GLORIA VILLA CADENA
HISPANIC GENEALOGY RESEARCHER
Par Excellence
By George Farías
On October 6, 2007, San Antonio and the Hispanic historical and genealogical community lost a great citizen, historian, and genealogist. Her many friends that day mourned the death of Gloria Villa Cadena with the knowledge that her passing represented the profound loss of a recognized pioneer in the fledging field of American Hispanic genealogy research. She was the type of individual that makes one wish that persons had two lives. While she accomplished much in her lifetime, she barely had made inroads into the wealth of archival data that exists in the United States and Mexico, not to mention Spain.
Hispanic genealogy research is a relatively new field of study in the United States. About 40 years ago a society formed in Austin, Texas to begin ancestral investigations of persons in Texas with family roots in the Spanish Colonial and Mexican periods. The club did not survive, but it spawned a group in Houston and one in San Antonio. Los Bexareños Genealogical Society in San Antonio was founded by Gloria V. Cadena, wife of the late Honorable Judge Carlos C. Cadena, Chief Judge of the Fourth Court of Civil Appeals. The Bexar County Courthouse is named for Judge Cadena along with his colleague Judge Blair Reeves. Later similar clubs were initiated in Corpus Christi, McAllen, Dallas, Laredo, Victoria, and Nacogdoches. In 1984 Mrs. Cadena hosted the fifth statewide Hispanic Genealogy and History Conference in San Antonio, a successful event that is now in its 39th year. Austin recently formed its group again. These are non-profit self–help organizations made up of grass roots persons interested in teaching members to do their own genealogy, and assisting them in the techniques of how to trace their ancestry.
Los Bexareños Genealogical Society has published a quarterly journal since 1983, now annually, primarily containing research data by its members in the form of extracts of births, baptisms, marriages, deaths, and wills. The club also publishes other books of similar information that are distributed to libraries for availability to the general public, and promotes genealogical and historical events. For several years volunteers had been available at the Jose Antonio Navarro State Park each Saturday to assist the general public in consultations and to provide assistance with their genealogical investigations, now at their own resource center.
Mrs. Cadena’s first marriage was to Robert A. Galvan, a captain in the United States Air Force, who perished untimely in an aviation accident in Kansas. The Galvans had seven children and Gloria was pregnant with her eighth child at the time of the accident. Left widowed and a single parent, Gloria displayed the strong will, courage, and tenacity that would later characterize her work in genealogical research. All her children are grateful for her love and sacrifices in raising them, and all have very successful careers. Gloria’s second marriage to Judge Cadena was a unique union and one strongly supported by her family. Doris Fischer, a close friend and first treasurer of the society, said that the Cadena home was warmly opened to one and all. Many guests recount intellectual discussions about politics, law, genealogy, and history that enlivened their gatherings.
Gloria’s first cousin was Col. Ernest A. Montemayor, USAF-Ret., another pioneer in Hispanic genealogy research in the United States, who entered the field as a young man before anyone else was aware of the many archival records available, or who took an interest in this field of study. The late Col. Montemayor built a personal collection of approximately 10,000 Hispanic genealogy and history books, perhaps the only collection of its kind in the Americas. During a visit to Washington D.C. where Col. Montemayor was stationed at the time, Gloria began to peruse these volumes, and in the course of her review developed her interest. She began to compile her own library, and quickly became an expert in transcribing Spanish and Mexican colonial documents.
These documents are written in a script called paleography and extremely difficult to read. Gloria taught herself to decipher them on her own. Many times she could be seen patiently reviewing a word or a letter with her magnifying glass to obtain the correct spelling and transcription. Gloria soon became a walking encyclopedia on the early Hispanic families of San Antonio. She could quote successive generations of these families by memory. Persons would often show up at her house unannounced seeking help, and she was known to never turn anyone away. Most would resist such intrusions but not Gloria.
She made several trips to Mexico in search of missing archives. One time she searched over several years for missing archives of the San Juan Bautista Mission and Presidio, now Guerrero Coahuila, Mexico. This fort and mission near today’s Eagle Pass, Texas was the gateway to Texas on the Camino Real. Following clues and hunches she finally found the records in some obscure church in Mexico. This was typical of her perseverance in these matters.
Gloria had several disciples who themselves have become among the best researchers in Hispanic genealogy in the country. She set a very high standard in
her research work. She did not accept any facts unless they were strictly documented and accuracy in her work was foremost. She was so demanding that Col. Montemayor once described her as a “Mother Superior.” Had Gloria chosen the spiritual life no doubt she would have made an excellent prioress. With all due respect to religion, her colleagues are glad she chose an alternate road.
Gloria, Along with her friend, Angel S. Brown, published two books. San Agustin Parish of Laredo, Marriage Book I, 1790-1857 and San Agustin Parish of Laredo, Marriage Book II, 1858-1881. She was nearing completion on a book of the San Juan Bautista records she located. Many historians have acknowledged Gloria’s assistance in their publications and she was a valuable resource to many. Noted author Dr. Oakah L. Jones Jr. commented that when he first came to San Antonio he found out that all Texas history roads locally led to Gloria’s home. Gloria was a member of the Texas and Bexar County Historical Commissions.
The work of Mrs. Cadena raised the level of awareness of our Hispanic ancestors and their contributions not only to Mexico, but to The United States as well. Early Hispanic settlers braved the elements and the native inhabitants to establish towns, farms and ranches similar to U.S. pioneers. While the names of these persons are not household words, the dedicated efforts of researchers like Gloria will eventually bring them into the light of popular history, and recognize them for their significant work.
An early history of the Mexican state of Nuevo Leon was written in the 17th century by a scholar named Alonso de León, the elder. De León stated that his history was written so that the key players in the founding of the state would not be forgotten, and relegated to what he called the “Caverns of Oblivion.” Col. Montemayor similarly noted that when we die, we die three times. Once when we expire, secondly, when we are buried, and thirdly, when we are forgotten.
Gloria Villa Cadena and her scholarship should not be forgotten and must be remembered. Furthermore, she deserves to be honored for instilling awareness, self-esteem and pride to the many persons she informed and influenced about their Hispanic legacies and heritage.
Copyright © 2007
George Farias
All Rights Reserved
