From Which House Do We Come From

Major Neri Bloodlines

There are several bloodlines that I have found in tracing the genealogy of the family Neri. I found these from the book made sometime in the late 60's and others sent to me. I have confirmed some of these tracings through other genealogy charts particularly the extensive work done by Amado V. Neri, One major confirmation is that Leon Neri and Salvador Neri were brothers. Determining the relationships of the other major Neri bloodlines are still on-going.

The major ancestral bloodlines are:

Juan Neri bloodline married to Anastacia Chaves

Leon Neri bloodline. (no data on the name of the wife)_

Salvador Neri bloodline married to a Coronado.

Mariano Neri bloodline married to Ambrosia Fortich.

Genaro Neri bloodline married to Silvestra Emata.

Note: I consider a group as a major bloodline, when we can link at least three generations.

Interest in tracing family relationships is not general, widespread or common.  It is an interesting hobby which requires patience and persistence. You encounter information that surprises you. You find out how far and wide, the family relations has spread across the globe. You discover colorful stories of love, love affairs, mistresses and half brothers or sisters. Some cannot accept the discovery. Some are more mature about it. An interesting pre-occupation indeed.

Revival

I am reviving this blog to discuss the connection of the Neri's of Cagayan de Oro to the family of Samporna of Lanao del Sur. A glimmer of hope in connecting this gap is within sight with a preliminary communication from Datu Abul Kayr Alonto. Datu Abul was referred to me by Rico Pelaez, one of the sons of Vice President Emmanuel N. Pelaez. Rico mentioned to me in one of his emails that Datu Abul has read from a document which traced his family to the family of Sampurna. Datu Abul has mentioned that the Neri's of Cagayan de Oro may be related to the Datu a Samporna from the Mala a Bayabao Royalty. I hope to communicate more with Datu Abul and get more details about this connection. This may be the connection we are looking for.

From Whence Our House

One of the anecdotal stories that I have heard from my father was about a visit of natives from Marawi who visited by grandfather Vicente who was then a govermor of Misamis Oriental.  I understand this was before the second World War. According to my father, they told my grandfather that we were related to the Samporna's of Lanao and a member of one of the royal houses.  From which royal house our relations came from was never mentioned.  The same story was also confirmed by Amadeo that he has also heard a similar story.

A search in the internet would bring you to Wikipedia where there is a list of the 16 Royal Houses of Lanao.  I have taken the liberty of reproducing that list here.

These sixteen Royal Houses of Lanao are:

Principality of UNAYAN:

§  The Royal House of Butig

§  The Royal House of Pagayawan

§  The Royal House of Bayang

§  The Royal House of Dumalondong

Principality of MASIU:

§  The Royal House of Masiu

§  The Royal House of Datu a Cabugatan

POONA-BAYABAO:

§  The Royal House of Bansayan

§  The Royal House of Rogan

§  The Royal House of Taporog

LUMBA-BAYABAO:

§  The Royal House of Minitupad

§  The Royal House of Borocot

§  The Royal House of Bacolod

§  The Royal House of Maribo

Principality of MALA-BAYABAO:

§  The Royal House of Ramain

§  The Royal House of Ditsaan

Principality of BALOI:

§  The Royal House of Baloi

If only one of the existing Samporna's can link with us and help in connecting the dots, from Neri to Samporna.

Life Span of People

As we try to trace back our progenitors, we have to try and imagine what life was like in the past.  This is important as it is related to the life span of our ancestors.  Researching the internet, we came across this table -

Life expectancy - Timeline for humans

Humans by Era, Average Lifespan (in years)

• Neanderthal, 20
• Neolithic, 20
• Classical Greece, 28
• Classical Rome, 28
• Medieval England, 33
• 1800's End of 19th Century, 37
• 1900's Early 20th Century, 50
• 1940's Circa 1940, 65
• Current (in the West), 77-81

The earliest information we have of our Neri forefathers goes as far back as the 1800's.  As of now, we have NO record or reference that would connect the brother's Leon Neri and Salvador Neri, the other Neri's at that time, namely Juan and Lino Neri directly to the Sampurna.  We only have anecdotal information of relatives from the Lanao area coming to visit and relating the ancestry and connection of the Sampurna's and the Neri's.  We take it on faith that the stories of our lolos and lolas have basis in fact.

So what is the reason for showing the lifespan of people through the centuries?  According to Amadeo Neri, the first name change from Sampurna to Neri was in 1779 with the Christianization of the Sampurna family in Kagay-haan by a Recolletos friar by the name of Rev. Pedro de Santa Barbara.  The earliest record or mention of the Neri's seems to have occurred in th 1800's, which is only a period of 31 years.  This gap is what we need to fill to connect the Neri's to the Sampurna.  This is equivalent to only one generation if lifespans at that time averages 37 years.

So short a period yet so difficult to connect.

Progenitors

Trying to trace your family tree is an interesting and exciting endeavor.  Just trying to connect the relationship of each family is difficult.  Thanks to the internet, this task have been made a little bit easier.  All the data we discover will need to be verified but whatever we find we want to share to all those interested in this activity of piecing together the Neri family tree of the Sampurna bloodline from Kagay-an or Cagayan de Misamis or now currently known as Cagayan de Oro.

Some information on our proginetor were found in the internet.

These information was supposed to have been copied from a document given to Ramon V. Neri by Fr. Jaime Neri.

The information were copied and paste below:

• 1521 : Rajah sa Lanao (Samporna), Chief of CIPIT, visited by Magellan's chronicler Pigafetta, on the expedition's return to Spain.
•  1571 : Adelantado Miguel Lopez de Legaspi assigned to his soldier, Juan Griego, the encomiendas of Cagayan, Gonpot (?) and Tagoloan.
• 1625 : Rajah sa Langsang (Neri), Chief of Kagay-an. Evangelization of Kagay-an and the baptism of Rajah sa Langsang by the Recoletos.
• 1626 : Seige of Kagay-an and the defeat of the allied forces of the Maguindinao's (old name for Mindanao) Cachil Corralat (?) by the defending Kagay-anons.
•  1832 : Savador Neri, Gobernadorcillo of Kagay-an.
• 1833 : Lino Neri, Gobernadorcillo of Kagay-an.
• Don Leon Neri
• 1898 : Catalino Neri, Gobernadorcillo of Kagay-an.

Additional information was also found on the same website which we also copied and paste below:

"The information below was supplied by Jaime Casino Neri (1987) and was recounted to him by his sister Josefina. Josefina received it from Ramon A. Neri y Velez before World War II.  Leon's brother fathered Graciano and Ramon Neri y Coronado, who both married San José sisters (progenators of the Neri-San José line). The Leon Neri children:

• Vicente married Ciriaca Velez
• Consolacion married Nicolas Velez
• Antonia married Vicente Rivera
• Catalino married Nicolasa Gabor

The information above on the Leon Neri and children coincides with data we have.

We hope that other Neri's of Cagayan de Oro will be able to contribute to building up the Neri family tree.

The Journey Begins

It all started with my daughter's email. She mentioned she found a site about the Neri clan of Cagayan de Oro.  A web search pointed to the Ignatian Perspective maintained by Amadeo V. Neri. Reading the blog rekindle in me the interest to start looking at my own family tree and connect this to a big chart Amadeo posted in his blogspot.  I remember attending a grand re-union in 1985.  This was dubbed the Neri-Chaves First Grand Reunion.  One of the output of that activity was a genealogy book.

My mother gave me that book and with the chart from Amadeo's website  at http://theignatianperspective.blogspot.com I now have the basic resources to start my own family tree chart.

My jounery has started.