Twelfth Generation

96. Francisco (Frasquito) GRACIANI PASTOR^{151,188,189,190} was born on 11 Aug 1832 in Alicante, Spain.¹⁹⁰ Full name: Francisco de Asis. US family tradition had him born in the north of Italy, perhaps Genoa, but it was in fact his father, not he, that came from Italy (Lucca). He was baptized on 13 Aug 1832 in Alicante, Spain.¹⁹⁰ Bautizado en la Parroquia de S. Nicolás Insigne Iglesia Colegial de la Ciudad de Alicante. Padrinos: Raymundo Samper y María Burañes.

He was a sculptor in Spain.¹⁵¹ (This is according to family lore; we don't know whether he was an image maker like his father.) Isabel BESTEIRO GRACCIANI wrote to Carmen LAGOS BESTEIRO, "My grandfather signed his works F. GRAZZIANI. I was told that his works were seen at an exhibition in San Francisco. My mother was born in Alcalá [1862] because at the time my grandfather was working on a restoration at the cathedral and because of that moved his family there temporarily.

Fue escultor en España. (Esto es la historia familiar; no sabemos si fue figurista de yeso como su padre.) Isabel BESTEIRO GRACCIANI escribió a Carmen LAGOS BESTEIRO, "El abuelo se firmaba en sus obras F. GRAZZIANI. Cierta vez me dijeron que en una exposición de objetos religiosos e imágenes que se hizo en San Francisco, U.S.A., que habían sido comprados a los comunistas alguien había visto la firma de mi abuelo. Mamá nació en Alcalá porque mi abuelo estaba haciendo la restauración de la catedral imágenes y todo y por eso trasladó la familia temporalmente para allí." He died between 18 Jun 1889 and 1 Dec 1890 in Madrid, Spain.^151,191,192 Isabel BESTEIRO GRACCIANI notes that he died about 7 years before her birth (1896). This corresponds with the fact that he was alive for his grandson Jorge Besteiro's birth on 18 June 1889 and that his wife was listed as a widow on 1 December 1890. As of 2006 I (Emil SIGNES) have still not found his death certificate.

Francisco (Frasquito) GRACIANI PASTOR and Joaquina LORENZO BLAS were married before 1858. Date is a guess based on their son's birth in 1858.

They lived at Calle del Colmillo nueve, tienda in Madrid, Spain between 1883 and 1889.^{191,193,194,195} Vivían cuando nacieron sus nietos Domingo, Josefa, Emilio y Jorge BESTEIRO GRACIANI. Esta calle, ahora llamada Pérez Galdós, está situada entre Fuencarral y Hortaleza.

They lived here when their grandchildren Domingo, Josefa, Emilio and Jorge BESTEIRO GRACIANI were born. This street, now called Pérez Galdós, lies between Fuencarral and Hortaleza.

Joaquina LORENZO BLAS^151,196,197 (daughter of Venancio LORENZO and Feliciana BLAS) was born on 6 Mar 1840 in Villar del Cobo, Teruel, Spain.^192,197 Birth date per Madrid census of 1890. Per her 1810 death certificate she was 73 and would have been born c. 1837.

She lived as a youngster in Valencia, Spain. Isabel BESTEIRO GRACCIANI writes: «mi abuela Joaquina fué huérfana desde niña y se crió con una tia llamada Victorina en Valencia. Esta tía tenía una fábrica de cordones de seda para cortinas, ropas de iglesia, teatros, etc. Fué la madrina de mi madre [Victorina GRACIANI LORENZO] y esta llevaba su nombre.» (Joaquina was orphaned as a child and lived with her tía Victorina in Valencia. Victorina had a silk rope factory and was godmother to Victorina GRACIANI LORENZO, Joaquina's daughter.)

She was living from 1856 in Madrid, Spain.¹⁹² She appeared in the census in 1890 in Madrid, Spain.¹⁹² On December 1, 1890 she was living with her niece Joaquina LORENZO GÓMEZ. She lived at Calle Trujillo 3, principal in Madrid, Spain on 1 Dec 1890.¹⁹² She visited Cuba when her daughter Victorina became pregnant (at age 45). in 1908.¹⁵¹ She went to Cuba to try to convince her daughter to have the child in Spain, but returned to Spain when it became clear she would not. (Fué a Cuba en 1908 cuando se embarazó su hija Victorina a 45 años. Quería que Victorina volviese a España, pero Victorina rechazó la oferta y su madre volvió a España.) She died on 1 Aug 1910 in Villar del Cobo, Teruel, Spain.¹⁹⁷ "Murió en su domicilio a consecuencia de catarro gástrico . . . " Francisco (Frasquito) GRACIANI PASTOR and Joaquina LORENZO BLAS had the following children:

+103	i.	Joaquín GRACIANI LORENZO196,198 was born on 14 May 1858 in Madrid, Spain. He was a laborer («jornalero») in Madrid, Spain.199 He was the witness for Manuel LAGOS BESTEIRO'S birth certificate in 1911 in Valdemoro, Madrid, Spain.200 He died on 14 Jun 1920 in Madrid, Spain.199,201 Murió a consecuencia de insuficiencia aórtica. Al tiempo de su muerte, domiciliado en la calle de la Enconmienda. He was also known as GRACCIANI.201 This spelling was used on his death announcement. His official death certificate, however, said "GRACIANI." (En el anuncio de su muerte se usó GRACCIANI; sin embargo, GRACIANI era el apellido en el acto oficial de defunción.) José Luis PRADAS ESTEBAN, based on information from Victorina BESTEIRO ASENSIO, "Con referencia a Joaquín GRACCIANI LORENZO, su descendencia es muy compleja. Se casó varias veces. (Joaquín's descendancy is complex. He was married various times.) (Según la historia, casó con una mujer que tuvo un hijo que no fue suyo, y la abandonó. Esto fue antes de conocer a Manuela SÁNCHEZ LÓPEZ, la madre de sus hijos.)
+104	ii.	Victorina GRACIANI LORENZO151 was born on 23 Mar 1862 in Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain.155 She was baptized after 23 Mar 1862 in Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain. She was educated at the Escuela Nacional de Música y Declamación and graduated on 1 Jul 1880 in Madrid, Spain.202 "Primer premio en la enseñanza de declamación." She was an actress in Madrid, Spain in 1881/82.151,203 Isabel BESTEIRO GRACCIANI wrote «Mamá ganó como sabías el 1er premio por oposición después de graduada pero se casó enseguida, abandonando la carrera.» Issue Number 71 of the "Gaceta de Madrid, " 12 March 1881, carried the following article: "En breve se presentará en la escena del teatro Español la señorita Graciani, primer premio de declamación en el Conservatorio. Un aplaudido escritor ha escrito para la salida de la señorita Graciani un apropósito, en el cual interpretará la debutante cuatro papeles distintos." (Shortly Miss Graciani, first prize in declamation in the Conservatory, will debut on the stage at the Theatre Español. An acclaimed writer has writen a work for her appearance, in which the debutane will interpret four distinct roles.") She lived at Calle de Milaneses núm. seis cuarto bajo in Madrid, Spain in Jan 1883.194 She lived at Principe de Anglona núm. uno, piso primero in Madrid, Spain between 1884 and 1886.193,195 She lived Plaza de la Cebada tercero derecha in Madrid, Spain between Jun 1889 and Dec 1890.157,191 She appeared in the census in 1890 in Madrid, Spain.157 She appeared in the census in 1895 in Madrid, Spain.155 She lived at Plaza de la Cebada, 10, entresuelo derecha in Madrid, Spain between 1895 and 1906.155,156 She lived Calle Madera Alta, 28 tercero derecha in Madrid, Spain in Nov 1906.204 She immigrated on 2 Apr 1907 to Havana, Cuba.151,205 It is almost certain she first came to Cuba on this date, nearly 2 years after her husband Manuel (who may, however, have returned to Spain in the meantime). According to Isabel BESTEIRO GRACCIANI, she came with her children Pepita, Jorge and Isabel, and this is verified by an entry in the 2 April 1907 edition of El Diario de la Marina, which lists "Victoria Gración y tres hijos." She lived at Consulado 104-106 in Havana, Cuba in 1908.206 This is where her son Francisco LAGOS GRACIANI was born in October 1908. She visited Spain about 1914.207,208 She travelled with her husband Manuel and youngest daughter Isabel, as indicated on their arrival together in New York. It´s not known when they travelled to Spain (only their arrival in New York on their return was noted), but Victorina BESTEIRO ASENSIO, in 2006 recollected that she was told that her grandmother Victorina came to Spain from Cuba to visit and see the first of her grandchildren to be born in Spain (Victorina, that grandchild, was born in March 1913). She visited on 12 Nov 1914 in New York, NY, USA.207 This was on their return trip from Spain. The ship's manifest notes hat they were going to visit Antonio LAGOS and Josefa BESTEIRO and their family in New York City. She visited on 18 Aug 1915 in New York, NY, USA.209 She was visiting her daughter and her family, then living at 344 E. 85th Street. She visited on 24 Apr 1920 in New York, NY, USA.210 Together with her husband Manuel, her daughter-in-law Mercedes LORET DE MOLA BETANCOURT, and her grandchildren Ricardo and Miguel Ángel BESTEIRO LORET DE MOLA, visited her daughter Pepita and her family, then living at 526 E. 83rd Street. She visited on 21 Nov 1922 in Paterson, Passaic, NJ, USA. She went to visit her daughter Pepita and her family, living on 307 Park Avenue. Curiously, although she was living in Havana (at San Lázaro 143), her husband Manuel was living in Santiago, and she was listed on the passenger manifest as "single." (It is known that they had a turbulent marriage.) She was living in 1924 in Paterson, Passaic, NJ, USA.211 On the 1924 passenger manifest of their trip from Cuba (arrived 7 April 1924), Victorina and her husband Manuel were listed as US residents. She was living about 1927/28 in Paterson, Passaic, NJ, USA. Manuel and Victorina lived first at Oak Street, then Madison Street. (This was while the Lagos family was living at 922 22nd Street.) She left Paterson - possibly for the last time - to help her daughter Isabel when Isabel's son Pepe was born in October 1928. She died on 14 Jul 1931 in Havana, Cuba.212 From cemetery documentation at home of Arturo VÁLDES DENIS: Cuartel Noroeste Cuadro 10 Campo Com. Bóved 21 . . . Milicia Josefina 8163. / 10 julio 1931 Joaquín / 15 julio 1931 Victorina She was exhumed and placed in an ossuary on 31 May 1944 in Havana, Cuba212 She was also known as GRAZZIANI and GRACCIANI (& Antonia?).195,201 Her funeral card says "GRACCIANI LORENZO", and her children used the second apellido "GRACCIANI". In addition in the birth certificate of her son Emilio, she is referred to as ¨Doña (Antonia) Victorina Graciani Lorenzo.¨ She was the original Maina. This was a mispronunciation of "Mama Victorina" by her granddaughter Carmen LAGOS BESTEIRO and became the name - for an additional 2 generations - by which Lagos family grandmothers in the US were to be known.