Another Marriage in the Family

Sometimes researching a collateral line yields new information. A collateral line is a non-direct blood line, basically researching the sibling of someone in your direct line or another relative. As an example, and to continue the research on this line, I am posting the above, page one of the marriage license of Jorge (George) Villalba's brother, Robert to my "Aunt Helen" (although she is my mom's aunt. I won't be posting the second part of the marriage license, as I did with Jorge and Rosa.

My best transcription:

Groom Information (left side)
Name: Robert Segura Villalba
Address: 16 Walter St.
Race: White
Age last birthday: 28
Marital Status before this marriage: [blank, but x's over widowed, divorced]
Number of Marriage: 1
Birthplace: Spain
Occupation: Mechanic
Name of Father: Alfred S. Villalba
Father's Birthplace: Spain
Name of Mother: Juana Calabuik
Mother's Birthplace: Spain

Bride Information (left side)
Name: Mrs. Helen Elisabeth Vincent
Address: 16 Walter St.
Race: White
Age last birthday: 26
Marital Status before this marriage: [blank, x's over single, widowed, indicated divorced]
Number of Marriage: 2
Birthplace: San Francisco, CA
Occupation: housewife
Name of Father: Louie Hillcourt
Father's Birthplace: Denmark
Name of Mother: Phoebe Ranzan
Mother's Birthplace: Oregon
Maiden Name of Bride if previous married: Helen Hillcourt

We, the Groom and Bride named in this Certificate, hereby certified that the information given therein is correct, to the best of our knowledge and belief.
Signed: Robert Segura Villalba and Helen Elisabeth Vincent

Filled out in the presence of Barry J. Gould, Deputy County Clerk

Certificate of Person Performing Ceremony
I HEREBY CERTIFY that Robert Segura Villalba and Helen Elisabeth Hillcourt were joined in marriage by me in accordance with the laws of the State of California at [blank], City and County of San Francisco, State of California, this 16th day of October, 1923.

Witness to the Marriage: Salvador Brand, 1345 Laguna St.
[not listed is second witness named on pg. 2: J. Castille of 1714 Sutter]

Signature of Person performing the Ceremony: Frank W. Dunn, Justice of the Peace

Filed Oct. 20, 1923 E. Godchaux, Recorder


There is lots of additional and new information on this one page of the certificate. First, Robert was born in Spain around 1897 [date of marriage - 26 yrs of age]. This make the time spent in El Salvador by the family less than 30 years, and also gives me a new location -- Spain -- to look for information. With this time frame, I can now look for immigration information for the family from Spain to Central America to San Francisco.

Second, Robert lists his mother's maiden name as Calabuik, not Segura that Jorge listed. Given that the Spanish naming sequence is very different from the American one, it is possible that both are correct! This also give me more avenues to research.

The last bit of information is the names of the Witnesses. Normally these are more than passing aquaintances, and sometimes are relatives. If Salvador or J. Castille came to the US with Robert, it is possible they could be cousins or some other connection.