Don Antonio Aizpuru is my great grandfather. I and my father have not met him. He had to return to Spain when my grandfather, Cipriano was ten years old. But that's going ahead of my story.
My great grandfather, Don Antonio Aizpuru, together with four other Carlistas arrived in Negros Island. they settled in an area now known as La Carlota City, named after the organization that they belonged with "Carlista."
My great grandfather together with the four other Carlista were fleeing the Spanish Authorities. They were somehow connected with the Spanish Civil war. They arrived at around the early part of the 1900s, The Philippines then was revolting against the Spanish colonizer. They were able to slipped in with out being noticed by the Spanish authorities, such that the five of them were able to able to settle down and have their families.
My great grandfather bought lands for his family, he set up Hacienda San Antonio & hacienda Vizcaya in La Carlota City. He married the Daughter of Governor Gil of Iloilo.
His wife bore him four Children . They were Cipriano, Consuelo, Conchita & Cornelio. His youngest son was only a year old when the Spanish Civil war ended. He received a message from his family that an amnesty was being given to all those involved.
Asking his wife, if she wants to go to Spain, my great grand mother decided to stay put in Negros.My great grand father left his family.
More or less, I can say that my great grand father abandoned his families here in the Philippines. I can say this, because he never returned to Negros island after that. His eldest son, Cipriano, died at the age of 56 yrs old in 1965 due to diabetes. His father did not even bothered to visit him. My great grandfather died in 1967, two years after the death of his eldest son. Three other children are still alive as of year 2000. They are now in their golden years.
Based on my researched, that's all the data, I have gathered. These information were all told to me by my mother Erlinda Lopez Aizpuru. I do not know if my great grand father has relatives left in Basque, Spain. Anyway this web page was set up by me, to announced to the whole world that the Aizpuru family in the Philippines is alive & growing.
Next is letter from Bobbie Cornelio Aizpuru, My uncle & cousin of my father. He & my uncle, Robert Aizpuru, my Dad's brother & tita Emilie Aizpuru de la Torre, my aunt my Dad's cousin, collaborrated to correct my research version of Antonio Aizpuru.
Here is their letter to me;
Hi Jolan.
The ghost of Sr. Don Antonio Aizpuru is starting to haunt us... especially when you published his story in the net, and the interest, the Argentineans have given to the story... anyway, we got together, Baby, emilie and I Monday may 5, and... Have opened... "Pandora's Box" ... so to speak...
Anyway, thank you for taking the pains, and the patience to do what we should have done, while the 1st generation Aizpuru's were still alive; But I guess, we have all together taken these things for granted because "it has always been "Taboo" to talk about family history from both sides - grandfather and grandmother.
What we know, and this has been confirmed when the 3 of us cousins meet. The information I'm sharing here is common knowledge to the 3 of us. Meaning we all has heard about these all from my mother, Emily’s mother and Baby has heard it from his father’s acquaintances. But never directly from the Aizpuru's so here is some information which would enlighten your research material on Don Antonio....
Baby made sure that we have your Don Antonio Story, so he unloaded the same and shared it with us. You’re mentioning that "Don Antonio together with four other Caritas"... strikes a cord with me... I remembered my father mentioned about a certain Claudio Zuloaga, from whom I was getting their monthly pension and about Sketchy info on Claudio being the administrator of Don Antonio properties when he went back to Spain. So we decided to visit Mr. Vicente Zuloaga, the son of Sr. Don Vicente Zuloaga, and surprise, surprise... Mr. Vicente Zuloaga showed us a picture of five (5) Spanish students who fled Spain, thru the help of Uriarte Hermanos intercession - who have established themselves in the Hacienda they called 'Vizcaya, in La Carlota, Negros Occidental. Originally La Carlota is part of the Municipality of San Enrique and was called Simancas. In Oct. 15, 1869m the King of Spain issued a Royal decree elevating the town of Pontevedra into a parish and Simances into a town. In 1871, King Carlos of Spain issued another Royal Decree changing the name of the town Simancas to La Carlota.
The Decree was issued upon the request of Spanish "Carlistas" who were followers of King Carlos of Spain. On Dec. 4, 1876, a Royal Decree was issued creating La Carlota into a parish. Meaning, as early as the 1850's, there were already Spaniards in the place called Mampounay, later Simancas and ultimately La Carlota, and most of them, if not all of them were Basques.
By the 1890's La Carlota's agricultural advances had become a model sugar farms in Negros. During this period the Spanish sugar planters in La Carlota had become sophisticated enough to organize a circulo de agricultores, and have their headquarters in Hda. Fe. The sugar farm of Uriarte Hermanos. Which covered an area of about 880 heactares, these were Vizcaya Vieja, Vizcaya Hunob and Vizcaya Alaba. These were called so to remind the owners that they came from the Basque Country which is logical why Don Antonio and his friends found their way to La Carlota, and for that matter Vizcaya.
You mentioned about Don Antonio, coming over with the other friends. In the afternoon of May 12, 2008, the 3 of us that is Baby, Emilie and I went to see Mr. Vicente Zuloaga whom I have mentioned earlier... he showed us a picture of five Spaniards students in their school uniform. The 4 were properly identified as Juan Isasi who at present owns a wide sugar farm here in Pontevedra; La Carlota Mill District, Vicente Zuloaga who went back to Spain, leaving Vicente to grow up and eventually worked for the Uriarte's; Claudio Aldecoa whose family name sounds familiar as I have read it before and Claudio Zuloaga, who according to my father was the guy, he was getting their family pension, from when he was younger, why father never bothered to explain as it angered him every time the subject was brought up.
Anyway, back to the picture since the picture was the property of the Zuloaga's, I cannot understand why the other guy in the picture was only identified as a friend. He could be Don Antonio, because as far as we can all remember, Claudio's name was mentioned in our families - without relevance.
When I was younger, me maternal grandfather would mention every time we would visit this farm, that the adjacent sugar land, called Hda. Berta was owned by Don Antonio. According to him, Don Antonio was a very strong guy, he would throw a crow bar like a javelin and at one time he separated a fighting carabao with his bare hands. He owns a herd of carabao at that time.
The Uriarte Hermanos, were helping a lot of Spaniards, especially Basque's in establishing themselves in the Mill District of La Carlota, La Castellana and Pontevedra so that they were able to but haciendas or administer sugar farms. La Carlota so haven for Basque’s during the period, as mossy of the biggest sugar lands were owned by them, of administered by them.
I have heard about Don Antonio's going back to Spain story from my mother. He was called back to Spain because the civil was has ended, and that they granted amnesty. Before I left, he asked his wife to go back with him together with their children to Spain, He also asked her that he would buy lands for them in the heart of the town, and leave her Hda. Berta, for whatever reason, my grandmother refuse all the offers but instead opted for a monthly pension, and the support for the children's education.
He went back to Spain when Cipriano and my father Cornelio were sent to Colegio de San Agustin de Iloilo, a prominent boarding school for Spanish decent boys, during that time. Cipriano finished his commercial education but my father has to stop before even finishing high school because support from their father was stopped. For reasons unknown to us.
The story of my grandfather and grandmother was never told to us, these questions which were not welcomed and answered even until the death of my father. But I can feel ,then that all of us in the family have felt that he has deep resentments to his father, even to the extent of not speaking in Spanish, when we know very well he speaks the language, given that he went to a Spanish school. Jolan, I am very sorry I have to correct you on some details.
1. About Carolina Antonio's life. She is not the daughter of Gov. Pedro Gil - her family name is not Gil - but Parpa - she is romantically related to Gov. Gil. Before Gov. Gil assassination. As a matter of fact she had a child or children by him. I don't know what the relationship was - wife, a paramour or live-in partner, the assassination of the Gov. was the reason why her whole family fled to Negros and eventuallu settled at Ligua Communal Adjacent to Vizcaya. She was a very beautiful woman.
2. Don Antonio - may have administered or worked at Hda. San Antonio and Hda. Vizcaya but he did not owned them. I understand he owned Hda. Berta and this was administered by Claudio Zuloaga when he went back to Spain.
I'm sending you the copy of the picture 1. Juan Asasi 2. Claudio Aldecoa 3. This is identified only as a friend 4. Claudio Zuloaga 5. Vicente Zuloaga. I don not know if there is a way for you to have the guy in the picture identified of the 4 only Claudio Zuloaga is still known to be alive and is residing in Bilbao. We could zero-in our quest in the Bilbao area. If Claudio is the villain to the Aizpuru's in La Carlota, I doubt of we can get any info from him.
I don't know how we should go from here having this information. I hope we will be able to connect... to bridge the gap our grandfather has left.
I'll send you the family tree soon.
Regards,
Tito Bob