Luis Sánchez Castro

Luis’s full name was Luis Andrés Benito Sánchez Castro; he was born on January 13, 1807 in Barcelona, Venezuela (under Spanish rule at the time), and was baptized there on January 19. His baptism record can be found here on the right-hand side of the image. His parents were named José Francisco Sánchez and Luisa Castro González. 

Luis was likely the second child of José and Luisa; I have been able to document five children in all. Their first, José Antonio, was born on May 15, 1805, when Luisa was 17 years old. 

Luis' father, José Francisco, was a wealthy merchant who had spent time in Venezuela accruing his fortune. He also studied law at the University of Salamanca. Some time in the early 19th century, he found himself on the island of Menorca, in its capital city of Mahón. There, he met Luisa Castro González, the young daughter of local nobility. Her parents were Mariano Castro Tuduri and Catalina González Pons. José Francisco took Luisa as his bride, but it is not known whether they were married in Mahón or in Barcelona.

Some time in or shortly before 1803, the Castro family began to migrate across the Atlantic to the province of Cumaná, part of the Captaincy General of Venezuela, and settled in the city of New Barcelona. According to Luis Báez Díaz in his book "Antecesores y descendientes de los Hermanos Mariano y Luisa de Castro," the first member of the family to move to the colony was Luisa's older sister Mariquita Castro, whose husband was José María Escalera, another wealthy businessman of New Barcelona. Their parents and maternal grandparents also migrated to Barcelona around the same time; Catalina González died there on June 6, 1803. 

The church records of the Sánchez and Castro family members are found in those of the Parish of Santa Eulalia, now known as San Cristóbal. The parish had been founded in 1748 by Spanish settlers and currently houses relics of more than seven Roman Catholic saints. The first child of Jose Francisco Sánchez and Luisa Castro González was baptized at Santa Eulalia on May 20, 1805, and given the name José Pedro Antonio Isidro. Luis Andrés Benito was born less than two years later in mid-January of 1807. 

When France, led by Napoleon, invaded Spain in 1808, his brother Joseph Bonaparte was inserted as the King of Spain and the Indies. He was decidedly unpopular throughout Spain and its colonies; his reign was marked by constant conflict and his legitimacy was continuously challenged. The colonies fell into a power vacuum with no stable government, but efforts to establish local governments soon followed. A junta— a colonial institution that governed its respective region— was formed in Caracas on April 19, 1810, after the Spanish governor of the colony was ousted. 

Venezuela soon became immersed in its War of Independence. The country declared itself sovereign on July 5, 1811, but this First Republic faced opposition from loyalist provinces. Due to a lack of resources and concrete leadership (plus an earthquake that struck Caracas), the Republic collapsed in the summer of 1812. The movement would soon be re-established by Simón Bolívar, and the Spanish monarchy was restored in May of 1814 after Napoleon's defeat.

In Barcelona, the Sánchez Castro family was directly affected by the independence conflict. Rebels led by Bolívar fought José Tomás Boves’ royalist army beginning in 1813, and in October of 1814 Boves occupied Barcelona. José Francisco Sánchez was among the prominent creole leaders that opposed Spanish rule, and as a result he was captured by Boves’ army and executed. In an event known as “Los Baños de Neverí,” the heads of the rebel leaders were removed and their bodies were thrown into the Neverí River. More about this event (and about José Francisco) can be found in the article “El baile de Boves en Barcelona” by S.T. Forzan-Dagger. 

According to the book by Báez Díaz, Luis Sánchez Castro left Venezuela for Puerto Rico at a young age. He was a merchant (comerciante) and settled in Aibonito by 1837. He met María Soledad Rivera Vázquez in the adjacent town of Comerío shortly thereafter, and they were married there on July 23, 1838. María Soledad was a daughter of Comerío's mayor, Esteban Rivera, and his wife Estefanía Vázquez. She was 16 years old at the time of their marriage, and Luis was 31. They moved to Aibonito after getting married, and their first child was Luisa Sánchez Rivera. They had eight children in Aibonito, and they were:

1. Luisa Perpetua (about 1839)

2. Juana Eustaquia (about 1841)

3. Francisco Manuel (about 1843, died 14 Nov 1858)

4. Pedro Nolasco (about 1845)

5. José Cristino (July 1847)

6. Luis Pío (5 May 1849)

7. María Soledad (16 Aug 1851)

8. Monserrate Lucía (13 Dec 1853)

The birth dates of the first four children are approximate because the first baptism book for Aibonito, which covers the years up to 1846, is lost. 

The family returned to Comerío between 1854 and 1856. They had four more children there, for a total of 12. Their names were:

9. Saturnina María (about 1856)

10. Gabriel Basilio (about 1858)

11. Isabel Regina (19 Nov 1861, died 19 Jun 1863)

12. Juan (12 Jul 1864, died 13 Jul 1864)

Similar to the situation in Aibonito, the Comerío baptism books (for whites) for the years up to 1858 have also been lost, so Saturnina and Gabriel’s birth dates are approximate as well. 

The only other contemporary record I have found for Luis (other than his children's baptism records) was a census entry from 1860 taken in Comerío. The household consisted of Luis A.B. Sánchez Castro, age 52, along with his wife María Soledad and seven children. Their daughter Juana had already married. Francisco Manuel (born 1843) and María Soledad (born 1851) had died at young ages prior to 1860. They may have been infected with cholera, as a large pandemic of the disease swept the island of Puerto Rico during the 1850s and infections continued into the 1860s.

An interesting fact about Luis is that he knew how to read and write. This was fairly uncommon for people living in rural Puerto Rico at the time. His signature can be seen on the 1860 Comerío census entry. It seems that his family was well-off and educated; Luis may have received high-quality education in Venezuela. His son Pedro Nolasco would later serve as the Municipal Judge of Comerío. 

In the mid-1860s, Luis passed away, leaving María Soledad to raise their young children. He was buried in Comerío on October 24, 1865, at the age of 58 years. His burial record can be found here. 

A register of Luis' descendants will be published here soon.