FAMILIA : TAIJITO

 

The Taijito family history is pretty straightforward. The majority of Taijitos are from Asan, and I suspect that even the few Taijitos found in Hagåtña in Spanish times were originally from Asan.

Since the family is too large in number, I will just identify the males who were able to establish lines that kept the family name going.

Sometimes a female Taijito who had children out of wedlock produced children who carried forward the name Taijito, and these I will also include.

LUÍS MAAÑAO TAIJITO

Luís, from Asan, was married to Fermina Aflleje Taitano. They had two sons, Francisco and José.

Francisco married Rosalía Pérez Cruz, the daughter of Felipe and Margarita. They had a son Vicente who had moved to the US before World War II. He registered for the draft in New York City in 1940. He does not seem to have produced children and his whereabouts disappear.

José married Vicenta Santos Salas, the daughter of José and María and had several children but only one was a male who carried forward the Taijito name. He was Francisco, and he married Asunción Santos Muña, the daughter of Gregorio and Josefa. Eventually they moved to Hågat and raised their children there.

So from Luís Maañao Taijito of Asan came the Muña Taijitos based in Hågat, and their line still continues to this day.

RITA TORRES TAIJITO

Another Asan Taijito was Rita, whose parentage is unknown at this time.

Before Rita married Felipe Santos Aflleje, she had a daughter named María Taijito. María in turn had a number of children out of wedlock. At least three daughters (Vicenta, Consolación and Manuela) married and had numerous children, but carrying their fathers' surname. No sons of María seem to have fathered children to carry forward the Taijito name.

And so the Taijito name gradually vanished as a last name from its birthplace of Asan, though many Asan families obviously have Taijito blood in them.

APOLINARIA MEGOFÑA TAIJITO

Apolinaria is a Hagåtña woman in the 1897 Census, but having two very Asan names - Taijito and Megofña - I wouldn't be surprised if she originally came from Asan and then moved to the capital city.

Although married to José Aguon, Apolinaria had two children out of wedlock.

A daughter Ana Taijito married Severino Ricardo Apuron, so the entire Apuron clan are descendants of Ana, the daughter of Apolinaria.

A son Mamerto married Ana Mendiola Benavente, familian Lile'. And so now we have the Benavente Taijitos. Mamerto moved up to Machånao in the Dededo municipality before the war. They had one son Jesús.

FRANCISCO SALAS TAIJITO

I came across the interesting life of Francisco Salas Taijito, the son of José Taitano Taijito and Vicenta Salas Santos. Francisco comes from the Luís Maañao Taijito clan of Asan, though he moved to Hågat. He also went by the nickname Frank.

Frank was well-known back in the day for being chef for Guam's postwar Governors. He served them all in the 1950 and 60s, many of them American Governors appointed by the US President.

Frank wasn't just a good cook of Chamorro food. He could cook pretty much anything he could find a recipe for. Once found, the recipe stayed in his head. When he made chow mein for Governor Elvidge, who had very sophisticated tastes, Frank made his own noodles. When Governor Daniels blew in from Texas with wife and children in hand, Frank made hominy grits for breakfast. Frank made soups, salads, main courses, desserts and pastries. Each Governor had their own eating habits, and Frank easily adjusted to each one; from those partial to gourmet food to those who were satisfied with just toast and coffee in the morning.

He not only cooked for the Governor and family but also for their dinner guests, the frequency and amount of them depending on the Governor.

Frank got his start cooking for a living when PanAm hired him in 1937 to cook meals for the China Clipper seaplanes that landed in Apra Harbor before the war. He spent just two days in the Navy, the shortest stint he believed on record, and was released by the Navy to start working for PanAm. Besides cooking ground meals, Frank flew on the planes to cook in-flight meals. His plane was at Midway when the war broke out, so he wasn't on Guam for the war. Frank passed away in 1993 at the age of 85.

FRANCISCO TAIJITO WITH SAW IN HAND ON RIGHT

putting up booths for the Hågat parish fiesta in 1967

Father Donan Hickey on left

THE MEANING OF TAIJITO

We can't be too sure what Taijito means because the second part of the name, HUTO, can mean two different things. It can mean either lice or the seed of the dukduk (a kind of breadfruit) tree.

So Taijito can mean either "without lice" or "without dukduk seeds." Although the thought of lice isn't pleasant, remember that the name means WITHOUT lice, and that's a good thing.

For all we know, there could have been another meaning of huto which we don't know today.

There is another Chamorro word huto', which means "to spread," like spreading a cloth on a table. But huto' has a glota, which is not present in Taijito.

Our ancestors came up with unusual (for us) names. Just think of Taimanglo (without wind) or Taitano (without land).