Soy de Duval

TOPICS:  Catholic Church San Diego Catholic Church St. Francis De Paula POSTED BY:  CARDENAS.AE@GMAIL.COM   FEBRUARY 6, 2016 St. Francis de Paula School ,  Photo by Kevin Smithwick. In a Facebook post in support of National Catholic Schools Week this week I wrote that I learned to write at St. Francis de Paula Catholic School in San Diego. Indeed, many of my contemporaries and older natives of San Diego probably went to the school. But that brought up a question that I’ve had on and off for years; just who was St. Francis de Paula? Generations have been dutifully meeting their Sunday Mass obligations at that beautiful church in San Diego, but are they familiar with the parish’s patron saint? I’m not. So let’s remedy that now. St. Frans de Paula Before reviewing his early life, it is important to take a look at why he was chosen as the patron saint of the church in San Diego. The first pastor at San Diego was Claude Jaillet, a Frenchman. Although St. Francis...

As most of you know, I am working on my latest book, Soy de Duval, the Nineteenth Century History of Duval County.  As an update, I am working on my final chapter, and it’s almost done. So as you can see, we are nearing publication; unfortunately, I cannot give you a definite date yet, so continue to sit tight, and we will get to the end soon. One issue that I am still trying to resolve is what to call the different groups of players. I am working with Mexicanos for Mexican nationals, Mexican Americans for Americans of Mexican descent, and Americanos for all the newcomers. Mexicanos is a given. The other two not so much. Let’s first look at Americanos . The newcomers to Duval County came from many different places. Some came from Texas, others from the United States, and many from Europe. While they all spoke English, many—like Mexicanos— did so with an accent. They came from places such as Germany, France, Ireland, Scotland, Norway, Italy, and other countries. So, technically,...

POSTED BY:  CARDENAS.AE@GMAIL.COM   AUGUST 27, 2020 After several years of writing  Soy de Duval , I have realized that it may be a good idea to have a two way, or should I say a “group,” conversation with my readers. After all,  yo   Soy de Duval , but,  together  Somos de  Duval .  In a genuine sense, we are a large family. So why don’t we sit out on our front porch and have an ongoing conversation on that which makes us the Duval County family. For years I have been researching the Duval County story .    I have always felt that it was not my story , it  belonged to all of us that have roots in Duval County. So, I created a blog and called it  Soy de  Duval . T he title was not original to me. It was what my colleague and friend Ernesto Gonzale s of Freer,  by way of Benavides, used to say; in fact, it is engraved in his tombstone. So Neto, let’ s keep the conve rsation going.   I have never hesitated ...