The Story of Rafael Bermudez, a Hispanic American Homesteader

This month's story is about Rafael Bermudez, a Hispanic American, who homesteaded land in central Oregon in 1896. Bermudez's case is quite unusual. He received his two homesteads under two different names over 18 years apart!

According to his Oregon State death certificate, this homesteader's name was "Rafael Bermudez." It reported that he was born in "1846 in Mexico" and died March 20, 1926 in Burns, Harney County, Oregon, at age 80. He was buried in the Burns Cemetery in Burns, Oregon, with his gravestone inscribed: "Chappo Bermudez 1846-1926." His death certificate also stated that he was a farmer and a son of "Juan Bermu" (Bermudez?) and his wife "Margaret Reis," both born in Mexico.

Yet, Rafael Bermudez, also called "Chappo", was not exclusively known by the name written on his death certificate. Notably, he received his first homestead of 160 acres on September 15, 1902 under the name of "Raphael Marmdas." It was located near Burns, Oregon and patented to him under the 1862 Homestead Act. But on May 10, 1921, he received a second 160-acre homestead under the name of "Rafel Bermudez." This was under terms of the 1916 Stock-Raising Homestead Act and was for land about 2 miles north of his first homestead in Harney County, Oregon.

How was it possible (or legal) for one person to received two homesteads under two names?

The key to unraveling the mystery was a surprising notation on a document in his 1902 homestead file. It was on the official notice that he had filed on July 26, 1901 at the U.S. Land Office in Burns, Oregon stating that he was ready to "make final proof" for his homestead. His name was given on that record as "Raphael Marmdas," as I expected. But to my surprise his name had first been written as "Rafael Bermendez," which was crossed out and "Raphael Marmdas" substituted. From that discovery, more revelations followed. While "Bermendez: is not "Bermudez," it was close enough that I soon found him listed in federal census records. Yet each census record had certain different information that added more to the puzzle.

In the 1900 census, he was listed as "Rafael Bermudez," the same name as on his 1926 death certificate. He was reported as age 40, a stock raiser owning his own farm. The census also listed that he was born in August 1859 in Mexico, with his parents also born in Mexico. It noted that Rafael could neither read nor write English but could speak English. It also stated that he had come to the USA in 1878, where he had lived for 22 years, and had been naturalized, though the specific year was not given. In 1900, he and his wife Florence were reported as living on a ranch in Harney County, Oregon. Florence was stated to have been born in November 1863 in California, with her father born in Mexico and mother born in California. Raphael and Florence were also listed as recently married (not yet a full year) and had no children.

Subsequently, the 1910 census again reported Rafael but this time as "Rafael Bermendez." He was listed as born in Mexico in 1851, with the same stated as the birthplaces of his parents. Again, Raphael was listed as unable to read or write English but could speak English. Further, in 1910, he was reported as having come to the USA in 1874 (not 1878) and was naturalized (year again not given). His listed occupation was farming on his own land. The 1910 census also stated that his wife "Floren," (Florence) was age 45 (thus born ca. 1865) with a birthplace of California. Her father's birthplace was Spain. Florence's mother, however, was listed with the surprising birthplace of Greece. Also of note, the 1910 census reported that Raphael and Florence had been married 11 years (thus married about 1899) and that he had been married twice (so, once before his marriage to Florence). Florence, however, had been married three times (so, twice before marrying Raphael). They were reported with no children.

The next 1920 census of the same location again listed Rafael and Florence as farming what presumably would have been one or both of his homesteads. This time, Rafael was listed as "Rafael Bermindez," age 67 (thus born ca. 1853) in Mexico, of parents also born in Mexico. Rafael's "mother tongue" was Spanish, the same as his parents. Most interesting, this census reported that Rafael came to the USA in 1853 (at birth?) but was naturalized in 1895. In 1920, the census did not ask if people could read or write English, but only if they could speak it, with "yes" listed for him. Rafael's wife Florence was listed as age 56 (thus born ca. 1864) with her birthplace and those of her parents being California. The 1920 census also reported that Florence spoke English. No children were listed with them.

If those inconsistencies were not enough, there was a further surprise in his homestead file in the National Archives. On his final statement, dated September 5, 1901, needed for proving up his homestead, "Raphael Marmdas, age 48," (thus born ca. 1853) reported that he had been "born in California," and was a "native-born citizen of the United States."

This statement contradicted an earlier document in the same file. On September 3, 1896, he had filed a "Homestead Affidavit" as part of his application for his first homestead in the U.S. Land Office in Burns, Oregon. It indicated that he was not a US citizen. On that day, he signed (using a mark) his "oath that it is my bonafide intention to become a Citizen of the United States" further stating that he would thereby "renounce forever all allegiance and fidelity to all and any foreign Prince, Potentate, State and Sovereignty whatsoever, and particularly to the President of Mexico, of whom I am at present a subject."

This seemingly is very clear evidence that in 1896 "Raphael Marmdas" thought that he was not an American citizen. But, contrary to what I expected, there were no further documents about this matter in his homestead file in the National Archives. Typically casefiles for people filing for homesteads as non-citizens include a copy of the homesteader's naturalization papers, as American citizenship was required to get a homestead. But this was not the case for the "Raphael Marmdas" homestead casefile. Instead, it appears that his statement of being "born in California" may have resolved his citizenship issue, despite the earlier document in the casefile indicating that he was not an American citizen.

But that still seems odd. One explanation for this contradiction is that Raphael in 1901 may have understood more about his possibly complicated citizenship status than he did in 1896 when he filed for his first homestead. While being born in California would have made him a native-born American, under certain circumstances he could have been born in Mexico and still have been a US citizen without undergoing the typical naturalization process faced by people born in other countries wishing to become American citizens.
How? It depended on exactly when and where he was born.

As noted, his death certificate reported that he had been born in 1846 in Mexico. Significantly, in 1846, California was part of Mexico, but after the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed in 1848 ending the Mexican-American War, the northern part of Mexico was ceded to the USA. One of the terms of the 1848 treaty was that Mexicans living in the ceded lands (including what became the State of California) would automatically become citizens of the United States unless they chose to retain Mexican citizenship and moved south into what remained of Mexico.

Rafael's parents might have been living in the mid-to-late 1840s in the part of Mexico that became California at the end of the Mexican War. Simply by staying there with young Rafael after 1848, they all would have become American citizens.

But was Rafael Bermudez really born in 1846 and thus got his American citizenship under terms of the 1848 Treaty? Or was he instead born in the 1850s as suggested by the census reports and also what he reported for his age on his homestead papers (born ca. 1853)? I cannot be certain. But the question of his needing to be naturalized would have become moot if he were born in the 1850s in California as it was then part of the United States. So, where he was born? Mexico or California? That most likely can never be proven. But it appears that his 1901 statement of being "born in California" apparently was accepted instead of what he had indicated earlier.

But this matter is also intriguing for another reason. As noted, he was reported as already having been naturalized when the 1900, 1910, and 1920 census counts were taken for Harney County, Oregon. But specific information as to what year it occurred was listed only on one census -- the 1920 census reporting his naturalization "in 1895." But in all the census returns, Rafael had consistently been listed as an American citizen. So, maybe he actually had been naturalized in 1895 (or some other year prior to 1900) and misunderstood the implications of his first statement made on September 3, 1896 about not being a citizen, which he had signed by a mark in front of witnesses?

Related to this, it is noteworthy to mention that there is also evidence in his homestead casefile that "Raphael Marmdas" was confused about another matter when applying for his homestead in 1896: its location. He signed a special document on November 5, 1896, clarifying that his initial September 3, 1896 homestead application was wrong. He stated that he had made an error in filing for his homestead land, and it had ended up being recorded in the wrong place instead of where he intended.

To explain what happened, he stated: "I am entirely ignorant of the manner in which land is described by sub-divisions, and of the further fact that there was no one in the vicinity of said land from whom I could procure assistance in ascertaining the true numbers of the land I desired to enter." He went on to say that it was only later when he had talked with an employee at the Land Office in Burns that he discovered the error. His explanation was accepted, and his homestead location was changed to what he intended.

Now, let's return to another oddity of this story: of how one man can get two homesteads under different names. It turns out that it may not be much of an issue after all. Though not commonly done, it was clearly legal for one person to get two different homesteads if they were authorized under two different homestead laws. Thus, if they were obtained under different names by the same person, that likely did not matter as long as it was not done for some fraudulent reason. And fraud seems very unlikely in this case.

Further, while the three documented spellings of his first name (Raphael, Rafael, Rafel) are all pronounced the same and apparently created no issues when variously used, the situation with his use of two surnames that do not sound alike, "Marmdas" and "Bermudez," is still a mystery. (One idea I considered involves the Spanish naming system where a person receives both the father's and mother's surnames. So, was he using his mother's maiden name or a version of it? Yet in 1926. Rafael's death certificate reported that his mother's surname was "Reis."

I wish Rafael "Chappo" Bermudez" and his wife Florence could tell us the answers to these questions! This is such an intriguing story, yet undoubtedly just one of many thousands of fascinating histories of real homesteaders and their lives needing to be researched. Each one helps enrich our understanding of what really happened at different times and in different places during the very important Homestead Era in American history.