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The Nadal
Coat of Arms
Some spellings of the name Nadal include: Needle, Needles, Needell, Nelder
Needdele, Nadal, Nadle, Needler, Nedler, Nedlere, Neelder, Neldere, Nadler,
Nadlere, Nayldor, Needlemaker, Neilder, and many more.
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Nadal
Morales
The contributions and the influence of the Nadal Morales family
in the
development of Frontón Ciales, Puerto Rico
during the decades of the late 1880's through 1949 and beyond....
It is a great honor to introduce the genealogical history of the Nadal
Morales family of Frontón, Ciales, Puerto Rico.
Our family patriarch Don Pedro Nadal Moll arrived in Puerto Rico at a very young
age. He was born in Palma de Mallorca, Spain in 1883. The son of Bartolome Nadal and Apolonia Moll.
We have now learned that he had a brother Rafael Nadal
Moll and two sisters Maria Nadal Moll and Apolonia Nadal Moll. It's
not exactly known when he arrived in Puerto Rico, although, we know that he was
about seventeen years of age when he filed
his declaration of nationality in Lares, Puerto Rico.
Like many others
looking for a better life two undocumented young brothers Pedro Nadal Moll
and Rafael Nadal Moll managed to board a
ship and traveled in the cargo compartment that was transporting pork
barrels from Mallorca to Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. As a result of the Spanish American
War and the peace treaty of Paris of 1898 the United States ordered that all
foreigners would have to declare their nationality and in March 1900 he decided to retain his Mallorquín-Spanish citizenship
and settled in Fronton, Ciales where he would eventually become a prosperous
business man and Puerto Rico Coffee plantation owner.
We have recently received
information about his brother RAFAEL NADAL MOLL from his family in Mexico.
The information reveals that he arrived at the port of Veracruz, Mexico in
November 22, 1904
and that he settled there and married Sofia Suárez Torres. He had 6
children; Apolonia (deceased), Lucía (deceased), Rita (is 94 years old), Lourdes
(is 92 years old), Miguel (deceased), and Bartolome (deceased). We can now
be certain that they arrived to the new world and that it appears that
Don Pedro settled in Puerto Rico and Don Rafael arrived at the port of Veracruz, Mexico
in 1904, settled in Tabasco and raised his family.
I find this piece of information
about Don Pedro's decision to make a better life away from his mother land very
revealing and interesting and of great significance. Here we have a young boy
settling in a foreign land and yet his patriotism and love for his mother land makes him decide
to retain his Spanish Nationality. I have always
wondered where my natural desire and love for my country Puerto Rico comes from
and it's now obvious to me that it has to do with my grandfather's own love for
his mother land and patriotism.
Doña
Rafaela Morales was born in Fronton
of Puerto Rican parents and lived all her life there. We know that our dear grandmother dedicated her entire
life to the farm and taking care of the family.
Her dedication and fortitude resulted in a family strengthen by her wits and
strengths. A humble and simple woman but as strong as the 'tabonuco' that
was able to survive the harshest of times that ironically served to form and shape the family we are today. I remember my grandmother with love and a sense of gratitude because it was
she that asked me to dance my first dance. I have
never forgotten that. I was visiting Tio
Fello and there was a family party in the old farm house. I don't remember the occasion that was been celebrated but
I remember the dance, a 'mazurca', that was playing in
Tio Fello's old record player.
I remember my grandmother as very jovial and friendly and an expert dancing
the 'mazurca'. I felt pride and happiness dancing with her and today when
I recollect that precious moment I feel saddened for not having had the
opportunity of living near her during the last days of her life. It would
have been a real pleasure to have been able to show her my gratitude and respect.
(please turn your volume on to hear a mazurca)
Don Pedro Nadal Moll first married Carlina Santiago Diaz at the age of 21 and in
November 1905 they had a son Bartolome Nadal Santiago. This marriage did not
last and soon dissolved. This, perhaps, is the moment in our family
history that was the beginning of what was to come for all of us.
Don Pedro, soon thereafter, married Rafaela Morales and together they formed
the Nadal Morales family that would leave an indelible mark in the history of
Fronton, Ciales. Together they raised Don Pedro's first born Bartolo, and
their own ten children. In 1910 Francisco their
first son was born, and nine more children would follow: Maria in 1911;
Catalina in
1913; Rafael in 1914; Apolonia in 1916; Antonio in 1917; Margarita in 1919; Antonia in 1921;
Francisca in 1925; and Juan in 1927.
It's important to realize that during this time period the world witnessed
some of the most historic and far reaching events of modern times. The
Spanish-American war, the Great Depression, the Spanish Civil War, the First
World War and the Second World War not necessarily in this order. This is
of meaningful relevance to me because one can see the difficulties that in those
days families had to endure to be able to raise children and provide and
prosper. This time period in our family history was harsh and very difficult, indeed, I remember my mother
telling me stories of the hard times and how she and her oldest sister Aunt
Maria had to make ends meet with very little. It was not until later when
things got better that they were able to have a better life. My mother
always remembered her father as a proud Mallorquin with very good business
skills and an excellent farmer. I must admit that my mother also told sad stories about
how her father sometimes had to shortchange the family in order to bring as much
of the farm produce to the town market to make as much as he possibly
could under the circumstances of that harsh period of time in history. Knowing what I know now about those days in
history I can only feel saddened by all the difficulties the family had to put
up with, yet all of that makes me much more proud of my family and especially my mom and my aunt Maria
that lived thru the most difficult period of time when the family was starting
up and they had to sacrifice so much including their youth to help in the early
development of the family we all enjoy today.
Like our predecessor, Don
Pedro, we are a family that has dispersed to just about every corner of the
world. And as if it were family destiny, that separated the two brothers,
we have also gone in different ways and have in that respect exhibited that
family tradition of migration.
It's this way that we must understand the sacrifices that
our parents had to endure so that we can have a better life and in return we
must respect and honor their past and it's precisely the objective of this
website to say THANK YOU Mom, Pop, Uncles, Aunts, and Grandparents Don Pedro and
Doña Rafaela for giving us LIFE and for making us
proud of our heritage, interesting, as proud as Don Pedro was always about being
a Mallorquin and although not too many neighbors and the family understood his
mother tongue he'd go around speaking in Mallorquin even though hardly any one
understood what he was saying.
We must also appreciate the fortitude and
resiliency of our family trait that notwithstanding all the adversities we have
managed and continue full speed ahead in this world.
Note to family members: Please use the Contact form
to provide information or any corrections for the website. Feel free to send
your comments about anything. We'd like to keep the information current
and we need your help in this regard. Thank you.
NEW or changed information will be shown in
RED.
Last updated on January 9, 2009.
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Coat of Arms or Heraldry of Iwain Moll (van Leedbergen)
found in a composite of more than four family names depicted in a Lead-Glass
Mural in the St Jans Church in Gouda -
Ledeberg is a small village near Gent, Belgium.....more
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