The Moralez Family
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Manuel Moralez was the land owner at Porvenir and his family lost more than their share of family members. Manuel was married to Francisca Hernandez and they had 6 Children: Leandro, Jovita Eustacio, Manuela, Juanita and Julia who was born on the very night her father was killed. Ambrosio Hernandez was married to Eulalia Gonzalez and they had one child, Victorio. The last family member was Eutimio Gonzales who was Ambrosio’s father-in-law. Eutimio was married to Concepcion Carrasco and they had 9 children, Francisco, Eulalia, Pedro, Santos, Refugia, Luisiana, Blasa, Geronimo and a baby.
The Herrera Family
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Angie Herrera Perez is a descendant of the Herrera family who lived in Porvenir, Texas. This family lost three brothers Pedro, Vivian and Severiano Herrera in the Porvenir Massacre in 1918. They were also Manuel Moralez's nephews. They were very young and had only been in Porvenir 10 days. These Herrera brothers had two younger brothers, Martin and Santana. Martin’s job was to take care of the soldiers’ horses. Martin Morales Herrera was Angie’s grandfather. She remembers her Grandfather telling her about the Texas Rangers coming and killing his brothers and left him for dead. He had a scar on his forehead where the Texas Ranger hit him with the end of his rifle. Martin’s mother Juanita Herrera fled to Mexico with his younger brother Santana Moralez Herrera. Martin would cross over to Mexico to see his mother or to bring her back to the United States for short visits. She couldn’t come back to live in Texas ever again. Martin’s Grandmother Estefana cooked and cared for him in Candelaria, Texas. Angie remembers her Aunt Consuelo had a picture of Pancho Villa and she proceeded to asked her Grandfather Martin some questions about the picture and her Grandfather Martin got very angry and told Aunt Consuelo to get rid of the picture. He said, “Because of them (Pancho Villa) they killed my brothers.
Angie said she started looking into the Porvenir Massacre after showing her father, Martin Chavez Herrera, Native American Pow Wows on YouTube. Her father quoted her Grandfather’s words; “We had to deny our Indian Heritage and the Texas Rangers still came and killed my brothers.”
Angie said she started looking into the Porvenir Massacre after showing her father, Martin Chavez Herrera, Native American Pow Wows on YouTube. Her father quoted her Grandfather’s words; “We had to deny our Indian Heritage and the Texas Rangers still came and killed my brothers.”
The Jimenez Family
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Alberto Garcia was married to Victoria Jimenez and they had 3 children Jorge, Celedonio, and Florencia. Victoria not only lost her husband, Alberto but she also lost 2 brothers Serapio and Pedro Jimenez and her cousin Juan Jimenez.
The Jáquez Family
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Tiburcio Jaques and Macedonio Huerta were both lost. Tiburcio was married to Librada Montoya and they had 8 Children: Maria, Jose, Cecilia, Marcelo, Alberto, Ezequiel, Rita , and Juliana. Rita was married to Macedonio Huertas and Juliana was married to Harry Warren. Harry Warren was the school teacher who documented the massacre. Without his documentation, the Porvenir Massacre would have vanished and the story would never have survived.
The Niéves Family
Roman Niéves was married to Alejandra and they had 7 Children: Ventura, Margarito, Matilde, Francisco, Casimiro, Yner and another child was born on three months after his death.
The Flores Family
Longino Flores was married to Juana Bonilla. They had 3 children Benita, Narciso, and Juan. Benita was married to Rosendo Mesa who escaped being killed because he was on an overnight trip to get supplies. After the massacre, Rosendo Mesa became the sole provider of the Longino Flores family and his own family with Benita. Juan Flores, the youngest son to Longino Flores became the last surviving person that was there to witness the tragedy and to live and tell about it. Because of Juan Flores major details of the massacre have now been documented. Juana Bonilla Flores struggled with the death of her husband. She suffered for many years with what we now know as PTSD today. The end result came when she took her own life.
The Castañeda Family
Antonio Castaneda was married to Felipa Mendez. We know very little about this couple except that they had only been in Porvenir for three weeks. We also discovered that his father-in-law, Juan Mendez, owned a newspaper in Pilares, Chihuahua, Mexico and that because of him, affidavits were taken and signed from the families and in turn asked the Mexican government for assistance and the Mexican Ambassador Ygnacio Bonilla asked for an investigation. Thus, making this an International incident.