52 Ancestors: #20 ~ Is This Raymunda?

This is part of the "52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks" Challenge begun by Amy Johnson Crow, author of the blog No Story Too Small.

Last week's 52 Ancestors blog post was about my maternal great-grandmother, Esther Matus Villatoro.

Esther's parents were Nicanor Matus and Raymunda Villatoro Vasques. This beautiful portrait was found in one of the briefcases that belonged to my Grandpa Debs Webster. The briefcase contained many wonderful photos and other family history treasures.



Unfortunately, this beautiful photo didn't contain any information about who this lovely woman was. The photo is rather large. It measures approximately 9-1/2 inches x 7-3/4 inches.

We've wondered if this is a photo of Esther's mother, Raymunda. For comparison, here's a photo of Esther. What do you think? Is there any resemblance?



We have another photo that may show Raymunda. Here it is. It's a very small photo measuring only about 2-1/8 inches x 2-3/8 inches. It was also found in one of my Grandpa Debs' briefcases.



The little boy in this photograph is my Grandpa Debs. And I believe the girl behind him and to the right is his sister, Carlota. As you can see, the writing on the photo says "Mexico." Unfortunately, I don't know who wrote that.

Debs and Carlota's mom, Esther, died in 1919, when Debs was five years old and Carlota was nine years old.

I wonder if this is a photo showing Debs and Carlota visiting their grandparents, Nicanor and Raymunda, sometime after the death of their mother. Perhaps they were even staying with them while their father, Frederick, a.k.a. "The Traveling Dentist," was on a trip somewhere.

Sadly, I don't know a whole lot about my 2nd great-grandmother, Raymunda Villatoro Vasques. I don't know where or when she was born. And I don't know her exact death date. I do know that she died sometime before 7 March 1925. The reason I know this is because that is the date her son, Francisco, got married. According to his marriage record, his parents, Nicanor and Raymunda, were both deceased.

So, if this really is a photo of Nicanor and Raymunda with their grandchildren, Debs and Carlota, then the photo was taken sometime before 7 March 1925.

Nicanor and Raymunda were the parents of four children:

1. Esther Matus Villatoro (1893-1919) [my great-grandmother]
2. Catalina Matus Villatoro
3. Francisco Matus Villatoro
4. Crecenciana Matus Villatoro (1906-1973)

I do know who Raymunda's parents were. Their names were Demitrio Villatoro and Isabel Vasques. I'll share what I know about them and their children in a future post.

As you can see, I still have a lot of research to do in order to fill in the details about Raymunda's life. As I find out more about her, I will share the information here on my blog.

Thanks for reading!

Jana

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