Salvador Guerra & Josefa Mera

Name: Salvador Guerra
Ship: El Sagrado Corazón de Jesús
Birth: ca.1734

Wife: Josefa Mera (Cabrera)

Birth: ca. 1738

VID: ES002

History

Salvador left Santa Cruz, Tenerife in June 5, 1779 sailing on the ship El Sagrado Corazón de Jesús and landed in Havana, Cuba on July 25, 1779.1,2   He arrived in Havana, Cuba with his wife Josefa and children Salvador, Josef, Catalina, Ignacia, Maria, Ysabel and Maria Josefa. 

The family stayed in Havana and nearby Regla until 1783, waiting for permission to continue the journey to Louisiana due to the war.2  After the war, he left Havana for Pensacola with his wife Josefa and children Catalina, Salvador, Ignacia, Isabel, Maria and Juan Antonio.  They resided in Pensacola and are listed in the 1784 Pensacola census.3  

Josefa is listed as "Josefa Mera" in the ship list and as "Josefa Cabrera" in the 1784 census.

Children

1. Catalina (b.1758)
2. Salvador (b.1762)
3. Ignacia (b.1773)
4. Maria
5. Isabel (b.1777)
6. Maria Josefa (b.1779)
7. Juan Antonio (b.1781)

Daughter Catalina married Jose Maura.  They are mentioned in the 1794 confirmation lists and they continued to have children in Pensacola.5,7  She remarried Ramon Gonzales of Galicia, Spain, resident of Pensacola, in 1800 after lengthy proceedings with Fr. Santiago Colman proving his celibacy and single past in Spain.8  

Daughter Ignacia is believed to have married Juan Rodriguez in Pensacola and residing with her husband and two small children nearby.3  Juan is believed to have died Sept 21, 1784.4    

NOTE: Son Juan Antonio is believed to have been born in Havana, Cuba.

NOTE: Maria, born between 1774 and 1776, is not listed in the census of 1784.  She may have died in Havana.

References

1. Sidney Louis Villere, The Canary Islands Migration to Louisiana, 1778-1783. the History and Passenger Lists of the Islenos Volunteer Recruits and Their Families.
2. Gilbert C. Din, The Canary Islanders of Louisiana, Louisiana State University Press. p23-25
3. William S. Coker, Douglas G. Inglis, The Spanish Census of Pensacola, 1784-1820, The Perdido Bay Press, 1980. 
4. Notes of Paul Newfield
5. Hewitt L. Forsyth. "First Book of Confirmations of this Parish of St. Louis of New Orleans".  Plaza of Pensacola.  Rev. Sr. Don. Luis Penalver of St. Louis Cathedral, New Orleans, Louisiana. May 7, 1798;  Reprinted in The Genealogical Research Society of New Orleans, 1967.  p79.  
6. The Five Daughters of Manuel Dominguez, 1779-1985: Philippa Wilkins, Eulalia Villar, Josephine Collins, Irene Touart, Anita Parades Dicy Villar Bowman Anundsen Publishing. 1985. 
7. "Religious Censuses of Pensacola 1796-1801."  Reprinted in  Thomas T. McAvoy and Lawrence J. Bradley, "Guide to the Microfilm Edition of the Records of the Diocese of Louisiana and the Floridas, 1576- 1803" (Notre Dame, 1967).  Reprinted in Florida Historical Quarterly, Vol. 61, No. 1, Article 7.  Florida Historical Society, 1982.  p62.
8. Letters from Gaspar Rodriguez to Bishop Luis Penalver y Cardenas.  July 27, 1800.  Archived in Diocese of Louisiana and the Floridas, University of Notre Dame Archives.