Patoni Family - La Familia Patoni
by Kameron K. Searle This Web page is dedicated to preserving the early history of the Patoni Family in Mexico and helping Patoni relatives contact each other and share information. It is my hope that long lost family lines will be re-united and that long and lasting relationships between Patoni cousins will result. I have begun to make many Patoni connections in the last year on the Internet and it began to become rather time consuming to send the same information to cousins over and over again. So I have decided to place as much of the information I have collected on this site.
Governor Carlos Patoni in 1912 - Courtesy of Gonzalo Gonzalez The cousins who have contacted me so far have all been decendants of my 2nd Great Grandfather Carlos Patoni. Carlos Patoni was the son of Jose Maria Patoni. Jose Maria Patoni was the son of Juan Bautista Patoni who was the progenitor of the Patoni family line in Mexico. As you will see in the following pages, ours is a wonderful history and is interwoven in the very fabric of Mexico's magnificent history.
Signature of Carlos Patoni I apologize to my Mexican cousins who do not speak English. I do not speak Spanish very well. So most of the material in this site will be in English. I make the same apology to my English speaking cousins. Some of the documents on these pages are in Spanish and I have not had them translated yet.
Carlos Patoni surveyed, mapped, and fixed the boundary markers for nearly all the large estates of Porfirian Durango. Some families know a great deal about their roots; others know very little. This site is an attempt to record what I've learned about our Patoni family history. In these modern times, families tend to be scattered all over the world. One of the goals of this web site is to help our Patoni family stay connected even though we may live far apart. I hope you enjoy the site. Kameron Searle 9111 Katy Fwy., Suite 202 Houston, Texas 77024 Telephone: 713-880-4529 Surnames Found on This Website Include: Patoni, Viola, Reyes, Sanchez, Ruiz, Dominguez, Rueda, Valles, Solis, Villagran, Vidrio, Granados, Velez, Yrungaray, Echávarri, Searle, Rauch, Grigg, Castaños, Aréchaga, Gonzalez, Whitfield, Ellsworth, Hairell, Chavarria, del Bosque, Orozco, Lopéz, Acosta, and Carranza. As we will see, the Patoni surname is of Italian origin. It is also interesting to note that at least six of the surnames listed above, Aréchaga, Echávarri, Chavarria, Yrungaray, Orozco and Carranza are of Basque origin. The author of this page has confirmed his Basque ancestry through his Patoni line with Ancestry DNA.
How We Got Here.... Thanks to Carlos Patoni's protege, Pastor Rouaix, we know quite a lot of biographical and historical information about Carlos Patoni, Jose Maria Patoni and Juan Bautista Patoni. I will include actual quotes from a book written by Pastor Rouaix regarding the Patonis later.
Sign for Jose Maria Patoni Street in Downtown City of Durango, State of Durango, Mexico The first Patoni to arrive in Mexico was Juan Bautista Patoni who came to Mexico with the Baron Von Humboldt in 1803. The Baron Von Humboldt had been commissioned by the Spanish government to complete a scientific inventory of the human and natural resources of the Spanish Americas. Juan Bautista Patoni was a mining engineer von Humboldt brought with him to survey the mines in Mexico. Patoni stayed in Mexico when von Humboldt left Mexico. Juan Bautista Patoni moved to the State of Durango and began mining there. For more information about Baron Alexander von Humboldt, see the September 1985 issue of the National Geographic magazine pages 318-351. Juan Bautista Patoni was first married to Teresa Viola. They had at least one son named Carlos Patoni who was born in Italy. This Carlos Patoni married Maria de Jesus Reyes in Mexico City in 1812 and they had many children. At the time of Carlos Patoni's marriage to Maria de Jesus Reyes, Juan Bautista Patoni's first wife, Teresa Viola had already died.
Juan Bautista Patoni married his second wife, Mercedes Sanchez, in Mexico. Juan Bautista Patoni and Mercedes Sanchez had at least one son, Jose Maria Patoni. Trained as a mining engineer, Jose Maria Patoni, was later in the Mexican army where he eventually rose to the rank of Brigadier General under President Benito Juarez. General Patoni distinguished himself many times in battles against the French during the French Intervention. Jose Maria Patoni was also involved in politics in the State of Durango and served at various times as the Governor of the State of Durango. Jose Maria Patoni was assassinated by General Benigno Canto in 1868 following a dispute between Patoni and Juarez over the Constitutionality of Juarez's current term as President. Canto was tried and sentenced to prison for the murder of Patoni. Benigno Canto died in prison.
Marker in memory of General Jose Maria Patoni located on Melchor Ocampo Street near the intersection of Belisario Dominguez Street at the spot where General Patoni was assassinated in the Analco neighborhood of the City of Durango, State of Durango, Mexico in 1868. Jose Maria Patoni had at least two sons with his first wife Dolores Ruiz: Carlos Patoni and Jose Maria Patoni, Jr. Jose Maria Patoni, Sr., had a second wife named Josefa Flores with whom he had at least two sons. Carlos Patoni left Mexico in 1868 following the assassination of his father. He was educated as an engineer, surveyor, a map maker and a botanist in the United States, probably at Berkely, California. He returned to Durango, Mexico where his skills were put to good use. He surveyed many of the haciendas of the State of Durango and together with Pastor Rouaix prepared the first accurate modern map of the State of Durango, Mexico. Carlos Patoni became very active in politics. He eventually became Governor of the State of Durango in 1912 just as the Mexican Revolution was beginning. A political ally of President Madero, Carlos Patoni resigned as Governor shortly after the assasination of President Madero. Following his resignation, Carlos Patoni, moved to the United States for a short period. Pastor Rouaix became Governor after Carlos Patoni. Rouaix's model for agrarian reform in the State of Durango would become the agrarian reform system adopted by the framers of the Mexican Constitution following the Revolution. Rouaix would become the Minister of Agriculture for Mexico. Pastor Rouaix would not forget his old mentor. He made Carlos Patoni the Director of a special agricultural research facility in Puebla Mexico where Patoni sought to develop agricultural resources and products valuable to the future of the Mexican economy. Among the plants studied by Patoni were different plants that rubber could be produced from including Guayule. Agave patonii and Mammillaria patonii, both native to the State of Durango, were named by Carlos Patoni. Patoni died in Puebla in 1918. See the links below to articles written by Professor Walker regarding the Mexican Revolution in Mexico focusing on the State of Durango. The papers discuss the roles of Carlos Patoni and Pastor Rouaix in the politics of the State of Durango during this chaotic period in Mexico's history. The Villista Legacy & Agrarian Radicalism in Eastern Durango, Mexico by Professor David W. Walker Tarnished Dreams by Professor David W. Walker
Juan Buatista Patoni (Death: October 7, 1841, Guanaceví, State of Durango, Mexico) The Progenitor of the Patoni Line in Mexico According to Pastor Rouaix, the progenitor of the Patoni Family in Mexico was Juan Bautista Patoni. According to Rouaix, Juan arrived in Mexico with the Baron von Humboldt. The Baron von Humboldt arrived in 1803. I have located a Mexico City Church record which indicates that Juan Bautista Patoni had a son who married in 1812. This record reflects that Juan Bautista Patoni's son was named Carlos Patoni. This Carlos Patoni was born in Italy and his mother is identified as Teresa Viola. In this 1812 marriage in Mexico City, Carlos Patoni, married Maria de Jesus Reyes. It would appear that Teresa Viola was Juan Bautista Patoni's first wife and that Mercedes Sanchez was Juan Bautista Patoni's second wife. This would help explain the birth of Jose Maria Patoni so many years after Juan Bautista Patoni's arrival in Mexico. It would also appear that Jose Maria Patoni's son, Carlos Patoni, was probably named after Jose Maria Patoni's older half brother. The odds of there being two Juan Bautista Patonis in Mexico in the early 1800s would be nearly impossible. A close reading of the 1812 marriage record of Carlos Patoni specifically states that Carlos Patoni's place of origin was in Brunico, Italy. Brunico, Italy is located in northern Italy along the border with Austria. At various times in history, Brunico has been part of Austria. Brunico is also known by it's German spelling of Bruneck. At least one biography of the Baron von Humboldt states that "the miner" Juan Bautista Patoni was from the South Tyrol and that he led the geological survey of Mexico for the Baron von Humboldt. The south Tyrol is where Brunico/Bruneck is located. The search continues for Juan Bautista Patoni's birth date and exact place of birth. The 1812 marriage record also states that Juan Bautista Patoni's [first] wife, Teresa Viola, had died before Carlos Patoni's marriage. The marriage record does not say if she died in Europe or in Mexico or when she died. The following excerpt from an article by Alberto Terrones Benitez titled, "The Camp of Guanacevi," dated July 22, 1922, in Volume 114, page 139, of Engineering and Mining Journal-Press.
"In his trip across Mexico, Humboldt visited it [Guanacevi]. His companion, J. Bautista Patoni, decided to remain in the camp where he worked at the Nuestra Senora mine, among others; the house where he lived is still called "La Patonena".
Jose Maria Patoni Brigadier General and Governor of the State of Durango (1828 - 1868)
This is a newspaper article from the El Siglo newspaper, published in the City of Durango, Mexico, regarding the September 29, 2009, ceremony at the site of Jose Maria Patoni's assassination in 1868. Below is an English translation of the newspaper article above. The translation was prepared for Kameron Searle by Omar Jacobo.
The crypt of Jose Maria Patoni in the Panteon Oriente in the City of Durango, Mexico. Click on the photo to read the November 2, 2006, newspaper article from the El Siglo newspaper in Spanish about the reinterment of Jose Maria Patoni's body in a place of honor in the cemetery.
Streets and Roads Named after Jose Maria Patoni In the City of Durango, there are two roads named after Jose Maria Patoni, Jose Maria Patoni Avenue (Avenida Jose Maria Patoni)and Jose Maria Patoni Street (Calle Jose Maria Patoni). In Torreon, there is a Jose Maria Patoni Street (Calle Jose Maria Patoni). For many years, several blocks of what is today Benito Juarez Avenue in downtown Mexico City (El Centro) was known as Calle Patoni and was named for Jose Maria Patoni. The blocks between ?? and the Avenida Reforma were known as Calle Patoni. Evidently, to remove confusion, Calle Patoni was dropped and the whole length of th e street was called Benito Juarez Avenue.
Carlos Patoni Engineer, Geographer, Cartographer, Naturalist, Botanist and Governor of the State of Durango (1853-1918)
Governor Carlos Patoni in 1912 - Courtesy of Gonzalo Gonzalez
From Left to Right: Luis Patoni, Ing. Don Carlos Patoni, Dolores (Lola) Patoni, Maria de la Luz Echavarri de Patoni, Luz Patoni(Baby), Edmundo Patoni. Photo Courtesy of Marie Whitfield
Resevoirs for Irrigation, Water-Power and Domestic Water Supply James Dix Schuyler (New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1909), p.351
The University of Chicago Library
The University of Chicago Library
Unanswered Questions about Carlos Patoni Carlos Patoni was was obviously very well educated. Where was he educated? Mexico or U.S.A? What University? If you know, let us all know. Please provide sources.
Children of Carlos Patoni and Maria de la Luz Echávarri
Note the language describing Carlos Patoni as "solter" and Dolores Patoni as "hija natural." Solter means Carlos was a single man and hija natural means that Dolores Patoni was born out of wedlock. As we will see, Carlos Patoni and Maria de la Luz Echavarri would marry some time after the birth of Dolores but before the birth of their second child, Juan Bautista Patoni, in 1884. In Juan Bautista Patoni's birth record below, Luz Echavarri is shown as esposa [wife] of Carlos Patoni. In the record below, Juan Bautista Patoni is also shown as the legitimate child of Carlos and Luz.
Sara's godmother was my great grandmother, Dolores Patoni (Sara's oldest sibling). Sara's godfather was Pastor Rouaix. In addition to creating the first accurate map of the State of Durango with his mentor, Carlos Patoni, he would also go on to be Governor of the State of Durango. Rouaix would also be the most significant figure with regard to the "agrarian reforms" when the Mexican Constitution was written following the Mexican Revolution.
Signature/Autograph of Orrin Pomeroy Searle from the record of his marriage to Dolores Patoni in the City of Durango in the State of Durango, Mexico on August 24, 1906. This record proves that Searle actually spelled his first name Orrin with two r's, not one as some records and genealogies indicate.
See the Montgomery, Texas entry on the Handbook of Texas Online revised by Kameron Searle See the Montgomery County entry on the Handbook of Texas Online revised by Kameron Searle Also see the Lake Creek Settlement entry on the Handbook of Texas Online written by Kameron Searle
Kameron Searle 9111 Katy Fwy., Suite 202 Houston, Texas 77024 Telephone: 713-880-4529 |
