REview of EL CARMEN: Stirpes

Book Review of the 2017 First Place Winner 2016 TxSGS Book Awards

by William D. “Bill” Buckner, TxSGS Awards Chair

El Carmen: the Chapel of the Battle of Medina

Northwest Vista College Series on Texas History, Art Martínez de Vara (Von Ormy, TX:

Alamo Press, 2017) 668 pages, indexed. This hardcover book is available from Amazon.com for $59.99.

     Do what you do best and you will be successful. Art Martinez de Vara is just that—successful in his latest book offering from his publishing enterprise Alamo Press. We are blessed that someone with such passion for history and preserving the record of that history is providing quality publications for future generations of researchers and genealogists. When I first opened El Carmen, I noticed the extensive transcriptions of baptisms (2,241), marriages (718), and burials (692) associated with the El Carmen Church in Losoya, Texas. The author states that nearly 20,000 names are recorded in this volume.

     The order of content is logical. A comprehensive history of the land, events, and the church is presented to provide background in part I. Part II presents chronological parish records

from the El Carmen Church Archive; these records comprise the bulk of the volume.

     Have you ever heard of the Battle of Medina? Did you know that Texas first declared independence from Spain on 6 April 1813 in the Mexican War for Independence? It was at the Battle of Medina on 18 August 1813 that the Republican Army of the North was defeated by Spanish Royalists in one of the bloodiest battles ever fought on Texas soil. Atop the burial crypt of the Spanish soldiers that died that day, a chapel was built and dedicated to Our

Lady of Mt. Carmel. 

     The author provides a concise and very readable history of El Carmen Church. I love it when an author contextualizes the presented records or abstracts by providing an introductory

history showcasing the source of the records.

     These sacramental records dating back to the 1850s were written primarily in Spanish up to 1933. Translations were made for this volume. The baptism records range from December 1855 to January 1919 and include the date of baptism; names of the parents, godparents, and priest; plus additional notes. The marriage records range from December 1855 to December 1950 and, in addition to the groom and bride, include the parents of the groom and bride, godparents,

priest, the age of the couple, and other notes. Burial dates range from May 1856 to January 1925. The standardized record includes the date of burial, name of the deceased, and the priest who signed the burial. Other information presented includes date of death, parents, age, spousal information, cause of death, baptism information, and other family information.

     Preceding the sacramental records, the author provides a chapter entitled “El Carmen Book

of Entries.” I found it interesting that the author included these accounting book pages outlining the details of construction, repair, and donations. It made a nice segue between the history chapters and the sacramental records.

     The author provides an every name index (114 pages) that references a unique record number (not a page number) that was assigned consecutively starting with the baptisms

(no. 1) and ending with the burials (no. 3,651). Place names (towns and churches) also reference these record numbers. I absolutely loved this format. It was very easy to use. Because of this

editorial decision, the history of El Carmen Church and chapter on the Book of Entries were not indexed. I might have included a separate index for those chapters.

     El Carmen is the first in the Northwest Vista College Series on Texas History. I applaud the choice of content that serves both the historian and genealogist—a job well done.