Land grant descendant to speak on Valley history

The Hispanic Group of the Tip O' Texas Genealogical Society will meet today from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Harlingen Public Library, 410 '76 Drive. P.G. Cavazos of Brownsville will present a program on "Valley History and Genealogical Research."

Cavazos is a local historian and longtime board member of the Cameron County Historical Commission, where he presently serves on the Roads and Sites Committee, dealing with the naming of roads in the county. He is a direct descendant of original land grantees in the Lower Rio Grande Valley and now lives on a section of that same property in the Brownsville area.

His land grant ancestor was Jose Salvador de la Garza, who received more than 266,000 acres from the king of Spain in the Espirito Santo Grant and made his first settlement in the Rancho Viejo area. At one time, that grant covered almost three-fourths of Cameron County.

Cavazos, who was born and raised in San Pedro, has been involved in family research for more than 20 years and has traced his family back to 1550. He is a descendant of Doña Estefana Goseascochea de Cavazos de Cortina, the matriarch of the Espiritu Santo Grant and mother of Juan N. Cortina.

In researching his family's history, Cavazos has amassed a large number of original documents and photographs, some of which he will display at this meeting. Three of his family names are Cavazos, de la Garza and Garcia.

Cavazos is also involved in cemetery research and takes great pride in having had the Cavazos Family Cemetery designated as a historical site, the first rural cemetery in Cameron County to receive this recognition.

This program is a "must" if you are interested in Valley history and Hispanic research. Cavazos is an interesting and animated speaker, who will share the history of his family and their land, as well as the wealth of information he has gathered, which presents a different perspective on the history of this area.
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Please feel free to bring your family trees, photographs and scrapbooks to share with the group. The meeting is open to the public and everyone interested in genealogy is invited to attend. For more information, contact Santos V. Canales at 956-399-8244.
Torres can be contacted at torresmaro@att.net.