Los Hermanos de la Sociedad de Nuestro Padre Jesus Nazerno, Rowe, New Mexico in the 1960's

A typical morada.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penitentes_(New_Mexico)

There were 6 (six) of us if I recall right. There was don Jose Gutierrez who belonged at the morada in San Juan, New Mexico in San Miguel County. Esquipula Padilla belonged to the same morada.

Then there was don Pablo Salmeron who belonged to the morada in El Guzano (South San Isidro). He was the only member from Rowe there.

Myself, my brother and Nicasio Archuleta belonged to the morada in Las Colonias, San Miguel County. There were two moradas in Las Colonias, one near town and the other at "el Cerrito". We, form Rowe belonged to the one at el Cerrito.

Some hermanos in a morada somewhere in New Mexico

As illustrated by the above narrative, not all towns had a morada and some had more than one. I have no idea why, could have been politics, could have been the need/want to keep the numbers of hermanos to a manageable number. Anyway, Rowe did not have its own morada.

I recall my time with this group as one of the best times of my life, los Hermanos were the best of the best of the people in the area. It was one of the cherished things I left when my religious beliefs went "south".  Years later I ran into the Hermano Mayor and he told me my place at the morada was still there, waiting for me should I decide I wanted to rejoin the group..... but I would have to rejoin the Catholic Church and go to confession and receive the Eucharist before I could do that.

Today when I read about the "Penitentes" I do not recognize the folks some write about. We were a very private group and only members and families were ever invited to the morada and that was usually during Holy Week in Lent. The remainder of the year only members were present unless someone bought a "guest". Usually guests were cleared in advance. Our morada was very remote and 99% could/would not undertake the trek without some means other than walking.

Needless to say, I have never been back. But I do miss the morada, los hermanos and our get tohethers.

Genealogy, Never, Ever Complete......

The genealogical puzzle is never ever complete, never. It is very interesting finding a piece here and there, but it is never really complete. It is the nature of the beast. Some pieces just fall into place, others not so much. Some mysteries are solved and others crop up as you look and find relatives. Some are destined never to be found.

Most genealogical charts are represented by the picture above, with a few known and many unknown pieces outside of the main picture. Some folks do not want to find certain pieces of the puzzle. Others, I am sure, omit certain known pieces that do not fit their narrative of "family".

To find a relative who was a crook or desperado 150 years ago seems not only ok, but to add some color to the tree. But the guy on the evening news who was drunk and killed several people in an automobile accident..... Well, some will eliminate or not add him to their tree because of this.

To find that GGGreat grand ma did something stupid may be ok, even funny on occasion, but not one close on the genealogical chart. Not mom or grand ma. They were saints and if you dare add it!!!!!

I have shared charts along with notes on the individuals in the chart that I happened to share. The notes contain some information on where the information came from and a short note on the individual(s) themselves.  Sometimes I have been asked to "clean" up the narrative and even been asked to get rid if "it" from my database. I will usually clean up the version I gave them, but my database remains as it is.