Hola Cabán Family! Welcome to 2018! (OK, it's almost the end of January, but we'll just ignore that).

It's a grey windy COLD day, on the island where I sit. Needless to say that island is NOT Puerto Rico. However I would like to start by commenting that I was gutted and very worried about the terrible hurricane that hit PR. One of my first cousins, who is 80 years old, found himself and his family right in the path of it all. Fortunately they had a very sturdy house, built of concrete, and so no one was hurt, but everything around them was devastated. Through the GoFundMe method we all donated enough money to get them out, back to New York, and provide them with the money for winter clothing. He is very optimistic about the future and really, that's what really helps when one faces a trail over which there is no control.  Hope and a positive outlook can help a person to cope with the most terrible circumstances. (There is a wonderful book about this: called "Man's Search for Meaning" by Nazi death camp survivor, Viktor Frankl)

So I would like to say that I hope that the rest of our family and friends in Puerto Rico, are all ok and getting back on their feet. The lack of support from the government has been shocking and sad, but we are living in challenging times world wide. 

Perhaps that is why I enjoy genealogy so much. Maybe that's why you do too. Or maybe you have a mystery to solve. Or want to reach out to family. Or find out about a story you've heard.

One thing that has come up is further refinement of the Ancestry.com DNA information. Looking at the connections there are so MANY cousins out there! It really amazes me... 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th cousins! That's why I like the hello shout outs that people post to this page. Please take time to read them, if you get a chance, because you never know how close the next one might be to you!

Feel free to shout out hello right HERE!!

Here is a comment I want to bring up to the top.

" Hello Geno researchers, this is Randy Caban-Rosario my DNA results show Haplogroups I-L161 paternal and A2AM maternal, This was done through National Geographic and Family Tree DNA. Another breakdown is Mediterranean 42%, Northern European 25%, Native American 12%, Southwest Asian 11% and Sub-Saharan African 7%."

Randy, that's fantastic! I can't do the Y-DNA testing but I did the Ancestry.com test and the results amazed me. Here's mine:

Italy/Greece - 30%
Great Britain - 21%
Ireland - 15%
Iberian Peninsula - 10%
Native American - 9%
African - Senegal - 5%

If you have done the test and want to share your ethnicity, please feel free to do so here in the comments area! 

 This is my sister and me with our grandmother, Margarita Rodriguez Y Soto de Cabán. 1957.

I have not been able to find any documentation or published articles about the Cabáns coming to PR as early as 1720. I believe it, because some respected people have said that the information is there, but does anyone know where it can be accessed?

Also, when doing your family tree... how do you do your surnames? Do you put it as Cabán Y Rodriguez (for example?) Or Cabán Rodriguez? Or do you use a singular patriarchal surname (Cabán) the Anglo way?

Finally, an anonymous commentator suggested looking at Saludos Webzine (http://content.yudu.com/Ax0fa/saludos/resources/1.htm) for articles on Cabán origins. Has anyone had success with this? I can only see the current issue, which has some interesting articles on Hispanic employment but nothing on genealogy of any sort!

I am going to publish some of the comments we've gotten in this post. Hopefully this will make you feel connected and help your own family research!

1. Hello familia. My name is Luis Manuel Cubero Caban. My grandfather was one of the santeros, Manuel Caban. I came across this website looking into my ancestry and am very happy to come across this site. I will be moving to Puerto Rico later this year and I am surely going to look into my Caban family roots over there. Best wishes. Luis.

2. My Name is Marilyn Caban. My Father Waldemar Manuel Caban Garcia was from Aguadilla. My Grandfather Manuel Anotonia Caban was from Moca born 1898, My Great Great Grandfather was Francisco Caban born around 1840.

3. Hi my name is Israel Caban Jr. and i also was always curious about my last name and the only info i ever got from dad Israel Sr. was its french Jr., which left me saying thats not enough info for me to be satisfied. I know dad is from Moca P.R and i have met a few of his cousins which they all gave me similar answers, but i'm still wondering who was our first father

4. Hello, My name is Peter Seguí-Patiño, live in The Netherlands but originally from Puerto Rico. Have Caban ancestors in my family tree, but hardly any dates. My g.g.g.grandfather was José Caban married to Concepsión Marrero. Their son Ebaristo Caban Marrero( born Aguadilla , Puerto Rico) married María Genara Seguí Aldarondo. Their daughter my g.grandmaother was Everalda Caban Seguí born in 1845 in Isabela Puerto Rico. Should you have dates to go with these names it would be greatly appreciated. You can write to me at p.seguipatino@hotmail.com Thank you in advance.

5. Peter, I took a look at the census and think that Everalda probably had two siblings or more in Bo. Arenales Alto, Isabela-- Lugardo b. 1851 (Viudo) and Josefa, b. 1855 who was also married to a Juarbe. On PReb.com there's one child of Francisco Cabal m. Maria Concepcion Marrero Rosalia Cabal Marrero (1807-1827) m. Francisco Oival PReb.com- Aguada- Libro de Defunciones, Parroquia San Francisco de Assis de Aguada http://www.preb.com/documentos/aguada/dag27C.htm There were other Caban & Segui families in Aguadilla and Moca. Saludos, Ellen efsacco@gmail.com

4. Hi my name is Sandra Velez Saludos, My mothers name was Daisy Feliciano Caban,My grandmothers name was Maria Caban del Valle she was the daughter of Apolinar Caban y nieta de Ludgardo Caban Sequi and we are from Isabela.My grandmother would always talked to me about her family,and their spanish roots dont know why I made my research and she was right.My great great grandfather was Ludgardo Caban Sequi and yes the Cabans is a very old family from the northwestern side of the island dating back to 1851 my gggrandfather could not find more information about them.And there is a relative of mine in this bloquer psequipatino his grandfather was my grandmothers cousin,como diria el jibaro que chiquito es el mundo .Proud to say I am a descendant of the Caban from my mothers side .My grandmother only had one sister Anselma Caban,may all rest in peace.Soy una rama de este arbol frondoso de los :Caban

4. Hi I'm from NYC my family is caban from piletas flares Puerto Rico, my dad was Rafael Cab an and my grandparents were Dionisio and Dorotea Cab an if anyone has info please email ljrocha78@gmail.com. thanks a lot:)

5. My name is Francisco Galeno Caban Vega IV I was told as a child that My Great Great Grandfather Francisco Galeno Caban I ran for public office in Utuado. My Grandfather was born 1910ish and attended college in Pennsylvania in 1930s My Father was born in PR July 23 1941 in Viejo San Juan and came to America. He grew up in the Bronx and now resides on Long Island. I was born November 9th 1984 and I live in Bushwick Brooklyn. My Email is frank.caban@yahoo.com . Please contact me if you know anything about this particular line of Cabans.

Here is a very interesting post from Tommy Ramirez - a Caban cousin:

"I have been doing much more research and have found that the Cabans were involved with the Sosa’s who founded Aguadilla. But they are Irish in origin not Jewish. And they were In Puerto Rico many decades before the founding of Aguadilla. One account I found was in an article about Don Juan de la Rosa Velazco y Hernandez del Rio(?-1820, who was born in Santo Domingo and came to Puerto Rico. He was married to Dona Rosa Olavarria y Caban(1747-1843) in Aguada. Dona Rosa Olavarria y Caban was daughter of Don Juan Baustista Olavarria, who was a native of Bilbao Spain. Her mother was Dona maria Caban y de Aviles, who was born in Aguada.

“El apelllido Caban, no es de procedencia espanola. Es un apellodo solariego irlandes que en su origen se escribia “carvan” y que sufrio alteraciones en su escritura, segun el genealogista Rafael Reichard Sapia. Esta familia es muy Antigua y hoy se encuenta disminada por toda esta Zona oeste.”

To Tommy - and our other cousins:

There IS a Cavan County in Ireland. In Spanish the "v" is pronounced "b" so an Irish tie wouldn't at all surprise me. 

Being female a DNA test would only tell me about ancient mitochondrial DNA. There have been DNA tests taken by our male cousins and here is a list of the results, starting with Tommy.

1. Tommy Ramirez:
Thank you I looked at the link but didn’t find much information there. I have since done a DNA test and found that I am Italian , Greek ,Spaniard, African ( from various locations in Africa), Irish , Taino) the farthest I have gone back in my family tree is to Raimundo Caban who married severa antonia maria segui ( she was born in St Agustine florida, when it was a Spanish colony) and on another branch of the family Sinforian Caban who was married to Laureana Acevedo De Caban

2.Annonymous: Family Tree DNA - confirms as follows Haplogroup I2a -Shorthand I-P 37.2 with following Test
M161- M170+ M21- M22- M227- M253- M258+ M26- M307- M72- P19+ P30- P37.2+ P38+

3. Randy Caban: Hi this is Randy Caban and I can confirm as a member of FamilyTree DNA that the published DYS values are the same as mine.

4. CabanR (Randy?): "Hi interested in your posting and I also have been curious about the Caban origins - I can shed some new light having done Y DNA testing myCaban heritage traces back to Ireland - they have a county in Ireland call Cavan county - I also thought they were French but there is more to that having Polish origins is another mystery but the Y DNA also indicates Haplogroup I1b originating in the what are the Balkans in Europe

My grandfather Manuel Caban-Vera is a descent of the Caban santeros who settled Camuy-Quebradillas area. Manuel was born in Quebradillas - with DNA testing Y chromosome from the male the Haplogroup ia I1b - originating in the Balkans - they are also Celts - as the DNA mutations show origins in Ireland with matches - There is a county in Ireland call
Cavan county during the Irish disporta - Royal Decree of Grace - 1815 the Caban santeros are known from about 1850 to 1950 as multi-generational family of santeros."

5. Lucita: I have a 4th great-grandfather, Alejandro Caban. I had my Mtdna done. I also convinced one of my male cousins to have the Y-DNA test done. Here are the results:
DYS# 393 390 19* (aka 394) 391 385a 385b 426 388 439 389-1 392 389-2

 I will say again that I can't read these figures, butif someone can break this down I will be happy to publish it as a post rather than a commentary!

Thank you EVERYBODY for taking an interest in our mysterious family roots!!
 




 

"La Real Cedula de Gracias de 1815 y sus efectos en PR & Emigrantes llegados a PR procedente de Venezuela 1810-1848" by Raquel Rosario Rivera

Ellen Fernandez Sacco (who is an awesome genealogist)  commented:

 I enjoy reading your blog. I also have Caban in my family, which I am currently researching. There are Caban in Puerto Rico before 1800 on the west coast. Unfortunately none are listed in Raquel Rosario Rivera's book on the Real Cedula de Gracias. There seem to be several lines, one indigenous another of European origin. Cabal, Caban, Caval are some of the variations i've seen for the records ca. 1780s-1790s. Raquel Rosario Rivera has two books, La Real Cedula de Gracias de 1815 y sus efectos en PR & Emigrantes llegados a PR procedente de Venezuela 1810-1848. You can probably get them from Libreria Tertulia.

Boabdil said...

Ellen Fernandez Sacco: Madam, I believe I have seen your writings somewhere else related to the genealogy of the Cabans. My name is Boabdil Perez Caban, I am from Moca and family of Lorenzo Caban Alonso. This is what I have found from my tree. Based on church records in Moca, the earliest caban I found so far (going back to Moca in 2 weeks) is Alejandro Caban, father of Jose Maria Caban, father of Lorenzo Fermin Caban lopez, father of Lorenzo Caban Alonso, wich was my grandfather. I just saw this series of posts and have to read them to see if it relates to my line and how to trace it out of PR. Good luck to all..

Anonymous wrote:

   The first Cabán to arrive in Puerto Rico came with the Sosa family, which founded Aguada, a town in the Western part of the Island, next to Aguadilla. I strongly sugest that you look up articles written by Dr. Adolfo Pérez Comas, a prestigious historian and descendant of Bernardo de Sosa, who has done a lot of research about the Cabán de Avilés branch of the family, who came to Puerto Rico in the XVIIIth century. Raquel Rosario Rivera does not include any Cabán in her book about the Cédula de Gracias.

Conclusion (for me) - Ok, the Cabans didn't come to Puerto Rico on the Decree of Graces, if  Raquel Rosario Rivera's books are correct. The Sosa lead is a good one, though I have also heard that Cabans come from Cavan county Ireland - v is pronounced as a soft b many times in Spanish. There are also DNA links that put us in the Balkans and  there are Cabans living for centuries now in Poland! So, still work to be done. 

Shar

Comments with Interesting Research Leads...

There have been some interesting comments (44 to date!!) left on an older post I made a few years back. They include various greetings and the reaching out of our family members to each other. They also include research or information discovered by our cousins around the world!

Genealogical research is a collaborative effort in all ways. Whether you do what you can on-line, via various websites, or you are able (and lucky enough!) to go into old churches or record offices, it is all based on collaboration with dead family who left records, log ago census takers, ancient tax officials and anyone else who recorded social history or data publicly or privately. Even old family legends are not to be discounted, particularly if the keep popping up in several separated branches. The legends may prove to be a myth, but the fact that they pop up here and there shows that some sort of communication is going on, or has gone on between family members at some point.(It's amazing how quickly family members can disconnect! I have many cousins and try to know all of their children, but it takes effort as we are scattered. And yet I find ones who live in the same town - the younger ones - have no knowledge of their connection to each other. Very sad to me.)

So my purpose, beginning with this post, is to put up some of the comments scattered around the blog for you to think about and chew on. If it sparks anything please share!!! 

Thank you!

Shar

Museo de Los Santos

Have you heard of the "Museo de Los Santos"? It is a virtual museum project started and run by Richard Holm, co-owner of Carribean Consulting. They say: "El Museo de los Santos is a project sponsored by Caribbean Consulting to promote the appreciation, understanding and preservation of Santos and the history of Santeros in Puerto Rico."

While I personally am not into worshipping saints, I see the value of these statues as examples of folk art. More to the point, our Caban ancestors are reprresented on this website. If you are interested, here are the links!

Eduvijes Caban

Florencio Caban

Manuel Caban

The above woman, by the way, is Sra.Teresa Henández, the mother of Florencio Caban. 

There is a contemporary artist in the family taking up modern carving. That is Susana Caban. Susana is married to James Caban, who has been a jewellery designer for decades, and they live in Puerto Rico with their sons. This is one of Susana's pieces:

 

You can see the rest of her collection here: 

http://susanacaban.blogspot.co.uk/

http://www.etsy.com/shop/SusanaCaban

and hear a discussion about carving and santeros between Susana and radio talk host Gil the Jenius (his spelling) here:

 http://puertorico.countrytoolbox.com/puerto-rico-blog-22/meet-susana-cabn-wood-carving-jewelry-artist-rincon-432/

The posting of the DNA markers is wonderful! Thank you so much those who have contributed! Yesterday I got a book out of the library about how to interpret DNA markers - what each one means and how it pinpoints a location. Well, at least I hope that's what it will do. I'm thinking it would be helpful if everyone could see why ("el porque" as my father always used to say) this or that marker puts our origins in different places. If anyone else wants to post their DNA results step right up! The more the merrier!

In the mean time it's also wonderful that our cousins are all reaching out and making contact... putting up a hand and saying, "Hey I'm here in... and my father or mother was..." Our name is uncommon and we come from those first settlers who made their way from Europe to PR. We are primos and we are waving to each other across time zones and the seas!

Rather than leave this in the comments area, I think it should be published here. It's an "annonymous" comment (though it could be from R. Caban!) and lends weight to a Balkan/Eastern European connection:

Hi with my R. Caban Haplogroup I1b
Positive for the following SNPs: M170+ M258+ P19+ P37.2+ P38+
Negative for the following SNPs: M161- M21- M223- M227- M253- M26- M307- M72- P30-
Haplogroup - I1b The Balkan countries likely harbored this subgroup of I during the Last Glacial Maximum. Today this branch is found distributed in the Balkans and Eastern Europe, and extends further east with Slavic-speaking populations

What do the rest of you think? Anyone else got tests done?

Cousins...

Hola familia mia! Some time ago I posted a question on the Ancestry.com message boards ( Message Boards > Surnames > Caban >) regarding the origins of our surname. Over time I've had interesting replies!

Marco Caban said "The Radhanites of Spain, in 1400, took the center of the Jewish goverment established in Spain to the korsack of Poland. It is suposed that some of the rabbis were Caban."

I don't know what the "korsack of Poland" means... if it's a typo or I'm just ignorant (most likely the latter) but I did look up the Radhanites in Wikipedia. It says:

"The Radhanites (also Radanites, Hebrew sing. רדהני Radhani, pl. רדהנים Radhanim; Arabic الرذنية ar-Raðaniyya) were medieval Jewish merchants. Whether the term, which is used by only a limited number of primary sources, refers to a specific guild, or a clan, or is a generic term for Jewish merchants in the trans-Eurasian trade network is unclear. Jewish merchants dominated trade between the Christian and Islamic worlds during the early Middle Ages (approx.AD 500–1000). Many trade routes previously established under the Roman Empire continued to function during that period largely through their efforts. Their trade network covered much of Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia and parts of India and China."

That would explain our name getting around, if it's true that we have Radhanite origins.

CabanR said: "Hi interested in your posting and I also have been curious about the Caban origins - I can shed some new light having done Y DNA testing myCaban heritage traces back to Ireland - they have a county in Ireland call Cavan county - I also thought they were French but there is more to that having Polish origins is another mystery but the Y DNA also indicates Haplogroup I1b originating in the what are the Balkans in Europe

My grandfather Manuel Caban-Vera is a descent of the Caban santeros who settled Camuy-Quebradillas area. Manuel was born in Quebradillas - with DNA testing Y chromosome from the male the Haplogroup ia I1b - originating in the Balkans - they are also Celts - as the DNA mutations show origins in Ireland with matches - There is a county in Ireland call
Cavan county during the Irish disporta - Royal Decree of Grace - 1815 the Caban santeros are known from about 1850 to 1950 as multi-generational family of santeros."

That's very interesting too! My father was descended from the same Santeros. Anyone else connected to the Santeros group?

Randy Caban said: "Caban is also a surname found in Lincolnshire County, England and also in Scotland. Caban is also a word in the Welsh language - Caban is a surname found in Poland pronounced "tsban" and it is found in all parts of Europe."

And that probably brings us back to the Radhanites.

On these pages, Lucita has commented,

"I have a 4th great-grandfather, Alejandro Caban. I had my Mtdna done. I also convinced one of my male cousins to have the Y-DNA test done. Here are the results:
DYS# 393 390 19* (aka 394) 391 385a 385b 426 388 439 389-1 392 389-2
Did you have yours done?"

Hooray! Unfortunately I don't know how to interpret the data and being female mine would only go back to origins so ancient that they just virtually say "Human from planet Earth." But maybe someone will know how to read the data...

And in the meantime we also have cousins... the Rodriguez family has married very closely in with the Cabans, as have the Sotos and the Romans. I got a comment from Angela Roman asking if anyone knows about the connection. I can say what I know...

Valentin Roman Y Campos married Manuela Campos in the 1890s. They had the following children who were listed by the name Campos rather than the name Roman. (I believe this was done after the US took over PR in 1898.):

Francisca - b. 1895
Antonia - b. 1902
Lucia - 1903 - 1925
Jova - b. 1904
John - 1906 - 1972
Bienvenido - b. 1908
Leopoldo - b. 1908
Nazario - 1915 - 2001
Alejandro - b. 1917

All of these children were born in Islote, near Arecibo, in Puerto Rico. Of that list John Campos married Carmen Caban and they had two sons, John and William.

Carmen Caban was the daughter of Roque Caban and Juana Torres. Roque was the son of Eduviges Caban and Maria Rodriguez, and his parents were Juan Caban and Juana Hernandez. Juan and Juana are listed as "strangers to Puerto Rico" in the parish records that my late cousin John discovered. They seem to be the start of the dynasty - at least of the one that I'm descended from.

Their son, Eduviges had 5 sons - Quiterio, Rafael, Wincelso, Antonio and Roque. The Caban Santeros are sons of Quiterio. Roque was the mayor of Aguadilla for a while. Here is the picture from his campaign button -



I descend from Rafael Caban. So... Roque was my great-grand Uncle and his daughter Carmen married into the Roman family. And as I said, this is not the first or only connection. Perhaps you know of others! If nothing else, I hope this list helps some of us find a connection.

Oh and Manuel Caban-Vera is my first cousin once removed! Woo-hoo I connected with someone!!

Here is some info that came as a comment but needs to go as a posting! for those who are interested in DNA testing, I got a comment from the CEO of this DNA Testing Company:

Hi -- Since you guys are talking about DNA tests for genealogical purposes, I thought I'd share some news with you.

Familybuilder, a leading genealogy software and application company has just announced the introduction of Familybuilder DNA, the lowest-priced DNA test on the market. At $59.95, for both YDNA and mtDNA tests, this is ideal for genealogical purposes.


For more information, please visit: http://www.familybuilder.com/dna

Thanks,

David Rheins
CMO Familybuilder

Someone has asked about getting DNA testing done. There are many many services out there (especially in this age of genealogical research) who will do it for various prices. It's not hard... a swab inside your mouth and there's your DNA collected.


I live in the UK so I'm not sure about what is available world wide, but here are two interesting places to begin.

1. Cyndi's List - Genetics, DNA & Family Health: http://www.cyndislist.com/dna.htm I don't know who Cyndi is, but her website has been around for a long time and THE most comprehensive research site there is. Period. (Not only can you look into DNA testing, but you can look further into Latino family research with this site as a great starting point.)


Anyway, regarding the DNA testing I see someone is advertising DNA testing fro $79 but that is paternal testing and hopefully every Caban knows "Who's da Daddy".

2. Another interesting website is: "Family Tree DNA" http://www.familytreedna.com
They aren't particularly cheap, but they seem to be running a surname database project which shows our surname listed twice. Anyway, they seem pretty professional and have some interesting articles on DNA testing including at link to an article in the New York Post.


Yeah yeah - I know it's not like the New York Post when I was younger - more of a rag now... but the article's pretty good. It says in part:

"Rather than getting trashed at bars, New Yorkers are swabbing their cheeks en masse at house parties and then sending saliva samples back to labs to help trace their ancestors.

But for Latinos, an umbrella group consisting of various ethnicities, races and religions, tracing family trees is a bit more complicated.

"Five hundred years after Europeans colonized Latin America, imported 10 million African slaves and mixed with the Native Americans, modern Latinos still don't have a clear understanding of their own lineage," explains Bennett Greenspan, a genealogist and expert in Jewish, Latino and African ancestry.

"They've heard tales and rumors from relatives, but they've often lacked a paper trail to verify the claims," says the head of Family Tree DNA."

"What's in Your Genes? DNA testing is the Rage Among Latinos" by Shirley Velasquez, New York Post, November 12th 2008

Hopefully this is a starting point... as I said before, unfortunately it has to be you male Cabans who get the DNA testing... that "Y" chromosome is the marker needed. Female mitochondrial DNA testing can only tell us about our extremely ancient progenitors... not where we came from before we ended up in Puerto Rico and/or NYC!


If you do it I will publish it!

Hola familia mia!

I've had some really nice comments come in on this blog. But I think it's time for an update, don't you?

Someone suggested DNA tests to determine our ancestry. That is a fantastic idea!

The only thing is that the test for female DNA only shows very ancient family information. While we may be interested to know if our very ancient mothers came from the Sub-Saharan continent, it seems to me that it would be more useful to know more about our ancestors PRE Puerto Rico! For that you need male DNA.

Therefore if any one of you Caban guys out there (particularly my immediate cousins) who gets a DNA test please let me know all about it and I will gladly publish the results here on this site. Who knows? We might get some interesting results and the exchange of good information.

The picture above is of "Tia Goya" - Gregoria Caban de Reyes. She came to New York in the early 1920s. She was married to Daniel Reyes and they never had any children. Tia Goya didn't like the things that went on in the bedroom so she gave her husband money to go get himself "Fixed" from time to time. They adopted and raised her nephew, Phillip Salgado. Tia Goya also bought land in Manhattan but didn't read English, so when the tax notices came she never paid the taxes and in time the city took her land back. I'm shaking my head at the loss of her potential fortune even as I type these words...

Caban Origins and more

Behind the scenes of this blog several people and I have been doing extensive research into the origins of the Caban family BEFORE they came to Puerto Rico. This has been a question I've seen on most every genealogy site where the Caban name can be found. People are either looking for current family OR they are asking the question, "Where did the family come from?" It's kind of funny, because you never see it asked about surnames like Rodriguez, or Jimenez, or Jones, or MacDonald...

So that is the big question: Where did the Cabans come from?

And here is the answer, as much as we researchers have been able to piece together:

The Cabans originated in Languedoc-Roussillon, in what was once the kingdom of Occitania, but is now the Pyrenees area of Southern France and Northern Spain. (In fact it is only about 50 miles between Carcassonne and Barcelona!) The Occitan language is still alive, as are customs and the culture, if you are interested to know further. The name Caban is a French word for "overcoat" but it was believed to have been Cabanne or Cabannis originally.

The Caban name was not found in Puerto Rico prior to the 1800s. In fact, as you see from my mini-family tree, the earliest one listed is Juan Caban, who was born circa 1790. There is nothing any further back than that. And here is why...

The Cabans came to Puerto Rico as part of the Royal Decree of Graces of 1815. Wikipedia explains that Spain had lost all of its territory in the Americas and was in danger of losing Cuba and Puerto Rico. "Free land was offered to those who wanted to populate the islands with the condition that they swear their loyalty to the Spanish Crown and allegiance to the Roman Catholic Church".

Because Europe was experiencing a series of Revolutions and life was so unstable, "Hundreds of Corsicans, Italians, French , Irish and Germans, attracted by the offers of free land by the Spanish Crown, moved to the colonies of Cuba and Puerto Rico and accepted the conditions stated. As soon as these settlers swore their loyalty to the Spanish Crown and their allegiance to the Roman Catholic Church, they were given a "Letter of Domicile".

After five years, the settlers were granted a "Letter of Naturalization" that made them Spanish subjects. In an effort to attract non-Catholic Europeans, the Spanish Courts passed a law in 1870, granting the right of religious freedom to all those who wished to worship another religion other than the Catholic. "

There have been tracings of the Cabans to Ireland as well (Cavan county!) but again there was a lot of migration between the European countries over the centuries, so this does not necessarily make us Irish.

In any case, the Cabans came as part of the Royal Decree of Graces and it's not hard to think that a man named "Jean Cabanne" could easily change the "E" in his first name to a "u" and drop the "ne" at the end of Cabanne. So Jean Cabanne becomes Juan Caban. It's done by immigrants all the time.

The Cabans did have huge plantations in PR. Here is what happened to it, according to Carl Diaz, son of Gloria Caban Diaz (the oldest of our family alive):

"As the Spanish American War came to a close, the brothers (Roque, Bonifacio, Florentino & Rafael) along with their parents who were “Loyalists” (being Spaniards by heritage & nationality) were in jeopardy.

The local freedom “guerilla” fighters called “La Banda Pendiciosa” targeted their father’s plantation and were coming to burn it along with those of other loyalists.

The story goes that my mother’s grandfather Roque had escaped into the caves since he was being hunted in reprisal for his efforts to fight against the guerillas and the “American Liberators”. His fate was pretty much assured. He was to face execution if captured.

The remaining three brothers stayed with their families at the plantation.

On the “Night of the Burnings” – as it came to be called – all the family members, wives, children and their servants and loyal peasants etc. gathered together and began a prayer vigil.

The next morning they found all nearby plantations destroyed and the fields burned. They miraculously escaped the fires and their plantation was spared!

Roque eventually re-appeared 3 months later after the fighting was over and the search for him had been abandoned.

The Americans had taken over the island, the Spaniards had left, the peasants had been reorganized and eventually the lands and property were “socialized”…"

My father, Edwin Caban, always said that the family had been wealthy but lost their lands and wealth because they backed the Spanish in the Spanish-American war. So now we see how they got and lost the land, but thankfully they were talented artisans and were able to make their way into the world.

Here is a very simple Caban family tree based on the work done by John, before he died. John did some pretty extensive research into the Caban family tree, even going around some of the parish churches looking near Barceloneta and La Florida, in Puerto Rico. He was looking for what ever family records he could find. From his work he compiled this information:

I. Lineage of Eduviges CABAN:

PATERNAL:

P1. Juan CABAN - born abt 1790. Married to Juana HERNANDEZ - born abt 1790. They are listed as "Strangers to Puerto Rico" in the records, apparently.

P2. Eduviges CABAN - born abt. 1818 Married to Maria Altagracia RODRIGUEZ - born 1820. The parents of Maria were: Antonio RODRIGUEZ and Leoncia RAMOS, both born circa 1790 in Puerto Rico.

P3. Rafael CABAN - birth date unknown, died before 1910. Married to Maria de los Santos RODRIGUEZ - born 1849, died after 1925. Maria's parents were Juan Antonio RODRIGUEZ & Maria Josefa JIMENEZ.

MATERNAL:
M1. Francisco RODRIGUEZ - born abt. 1800 in Puerto Rico. Married to Rosa SANTIAGO.

M2. Juan Antonio RODRIGUEZ - born about 1820. Married to Maria Josefa JIMENEZ - born abt. 1830
Maria's parents were: Isidro JIMENEZ and Luisa CANCEL, both born circa 1800 in Puerto Rico.

M3. Maria de los Santos RODRIGUEZ as listed above, who married Rafael CABAN.

CHILD: Well, one of 14, actually:

4. Eduviges CABAN - born 16 Sep 1892, Manati Puerto Rico - died 1965. Married to Margarita RODRIGUEZ, born 14 Jun 1894, Camuy Puerto Rico, died 1960.


II. Lineage of Margarita RODRIGUEZ

1. Francisco RODRIGUEZ - born abt. 1800 in Puerto Rico. Married to Rosa SANTIAGO.

2. Juan Antonio RODRIGUEZ - born about 1820. Married to Maria Josefa JIMENEZ - born abt. 1830
Maria's parents were: Isidro JIMENEZ and Luisa CANCEL, both born circa 1800 in Puerto Rico.

3. Valentin RODRIGUEZ - born abt. 1860 Married to Leoncia SOTO - born abt. 1870. Leoncia's parents were Juan Manuel SOTO and Monserratte PARRA, both born abt. 1850 in Puerto Rico.

Child: Margarita RODRIGUEZ

So, in actual fact, Grandpa & Grandma Caban were first cousins. Their children are -

a. Louis Caban
b. Germen de Luz, Jaime Caban
c. Eduviges Caban Jr.
d. Daisy Ann Caban

My research on the Caban lines is slowly making progress. I joined Ancestry.com and am coming across assorted census material, but other people who are descendants of Grandpa Caban's siblings have also gotten in touch with me. They've sent pictures and you can really see family features carried down through time, though we are all flung far and wide!

Eduvijus Caban Senior, (the old man sitting in the chair) came to New York from Puerto Rico, aboard the "S.S. San Juan" which sailed on October 20th 1920 and arrived on October 26th 1920. He wasn't an old man then, of course. The records at Ellis Island say that he was 28 years old, born in Manati, PR... heading for Lexington Avenue in New York City... and single. Well that last part was a lie. He was married, with two sons!
You can actually see the ship's passenger manifest at the Ellis Island website.

My dad, Edwin Jr. (a name change obviously took place somewhere) said that Grandpa Caban was a Communist. That he had been put in prison for his Bolshevik ideas in 1917. It was also said that he'd killed a man. I did read a well written letter that he wrote to someone in his early years... he was very angry and said that the government viewed the less fortunate as beggers who must approach with hat-in-hand seeking favours. He was very eloquent in his indictment against the system.

When he got here, Eduvijus went back to work as a cigar maker. It was a family trade as far I as can see from the old census records for the early 1900s. When my father was a teenager he would work in the family business after school, sitting in the shop window rolling cigars so the suave business men would come in and buy the best. But he used to make my grandfather angry, for as he sat rolling the cigars he, himself, puffed away on his cigarettes. "You're ruining my business!" his father would shout.

Grandpa Caban's later years were not so great. He was not really the nicest man in the world - had some very serious character flaws that drove people away. In his later years he lived in a three room apartment in Newark, New Jersey. We would go to visit and my sister and I found it sooo boring.

Well, for one thing, I had not yet learned Spanish and could hardly understand him when he spoke in English. But of course, the conversations would be in Spanish if my dad was there, and the rest of us would be shut out. But Bev and I thought of games to play, even going into Grandpa's closet and stamping around trying to convince everyone that we'd found a secret passage way down into a hidden basement. Well, we were never bored...we always brought our imaginations with us everywhere we went!

At the end of his life Grandpa Caban came to live at our house. He had cut his wrists and called my father, who went to get help for him and then brought him back to Lincoln Park. He lived down in our spare front room and was mostly bed-ridden. Which was really unfortunate as one day he fell out of bed. And he proved to be too heavy for my mother, my sister, and me to lift back into position! (Well we girls were only 8 and 9 years old at the time) So my dad came home from work and got him back into bed, but then called an ambulance to have him taken to the hospital. He ended up in Greystone Park Hospital, in morris County new Jersey along with Woody Guthrie. That's where he died and he's lies buried in the Gate of Heaven Cemetery, in East Hanover, New Jersey, next to the wife he claimed he didn't have in 1920.