TWO SILVAN BROTHERS IN CUBA

Finding GERONIMO AND AGUSTIN SILVAN HERNANDEZ has been an enigma over the past 2 years as I bumped along sorting out Silvan siblings, their children and grandchildren, dates, places, time, stories etc. Last night, I had an epiphany and could barely sleep all night! IT WAS THE SHIP MANIFEST(S) ~

Geronimo and Agustin were the two SILVAN brothers who stayed behind in Fuentesauco with their mother, Agustina Hernandez, when they watched their other brothers, Victorino and Juan Francisco lead their wives and children away along with their sister, Crestencia and her husband and children --- to a place called Hawaii. Geronimo was 34 and Agustin was 24 in 1911 when the exodus drew their siblings faraway to the sugar cane fields on the Hawaiian Islands.

After nearly two years of my Silvan quest for information..... with the help of Julie B, I received a photograph of Geronimo that she Crestencia's daughter, Theresa, in Winters, CA shared with her (us). I felt I'd won the lottery. A photograph of the shadowy brother! And Agustin? The story was he went to Brazil and nobody heard from him again. Not so!!

The SS Manuel Calvo and the SS Cristobal Colon proves otherwise.

At age 43, Agustin was listed on the SS Cristobal Colon sailing from Cuba into the New York harbor 'in transit to Spain' headed for the port of La Coruna (Corunna in English) on June 23, 1930. He was listed as single, white hair, black eyes and 5' 7" tall.

At age 54, Geronimo was listed on the SS Manuel Calvo sailing from Cuba into the New York harbor also "in transit to Spain" headed for a 'final destination' of Zamora on June 23, 1931. He was listed as married, fair skin, black hair and brown eyes. His wife was listed as Joaquina Brogado Vicente, 5' 4".

Both ship manifests show they purchased their own tickets. Both show me the brothers were in Cuba at the same time and obviously sailed to Cuba to work in their sugar cane fields. It was a Spanish speaking country and offered jobs in the agricultural field. They fit the bill.

Now -- exhilaration here. And more questions. When did they sail from Spain? Did they go together? Where did they get on the ship? When did their mother die? We know it must have been between 1911 and 1930. Excitement mounts and the race is on again.