An Elegant Wedding — January 31, 1917

Casimirio Respall (Prats Generation minus one), a shopkeeper, and his wife Rufina Pereira held the wedding and reception of their 21 year old daughter Eduvigis at their modest colonial-era home at No. 53 Avellaneda Street, Camaguey. (referred to as a “mansion” in the article). Dr. Benito Prats’ mother was marrying his father the shopkeeper José “Pepe” Prats the Spanish immigrant from Catalonia, also a shopkeeper. Benito would be born 15 months later. Here is what the obsequious journalist, who consistently misspelled Respall as “Raspall” in the article (corrected in the translation), had to say.

An Elegant Wedding

José Prats Amat and Eduvigis Respall Pereira in 1917.
The newspaper photograph accompanying the article.

The sumptuous wedding of the young merchant from this plaza, Mr. José Prats Amat, and the refined and respectable Miss Eduviges Respall Pereira, was held on the evening of the 31st.

The wedding contract was executed in the abode of the bride’s parents Mr. Casimirio Respall and Mrs. Rufina Pereira de Respall.

The wedding guests could not have been more numerous or distinguished. The presence of a legion of pretty princesses converted that mansion into a garden of the most beautiful flowers, each more enchanting and scented than the next.

At an artistically adorned altar featuring the Virgin of the Rosary, Father Valentí, of the Cathedral, joined José and Eduviges in holy matrimony to the strains of a violin and piano playing a wedding march.

Vouching for the couple were Mr. Enrique Prats, father of the groom and Mrs. Rufina Pereira de Respall, the mother of the young bride.

And, as witnesses for him were Aurelio Valdéz Velázques and José Milla, and for her Dr. Buenaventura Hernández and Mr. Francisco del Pino Pérez.

The little maids of honor, like two angels, were the pretty little girls Gloria and Maria Clemencia Respall.

Favors sumptuously distributed at the wedding are too numerous to list, and included rich and delicious nougat and the finest liquor.

Gifts received by the new couple were many and valuable.

That enormous congregation toasted to the eternal happiness of José and Eduviges. And Camaguey Gráfico, by here printing their portraits, express our concurrence with the high distinction to which they are held. May the sun of fortune always shower its rays on this newly created home, and may this nest of sweet love be always tranquil and cheerful.

Click on image to enlarge. The adver-
tisement on the lower right reads,
“Niceness* Competition by Camaguey
Grafico. Who is the nicest señorita in
Camaguey? (name and address)
Fill this coupon clearly, cut it out and
deposit it in the box installed at the
establishment ‘El Gallo’ at No. 20
Maceo Street.”

* The Spanish word “simpatía” does
not have a direct English translation.
It covers loveliness, niceness, geniality,
sympatheticness, understanding,
friendliness, pleasantness and more.

Back in 1917 newspapers did not print that many photographs. It was difficult and time-consuming. But, as they boasted in the article, they went to the trouble for this announcement. I suspect both Casimirio and Pepe advertised their shops in the Camaguey Gráfico newspaper.

Casimirio and Pepe were successful shopkeepers, but they were self-made and of modest means. Notice that there was no church wedding and no “sumptuous meal.” Instead, the ceremonies (civil and religious) were at their home; two musicians — probably relatives or friends — played at the service  and light refreshments and snacks and sweets sourced from their shops were served. That’s not to say the wedding was not wonderful. I'm sure it was. You can have a great time drinking “the finest liquor” which would have included Cuban rum and munching on turron — almond nougat — and other sweets, while dancing to popular music played live by a piano player and a violinist long into the night.

This article bothers the timeline for the Prats if what it says about Enrique Prats is true. Family lore does not have the groom’s parents visiting from Spain until eight or ten years later. I suppose Pepe could have sent money for a transatlantic passage and return in time for the wedding, but this could also be chalked up to poor journalism. The hack who wrote this and misspelled “Respall” probably did not attend the wedding. In his interview-after-the-fact he could have asked for the names of the couple’s parents and assumed their presence. Pepe's brother Amadeo was probably the one who vouched for him at the wedding.

###

Casimirio Respall's grocery store was located at No. 25 San Clemente Street in Camaguey.

Eduvigis Respall Pereira, José Prats Amat, and their son Benito
In ink on the back, in Eduvigis’ elegant handwriting, it is dedicated to an unknown person as follows:
“En prueba de mucho cariño. De sus hijos, Pepe, Tití y Eduvigis. Marzo 19, 1923.”
“As proof of much love. From your children, Pepe, Tití and Eduvigis. March 19, 1923.”

This ad was on the back of the newspaper clipping. It reads, “ ‘The Great Britain’ of Juan Gonzalez y Sanchez. Store for all types of furniture and beds. Cash sales and time payments. Records and phonographs. Rental Department. We specialize in furniture of all types for rent, at reduced prices. No. 102 Republica Street, Camaguey.”

.

More ads on the back.
“Dr. Quevedo. Director-Practitioner a the ‘Friends of Good Health’ Clinic. Births, women and children illnesses. Consultations at the clinic, No. 77½ Lugareño Street between 2 and 4, or at his home, No. 108 Avellaneda Street between 7 and 9 a.m. Telephone 160.”
————
“Dr. José R. Romero, Lawyer and Notary. Independence Street at Estrada Palma Street, Camaguey.”
————
“Soledad Pimentel, Midwife Practitioner. Consultations between 1 and 2 p.m. No. 47 Avellaneda Street, Camaguey.”

Origins — The Respalls

The birth certificate names of the first generation of Prats in Maryland said Benito H. E. Prats Respall and for his wife, Mariana G. Martínez Rodríguez. The double last names, in the Spanish naming tradition, gives us the four family names that we need to explore: Prats, Respall, Martínez and Rodríguez.  In this article, let’s find out a bit about the Respalls.

• This article includes the story of a stomach ache that turned into a surprise birth, and the story of a murder, so don’t quit reading it too early. 

Eduvigis Respall Pereira de Prats

Benito’s mother was named Eduvigis Respall Pereira. She was something special! Take a look in this article about her:  Eduvigis Respall, A Well-Connected Businesswoman. But beyond Eduvigis, here is what I know about the Respall root of the family. 

Respall is a Catalan last name, like Prats. It comes from Catalonia, a land with its own distinct language and culture and for many centuries a region of Spain and France on the Mediterranean Sea split by the Pyrenees Mountains. There are a lot of Respalls in Catalonia. Catalonians speak Catalan, but Catalonians in Spanish Catalonia also speak Spanish and those in French Catalonia also speak French.  “Respall” in Catalan means “brush,” as in what you would use to brush your hair or scrub something clean.  It’s nothing like its Spanish equivalent, sepillo.

Casimirio Respall Rodriguez and
Rufina Peraira Ortega

While we are on the subject of names, let’s talk about Eduvigis. It’s a very rare name these days, and even in the zenith of its use in christenings around the turn of the 20th century, it was still rare. It is the Spanish version of Hedwig, a German feminine given name. In German and English the usual nickname for Hedwig is Heddy. It got to the Spanish Eduvigis by way of its French variation: Edwige. I wonder what caused it to spread world-wide around the time Eduvigis Respall was born.

Casimirio Respall Rodriguez

Eduvigis’ father was Casimirio Respall Rodriguez (no relation to the Camaguey Rodriguezes), an immigrant from Spain who ran a bodega (a small grocery store) in Camaguey when Eduvigis was born in 1895.  We don’t know when or where he was born or when or how he immigrated to Cuba. Casimirio’s wife Rufina Pereira Ortega (everyone called her “Paita”) was born in Camaguey. We don’t know anything about her family, but Rufina plays a part in this article: Garlic! Rufina outlived her husband by 48 years.

Rufina Pereira in 1950.

We know that Casimirio saved for his and Rufina’s retirement in the way it’s always done worldwide when you can’t trust banks or banknotes or the safety of gold coins under the mattress: by buying real estate you can rent out. He did not live to retirement, dying March 15, 1921, but his savings, most likely augmented with more real estate purchases when his shop was sold, bought Rufina a very nice house to live in at number 53 Avellaneda Street, and a number of casitas, little houses the size of apartments, to rent out. 

Rufina Pereira in 1955

Both Benito and his sister Olga remember accompanying their grandmother when she went house to house collecting the monthly rent. Most of the time their cousin Bertha Respall Pereira went with her. She could be charitable, being lenient on late payments or even forgiving a month or two when a renter was in financial trouble. But she had no trouble going to court for an eviction notice when she was being taken advantage of, and even accompanying court officers to her property to supervise the removal of renter’s effects to the curb.

Typical casitas typically for rent

Benito the gastroenterologist told the story of the only newborn delivery of his medical career. It began as a house call to one of Rufina’s casitas to treat a bad stomachache and went south from there. The story goes like this:

Late one evening a tenant of Rufina’s knocked on her door. He was distraught and did not know who to turn to. His teen-age daughter was in great distress with abdominal pain and no matter what medicine they gave her she was not getting better. Rufina did not have to think twice, the symptoms that were described were like those her grandson took care of every day. She told the man to go home and she would send her grandson the doctor to his house. She phoned Benito at home and he was on his way.

It was very clear to Dr. Prats what the matter was when he arrived and there was no time to get his patient to the hospital. He asked for hot water and towels and within minutes delivered a healthy baby boy. How the girl hid the pregnancy in such a tiny house was beyond comprehension, he said, adding that denial on the part of the parents who would never dare to think that her daughter could be pregnant was probably a factor.

Dr. Porfirio Respall Pereira
From his 1926 University of Mexico Diploma

Casimirio and Rufina had two children, Eduvigis and her brother Porfirio Respall Pereira. She also took in and raised with her two children Francisca Quintana (“Paca”), the young daughter of an acquaintance who died, leaving her homeless.  Paca grew up and married a man with the last name Albaijes, an artist who painted with oils.

Later in life and now widowed, when Rufina found out that her son Porfirio had had a child out of wedlock, she sent for the infant and raised her herself. That child was Bertha Respall Adan, known to all as Rufina’s adopted daughter, Bertha Respall Pereira. Bertha, growing up and throughout her life was a warm and pleasant person, quick with a smile and very intelligent. She kept a little book with Respall and Prats family history including names, relationships and dates. I wish I could get my hands on that book. 

Bertha, Benito and Olga grew up together and were very close. Their home at number 4 Avellaneda Street was just a few houses down from Rufina’s and they were in each other’s houses constantly. Benito and Olga call Bertha their prima hermana, their cousin-sister, and always considered themselves a unit. Bertha devoted herself to Rufina and never married. She took care of Rufina in her old age and death. Rufina was 95 years old when she died in 1969. Olga and her husband José Luis Martínez and her two daughters moved in with Bertha to Avellaneda 53 shortly thereafter. Bertha died in 2010 at 91 years of age. She had been born in 1919.

Three Generations of Prats and Respall dining at Avellaneda No. 4
From left: Rufina Pereira, Mariana Martinez and her husband Benito Prats, José Luis Martínez (no relation to Mariana) and his wife Olga Prats, José Prats and his wife Eduvigis Respall, and Bertha Respall.
This photo was taken November 12, 1954

Porfirio Respall, Eduvigis’ brother, was an interesting relative. He was a surgeon, and pioneered a number of surgery techniques in the 1920s. He studied and lived in Mexico for a number of years, Surgeon General to the Mexican Army and then returned to Cuba. He married an American from Philadelphia named Luisa Welloth (they had no children) and continued his profession. Porfirio moved to the town of Victoria de las Tunas in Oriente province (today the city of Las Tunas in the new Las Tunas province) about 80 miles east of Camaguey and here is where the story gets interesting.

Guarina Ice Cream Vendor

Dr. Respall purchased a small dairy farm near Las Tunas and after staffing and rehabilitating it he started selling his milk there and also shipped some by rail to the Guarina dairy. Guarina had a number of factories across Cuba pasteurizing milk, making butter, American-style cream cheese and ice creams.

But Dr. Respall quickly ran afoul of the local Department of Health, whose politically appointed director also owned a dairy farm and did not appreciate the competition. Porfirio’s milk was often declared unfit for consumption and ordered destroyed, even though Porfirio was scrupulous in making sure his milk was pure and properly handled.  He was an educated man, after all, and not only understood the regulations, but as a doctor also knew all about pathogens and how to prevent them from contaminating his milk. He was being punished for unwittingly muscling in on the director’s milk monopoly without paying proper monetary respect.

Contemporary Las Tunas street scene
Dr. Respall may have been shot right here

One day in August, 1933, Porfirio ran into the director of the Department of Health on the street in Las Tunas and confronted him. The two men had a heated exchange of words until the director ended the conversation when, in broad daylight and in view of witnesses, he pulled a pistol from his pocket and shot Porfirio Respall dead.

To the dismay of his family in Camaguey, but to the surprise of no one in Las Tunas, the firearm discharge was ruled accidental and the murderer was never prosecuted. Rufina went to Las Tunas to retrieve her son’s body for burial in Camaguey, Porfirio’s wife packed up and returned to Philadelphia, and that was the end of that story. (Except that the probate of Porfirio's estate does not mention his wife Luisa. Could they have divorced and just prior to his death and she was already out of the country?)

Dr. Raul Respall Hidalgo

Another Respall relative of note is Raul Respall ( a young generation zero member when using the Maryland Prats generation counting system), a cousin and contemporary of Benito, who can be found in some family pictures. Raul went to Havana University before Benito and returned a gastroenterologist. He was one of the witnesses at Benito and Mariana’s wedding.  Benito followed in his footsteps. We have a photo of Raul’s parents Pablo Respall and Aurora Hildago (generation minus 1), and we have a photo of Casimirio’s and Pablo’s father José Respall (generation minus 2).

Did José Respall come to Cuba from Spain with Casimirio or did Casimirio send for him when he got established? Or was it the other way around? One of José’s photos (below) shows him in what could be a military uniform. Maybe he served the Spanish army in Cuba and stayed. 

Cristina Ortega
Taken in 1924 at 83 years old

Finally, we have photgraphs of Rufina’s nieces Gertrudis and Elfidia Pereira and we can step back a generation from Rufina with a photo of her mother Cristina Ortega (generation minus 2), but no further. And as to Casimirio’s mother and other brothers or sisters, if any, we have nothing.  Still, sad as it is, we can count a cold-blooded murder victim in our family tree.

José Respall

José Respall

Bottom row: Rufina Pereira, Pablo Respall and his wife Aurora Hidalgo
Top row: Eduvigis  Respall, Benito Prats, Olga Prats and José Prats

Gertrudis Pereira Muñoz

Gertrudis Pereira Muñoz

Elfidia Pereira

Porfirio Respall’s 1926 Diploma from the National University of Mexico
He was already practicing as a surgeon when he obtained this additional specialization.
It reads “United States of Mexico. The Secretary of State and of the Office of Public Education, by special arrangement with the President of the United States of Mexico dated July 1925, and given that the gentleman Porfirio Respall Pereira has proved to the National University of Mexico that he has duly completed the respective courses of specialization in the year of 1925, and  passed the corresponding examinations, issues this Diploma of  Doctor of Academic Hygiene and is accredited to  perform this practice. ” It is signed by he Secretary of Public Education and the Rector of the university.  The note at the bottom left reads, “Diploma of Doctor of Academic Hygiene has been issued to the Doctor-Surgeon Porfirio Respall Pereira.”

Garlic!

I took the first bite from the little plate of white rice that had been set in front of me and I was in heaven! It was my first taste of the intoxicating aroma that had been swirling around me for the last 20 minutes while the rice cooked. This is my earliest and most vivid memory of food.  I am salivating right now as I write this. It was my first ever taste of garlic!

Rufina Pereira in 1954

I must have been five or six years old and I was in the traspatio, the back patio, of my great grandmother Rufina Pereira’s house in Camagüey in 1957. It was just she and me there, a very rare if not unique occurrence. Normally if I was visiting relatives I would be with my brothers and sisters and the adults would have been alternating between interacting with us and ignoring us as they chatted with each other. But here I was all by myself with my bisabuela who everyone called Paita, a tiny wrinkled woman in her nineties who I always saw in a long-sleeved house dress that reached to the floor, and a shawl around her shoulders no matter how hot the day was. I quickly polished the plate and asked for seconds.

A more modern and larger
version of that charcoal stove

My mother must have been running late picking me up from school for the lunch break and had telephoned Paita to ask her to fetch me. The school, las Escuelas Pias, was just a block away and across a sleepy plaza from her house at 53 Avellaneda Street. I watched as she prepared the simple lunch for me. Unlike practically everyone else in Camagüey who years ago had upgraded to gas or electric stoves and moved their kitchens inside, she still cooked on a charcoal stove which was a continuation of a tiled counter in a roofed alcove of her patio. On a perch nearby her big green parrot squawked periodically and added irrelevant words of his own to our conversation.

Garlic

First, she took off her shawl and put on a white apron. Using tongs, she pulled out an ember of charcoal that had been hiding in the ashes, added fresh charcoal around it and blew on the ember to make it glow brighter and burst into flame, lighting the charcoal. She put a small round black cast-iron pot on the grating over the fire and added water, rice and a pinch of salt. Finally, she peeled and chopped the garlic and added it to the pot with a generous pat of butter. Or maybe it was a splash of aromatic olive oil. Or both.  I remember a second flavor distinct from the garlic, in the air and coating my lips as I ate up that wonderful food.

A little plate of rice

Then we waited for the rice to cook. There might have been some meat in the rice, but probably not. And maybe she had fried the garlic in the oil or butter first before she added the rice and water and brought it to a boil. My distinct memory is of the smells and tastes that day; less distinct is how it was prepared. Visually I remember the whiteness of the rice — which was not individual al dente grains, but fluffy, soft and glutinous — and the steam rising from it. If there was something else on the plate along with the rice I do not remember it.

Ajiaco Cubano

Garlic is one of the defining flavors of Cuban food. Classic Cuban cooking — at least the style practiced in Camagüey back then — is a variation on the Mediterranean-style cooking of Spain. And in Spain the Catalonians cook the garlickest dishes. (My last name Prats is a Catalan name.) The only green or red peppers in Cuban cooking are bell, and black pepper is measured in tiny fractions of a teaspoon if it is added to any pot or frying pan. Garlic is Cuban cooking’s spiciest and most common flavoring agent.  So why it is that I was six years old before I first tasted garlic?

Simple. My mother, Mariana Martínez, hated garlic. The aversion to garlic ran in the family, as garlic was never in any meal prepared at the Martinez residence at 208 Republica Street where she grew up. Such is love that I never once heard my father, Benito Prats, complain about the complete lack of garlic in his diet that began the day he married Mariana. He loved garlic and often ordered the garlickest plate on the menu — shrimp scampi, for example — when he dined out in Maryland. But at home he was content with the flavor of onion.  

That little plate of rice was not only my first taste of garlic, but also my last for many more years.  I rediscovered garlic when my brother and I lived with our Italian-American foster parents near Syracuse, New York, for almost four years while we waited for our parents to be given permission to leave Cuba — another story for another day — and garlic went away again when the Prats family was reunited in Maryland in 1965. No more garlic until I went to work in Bethesda across Hampden Lane from the Pines of Rome and two short blocks from the China Garden on East Lane behind the post office.

Toum, or Aiolí

One Monday 50 years later, on my weekly after work trek to Maryland to have dinner with my parents, I brought my 89-year old dad a bag of pita chips and a little tub of garlic puree from Cedars of Lebanon deli in Burke, Virginia, near where I lived. The Lebanese call it toum.  It’s white like mayonnaise but light and fluffy, made just with fresh garlic, oil, and a little salt — not cooked, just whipped together.

He scoops some up on a chip and takes a bite. “This is aiolí.” He accented the last vowel. “It’s Catalan. My grandmother used to make it.”

Not a minute later my mom pipes up from the other room. “¡Que peste!” — “What’s that nasty smell!”

The author with his great grandmother Rufina Pereira (seated)
and his grandmother Eduviges Respall. They are at Rufina’s house.

Rufina Pereira in 1950

Eduvigis Respall, A Well-Connected Businesswoman

Everyone in the blocks around Pepe Prats’ tienda, and at city hall, everyone knew Eduvigis. More importantly, Eduvigis knew everyone and what they were up to. She could keep a confidence, or spread news instantly with her connections. She wasn’t a gossip, but she was the go-to person when you wanted to know something about someone else. Until the government changed in 1959 she would lobby politicians to support worthy causes, or just to get a pothole fixed, or to put pressure on a landlord to fix someone’s roof. She was not political, she just knew how to navigate and cajole the bureaucracy on someone’s behalf.

Lady of the House:
Madam, no one except you is interested in the
well-being of your daughter. The Academy of Sewing
at No. 4 Avellaneda Street of Mrs. Eduvigis Respall
is offering a new classes in Sewing, Painting,
Sewing Machine Work, Typing and Artificial Flower
Arranging, in all levels.
This Academy awards Diplomas that can be acquired
in a short time.

Awaiting the favor of your welcome visit,
and your enrollment in these new classes,
I remain yours attentively,
Eduvigis R. de Prats, Director

Remember that Flowers are the Femenine
Adornment par excelence.

She did all this while raising a family, helping her husband with the grocery shop next door, and teaching classes at her home. She taught typing, stenography, and a range of sewing classes including creating garments from patterns, garment fitting and construction, and the use of the sewing machine. It was not one-on-one classes; her classes were multiple student classes. 

She even had a school song for her sewing classes. 

Her son Benito was her mechanic, fixing up and maintaining typewriters and sewing machines she acquired second-hand or in a pawn, and setting them up before class time. Surprisingly, she herself did not sew that much and did not know how to type, she just knew how to teach and taught very well according to testimonials from her students. She used commericially available books of lessons and would modify the course to match her students’ circumstances and capabilities. Students, mostly girls and young women, came from all over the city to take her courses. Benito admitted to a few crushes in his youth.

And she ran an unofficial pawn shop (casa de empeño) from the shop. It started naturally when a customer at the store could not come up with the money to pay their tab and offered to put up collateral until next pay day. She would determine its value and hold it. And she would explain that if it was not retrieved in a certain time she had the right to sell it to satisfy the debt. When it became generally known that Eduvigis would make loans in exchange for an object, people would discreetly check in with her when they needed cash. A sewing machine or typewriter pawned meant one more student could be added to a class. Jewelry and other items not redeemed were traded for cash elsewhere, including with family she had in Havana. She was not only a teacher but she was also a business woman.

Singer Featherweight
In his late eighties Eduvigis’ son
Benito cleaned and oiled a Feather-
weight for a daughter-in-law and told
her that some of the sewing machines
at his mother’s academy
were Singer Featherweights

Eduvigis had a large number of Respall cousins in Havana, and she kept in touch. They would occasionally drop by and she would put them up while they conducted business in town.  I’m sure Pepe Prats would also take the opportunity to question them on what new things were in style at the capital that he should get into his shop ahead of his competitors.  One day, Eduvigis got a telegram from a cousin letting her know that his stage show was a success in Havana and they would like to take it on tour.  If she could inquire about renting a theatre and a piano for them in Camaguey they would appreciate it.

She made the arrangements, but also she made sure that her cousins wired money for down payments, permits, and all out-of-pocket expenses like tickets and handbill printing costs. She was no fool, she knew you only fronted money for family if you could afford to lose it.  She also talked up this latest revue direct from Havana to her many acquaintances and sold advance tickets to the show. 

The relatives and their troupe arrived on the overnight train from Havana the day of the first performance. Opening night came and she was all dolled up in a front-row seat. But she left before the end of the first act! She was mortified! Her cousins had neglected to let her know that their stage show was burlesque in drag, and with risqué jokes and lyrics! Men dressed as women may have been nothing special at the capital, but here in the provinces it was just not done!  She was a respectable woman! And she herself had sold tickets to her friends and neighbors!  The shame! Her son Benito, who told me this story, said she made apologies and laid low for a few weeks until the scandal blew over.

Eduvigis was a very thrifty woman, sometimes verging on tight. At the same time she was very generous, forgiving debt handing out free groceries when someone truly could not pay, and giving odd jobs to down-on-their-luck people. And she was very loyal to those that were loyal to her. It was common in that era to hire servants to help around the house cooking, cleaning, taking care of children, running errands. She employed one and would throw a fit whenever they gave her notice they were quitting, which happened more often that it should, and always about money. “How could you leave me after all I’ve done for you!” “But madam, they are offering me more money.” “You came here not knowing how to do anything and I taught you how to do it all. Have you no loyalty?” “But madam, I asked you for a raise last week and you said no. I would be pleased to stay if you could raise my pay.” “What?  Absolutely not! I’m paying you more than you’re worth. Don’t bother with the week’s notice, you need to leave right now!”

She had to be thrifty because the Prats were not rich. The store and her classes let them get by comfortably enough because of their hard work.  Her children Benito and Olga had a happy childhood and got a good education and were successful in their careers. The Prats Respall family, which included Rufina Pereira, Eduvigis’ mother  —everyone called her Paita—  and Paita’s grandniece Bertha, who lived with her, were very close. Pepe Prats had died before Benito left Camaguey for Maryland with his family, but Benito left behind his mother, Bertha and Paita, and Olga and her family. He had no way of knowing how long he was going to be away, and he certainly did not think it was going to be for the rest of his life, but that is how it worked out. Eduvigis, like her mother Paita, lived a long and energetic life, dying at 93 at home with her family.

Eduvigis Respall Pereira and her husband
José Prats Amat

Top Row: Eduvigis Respall, Benito Prats, Olga Prats, José Prats

Second Row: Rufina Pereira, her brother-in-law Pablo Respall

and his wife Aurora Hidalgo

By the time of this photograph, Rufina was a widow. Her husband was named Casimirio Respall and he had been a shopkeeper. Rufina's and Casimirio's son Porfirio Respall was was a surgeon, most likely in Mexico City when the photograph was taken. He would return and be killed in cold blood, but that's another story. Pablo and Aurora's son Raul Respall was also a medical doctor. Benito followed in his cousins’ footsteps.

In the 1980s: Eduvigis and her young neighbor, Fidelito

Rushing Back to Camagüey

Dr. Benito H. Prats got a telegram from his sister Olga in 1987 saying that his 91 year old mother Eduvigis was seriously ill and wanted to see him again before she died.

By then the telegram as a means of communications had been all but killed by cheap long distance and Western Union no longer sent couriers to your door to deliver telegrams, instead they looked you up in the phone book, called and read it to you, then mailed you a computer-printed copy. Since most of the telegraph offices had closed, to send a telegram you called Western Union on the phone and dictated it to them at around $1.10 per word, 10 words minimum, to Cuba. Western Union had an arrangement with all the phone companies so they could bill you on your phone bill.   Email and faxes finally killed the telegram. Western Union delivered the last telegram January 27, 2006 and closed up shop. The company called Western Union today is not the same company. Today's Western Union purchased the name and the only thing they do now is send money.

But in the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s, telegrams were the only way to get fast messages out of Cuba and they were expensive. Telephone calls had to be booked weeks in advance because, some say, the Cuban telephone company had to schedule in the limited number of government eavesdroppers that listened in on all calls; and then sometimes the quality of the sound was really bad because they were still using the 1951 12-circuit undersea cable between Key West and Havana that had not been replaced due to the continuing tensions between the governments.

It had been 23 years since Benito had left Cuba. The first telegram explained the urgency and asked him to rush to the Cuban Interests Section in Washington (then at the Czechoslovak Embassy) to apply for a humanitarian visit visa and the second said that she, Olga, would take his telegrams (she called them cables) to Cuban immigration to start the paperwork there. 

Benito had been working on a visa since August 4th. It took more than two months to get the paperwork and tickets. He and Mariana went on a charter flight from Miami to Camaguey in October. Benito diagnosed a potassium deficiency when he saw her and she went on to live a number of years more.

Eduvigis Respall Pereira vda. de Prats and her son the doctor
Photo taken in her home, No. 4 Avellaneda Street
October 10, 1987

PDF copy of telegrams, entry request and plane tickets

The first telegram reads, “08/19/87 Benito, present yourself urgently at the Cuban Interests Section in Washington and ask entry to Cuba because Mama is gravely ill and wants to see you before dying request urgently the documents here they are filed your sister loves you. Olga.” Notice there is no punctuation on telegrams. They count as another word each. This one was 39 words, $42.90.

The second reads, “9/12/87 Mama remains same Monday I will return immigration with your cables and I’ll tell you love. Olga.” 16 words, $17.60.

1970s photo of Eduvigis Respall
holding a photograph of her son, Benito Prats

Cast of Characters

You’ve already been introduced to the patriarch and matriarch of the Maryland Prats Clan: Benito and Mariana, U.S. Generation One.  Let’s list them and the rest of Generation One first, and then work the list back in time to show the full names and relationships of many of the characters you’ll meet in the stories in this blog.

GENERATION ONE

·         Benito Prats Respall (1918–2013), a medical doctor, born in Camaguey, died in Maryland.

·         Olga Prats Respall (1924–2021),his sister,  a school teacher for many years in the town of Hatuey. Born in Camaguey, resides in Miami Beach.  She had two children.

§  José Luis Martínez (1917–2007), her husband, a businessman and photographer.  He was born in Santa Clara, Cuba, and died in Camaguey. They were married in 1952,

·         Bertha Respall Adan (1919–2010), his “prima hermana” (cousin-sister), his first cousin who grew up with him and Olga in his parents’ household and who he considered a sister. Her life’s job was to take care of her widowed grandmother Rufina Pereira, who lived a long life. She did not marry. Born and died in Camaguey.

·         Mariana Martínez Rodríguez (1926–2014), a secretary, office manager and homemaker, born in Camaguey, died in Maryland.

·         Elia Maria Martínez Rodríguez (1930–2022), her sister, a homemaker and clerk with Montgomery County government. Born in Camaguey, she died in Rockville Maryland.

§  Manuel López, her husband, a civil engineer born in Palma Soriano, Oriente, died in Rockville.

·         Ofelia Martínez Rodriguez (1931–2015), her sister, a homemaker and boutique store clerk. Born in Camaguey, died in Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico.

§  Alejandro Mestas (?–2014), her husband, a draftsman and entrepreneur, born in Camaguey and died in Trujillo Alto.

·         Joaquín Ventura Martínez Rodríguez (1934–2021), her brother. Born in Camaguey, died in The Woodlands, Texas.

§  Rosario La Faye, his wife, born in La Paz, Bolivia. They married in the United States.

·         Juan Antonio Martínez Rodríguez (1943–2000), her brother, born in Camaguey, died in Atlanta. He did not marry.

·         Natalia Martínez Rodríguez (1944– ), her sister, a social worker now retired. Born in Camaguey, resides in Chicago.

§  Luis Mario Salces, her husband, born in Mayari, Oriente, resides in Chicago. They married in the United States.

GENERATION ZERO

·         José Prats Amat (1893–1962), a shopkeeper, born in Capillades, Catalonia, Spain, died in Camaguey. Father of Benito Prats Respall. Married Eduvigis Respall.

·         Francisco Prats Amat, his brother

·         Juan Prats Amat, his brother

·         Josefa Prats Amat, his sister

·         Magdalena Prats Amat, his sister

·         Amadeo Prats Amat, his brother

·         Primitiva Prats Amat, his sister

·         Eduvigis Respall Pereira (1895–1989), a teacher, homemaker and shopkeeper, born and died in Camaguey. Mother of Benito Prats Respall. Married José Prats Amat.

·         Porfirio Respall Pereira, her brother; a surgeon. Father of Bertha Respall. Born in Camaguey, he spent some time in Mexico City. He was shot to death in Las Tunas, Cuba, on August 2, 1933, after a dispute and his assailant was not prosecuted.
·         Ramona Suarez, her foster sister. Her mother Rufina took her in when Ramona's mother died.
·         Gertrudis Pereira, her cousin, niece of her mother Rufina.
·         Elfidia Pereira, her cousin, niece of her mother Rufina.
·         Alberto Sanchez, her cousin, nephew of her mother Rufina.
·         José Respall, a cousin who lived in Havana, nephew of her father Casimirio.

·         Joaquín Ventura Martínez y Martínez (1898–1987), a cattle rancher, lawyer, notary and magistrate, born in Havana, died in Bethesda. Father of Mariana Martínez Rodríguez. Married Elia Rodríguez.

·         Antonio Ricardo Martínez y Martínez (1905–1982), his brother; lawyer, psychologist, college professor and Renaissance man.  He did not marry. Born in Havana, died in Bethesda.

Elia Rodríguez de las Casas, in yellow, next to her
husband Joaquín Ventura Martínez y Martínez
and all their children and grandchildren
in 1971 in Maryland at the Prats’ Ewing Drive home 

·         Elia del Rosario Rodríguez de las Casas (1904–1982), a homemaker, cattle rancher, and couture seamstress. Mother of Mariana Martínez Rodríguez.

·         Concepción Rodríguez de las Casas (1887–1960) “Conchita”, her sister, married Ramon Peralta. No children. Born and died in Camagüey.

·         Rafael Rodríguez de las Casas (1885–1960), her brother. Born and died in Camaguey.

·         Gaspar Rodríguez de las Casas (1888–1890), her brother who died in infancy.

·         Gaspar Rodríguez de las Casas (1892–1961), her brother. Born in Camaguey, Married Providencia Manzini of Santi Espiritu, Santa Clara, Cuba. Died in Camaguey.

·         Araceli Rodríguez de las Casas (1890–1960), “Celita”, her sister. Born and died in Camaguey.

·         Maria Luisa Rodríguez de las Casas (1894–1980), “Male”, her sister. Born in Camaguey. Married Federico Salvador, 7 children. Died in Miami, Florida.

·         Angela Rodríguez de las Casas (1889–1974), her sister. Born in Camaguey. Married Federico Castellanos, no children. Died in Bethesda, Maryland.

·         Margarita Rodríguez de las Casas (1897–1984), her sister. Married Javier Calderon. One child, José. Born in Camaguey, died in Rockville, Maryland.

GENERATION MINUS ONE

·         Enrique Prats Ventura, born in Spain, father of José Prats Amat

·         Paula Amat Roig, born in Spain, mother of José Prats Amat

·         José Amat Roig, her brother born in Spain

·         Mariano Amat Roig, her brother born in Spain

·         Tranquilina Amat Roig, her sister born in Spain

·         Casimirio Respall Rodriguez (?–1921), a shopkeeper,  father of Eduvigis Respall Pereira, born in Spain, died in Camaguey

·         Pablo Respall Rodriguez, his brother, married to Aurora Hidalgo Rodriguez. Their son is Raul Respall Hidalgo, a doctor who practiced gastroenterology in Camaguey.

·         Rufina Aurelia Pereira Ortega (1874–1969) “Paita”, homemaker and property owner, mother of Eduvigis Respall Pereira, born and died in Camaguey
·         Manuel Hernandez, her cousin, nephew of her mother Christina Ortega.

·         Joaquín Buenaventura Martínez Diaz (1863–1918), a lawyer and notary, father of Ventura Martínez. Born in Jaruco, Havana Province, died in Camaguey. Father of Ventura Martínez.  First cousin to his wife Mariana Martínez Seijas.

·         Mercedes Martínez Diaz (1865–1965) “Mimi”, his sister. Born in Jaruco, died in Camaguey. She lived in the Martínez household in Camaguey.

·         Mariana Martínez Seijas (1865-1914), her place of birth in Cuba is not known, died in Camaguey. First cousin to her husband Joaquín Buenaventura Martínez. Mother of Ventura Martínez.

·         Carolina Martínez Seijas, her sister. She became a nun

·         Mariana Antonia Martínez Seijas (1865–1914), her sister. She married Luis Felipe Bolaño and widowed young. She lived in the Martínez household in Camaguey.

·         Magdalena Martínez Seijas, her sister. She Maried Emilio Martínez and widowed young. She lived in the Martínez household in Camaguey.

·         Amalia Martínez Seijas (1871–1936), her sister. She did not marry. She lived in the Martínez household in Camaguey.

·         Francisca Martínez Seijas (1875–1964) “Panchita”, her sister; her place of birth is Cuba is not known. She did not marry. Lived in the Martínez household in Camaguey. She died in Camaguey.

·         Natalia Martínez Seijas (1877–1941), her sister. Her place of birth in Cuba is not known. She married Juan Guzman, no children. She lived in the Martínez household in Camaguey. She died in Camaguey.

·         Antonio Martínez Seijas, “Tototo”, her brother.  He married Consuelo Sanabria.

·         Gaspar Rodríguez Porro, born in Camaguey, Father of Elia Rodríguez.

·         Araceli de las Casas y Villanueva, mother of Elia Rodríguez. She died in Camaguey.

GENERATION MINUS TWO

·         Juan Amat Robert, born in Spain, father of Paula Amat Roig

·         Magdalena Roig Orpí, mother of Paula Amat Roig

·         Cristina Ortega, mother of Rufina Pereira

·         Joaquin Martínez Elizaran, father of Joaquín Buenaventura Martínez Diaz

          •   Antonio Martínez Elizaran, Joaquin’s brother, and father of Mariana Martínez Seijas.

·         Mercedes Diaz Bosque, mother of Joaquin Buenaventura Martínez Diaz.

·         Amalia Seijas Martínez, born in Havana, mother of Mariana Martínez Seijas.

·         Rafael Rodriguez, born in Camaguey, father of Gaspar Rodriguez Porro.

·         Concepcion Porro, born in Camaguey, mother of Gaspar Rodriguez Porro.

·         Mariano de las Casas Villafaña, born in Camaguey, father of Araceli de las Casas.

·         Mariana Villanueva Hildago, born in Camaguey, mother of Araceli de las Casas.

GENERATION MINUS THREE

·         Justino Roig, born in Spain, father of Magdalena Roig Orpí.

·         Maria Orpí, mother of Magdalena Roig Orpí

·         José Respall, father of Casimirio Respall

·         Joaquín Ventura Martínez Montero, born in Guines, Havana Province, father of Joaquin and Antonio Martínez Elizaran.

·         Mariana Elizaran López, born in Havana, mother of of Joaquin and Antonio Martínez Elizaran. 

GENERATION MINUS FOUR

·         José Martínez, born in Guines, Havana Province, father of Joaquín Ventura Martínez Montero.
·         Juan Antonio Elizaran, father of Mariana Elizaran López.

·         Mariana López Oliva, mother of Mariana Elizaran López. 

EARLIER GENERATIONS

It is probable, Said Antonio Martínez y Martínez, (Generation Zero) before he died in 1982, that the Martínez came to Cuba from Seville, Spain, between 1500 and 1600.

Five of the Seven Martínez Seijas Sisters
 Magdalena, Mariana (1865–1914), Francisca (1875–1964),
Natalia (1877–1941) and Maria Antonia.
Gen:(–1)

Generations Zero and Minus One
 Left, top to bottom: Joaquín B. Martínez Díaz,
his son Joaquín V. Martínez y Martínez,
his sister-in-law Natalia Martínez Seijas,
and his son Antonio R. Martínez y Martínez.
The others pictured are not known. Circa 1910.

Generations Zero and Minus Two
Joaquín Martínez Elizaran
with his grandson Joaquín Martínez y Martínez.
This picture was taken in 1898.

Generation Minus Two
Cristina Ortega in 1924
at 83 years old

Generation Minus One
Rufina Pereira Ortega

Generation Minus Three
Mariana Elizaran Lopez

Generation Minus Three
Joaquin Martínez Montero

The two images above are miniature oil paintings of husband and wife. Portraits of the Martinez family were on the walls at the Martínez home at No. 208 Republica Street in Camaguey until Antonio Martinez sent them to Dulce Maria Martinez Alvarez, Mariana Martínez’ cousin who was living in California. His was painted in 1830 and hers likely at the same time. 

Generation Zero
Magdalena Prats Amat in 1969
Photographed in Barcelona

Generation Two
Mercedes Díaz Bosque