Under construction 2008
Rev. 2008-06-01
This page will, when fleshed out,
cover the family of
Emilio SIGNES MONFORT, Emilito's father - both his ancestors and their
descendants.
The
only piece completed to date is a collection of letters Emilio's wife
Carmen LAGOS BESTEIRO wrote to her parents on Carmen and Emil's delayed
honeymoon to Spain in July 1936, when they were trapped by the outbreak
of the Spanish Civil War.:
Carmen & Emil's 1936 trip
to Spain -
English
Nevertheless,
the previous version of the page stated "Every
known ancestor of
Emil Signes' father Emilio SIGNES MONFORT was born in Gata de Gorgos,
province of Alicante, Spain." In addition, it pointed out that,
because of the local communists' burning of all the church documents at
the start of the Spanish Civil War, in July 1936 (described in the
links above), there was no information about any of Emilito's Gata
ancestors prior to the advent of the Spanish Civil Register.
Fortunately, through contact with Juan Ramón Pérez
Martínez of neighboring Denia, Emilito discovered that three of
his father's 8 great-grandparents were born in Pedreguer, a town
bordering Gata. In May 2007 Emilito visited the Pedreguer church
parish with Juan Ramón and found ancestors back to the 16th
century.
In addition, a history of Gata published in 2007 noted that, during the
general expulsion of the Moors from that region of Spain in 1609, Gata
was 100% emptied. The first ancestors of the current residents of
Gata arrived in 1611, including a José Signes, possibly the
ancestor of all the Signeses in town (nearly 10% of Gata's population).
The Surname Signes
As noted, Signes is the most common surname in Gata de Gorgos,
site of Emilito's paternal ancestors. The name means "signs" in
Valencian. Emilito has not found a surname meaning "signs" in
other countries. (There are no "Signs" in English, no "Signos" in
Spain, etc.)
There is a town "Signes" in France, near the Mediterranean, in the
general vicinity of Marseilles. As the "repopulators" of Gata and
environs came more or less from the East and North (Balearic Islands,
France). Emilito has a feeling that this is the origin of the
surname, but there is absolutely no evidence of this. (As a total
non-sequitur, the residents of Signes earned the name "bishop killers"
because of an event that took place in the 14th century.)
Other appelidos - comments
US Signes branches
Argentine branches
[the
Signes Diaspora]
Chapter
END