri, and tried the hill country of that land as a farmer for a year. He then drifted into Central Kansas and at Wichita secured employment about the stock yards of the Santa Fe Railway Company, at Wichita and in time became superintendent of the same, but in the employ of Shanghi Pierce, a once noted stockman of the Lone Star state. While in Wichita he made the acquaintance of John McAllen, an Englishman with large cattle interests on the Rio Grande river, and was employed by him to bring two thousand head of cattle from the Texas ranch to Lincoln, Nebraska.

When Mr. Cunningham had reached the Rio Grande ranch and reported ready to start on his return with the stock, Mr. McAllen's failure to sell his cattle at the price he expected caused that nabob to abrogate his part of the contract and our subject was set adrift in a strange country to shift for himself. He declined a menial position on the Englishman's ranch at Santa Nita and the first thing that presented itself was a position as a teacher in the public schools. He passed the necessary examination at Brownsville and taught a three months' term there in the court house of the county. Next, he got into the government service cutting hay to supply Fort Brown at Brownsville, Fort Ringold in Star county, Texas, Hidalgo and Santa Marie in Cameron county, where the ranch was located. He remained some three years, and while in this region he married. Having decided to retrace his steps toward the North, he crossed Young county en route and was induced by the prospects of the year 1878 and the general promise of that then frontier country to locate and his permanent citizenship in the state and his residence in the county dates form that time.

John T. Cunningham was born in Delaware county, Ohio, August 10, 1844. His was an early family to the settlement along the Scioto in Delaware county, for his father, Robert Cunningham, was born there in 1815. The latter was a son of a Scotch-Irishman, a carpenter and the husband of Isabel Kincaid, who died in Delaware county leaving children, John T. and Isabel, wife of T. H. Reeves, of Tulsa, Indian Territory. In 1849 Mr. Cunningham, Sr., responded to the forty-nine call of the Eldorado of the Pacific and died some time after reaching his destination.

Having been left an orphan at so young an age John T. Cunningham was taken by Gilbert Potter, who reared him to maturity and looked after his physical and mental welfare as efficiently as his ability and the circumstances of the times would permit. In 1854 Mr. Potter moved out to Jones county, Iowa, where the scenes of the farm afterward greeted him and where the log school house did its part in the training of our subject's youthful mind.

In July, 1862, Mr. Cunningham enlisted in Company B, Twenty-fourth Iowa Infantry, Captain W. F. Rigby and Colonel Byam's regiment, and for the first year or more served in the Western Department of the Union army. He participated in the Coldwater expedition to Mississippi, in the Vicksburg campaign and siege and up Red River with General Banks and back to New Orleans. Here the regiment was shipped to Washington, D. C., and from there joined Sheridan in his Virginia campaign and fought at Winchester and Cedar Creek. Following this service the command was sent to Savannah, Georgia, from where it joined in the closing scenes of the war in North Carolina, participating in the last stand made by the enemy at Goldsboro, North Carolina.

Returning to Savannah with his regiment Mr. Cunningham was discharged in August, 1865, reached Washington by ship and attended the Grand Review of the Federal armies there the following month.

Returning home after an absence of three years, Mr. Cunningham resumed civil life as a farmer. For five years he directed his efforts toward the vocation of his boyhood and in 1866 he yielded to a desire to find new scenes and work out his destiny among new friends and he set out on his nomadic career.

Settling in Young county, Mr. Cunningham located on a farm eight miles east of Graham and passed two years there. He then took up his residence in the city and engaged in house painting here, in the main, until his final appointment to the mail service of the government.

Mr. Cunningham married, in Cameron county, Texas, Miss Ida J. Handy, who came to Texas from Eagle, Wisconsin, and was a daughter of C. C. Handy, a New York man, who died at Brownsville, Texas, in 1875. Mr. Handy married Miss Elisa Hiltz and Mrs. Cunningham, Mrs. Nellie Daugherty, of Hidalgoa, Texas, and Milton S. Handy, of Waco, are the issue of their union. Mrs. Cunningham was born in 1854, and is the mother of Belle, wife of T. E. Matthews, of Graham, with children, Joe Lee and Edgar Doke; Olive Maud, wife of H. G. Arnold, assistant postmaster of Graham, with children, Maud and John Henry; John M., who died at eighteen years; Lue Ella and Ben Harrison.

Mr. Cunningham served Graham as deputy United States marshal for several years in the eighties, and being of the right political faith Mr. McKinley appointed him postmaster of the town in 1897 to succeed G. H. Crozier and he was reappointed by President Roosevelt in 1902. He is an Odd Fellow, a Republican and a member of Rosseau Post, G. A. R., No. 60. He is adjutant of the post and is judge advocate on the staff of John L. Boyd, commander of the Department of Texas.


B. B. Paddock, History and Biographical Record of North and West Texas, (Chicago: Lewis Publishing Co., 1906), Vol. I, pp. 669-670.


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Note: Most of the children of Preciliana and Jesus Munoz lived at Asadores Ranch. The ranch was a busy community, and the family depended on each other for support. They raised crops such as watermelons, corn, beans, Mexican squash, and also kept cattle and horses. Water was drawn from a well for home use, and for the animals.

Family celebrations, and weddings were very big feasts. There was plenty of food: carne asada (BBQ), cabrito (young goat), salads, cakes, pan de polvo (wedding cookies), fruits, and vegetables. Weddings lasted from evening to dawn. Oblate priests who traveled from ranch to ranch married the couples. Dancing in the large living room lasted most of the night. The Oblate priest would stay the night in order to perform the early morning ceremony. This was the case in the marriage between my grandfather, Daniel Munoz, and my grandmother, Eloisa Handy, which took place at the nearby La Esperanza Rach belonging to father Thomas J. Handy, a former Union solider who fought in the Civil War.

Note: Maria Eloisa entered the convent in 1937. She took the Final Vows in 1942. A.K.A. Sister Mary Lawrence, Now Sister Maria Eloisa Munoz.

Order of Incarnate Word, Blessed Sacrament.
Mother House: Corpus Christi, Texas
Stationed in Brownsville, Texas

Sister Maria Eloisa received a degree from Incarnate Word College, San Antonio, Texas.

Sister Maria Eloisa was an educator of children through out Texas, Corpus Christi, Port Isabel, Beeville, Laredo, and Brownsville.

Information provided by Mary Garza Reyna

Note: ROBERTO MERCADO*

DONNA — Roberto Mercado, 81, passed away February 3, 2006 at Knapp Medical Center in Weslaco.

He was born on June 6, 1924 in Donna to Moises and Alberta Handy Mercado.

He is survived by his wife, Genoveva; son, Roberto, Jr. and his daughter-in-law, Ma. Teresa, whom he loved like a daughter. Also surviving his are his two grandchildren, Sandra and Claudia; brother, Johnny (Minnie) of McAllen; sister, Estela (Victor) Martinez of Salinas, California; two sisters-in-laws, Mary Mercado and Sue Mercado of Sanger, California and numerous nephews and nieces.

Robert was preceded in death by his parents, Moises and Alberta Mercado; sister, Angelita Bujano and brothers, Gilbert, Alex, Rey, Fred and Alfred.

Visitation will be from 1 to 9 p.m., with a 7 p.m. rosary, today, February 5, 2006. Funeral services will be at 2 p.m. Monday, February 6, 2006 at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Donna. Interment will follow at Val Verde Memorial Gardens.

Funeral services are under the direction of Vaughan Funeral Home of Donna

Note: ADALBERTO "CHACHO" CANTU
McALLEN - Adalberto "Chacho" Cantu, 81, died Saturday, May 29, 2010 at McAllen Heart Hospital.
Born in Donna, Mr. Cantu had lived in McAllen most of his life. He was a WWII veteran, having served in the U.S. Marine Corps.
He is preceded in death by his parents, Eduardo and Maria (Handy) Cantu; five brothers, Eduardo H. Cantu, Jr., Fred H. Cantu, Abel H. Cantu, Lee H. Cantu, Enrique H. Cantu; and a sister, Eloida Yanez.
Mr. Cantu is survived by his wife, Delia P. Cantu; two sons, Albert Lee (Mimi) Cantu, Samuel Eric (Veronica E.) Cantu, all of McAllen; seven grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; and two sisters, Delia Montelongo of Donna and Hortencia Buerkle of New Jersey.
Visitation will be held from 5 to 9 pm, with a 7 pm rosary, today, June 2, 2010 at Memorial Funeral Home in San Juan. Funeral service will be at 10 am, Thursday, June 3, 2010 at Resurrection Catholic Church in Alamo. Interment will follow at St. Joseph Cemetery in Alamo. Military honors will be conducted by VFW Post 8788 of McAllen.
Funeral services are under the direction of Memorial Funeral Home in San Juan.
Sign the guest book at www.themonitor.com/obituaries

Published in The Monitor on June 2, 2010

Note: I remember asking Tia Mana (Mana the Spanish word for sister as all her relatives call her) about the family; she would start telling me about when she was young. She was a hostess/manager of a small restaurant, in which she hired her sister Elvira, my Grandmother. I never heard her complain about having to work. She was always on the go selling Avon, Stanley, Shaklee products to name a few.

When I knew her she had already buried 2 husbands, and was married to her third, Tia Raul. She had raised 2 daughters, and a son. She had also lost twins. Then she was raising her grand daughter,Gina. Nothing seemed to diminish her spirit, always working, taking care of her family, and yet she found time to help others as well.

We as many people struggled through our lives, but Tia always there. She didn't wait for anyone to ask for help, she gave it. Providing a maid when my mother was pregnant, a TV when our TV broke, and she would always say, 'help yourself to anything in the kitchen, this is your house'.

I remember one day they had thrown a party for Tina, her oldest daughter who was running for a political office in the Alice, Texas area. They had BBQ chicken, one of my favorites; Tio Raul was cooking as fast as possible. I had been served, and close to finishing, when I notice that part of the chicken was not completely cooked. About that time she walked by checking on everyone, and saw the chicken. I told her it was okay I was about finished anyway, she said just minutes, and took my plate. She returned a short time later with a new plate fully loaded.

Sometimes allot of us wish we were younger, but having known my Great Aunt, Tia Mana, would be sometime I wouldn't have wanted to miss. I didn't go to her funeral, but that's because she meant so much to me. I couldn't say good bye. My memory of her will not be of a funeral, but of her at home making everyone feel as welcome as she could. If anyone's life should be celebrated it would be hers. It was not an easy life, but there will never a kinder or more generous person.

Note: Estanisado Vela Jr. was a Pharmacist. He was injured in a explosion mixing chemicals (source was his cousin, Sister Eloisa Munoz), and suffered from chemical burns to his eyes and lungs. He was thought to have had TB or another form of respiratory decease, and eye problems at the time of his illness, and later death.

Note: Regina Hernandez Webber was a mid-wife (delivered babies), and a sort of herbal doctor. Best way to describe her in my opinion is like Granny on the Beverly Hillbillies, a country doctor without a degree, but with the enough homeopathic knowledge to be considered a doctor by many. Because the Hispanic community couldn't always afford doctors and medicine, she would treat those that needed help. A lot of the time they were children she had delivered.

George Washington Handy's wife had died, as had Regina's husband, and how ever they met is unknown. They had a relationship bordering on marriage. She found she was expecting his child, and George proposed, but was turned down by Regina for unknown reasons. Being an unwed mother in those days was very hard on the mother, and the child, but Regina choose it. Being well respected in the community must have been her saving grace. She had a daughter, Maria Handy, and was able to raise her, and her other children by her late husband in peace as a servant of the community.

Reference: 212

Change: Date: 14 MAR 2001

Note: Buried in Rocky Creek cemetery, Brown Co., TX

Note: Died at the age of 18 years.

Note: Per LDS

Note: Per LDS

Note: Mrs. Belen Munoz Avila (93) and Mrs. Andrea Munoz Campbell (89) remember when as young girls, they were taken to La Lomita Chapel Mission, to make their first holy communion. They also remember wedding celebrations, and dances they went to in McAllen, Edinburg, and Mercedes.

As for provisions, they were obained from a store owned by the Melchor Mora family at Relampago Ranch. Mary Garza Reyna of Weslaco has copies of an old ledger of the 1890's showing that they bought stables such as flour, rice, coffee, sugar, lard, candy, and soap. In return, they sold hides of horses, mules, and also brought merchandise from the Champion store in Run.

Information provided by Mary Garza Reyna

Note: There are three drug stores that M.S. Handy worked for:

Ryus Drug Store was the first

R.G. Graham Drug store - he bought half interest

Handy & Matthews Drug store - he was in partnership with his
son-in-law, T.E. Matthews.

Two of the buildings are still here and one is gone.

Dorman Holub, Chairman of Young County Genealogy Society
Graham, TX

Occupation: Place: Druggist

City: Dallas

Note: formal name: Juaquina