The Vatican conclave surprised the world this week by selecting the first American Pope, a native of Chicago. Shortly after, a respected genealogist surprised the world by revealing that the inheritance of the new Pope connected him with many more threads of the American experience than was previously known.
Robert Francis Prevost, 69, who took the name of Pope Leo XIV, descended from the Creole people of New Orleans.
The work of detective of Jari Honora, the genealogist and historian of New Orleans, was based on the analysis of historical documents, including census records, many of which are presented here. Other documents were unearthed by the Archdiocese or New Orleans or obtained independently by the New York Times.
In their entirety, the documents begin to track the history of a family, on the side of Pope Leo’s mother, with several background entrenched in the unique Afro-Caribbean culture of New Orleans who later moved to Chicago at the beginning of the 20th century.
It is not clear why they left, but many Creole families like yours moved north at that time in search of better paid jobs and a less racially hostile environment, a story that finds parallel in the emphasis of the new Pope to serve migrants and people.
The documents also suggest a story that is not uncommon among some American peoples that underwent such trips: a change in the racial to white categorization. One of the Pope’s brothers, John Prevost, who lives in the suburbs of Chicago, confirmed the ancestry of the family, but told the New York Times that he and his brothers always considered themselves white.
As for her mother, she said: “I really couldn’t tell you for sure. She could have said Spanish.”
1870
Perhaps the most early known record of the Pope’s maternal grandfather, Joseph Martínez, is a list in the 1870 census, tasks when he was 6 years old. Martínez’s father is on the list like Jacques Martínez, a tailor, while Sys Mother, 43, “keeps everyone’s birthplace in his family is indicated as Louisiana.
1887
Joseph Martínez married Louise Baquié, Pope’s maternal grandmother, on September 17, 1887. Martínez appears in the marriage certificate as a native of Haiti. Baquié is the daughter of Ferdinand Baquié and Eugenie Grambois.
Both Louise families had long roots of New Orleans. The Archdiocese of New Orleans unearthed records that document their parents’ marriage in 1864, and the baptism of his mother, one of the Pope’s great -grandmothers, in the Cathedral of San Luis in 1840. The baptismal source where he received his first sacrament remains there today.
1900
Joseph and Louise Martínez register as residents of New Orleans in the 1900 census. They had two daughters at that time, Irma and Margaret, and an aunt seemed to be living in their direction. All appear as “B” for Black.
The occupation of Joseph, which appears on line 6, is observed as “cigarette manufacturer” and its birthplace as “Hayti”, aligned with the origin in its marriage certificate.
1908
The document after 1908, known as settlement (or legalization in other jurisdictions), divides the possessions of Joseph’s parents among their heirs. These assets included a house worth approximately $ 800 at that time. Mr. Honora, the genealogist, said that there are “surnames of Beaucoup New Orleans” among the various heirs, documenting the links between the Pope’s grandfather and many other Orleans families.
1910
The 1910 census writes the sign of the Martínez family on line 35 as “Martina”, and lists its race as “W”, for White. Joseph’s place of birth appears as “S. Domingo”, capital of the Dominican Republic (and possible, weakly above, “Western Indies”?). The record seems to indicate that Joseph’s father was Maltese and his mother was Spanish.
Now there are three different places of origin that appear for the Pope’s maternal grandfather in several historical documents: Louisiana, Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Honora said it was rare at that time for people to change their response to record makers, part of the challenge of such research.
1911
The family seems to have moved to Chicago after the 1910 census, he thought that the exact date of his northern migration is uncertain. This is a digital cook county record of the Birth Certificate of Mildred Martínez, the mother of the Pope, who was born in Chicago and then known as Millge Preview after marrying. Its race is Blanca. (Other documents, also from Cook County, indicate their year of birth as 1912.)
The birthplace of his father appears as Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, while his mother, listed here as “Louise Biegex”, identifies as a native of New Orleans. The careers of their parents are not indicated.
1920
The 1920 census shows the Martínez family, including Mildred, Joseph and the youngest daughter of Louise, in Chicago. The records that begin on line 31 again indicate their career as Blanca.
