Luis Quintero...part of Spanish California...some say he was black, some say he was Indian...anyone know?

Question

He was kicked out of Los Angeles for being lazy...but as a tailor, and at 55 he wasn't suited for life on a farm...he ended up in Santa Barbara, and did okay...

But we are having a hard time tracing his life when he was younger...

Check out the 40's movie Mark of Zorro, with Tyrone Power, Zorro's enemy and main bad guy is...Don Luis Quintero

They used my ancestors name and made him the bad guy...he wasn't bad, just lazy.

Here's some details my sister dug up:

These claims that he was born in Guadalajara have counter claims from his own descendants. Also suspicious are the 300 years of Guadalajara church records I went through on film(not transcriptions) and found no Quinteros at all.

A history writer and descendant advised me there is a theory that Luis had a pressing reason for leaving his birthplace and when he did he also changed his last name to Quintero.

Answer 1

Hey sportin_jenny,

Ah, the clue. If he changed his name in California, he had to file a legal change of name with the state. Go to CA VITAL RECORDS. See if you can find his Death Certificate, Marriage Certificate, and if there is a Change of Name filed for him.

The reason I mention Death and Marriage are that they may give vital clues also. I think you are on the right track.

Also, I went to the LDS Family Search site, there are numerous mentions of Luis Quintero. You need to check that site, it could help. See if you can find a pedigree file there that has other people in it. Try the search with just the surname too. I see a lot of Quintero's in Texas.

You did not mention his birth date - that would help I did find
Donald Quintero (birth and death locations, no mention of inbetween where he lived):
Donald QUINTERO
Birth Date: 23 Sep 1926
Death Date: 2 Dec 2004
Social Security Number: 562-24-5454
State or Territory Where Number Was Issued: California

Death Residence Localities
ZIP Code: 20815
Localities: Bethesda, Montgomery, Maryland
Chevy Chase, Montgomery, Maryland
Somerset, Montgomery, Maryland

Answer 2

I don't know about this but sounds like you have a lot of your own research down