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Eugenio Cabezas
Malaga
Tuesday, 17 September 2024, 13:37
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Vicky Martín is from Malaga and she grew up knowing very little about her ancestors, her paternal great-grandfather Demetrio Martín and a brother of her maternal great-grandmother, Francisco García, who emigrated from the province to Hawaii more than a century ago, between 1907 and 1913.
“We only knew that they had emigrated to the United States, but not the reason or the story behind it. We had contact with some of their descendants, but only on my great-grandmother's brother’s side. We know absolutely nothing about Demetrio Martín, nor have we managed to locate anyone yet,” explained Vicky, who is a psychologist.
The true story behind her relatives came to light after the publication of a book by Malaga researcher Miguel Alba. He wrote two books between 2016 and 2021, in which he delves into the exodus of some two thousand people from Malaga and Granada to Hawaii to work on the island state’s sugar cane plantations.
“We thought that they had settled directly in California, but it wasn't like that, first they were in Hawaii for a few years,” explained Martín, who this summer met up again with her “cousin” Ryan Loney, a young Californian who works as a computer scientist and lives near Los Angeles.
The 44-year-old who was in Malaga city this summer to do a Spanish course says he is “in love” with Spain and everything about the country of his ancestor, Francisco García. “He's making a lot of progress, he's mastering it more and more,” said Vicky.
Loney and Martín have met up on a number of occasions in Malaga since their first meeting in 2017. “He loves the province, he is delighted with his Spanish family, but I have never managed to find any descendants of my paternal great-grandfather, Demetrio Martín, who was originally from Torrox and who embarked on the first ship from Malaga city, the S. S. Heliópolis, in 1907,” Martín said.
The Malaga psychologist has delved into the history of her ancestors, providing photographs and material for Alba's work. She has a photo showing Francisco García, who was originally from Torre del Mar, with his wife Felicia, who he met on the boat, their first son, Anthony who was born in Hawaii, and her parents, who were also travelling on the boat. According to Martin, her great-grandmother's brother spent four years in Hawaii before leaving for California.
In her extensive photo album, Vicky Martín keeps dozens of images that have been exchanged between the descendants of Francisco García, culminating in their reunions in Malaga since. “I am with Miguel Alba in the search for more information on whether Demetrio Martín had family in Hawaii or California,” explained Martín, who pointed out that Ryan Loney is the fifth generation of Francisco García's descendants, while in her case she is part of the fourth. “It is a very exciting and unknown story in Andalucía,” she added.
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