Background

	The Island
	The Town
	Family Ties
	Migration

I, Samuel D. Sanabria Quiles, was born in the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico on April 16, 1958 to Samuel Sanabria del Valle and Carmen Maria Quiles Velez. The first Sanabria on record to have arived in Puerto Rico was Cristobal Sanabria in 1567. He shared his first name with the island's discoverer: "Cristobal Colon."

The Island

Christopher Columbus discovered Puerto Rico, which he called San Juan Bautista, in his second voyage to the New World on November 19, 1493. The island was inhabited by Taino Indians who had named the island Boriquen, a name that is still in use by its inhabitants who call themselves "Boricuas." Thanks in part to the enthusiasm of ambitious Juan Ponce de León, a lieutenant to Columbus, the city of Puerto Rico ("rich port") quickly became Spain's most important military outpost in the Caribbean.

Concerned about potential threats from European enemies and recognizing the strategic importance of Puerto Rico, Spain began constructing massive defenses around San Juan. The construction of San Felipe del Morro Castle began. The fort featured 18-foot-thick walls; San Cristóbal and San Geronimo Forts also garrisoned troops, were built with the financial subsidy from the Mexican mines. Next the Spaniards constructed a wall, parts of which still survive, around the entire city.

The colonists grew sugarcane, plantains and bananas, citrus fruits and ginger. Puerto Rico's first governor, Ponce de León quickly began converting the Taíno to Christianity and subjecting them to forced labor. The ever arriving Spaniards settlers, many of them gold-seekers, brought no women on their ships. To populate the country, the Spaniard took Indian women. Their offspring, called mestizos, sustained the Taíno heritage.

In 1511 the natives revolted against the Spaniards with massive casualties. Once the Taíno workforce was depleted, the Spanish saw the need for new slave laborers and began importing West Africans in 1518; by 1530 they constituted half the population. With the arrival of African slaves, other racial elements were added to the population. This historic intermingling has resulted in a contemporary Puerto Rico where racial differences are well accepted.

Puerto Rico was left vulnerable, and islanders were impoverished and resentful that they were seeing so little return on their labor for the Spanish. They were not allowed to participate in government, trade with other nations, or move around the island. In rebellion, they began trading sugar and rum illegally.

The first move toward independence came in 1838, in a liberation movement led by Buenaventura Quiñones. Slavery wouldn't be abolished in Puerto Rico until 1873. By 1897 Puerto Rico finally got its independence from Spain as an autonomous state. However, in the concluding battle of the Spanish-American War, American forces occupied Puerto Rico as another US territory.

Islanders became US citizens in 1917 and the island drafted its first constitution and elected Luis Muños Marín, head of the Popular Democratic Party, as governor in 1947. In 1952 the islanders voluntarily became the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (Estado Libre Asociado de los Estados Unidos).

In 1967, in the first referendum addressing the issue of sovereignty, Puerto Ricans voted to remain a commonwealth, rather than become a full US state or independent nation. Two more referenda followed in 1993 and 1998, and both were voted down in favor of the status quo.

The Town

Both the Sanabria and Quiles families were from the rural town of Lares, from the borough called La Torre. Called El Pueblo del Grito, Lares was founded in April 26, 1827 by Francisco de Sotomayor and Pedro Vélez Borrero. The city was named after one of its settlers, Don Amador de Lariz.

On September 23, 1868, Lares was the scene of the events that gave birth to a social revolution against Spain for Puerto Rican independence, known as "El Grito de Lares". A group of 185 countrymen under the leadership of Manuel Rojas took arms against Spanish rule and held their positions in the town square (la plaza). A troop of Spanish soldiers came from the town of Moca and defeated them. The casualties were four dead, 4 wounded, and six prisoners. The general sense of discontent throughout the island continued to escalate until Puerto Rico got its independence from Spain in 1897.

Lares and the surrounding towns of Camuy, Maricao, Yauco, Hatillo, Utuado, Adjuntas, San Sebastian and Las Marias produce coffee, oranges, bananas, and avocados.

Population: 29,015

Wards: Bartolo, Buenos Aires, Callejones, Espino, Lares, La Torre, Mirasol, Pezuela, Piletas, Pueblo and Río Prieto.

Events: Patron Saint Festival, Town Festival, Hacienda Rabano Festival, Food Festival and Banana Festival

Family Ties

At the time of my birth only one of my grandparents was alive: Carmen Velez Rivera, widow of Wenseslao Quiles Guzman. Together they had thirteen children: Francisco Quiles Velez, Mariano Quiles Velez, Carmen Maria Quiles Velez, Gabriel Quiles Velez, Maria Elena Quiles Velez, Candi Anibal Quiles Velez, Oscar Anibal Quiles Velez, Feliz Antonio Quiles Velez, Rosa Idua Quiles Velez, Milagro Quiles Velez, Aurea Ester Quiles Velez, Norberto Quiles Velez, and Teresita de Jesus Quiles Velez.

The Quiles family was very poor. My grandfather, Wenseslao Quiles Guzman, obtained a couple of acres of land through a government homestead program to alleviate the financial burden of his family. These properties were called "parcelas." Land ownership was contingent upon farming the "parcela". Doing so provided just enough income to maintain minimum levels of subsistence. Many needed to work additional hours in larger farms or in the construction trade to bring their families out of the poor conditions they were enduring.

My mother, Carmen Maria Quiles Velez, went to study Education in the town of Utuado and later in the University of Puerto Rico. She financed her studies by working as a seamstress for the wealthy.

The Sanabria family was a bit more fortunate. They owned many acres of land and employed many laborers in the farming, distribution and sale of coffee. My father, Samuel Sanabria del Valle, was a boy when his mother, Maria del Valle, died. The widower, Jose Manuel Sanabria, suffered a stroke six years later.

His brother, Agustin Sanabria, through some controversial transaction had acquired the land that would have been inherited by my father and his siblings. Ismael Sanabria del Valle, Orosia Sanabria del Valle, Amparo Sanabria del Valle and Samuel Sanabria del Valle, were left at the mercy of their uncles. The youngest son, Eloy Sanabria Lopez was taken care of by his mother, Ortensia Lopez, who was forced to abandon the property. This left my orphan father without any legal right to the land that belonged to his father and without any financial support. He went to live with his elder sister, Orosia Sanabria.

Samuel Sanabria del Valle enlisted in the Army and was sent to battle in the Korean war. He was discharged after serving two years and returned to Lares, Pueto Rico. Shortly after his return he married Carmen Maria Quiles Velez in 1957. Together they had four children: Samuel David Sanabria Quiles, Cruz Noel Sanabria Quiles, Jose Oscar Sanabria Quiles and Carmen Leslie Sanabria Quiles.

Migration

Our first migration to the United States came in 1969 but was short lived. We permanently migrated in 1973 and settled in Elizabeth, New Jersey. I, Samuel David Sanabria Quiles, married Elsa Ramirez, my high school sweetheart, in August 15, 1981. We have three children: Maribel Sanabria Ramirez, Mabel Sanabria Ramirez and Marilyn Sanabria Ramirez. We have lived in different states due to my military enlistment with the United Stated Air Force (1982 - 1987). Upon being discharged we purchased our first home and settled in Rahway, NJ. In 1999 we moved to the sate of Florida and built a home in Brooksville. Our first grandchild, Aja (Peterson) Sanabria was born to Maribel Sanabria in May 14, 2002.