The Ancestors

[Ayesart]

You know there is an old saying in genealogy: "When an ancestor wants you to find them you will."

This whole process for me has been very rapid. I began searching for my ancestors at the age of 14. I am 64 now and to some that might be a long time. But during the process of searching for my ancestors I've gathered over 25,000 of them. So the amount of time spent looking for them is quite relative to the amount of ancestors I have found thus far in my family tree.

Some of my ancestors were very in tune with nature. Others weren't so in tune. Those that weren't so in tune were a little harder to find.

I began my youth in the Bronx. Fox Street to be more precise. Then we moved around a lot in the Bronx. Prospect Avenue, Kelly Street, jackson Street, Fail Street, 147th Street, 149th Street, et al.

The places I've lived one could say they were places where a taxi wouldn't bring a fare to at night.

The people I knew there were very rough hewn. But there was something beside me watching out for me to keep me out of trouble.

During one of my searches on my ancestors I came across the name Ponce de Leon. She was very rich and came from a family I didn't quite understand at the time. The Troche Ponce de Leon.

But like the rest of my ancestors they cut their pages into the history books.

The other names I found in my family tree were also very interesting, they came much later.

Diego Ramos, Francisco de Luyando, Juancho de Luyando, the Davila, the de Torres, the de Nava, Menendez de Valdes, de Sotomayor, Agueybana and many others too numerous to list here.

After I had found my immediate ancestors within the Ayes side of the family I began to concentrate on the Ponce de Leon family tree. One could say I became quite expert on that family group.

As a result of my ten year research project I had downloaded a lot of files on them from the Ministry of Culture, Spain. At the end of ten years I finally found out the truth about Juan Ponce de Leon's life, his wife and his children as well as his ancestors and descendants. I began to write a book about them all based on the results of my extensive research. In a way I was guided to find those people, because finding them was too easy.

The book I wrote contains their family trees as well as the family trees of the people who married into the Ponce de Leon clan. I have reference documents as well as copies of original documents telling me what history the wrote into the pages of the books and their deeds, good as well as dastardly.

I am not saying that I am a direct descendant of Juan Ponce de Leon, he a cousin. We share the same common ancestor, Ponce de Minerva also known as Ponce de Cabrera.

Most Latinos who live in countries that had been conquered by the Spanish have their ancestry just like mine. Direct as well as indirect to the Ponce de Leon family group.

If you buy my book you will be able to read about them all. You will also be able to read about some very old history concerning Iberia, the Phoenicians, the Romans, the Visigoth and the Goths as well as the Jews who lived in Spain since the second century AD.

My book has 543 pages and its is rechly illustrated by me as well as other artists who painted works concerning the history of Spain. There are over 150 digital copies of original documents too. Full sized on single pages.

If you are interested follow this URL to get a preview of the book.

http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/juan-ponce-de-leon-his-new-an...

Enjoy.

John Ayes