Isidoro Romero (31 Mar 1876) lost a twin brother when very young. His twin was named Jose Francisco, he passed away before 1880 when a census was taken and he is not listed. Before Francisco died kids used to make fun of them because they were always together. The kids used to take Francisco and hide him from Isidoro. One time they took him and hid him under the hay. There is a family story that one of my ancestors had a child that was killed presumptuously while outside by Indians when an arrow passed though his body. I speculate that this could have been Jose Francisco. Especially since his father built the, still standing, adobe wall for protection from the Indians. (Pictured on all my pages) I cannot find anything relating to the death of Jose Francisco, no official documents at all. But I was told that this was why Grandpa was so quiet and had the demeanor that he had through his life, because he felt like a piece of him was missing after the loss of Francisco.
He went on to marry Maria Lucinda Valerio in 1898. Lucinda was born 17 Sep 1876 to Juan De Jesus Valerio and Maria Guadalupe Martinez.
The first child born to Isidoro and Lucinda sadly did not live long according to the 1900 Census, they noted 2 years married and 1 child born and 0 living. Their children were Unknown born and died in 1899, Cosmes born in 1900, Eufrocina born in 1903, My Grandpa, Marcos V. born in 1905, Maria Solidea born in 1907, Alfredo born in 1909, Amarante born in 1911, Eloy born and died in 1913, Bernadita born and died in 1915 and Delferio born in 1918.
In Isidoro’s WWI draft registration it is noted that he was of medium height, medium build, he had black hair and dark brown eyes. When asking Aunt Mina, Isidoro’s granddaughter whom he lived with since his wife died in 1923, until he himself passed away, Mina describes Isidoro’s eyes as being hazel, blue. Aunt Mina also told me a story of Isidoro, she says affectionately that he was such a good Grandpa. Her father Alfredo and mother Celina and their children (Mina included) used to go to prayer meetings on Wednesday night. They would get back late after it was dark and he would always stay up and wait for them to get home. He had a string from the light to his bed, he would turn on the light for them when they got home. She also tells me that he passed away in his sleep, that they woke up one morning and he was gone. He also has been described as a quiet man.
Lucinda died on 23 Oct 1923 she lived only 47 years. The story goes; She was helping shuck corn and apparently caught something from the corn. She got swollen, is all we know. I do not know what the truth is, but I believe it was very common for people to seek out a reason as to why something bad happens. She left My Great-Grandpa Isidoro with 7 children. Ages 23, 20, 18, 16, 14, 12 and the youngest was 5. I believe in my heart my Grandpa loved my Grandma Lucinda very much. I believe he even commissioned a picture for her, they were padrinos in a wedding shortly before she died and they had a picture taken. You can see some sort of a sickness taking its toll on her. In the picture he commissioned they are wearing the exact same clothes but their faces have been made to look many years younger. Maybe it was the only picture of her and he didn’t want everyone to remember her that way. He never remarried, when asked why he said, “My Wife would be angry” in Spanish. Lucinda was known by people to have been very sweet and very beautiful.
It was told to me by Uncle Mark that the reason why we are not Catholic today lies in the funeral of my Grandmother Lucinda. He said that after Lucinda passed away, it was viewed as a tragedy since she was fairly young, so many people came to the Rosary. During the rosary it is tradition that the family have seating reserved for they at the very front of the Church. Well my Grandfather Marcos and his brother saw they large crowd and got up to let some people have a seat so they would not have to stand. They moved to the back of the Church where they stood, since there was not a single seat to sit on. When the service started the priest asked them to sit down or get out. Now I have to point out that these boys had been raised attending that Church and I am sure the priest knew them well. They were shocked that knowing this was their mothers Rosary they would be asked to leave. Well they did just that, they left and never went back. My Grandfather Marcos married a Methodists daughter and around the 1940’s became Jehovah Witnesses.
Isidoro, at some point is said to have had owned some of the infamous Taos lineas. Very narrow strips of land in Ranchos De Taos, NM. How these ‘lineas’ or ‘lines’ were formed was when the people were given the land grant they passed it on to their children in such a way that each child would have use of everything they needed from the lands from the very bottom for the winter months and all the way up the mountains where they would take their animals during the summer months. These lineas have been the object of fierce debate in recent years, due to many people claiming ownership to them. A big thing to talk about was the ‘stolen lineas.’ If Isidoro did own them they were likely passed down to him from his ancestors.
Isidoro lived 77 years, he died on 17 May 1952. He lived 29 years without Lucinda. They were buried in The old Llano Quemado Campo Santo Cemetery.