The 1958 Cuban Telephone Directory shows three Fornell's in Pinar del Rio. 1- Domingo Fornell Alvarez, Marti #62; Silvio Fornell Alvarez, Coloma #151; Caridad Fornell ( Rooming House) V. Caviedes #13; two more listings for Domingo and Silvio but without their maternal surname, could it be their business telephone numbers? Domingo Fornell, A. Rubio # 48; Silvio Fornell, Vid. M. Landa #9. I have the feeling that the family was originally from Baracoa and moved to Pinar del Rio. Jorge

En el Directorio Comercial de la Republica de Cuba de 1907 solamente aparece un Fornell, el cual es joyero, pero no de Pinar del Rio, sino Baracoa en Oriente....at the other end of the island! "Fornell y Hnos. Relojeria, Plateria, y Joyeria; Plaza del Mercado, Baracoa". The listing is for Fornell and brothers...so a very close match ..surname, business, brothers...but different province. Jorge

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Fornell Gravier Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/kRC.2ACE/5301.1.3 Message Board Post: Dear Mrs. Mildred Berrios, Following my last message, I was talking a lot with my mother about Fornell’s, and she said that my father had an uncle named Caridad Fornell. Caridad had 4 brothers: Domingo, Pedro, Juanita y Silvio (my grandfather). It is a curiosity the name Caridad asociated to Fornell, isn’t it?. Caridad had an hotel and jewellery at Pinar del Río. All them were from Pinar del Río. On the other hand, in the book: “Franceses en el Suroriente de Cuba” (“French people in the Southeastern of Cuba”), published in 1997; appear a relation of 2000 french surnames that immigrated to Cuba by Oriente including someone throught Cataluña between 1750 and 1878 and Fornell doesn’t appear mentioned. Among the most similar to Fornell are: Fournier, Foucher and Fortier. Sincerely yours. Daniel Fornell.

According to Gutierre Tibon's "Diccionario etimologico de Apellidos Españoles" Fornell is a Catalan surname. "Fornell, Cat. "fogon"(Horno-Oven). Plural Fornellas Tambien de varias poblaciones del norte de Cataluña y de una aldea de Menorca" Italian; Forno, Fornelli, French; Fournal, Fournel, Fourneau, Fournet, Fournil, German; Ofele. Garcia Garrafa's "Solar Catalan, Valenciano y Balear" also documents the following surnames as Catalans originating in Gerona; Forner, Fornell and Fornells. White telephone pages of Spain lists 130 Fornell's; 121 in Cataluña, 108 of them in Barcelona, and 11 in Madrid. The French white telephone pages lists in the Mid-Pyrenees (bordering the Catalan region) region 6 Fornells. I would venture to speculate that your ancestors are Catalans. My mother's maiden name is Cervera which is Catalan but it is also found in the Mid-Pyrenees region of France. In the early 1700's the two countries had open borders relationship "Pacto de Familia"; Spain's Felipe V was the grandson of France's Louis XIV. Regards, Jorge Piñon Cervera

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Daniel Fornell Gravier Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/kRC.2ACE/5301.1.2 Message Board Post: Dear Mrs. Mildre Berrios, As I promissed you, I was talking with my mother (73 years old) yesterday night, about the Fornell’s family. My father, Andrés Fornell was born at Pinar del Río in 1931and he died in 1994. My grandfather, Silvio Fornell was born at Pinar del Río in 1903 and he died in 1965. The father of Silvio Fornell was named Andrés Fornell like my father and it’s not clear for my mother where did he come from?; Spain or directly from France?, becouse the Cuban History said that the first french immigrants were stablished at Pinar del Río long time ago, indeed they founded the city of Pinar del Río. At the begining, they stablished around one river (in spanish means río) and around the river there were a lot of pines (in spanish means pinos), so they named the city Pinar del Río, and is recognized as the principal place for french immigration. But on the other hand, it was an strong immigation from Spain. The immigration received in! Oriente is from Jamaica and Haití that entered for the south. Indeed I only know the Fornell of my family since I was born (41 years old) in spite of all my research. Sincerely yours, Daniel Fornell.

MIRANDA is not a line I'm researching, but I have had some data on the family fall into my lap. In Havana, Carlos Miranda married Celia ARGUELLES, guesstimated date 1940. They had 4 children, 2 of each. Any of this look like it could fit your data? Carlos Ruth Palm Beach Gardens, FL (561) 694-9467 -----Original Message----- From: by way of Ed Elizondo <ed@elizondo.org> [mailto:sbarranco@att.net] Sent: Monday, September 27, 2004 7:25 AM To: CUBA-L@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: general bartolome maso and Miranda This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Agúero, Agramonte, Barranco, Bringas, Maso, Miranda, Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/kRC.2ACE/5537.1 Message Board Post: I am not researching Geneal Bartolome Maso, but I am researching Miranda. One of my ggGrandfathers was Capitán Julián Miranda y Agramonte of Puerto Príncipe who married Chatarina Agúero y Bringas in 1759 in Catedral de Puerto Príncipe. I am interested in your Miranda line. Saludos, Stephen Barranco

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/kRC.2ACE/5151.1.1.1 Message Board Post: My father, Armando Jose Torres Castell was born there. He owned the store "La Angelita" next to the Cervantes Hotel. We left in 1965. We knew the Freire family, although I don't remember the older members of the family. There are a brother and sister named Maritza and Quincy. I still have one uncle there named Carlos Manuel Torres Castell. From what I know, most of the former inhabitants of that area are now living in Hialeah. Some of us lived in California for years and are now living in Miami, Fl. Hope this helps you. b t

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Fornell Gravier Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/kRC.2ACE/5301.1.1 Message Board Post: Dear Mrs. Mildred Berrios, Thank you very much for contact me. I was born in 1962 in La Habana. I am also searching for my family roots but I only know that all my family's father (Fornell) came from France and they were stablished in Pinar del Río many years ago. I don't know about any Fornell in Cuba. Anyway, this evening I will ask to my mother about that, becouse we also, have only an oral history. Pinar del Río is the western side of Cuba. I will contact you again. Thank you for your attention and your time. Sincerely yours, Daniel.

No tengo ninguna informacion , mas que esta.......mi suegra se llamaba,..... Francisca Menendez Herrera,.....y su mama se llamo ....................Maria Lluisa Herrera , y Herrera .......me puede e-escribir a mi direccion de internet, si lo desea...... yway

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/kRC.2ACE/189.953.962.3256.1 Message Board Post: I have been very ill and unable to keep up with my genealogical research. I do not believe we are related as my family tree goes back pretty far. Do search for Verdejas in the Santander mountains Alevia Alles etc. I found one in Jaen but usually most of the Verdejas come from the Asturian-Santander mountain areas.

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: vidaillet labra Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/kRC.2ACE/4989.1 Message Board Post: My name is Arnold Vidaillet Labra, I might have some information. My mothers father was Manuel Labra , now I don't think they are too close cause my grandfather went to Cuba directly from Spain nevertheless he came as "el sobrino" to help his uncle who owned a coffee mill. The uncle might be related to your grandfather. who knows? I have to ask my mother. E-mail me and I'll let you know. All the best.

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Vélez, Petít, Herrera, Solís, Pacheco, Murga Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/kRC.2ACE/298.299.301.363.1.1.1.2 Message Board Post: El abuelo de mi abuela era Ramón Vélez de Herrera (4/03/1808, Habana) hijo de Esteban Vélez y Monserrate Herrera. Casó con María de Jesús Solís y Pacheco. Entre sus hijos era Manuel de Jesús Vélez y Solís (19/07/1855). Este casó el 27/02/1882 con María de Regla Petít y Murga (8/09/1868). Entre sus hijos nació mi abuela Amelia Virginia Vélez y Petít (1884-1976). ¿Tus Herrera tienen relación con los mios?

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/kRC.2ACE/5545 Message Board Post: Looking for Clara Rodriguez-Acosta. Hija de Luis y America.

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Baez, Diaz, Fernandez, Herrera, Pazos Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/kRC.2ACE/298.299.301.363.1.1.1.1 Message Board Post: Dear Ms. Rabago, Other than the information I provided, I only know that my grandmother, Blanca Aurora FERNANDEZ y HERRERA was born in Santiago de Cuba circa 1905. Carmen HERRERA, my grandmother's mother, was probably Spanish but I do not know any more. I know of her love of Spanish music and that her accent was not Cuban. I know that the FERNANDEZ y HERRERA family held Spain close to their heart as one of them, America, probably named so for being the first born in the new land, was married to a hero of the Spanish Civil War's Abraham Lincoln Brigade against dictator Franco. (You know, as in Ernest Hemingway, Langston Hughes and Nicolas Guillén). During my teenage years I did visit my second cousins whose grandmother was America FERNANDEZ y HERRERA. They lived on 86th Street and Fifth Avenue in Manhattan and we would play in Central Park, almost every weekend, we were like first cousins (the BAEZ's). All of us knew little of the HERRERA story, only that America, their grandmother as well as Isaura, their mother, were quite diabetic. Their grandfather was radicalized by the Spanish Civil War and this caused a divorce, as the FERNANDEZ y HERRERAs are liberal but not communists. Isaura is knowledgeable regarding textiles and her husband worked with antiques. She possesses great kindness and used to come to Cuba bearing gifts of textiles for the seamstresses in the family. There are several stories to illustrate her sweet personality and infinite patience, but you might think that I exagerate. We are a good, liberal, patriotic family rent asunder by communism. The FERNANDEZ y HERRERAs are a very generous and altruistic lot. My grandmother married into the DIAZ family of Santiago de Cuba. One of my father's PAZOS y DIAZ cousins, Alicia PAZOS y DIAZ de PAZOS, married a liberal representative from Oriente, so there was a tradition of liberal political involvement. I read an obituary for Dr. Felipe PAZOS, an economist, in the New York Times but I do not even know for sure whether that is him! The one in the obituary is famous for demonstrating that Castro was not dead, as some had thought, but alive in the mountains, by arranging an interview with him by a New York Times reporter. All this to advise you that at the time of the revolution, when I was only five years old, there was much turmoil, for liberals as well as labor leaders (which my father was) were persecuted along with conservatives by the "revolutionaries" who sought complete control. The uprooting was sudden and cruel, so that we (the DIAZ-OBENs) grew up with the PAZOS-DIAZ second cousins, in New Jersey, as our only link to our homeland. Everyone just wanted to forget the old and start anew in the land of opportunity. It hurt to open old wounds. Also, discussions might lead to arguments and to hurt feelings. Cordially, Ines Diaz-Oben Please feel free to contact me off-board with any information or to post the information for others to benefit as well.

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Herrera - Cuba Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/kRC.2ACE/298.299.301.363.1.1.1 Message Board Post: Dear Ines Thank you for your beautifull information. I would love to help you find something else. But I need the name of the place she was born, and maybe I can move from there. Do you have any other specific information such as dates, places, other family names The family I have information from are the ones that came from Mortera, Cantabria. The first to arrive was Ramon Herrera San Cibrián, born 1812 mortera and died 1885 Cuba. the other surnames that I´m trying to get info about are: Blanco Herrera Herrera Gutierrez Herrera Herrera Thanks for your reply. Angelica Rabago

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Diaz, Fernandez, Herrera Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/kRC.2ACE/298.299.301.363.1.1 Message Board Post: Dear Ms. Rabago, My paternal grandmother was Blanca Aurora FERNANDEZ y HERRERA de DIAZ, born circa 1905. Her mother was Carmen HERRERA but I do not know her other surname. I can remember that she was on "Queen for a Day" in Cuba in the late 1950s, where she won a washing machine and a refrigerator. Her daughters were quite proud of her. She had a daughter named America FERNANDEZ y HERRERA. I am confident Carmen HERRERA was Spanish born or the daughter of a Spanish subject, as others would ask her for stories about the Spanish American War and she would decline. She was slightly build, had blue eyes(?) (they had lost their light much by then, and she was very very old). My beloved great grandmother was provided excellent care by my grandmother, who would say that Carmen was over one hundred years old, which would make her date of birth circa 1857, but I believed was later, given her daughter's date of birth. Her daughter America married a man who fought in the Spanish Civil War against Franco, with many decorations for high heroism. They had a daughter named Isaura (BAEZ?). Both mother and daughter did suffer from severe diabetes. Carmen's daughter, Blanca Aurora FERNANDEZ y HERRERA, my grandmother, had very black, really a mane of hair, had creamy white skin, eyes the color of amber (hence the name Blanca Aurora) and her personality was predominated by her generosity. Although she wore the vestiments of a CONVERSO, she belied her Sephardic roots in her self-denying concern for everyone, ability to survive adversity and optimism. She was also physically beautifully sephardic, given the combination of her aquiline features, her raven, thick, tresses, her VERY, VERY stubborn streak (I could tell stories there!!), her untiring work ethic and her Spanish charn. Among the long list of charities she performed was to inject diabetics who could not or were afraid to inject themselves. My great grandmother was of slight constitution but was strong enough to make it to a very advanced age. She did indeed refuse to die until I came to see her, so she was strong-willed in that tiny frame. That stubborn streak, by the way, remains in the FERNANDEZ y HERRERA family to this day. I am sorry that all I have is this, gentle memories or a Spanish woman who taught me songs and dances from her motherland. She was remembered on Queen for a Day as a mother willing to sacrifice for the good of her children. Cordially, Ines Diaz-Oben

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/an/kRC.2ACE/5301.1 Message Board Post: Daniel, I am serching for my Fornell roots. Oral hystory has it my maternal g-g-grandfather, Caridad Acosta came to Puerto Rico via Cuba (Circa 1860's). He married Estefania Fornell whose family was from Catalunya, (Cataluna) Spain. Could there be a relation to your Fornells? I would appreciate any info. you may have. Thank you.

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/kRC.2ACE/1499.1 Message Board Post: Jorge La familia que investigo llego a cuba a mediados de 1800 provenientes de Mortera Cantabria. El primero en llegar fue Manuel Herrera Sancibrian yposteriormente sus hermanos Cosme y Pedro. De ahi toda esta rama. me puedes infomrar que linea estas investigando y con suerte es la misma.

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/kRC.2ACE/298.299.302 Message Board Post: Dear Nicolas Im also looking for the Herrera Family from Cuba. Pls tell me which branch are you coming from. The one I´m interested on are the ones that came from Mortera Cantabria in 1800. The first one to arrive to Cuba was Manuel Herrera Sancibrian (1812-1885), later on his brothers Cosme and Pedro. The three of them got married in Cuba. Pls contact me so we can share information best regardss Angelica

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/kRC.2ACE/298.299.301.363.1 Message Board Post: ear Ines Im also looking for the Herrera family in Cuba. The Herrera`s Im looking for are the ones realated to the company "sobrinos de Herrera". They arrived from Mortera , Cantabria, around the 1800. the first one to arrive was Manuel Herrera Sancibrian (1st. Cont of Mortera). I have a lot of information regarding this side of my family. Pls. feel free in contacting me. Angelica malajim@yahoo.com