Paternal Ancestors: the Rodriguez Piloto & Casas Bacallao families
In the 1880’s the cards were shuffled, resulting in new winners and losers in the Cuban economy. It was at this point that the Casas – Batista paternal ancestors come together in the capital city of the island. Eduardo Casas and Ricardo Piloto though respectively Spanish immigrant and first generation criollo, formed a friendship based on love for an independent Cuba and a talent for entrepreneurship. Their rags to riches transformation permitted them entry to into a newly mixed Havana society. The two families were further linked through the 1920 marriage of Ramon Casas, Eduardo’s son and Celia Rodriguez, Ricardo’s grand daughter.
According to Celia Rodriguez, Clotilde del C. Rodriguez (1829-81) was her paternal great aunt. Known as the daughter of the Damuji (the river that empties into the sea at the port of Cienfuegos), she was a teacher and poet whose patriotic verses inspired Cienfuego patriots in the first war of independence (1869).
In 1921 a marble bust in memory of Clotilde Rodriguez was erected in Cienfuego’s Parque Jose Marti (avenida 54 y calle 25).
arbol de familia con fotos, Eddy CasasRafael Rodriguez 1876, age 26, Cienfuegos. The family business was decorative woodworking, a prime example being the interior of the celebratedTerry Theatre.Petronila de la Rosa, wife of Rafael Rodriguez. It was said that her first husband was a member of a French family displaced from Saint Domingue (Haiti )after the 1804 revolution. She married Rafael in the 1870’s and they had three children who survived to adulthood: Saturnino, Antonio and Rosa.
Saturnino Rodriguez de la Rosa, 1895 (married Eloisa Piloto del Valle). Saturnino and his brother Antonio re-settled in Havana as young men.Antonio Rodriguez de la Rosa 1904 (married Maria Piloto del Valle)
Rosa de Fleitas (daughter of America de la Rosa a cousin of Saturnino and Antonio) with Marina Fleites and her half son Fausto Fleites. Notes by Celia Rodriguez
Rosa Rodriguez de la Rosa married a Havana Pharmacist , Pepe Macias.Ricardo Piloto and Mercedes del Valle seen in this, likely wedding, photo from the early 1880’s. They had three daughters and a son, Augusto, who died in childhood. Ricardo was unimpressed with the prospect of Saturnino and Antonio Rodriguez as son-in-laws saying, “They’re not worthy enough to take the dogs out for a piss.”Mercedes “Pepa” del ValleRicardo Piloto was the son of immigrants from the Canary Islands. As the son of a Spaniard he retained economic privileges and had grown wealthy by branching out, from his base in tobacco farming in Artemisa, to land holding and real estate.Piloto del Valle family: Ricardo and Celia behind Eloisa, Mercedes “Pepa” del Valle and Maria, Ybor City, Florida ca. 1896. Ricardo Piloto had tobacco farms in Florida. In the last decades of the 19th century, with the decimation of the “sugarocracy” established Cuban society became more accepting of newcomers with money.Eloisa, Celia, and Maria Piloto del Valle ca 1899 Tampa, Florida. They are dressed in mourning for their mother who died in New York City during an operation to remove cervical cancer. Although he was a Spaniard’s son and retained citizenship, Ricardo considered himself “criollo” and generously contributed to the war effort while in exile.Celia Piloto del Valle portrait with note , Fort Lauderdale 1896. She died of influenza in the first years of the new century.The poignant note “To my pretty sister Eloisa from her little sister and ugly. Celia. Fort Meade, ’96” underscores the stringent need for young women to be beautiful in order to succeed in the marriage market. Eloisa died before marrying. See Chapter 8Mercedes Piloto, sister of Ricardo, Jose Emilio and Ana Brito’s grandmother, Santo Domingo, 1905Maria PilotoMaria Piloto
Maria Piloto
photograph of a War of Independence Cuban medical corps sent to Maria Piloto by a friend in the corps
Eloisa Piloto, ca. 1905When Eloisa Piloto died in 1913, her daughter Celia was 13 and son Armando was an infant.Antonio RodriguezCelia Rogriguez birth certificate 1902Maria Cecilia (Celia) b. 1901 and her father Saturnino Rodriguez ca. 1902Celia Rodriguez
Celia Rodriguez 1916. According to Celia, after her mother’s death her aunt “Titi Maria” formally sat her down and explained that she would not be acting as a mother to her. Her father was also an emotionally remote presence in the castle-style Beaux Arts mansion ruled over by Ricardo Piloto and his second wife.Ricardo Piloto with grandson, Armandito Rodriguez (2) and second wife Esperanza Gonzalez with their two sons, Ricardito (3) and Augusto (4) Piloto ca. 1915. Ricardo died in 1927.“Ricardito Piloto Gonzalez, hijo mayor del segundo matrimonio de mi abuelo. Murio de influenza a los 7 anos en Mayo 1919. Era mi ahijado.” Note by Celia Rodriguez
Gertrudes Piloto, sister of Ricardo, 1917Ricardo Piloto home on Calle O, El Vedado, near the Hotel Nacional. Note by Teresit Batista who took the photograph: “El Castillito” que fue del abuelo de Eddy (Ramon nacio alli). No era de esos colores.Celia Rodriguez
