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| Felix and statue of King Carlos III at Santa Barbara Presidio |
Many documents I found on Quintero seemed to undermine his contributions to the pueblo. The harsh description of "useless"
for him and two others appears to be of significance for his eventual petition to leave the pueblo for Santa Barbara, which
was being founded the following year. Three of his daughters were already there having been married to Spanish soldiers before
leaving Sonora, so for the family to be reunited was perhaps all for the better. The truth is, at his age he may have found
it difficult to adapt to the rigorous farm work at the pueblo. Anyway, I'm sure the soldiers at the presidio were happy to
have him available to keep their uniforms hemmed and tidy on a regular basis. He lived the rest of his life there as the town's
only tailor.
Romero is a major surname in the Santa Barbara area today and it's where the name comes into my lineage - specifically
when Maria Felipa Lugo married military sergeant Tomas de la Trinidad Romero (later listed as farmer on an 1852 census) on
5 Febuary 1826 and had a son, Anastacio Romero, on 21 April 1831. Anastacio is my great-great-great grandfather. His father
Tomas was the grandson of Jose Maximo Alanis, yet another military man who assisted in escorting the pobladores. He ended
up owning land in the Los Angeles area that later became occupied by Westwood, UCLA, Holmby Hills and Bel Air.
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| Felix at Westwood Park next to a plaque detailing Maximo Alanis as one-time land owner |
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| Copy of the disputed Maximo land grant |
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| Genealogy chart for cousin Felix |
Below is my lineage to Quintero - notice my great-great grandfather is Felix's grandfather
(*) represents bloodline:
*Luis Quintero & Maria Petra Rubio
Jose Rosalino Fernandez & *Maria Josefa Juana Quintero
Jose Miguel Lugo & *Maria Isabel Fernandez
Tomas de la Trinidad Romero & *Maria Felipa Lugo
*Anastasio Romero & Francisca Tiburcia Poyorena
*Alfred Romero & Frances Ayala
Joseph Rios & *Louise Romero
Albert Camou Leon III & *Pauline Rios
*Albert John Leon IV & Rebecca Ann Monge
*Albert Anthony Leon V & Teresa Maria Alexandra LoCascio
my children:
*Albert Anthony Leon VI
*Alexandra Maria Leon
A funny story Felix loves to tell is when he went to the Santa Barbara Mission to meet with Father Maynard Geiger
to research the name Romero. He had to wait a few weeks as the father only met with people on certain days. Once
there, a secretary directed him to an archive office where he found "this little old man sitting behind a huge
desk". Felix introduced himself as Felix Romero Medina and mentioned he wanted to research Romeros of Santa Barbara, and
asked if he was familiar with the name. Father Geiger stood up waving his hands in the air saying, "I'm surrounded
by them, I'm surrounded by them!" Felix was given a personal tour of the museum where he got to hold a cross
and bible once owned by Father Junipero Serra, founder of the first nine California Missions.
In August 2006, LP200 celebrated with the city of Santa Barbara as participants
in their Old Spanish Days Fiesta. One of the events of the annual, week-long festivites includes a parade where we
rented a carriage pulled by a mule team. We were all excited that it was televised for the local Cox Cable
channel, which meant exposure for us. Anthony and Alex also rode along and got a kick out of waving to noisy strangers
along the parade route. The Fiesta Historical Parade is one of the largest equestrian parades in the United States.
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| Anthony and Alex anticipate the parade |
Felix and I are also members of another heritage group, Los Californianos, which is an organization that
preserves the heritage of the early Hispanic Californians of Alta California. Please visit their web site.
http://www.loscalifornianos.com/
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