Reyes

REYES

Posted By: Connie Swearingen (email)
Date: 10/13/2010 at 23:59:55

History of Woodbury County, Iowa 1984

Reyes
By Margaret Reyes Avery

Maria Moreno Reyes, my mother, was born in Chalchiutes, Durango, Mexico. She married Gabriel Reyes. Gabriel was adopted by the Reyes family at the age of a few months. They also adopted another boy named Fernando who was later called Peter by his co-workers. This family also had some daughters.

My Uncle came to Sioux City around the year 1918, found work at the Swift Packing plant and established a home for himself and his wife, Refugio Zaballa. He wrote to my parents and told them that the opportunities for work and education for children was very good here in Sioux City.

My parents saved their money for several years. My father had a fruit stand and later worked in a bakery to help support his family. After three years they had saved $300 (American money). In the year of 1923, October, my Uncle came to Mexico and brought our family to Sioux City, Iowa. He drove as far as Wichita, Kansas. Then they had to stay there for three days and wait for (transmission) part to arrive so they could go on to Sioux City. The roads were all dirt at that time.

The Reyes family consisted of Ermilla, daughter four years of age, Margarita (myself) two years of age, and Jesus Maria, my brother, who was about six months old.

My father obtained worked at Cudahy’s Packing house. He continued to work there until they closed the plant in 1954.

My family lived in a two-room house near the European Grocery Store better known as Mike’s in the ‘South Bottoms’ on Howard Street. Three more children were born: Maria Conception, 1925; Gabriel, 1927; and Sofia Patricia, 1930.

On October 18, 1930, my mother, Maria died at the age of thirty-two. They brought her in the coffin, and it was at our home for two days. I am glad this was discontinued in later years.

On my mother’s side we only know of a brother that died and a couple of sisters. Her family sent a postcard with the pictures of her brother, Anthony, laid out in a black suit. Since my mother died at the age of thirty-two years, I can’t remember very much about her except she was tall and very heavyset with beautiful black hair, that was very long and her features were very light.

In January 1931, my father married Eulalia Castillo and later divorced her in 1934. No children were born to this union. In the year 1945, Gabriel married Andrea. A daughter was born in 1946, Lenor Piedad.

During 1934, we lived on 106 Westcott Street; in June of that year we had two days of raining. The flood was the most tragic event of my life. The river was in our back yard, and the street in front of our house was a river with a vicious whirling stream. Several people drowned near our home. Our basement was completely immersed in water, as it came through the cistern and broke a hole in the furnace. All the fruit we had canned was on the floor, glass was broken. Everything we had labored for was a mess. The police came and called everyone to get out of their homes on a loudspeaker. We were put on a boat and pulled away from hour house. We stayed at some friend’s home till we could go back into our house.

The clean-up was done by myself and my sister, brother. We didn’t get any typhoid shots either. There were no organizations at that time, to help with the clean-up. Because of the flood, we never did pick up our report cards from East Junior.

Later my family moved to 2408 Correctionville Road. That house was razed when they put in the Highway 75.