Maria de Jesus Juarez

En memoria
de la que en vida fue
Madre de Jesus Juarez,
nacio en Rio Verde,
Edo. de San Luis Potosi, Mexico
el dia 4 de Enero 1850,
fallecio en Corpus Christi
el dia 24 de Octubre de 1906
Su afligida hija
Juanitita M. de Reyes
le dedica este recuerdo a la memoria
Que su alma se purifique
de Gloria. Y en paz sus restos descansen.

Photo Credit: Rosa G. Gonzales

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Speculation

Her stone states that Maria was born in Rio Verde, San Luis Potosi, Mexico on 4 January 1850 and that she died in Corpus Christi, Texas on 24 October 1906. However, there is no obit found for her in any of the newspapers around that date nor is her interment reported in the Bay View Association Records of Interment which has a gap from September 1906 to 1908 (interments given for 1908 usually have the year but no month). The stone says that it was erected by her daughter Juanita M. de Reyes. There is a listing for a Maria J. Juarez in the 1880 census records of Nueces County (page 33B). She is a widow, 35 year old native of Mexico, who works as a laundress. She has a daughter Martinez J. Juarez (possibly Juanita M.) and is living with a cousin Eleuteria Muniz (female) who also is a laundress of Mexico and is 30 years old age. With Eleuteria is her daughter Petra who is now married to "Chou Mesa" (a 28 year old fisherman from Mexico). The oldest person in the household is a grandmother to Eleuteria. She is Eusavia Perales who is 85 years old and a native of Mexico. This appears to be the most likely family grouping of Maria de Jesus Juarez. However, no clear listing of her or the family is found in the 1900 census records of Nueces County so it is unclear whether she was missed or simply lived out of the county at that point.

 

Research and transcription: Michael A. Howell