FAMILIA : INDALECIO

 

The Indalecio clan in the Marianas probably goes back to a single individual with this last name who came to Guam sometime in the early 1800s from who knows where. 

There are no Indalecios in the 1727 nor 1758 Guam Censuses, so the first Indalecio came later. The name is Spanish, so he could have come from Spain, Latin America or the Philippines. 

But the Portuguese also have the name Indalecio, and a few Portuguese seamen did come to Guam, so we have to allow for that possibility.

SMALL FAMILY

In the 1897 Census of Guam, there are only EIGHT individuals with the last name Indalecio, and the exact relationship of about half of them, one to the other, is not entirely clear.

One Pedro Indalecio is mentioned in a document from 1856, and his signature (seen above) is even included. He could be the ancestor of these eight Indalecios in the 1897 Census (one of whom is named Pedro, probably after this older Pedro) but I have no evidence showing how he might be their ancestor.

The fact that this older Pedro Indalecio could, first of all, sign his name and with a firm hand and even with the flourish at the end shows that he was educated more than the average person on Guam at the time.

Of the eight Indalecios in the 1897 Census, there are only three men, none of them with children of their own who would carry the Indalecio name. One is older and married but without children, and the other two men are younger and still bachelors.

It is mainly the women who will have children, albeit out of wedlock, who will produce many Indalecio children, these illegitimate children keeping their single mothers' last name. We can list them as follows :

CLARA CRUZ INDALECIO

Clara was born around 1863. Apparently she never married but was the mother of

Pedro Indalecio, born around 1872. Pedro married Rufina Díaz Camacho, the daughter of Juan Camacho and María Díaz. Pedro and Rufina had more than half a dozen children, one of whom was Emeteria, who married Donald Kidd, and was the grandmother of Father Richard Kidd.

Another child, Juan, permanently moved to California in 1929; one of the early immigrants to the US mainland. He died in Alameda in 1986. He was married for a time, but late in life and never had children.

Pedro and Rufina's son José married María Mesa Camacho, the daughter of Francisco Camacho and María Mesa, and they had children, keeping the Indalecio name moving to the next generation.

Pedro had a sister María Indalecio, daughter of Clara. María had some children out of wedlock but it seems this line died out.

There was one more sister, Ana Indalecio. Ana had many more children than Pedro or María, all out of wedlock. 

Ana's son Juan Indalecio married Ignacia Rojas Mafnas, the daughter of Antonio Mafnas and Lucía Rojas, and this line continued the Indalecio name.

Another son of Ana, Vicente Indalecio, married Rosario Rojas, the daughter of Ana Santos Rojas, and they had children, too, who in turn had their own children.

Interestingly, one of Ana's grandchildren went by the family nickname "Clara," who was his great-grandmother.

MARÍA DE LA ROSA INDALECIO

All we know for now is that there was another Indalecio woman named María de la Rosa Indalecio who was the mother of a daughter out of wedlock named ROSA INDALECIO.

Rosa in turn had many children out of wedlock, all of them daughters except for one son. There are many Indalecio grandchildren from Rosa's offspring.

SAIPAN LINE

THE GOVERNOR OF THE NORTHERN MARIANAS

Arnold Indalecio Palacios

a descendant of Mariano Reyes Indalecio of Guam

In 1897 there was a Mariano Indalecio living with the other Indalecios (Maria, who married de León, Clara and her children). He seems to have moved to Saipan at the turn of the century.

According to Saipan records, his full name was Mariano Reyes Indalecio, the son of Antonio Indalecio and Ana Reyes. We do not know yet what relationship Antonio had with the other Indalecios on Guam. He does not appear in any records at the time so he was presumably dead by 1897.

In Saipan, Mariano married María Muña Palacios, the daughter of José Palacios and Ana Muña. They had children who continued the Indalecio name in Saipan. The current Governor of the CNMI is a descendant.

OTHER INDALECIOS

Many others have Indalecio blood in them, but thanks to their mothers, so they carry their father's last names.

Some of these families who married Indalecio wives a long time ago were de León, Pérez, Salas and, more recently, Quichocho.

But if you're last name is Indalecio, you're either from CLARA's line or MARÍA's line, or MARIANO's line if you're an Indalecio from Saipan.

FAMILIAN RÅNA

Even in Spanish times, Pedro Indalecio went by the nickname RÅNA, which is Spanish for frog (sapo is Spanish for toad). Other Indalecios also went by that same nickname.

The interesting thing is that there were no frogs or toads on Guam at that time. They came later. So how did Chamorros know the Spanish word for a critter that did not exist on Guam at the time? Of course it's possible they heard of it anyway, when stories are told or just from simple conversations.

Still, it's interesting (and a mystery) why someone should get that nickname.

So, some Indalecios go by Råna and sometimes by Clara. And the Quichochos who are also Indalecios often go by Råna.