1878 – 1926: The life and death of Filiberto Gutierrez (Uno)

“El destino que pudo cortar repentinamente el hilo recto 
de la existencia de aquel — que fue un Hijo incondicional, 
cumplido Esposo y buen Padre de sus Hijos, y conforme 
a la Ley de la Naturaleza”

Aug 22, 1878 – April 10, 1926

I never knew my maternal grandfather Filiberto Gutierrez (Uno), a native Guerrerense who left his beloved homeland during the Mexican Revolution to live in Texas.

The obituary that follows tallies the accomplishments of his life as a Jim Hogg County rancher and the owner of The Cash Store mercantile in Hebbronville. It also chronicles his civic acts and suggests that his character and kind nature engendered respect and deep friendships.

The loss of him in 1926 left my grandmother, María Dionicia Benavides, a very young widow at 42 with eight children to raise.

In the absence of him, she worked a small red-earthed tract called La Perla Farm, where she raised cotton and tended to milk cows, poultry, and the large garden that fed her family.

Filiberto died when my mother and her twin, Oscar, were three.

My grandmother, who would live another 46 years, is said to have mourned him deeply, intensely, and privately — sequestering herself for two weeks until she was not doubled over with grief.

For all the years much later that my older sister Sandra, my brother Eduardo, and I were in the circle of her love, we heard no laments about her profound loss. We never heard my grandfather’s name on her lips. We heard of him only in conversation with our mother, who had known her father so briefly.

Since my mother’s death in 2005, I have sifted through a small cache of the personal effects of my uncle Oscar, which I found in dusty boxes at our ranch in San Ygnacio.

The boxes yielded the treasure of photographs and a bit of beautifully penned correspondence between my grandparents — writing that evidences devotion, the strength of their marriage, playfulness, and the tenderness of their hearts for one another and their children.

The salutation of my grandmother’s letters to him always began with “Mi inolvidable Fili,” and my grandfather’s closed with “Soy como siempre tu mas amado esposo.” They wrote to each other when she was away from him in San Ygnacio to see her father, Manuel Benavides Treviño, and her siblings or while she was in Guerrero visiting her oldest sister Margarita, a school teacher.

A century later, Filiberto and María’s written endearments of missing and longing resonate still with the depth of their caring.

The father of eight writes a lightly grumbling note about her absence and asks what part of her heart he occupies.

The mother of eight fires back, referring to his “pregunta inquieta,” with “Que lugar juzgas que ocupa el corazón de una fiel esposa para su esposo?” She reminds him he is her future and that “solo la muerte podrá separarme de ti.”

A week after my grandfather’s death, Margarita, also a widow, writes eloquently to my grandmother to counsel her to summon strength in the face of “el irremisiblemente naufragarias en la union de tus queridos y pequeños hijos en el mar tempestuoso de la vida.”

She wrote of “el destino que pudo cortar repentinamente el hilo recto de la existencia de aquel — que fue un Hijo incondicional, cumplido Esposo y buen Padre de sus Hijos, y conforme a la Ley de la Naturaleza.”

Finding a photo of my grandfather in his store and seeing photos of my aunts and uncles and my mother as youngsters evoked a tender thrill. Some of those photos follow.

THE CASH STORE

That’s my grandfather in the dapper snap cap and sweater behind the center counter, accompanied by whom I believe is my Uncle Romeo.

There is a soda fountain on the right edge of the photo. The mercantile is stocked with clothing, shoes and boots, hats canned goods and groceries, farm and ranch tools, baskets, watches, lamps, books, toys, pocket knives, and according to its letterhead, patent medicines, toiletries, stationary, candies, fruits, cold drinks, cigars, and sundries.

My mother’s only memory of the store was a jar of hard candy (lemon drops) at the soda fountain counter, which may explain the presence of lemon drops in our childhood home.

The second photo outside The Cash Store is of an assembly of Jim Hogg County ranchers and businessmen who, I’m just saying, appear to be being photographed against their will by Congden Photography of Corpus Christi. Filiberto Uno stands at the center behind the seated men, wearing a handsome Homburg. There is no notation on the photo to indicate the occasion.

The third photo, also taken outside the store, offers a glimpse, if I am correct, of siblings Romeo, Aurelio, Pedro or Filiberto Dos, and Ninfa Gutierrez.

DEATH OF FILIBERTO GUTIERREZ
From Page 1 of the April 14, 1926 The Hebbronville News.

The death of Mr. Filiberto Gutierrez, which occurred in San Antonio last Saturday morning about 1 o’clock, came as a shock to his many friends at Hebbronville, where he had for many years made his home and where he was engaged in the mercantile business. Mr. Gutierrez was a native of Guerrero, Tamaulipas, Mexico but had lived many years of his life on this side of the Río Grande, the last twelve years spent in Hebbronville. He was a man of education and of more than ordinary intelligence. He belonged to the old Diaz Regime and when the Madero Revolution overwhelmed Diaz and Diaz left the country, Mr. Gutierrez also departed with his old leader and became an exile from the land of his birth. He was held in the highest regard by the people of his native town and State and this regard was even shared by the Revolutionists, who showed their appreciation of his estimation in which he was held by permitting him to move his cattle to this side of the Río Grande and from the sale of which he was enabled to establish himself in business. The Revolutionists also gave protection to his home in Guerrero and his ranch lands in the state of Tamaulipas, none of which have been confiscated and which are still owned by his family.

Mr. Gutierrez was a man of high character and had the respect and esteem of all that knew him, Americans as well as Mexicans. He never became a citizen of the United States and explained this by saying that he was an exile but expected some day to return to his beloved Mexico, the land of his birth. But while a resident of this country, however, and enjoying its protection, he obeyed implicitly the country’s laws and his advice to his countrymen on this side of the Río Grande was always for the best and had a beneficial effect. During the World War Mr. Gutierrez acted as interpreter for the local conscription board and he performed his duty with the most exacting faithfulness and in a manner to gain for himself the highest respect of the American friends with whom he worked.

For many years Mr. Gutierrez had suffered from an injury to one of his legs. This trouble, which was worse at times than at others, seemed to impair his general health, and when the last attack came, his family thought it advisable to take him to San Antonio for medical treatment. His wife and son were with him and last Friday evening they telephoned home that he seemed greatly improved. His seemingly improved condition, however, was evidently the flaring up of the candle just before it goes out, for he fell into a gentle slumber from which he never awoke. His attendants discovering at one o’clock in the morning that he had gone to the Land Beyond.

Mrs. Gutierrez and son being strangers in San Antonio, Mr. Charles Hellen, Jim Hogg County ranchman who happened to be in San Antonio at the time and learning of the death of his old friend, took charge of the remains, had the body prepared for burial, and sent it on the train to Hebbronville. A large crowd, both Americans and Mexicans, met the body Sunday at the Hebbronville Depot and followed to the Catholic Church where an immense assemblage had gathered. Father Juan B. Lavoie, pastor of the church, preached a beautiful funeral sermon and paid tribute to the worth and integrity of the deceased. The church was more than crowded and many had to hear the funeral sermon from the outside. The funeral procession to the City Cemetery was by far the longest ever seen in Hebbronville and the floral tributes, many sent by friends from a distance, fairly covered the grave in which the good man now sleeps. It seemed practically everyone in Hebbronville attended the funeral, in such high estimation was the man held.

Mr. Gutierrez, who was only 48 years old, is survived by his wife, María B. de Gutierrez, his sons Aurelio, Romeo, Pedro, Filiberto, and Oscar, and his daughters, Ninfa, Delia, and Amanda. He is also survived by his mother, Mrs. R. Vda. de Gutierrez, and two sisters, Mrs. Panchita G. de García and Lila G. de Gutierrez. Several nephews and nieces also survive him.

Mr. Gutierrez was always an advocate of education and it was due to his effort than to that of any other individual that the Mexican College was established in this city and where Mexican children are carried to the sixth grade before they are entered in the public school.

He was a good man, an estimable neighbor, and those who knew him best mourn him most.

LA ESQUELA

It was customary to give notice of a death via esquela. This one was mailed with a one-cent stamp to Sr. Manuel Ramirez in Ramireño, Texas.

ASSEMBLY OF EL CORTEJO FÚNEBRE

Relatives and townspeople met at the Hebbronville Train Depot to accompany my grandfather’s remains to the Catholic Church. These photos were hand-colored and show faintly that the wooden spokes of vehicles were decorated with purple flowers.

The child in the last picture is my aunt, Delia Gutierrez Varela, the mother of my cousin Alfonso Varela.

LA ESCUELA MEXICANA

 My mother and her cuate Oscar, 10, are pictured in 1933 on the stairway of the school their father built.

THE GALVESTON HURRICANE, 1900

Filiberto was attending Draughon’s Business School in Galveston in 1900, and survived the fury of a storm that took the lives of 5,000 souls.

An elderly man who came into my office in Zapata in 1992 or 1993 presented me with a beautiful 1940 calendar from his family’s store in Old Zapata, The Cash Store. He knew my grandfather’s name, that he had survived the hurricane, and that he’d had a business called The Cash Store in Hebbronville.

I was never able to shore up my approximation of that gentleman’s age with the age of my grandfather who in 1993 would have been well over 100. The calendar he gave me included the name of S. M. Gutierrez (Serapio Morales Gutierrez) as the proprietor.

I very much regret that I did not take the time to ask the visitor’s name and how I could contact him so that I could ask him many questions about my grandfather.

I’ve learned it’s important to remember when you strike the match for another candle that you will burn at both ends to fuel what you believe is your best work that the flame can cauterize curiosity even as life tries to present you the invaluable gift of something you needed to know.

Filiberto Gutierrez’s Woodstock

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