Manrara Family Origins
The origins of the Manrara family can be traced to the early 1700’s to Sicily and Tuscany in Italy. The family migrated to the Canary Islands and eventually settled in the 1800s in Puerto Principe, one of Cuba’s original settlements in the northern coast of Camagüey province
Pio’s great uncle, Eduardo Manrara, was a successful businessman, went to work with the cigar mogul, Martinez Ybor, who had moved his cigar factories from Cuba to Key West and later to Tampa. Eduardo Manrara is credited with the creation of Ybor City and other significant contributions to the development of the City of Tampa in the 1890s.
Ybor City, Tampa 2021
Gaston Family Origins
The Gaston family name dates back to ancient Anglo-Saxon England. In the 12th century the name migrated across Europe, America and Australia. In the 1600s the Gaston family lived in Errazu in the region of Pamplona of the Kingdom of Navarra, Spain.
Several Gaston ancestors served in the Royal Spanish Armada. The Spanish Naval museum in Cadiz has the official biographies of Miguel Maria Gaston and his father, also an admiral in the Armada. Captain Miguel Maria Gaston fought at the battle of Trafalgar in command of the 74-gun ship San Justo.
This noble family migrated to Cuba in the early 1800s and Miguel Maria Gaston was later Captain of the Port of Havana and received royal permission to retire in Cuba.
Ancestry DNA has confirmed Carmenlina’s ethnic profile: Spain 63%, Portugal 17%, France 10%, Basque 3%, Ireland 3%, England & Northwestern Europe 3%, and Senegal 1%.
Herrera Family Origins
Herrera is a Spanish noble family that settled in Cuba in 1757. Carmelina’s grandmother, Serafina Herrera, was the daughter of Mercedes Bernal and Antonio Herrera y Cárdenas, of the House of Almendares.
She was granddaughter of Miguel Antonio Herrera O’Farrill, lieutenant colonel of the Third Rural Squadron of Fernando VII. On December 14, 1842 he was granted the noble title of Marquis of the House of Almendares by the monarch Elizabeth II of Spain.
The Manrara Family History Video and Web Platform is based on Carmelina’s recollections, the matriarch of the Manrara Gastón family.Â