The Contents of this Site: Copyright 1956-2008 John Browne Ayes
           Under National and International Conventions and Laws.
     Copyright under laws governing the Internet Natl and International.

The people whose names you are going to encounter herein are flesh of my wife's and 
mine. Their genetic material and blood comprise our own. We are the sum total of all 
that they wished, fought and hoped for. Their weaknesses and strengths have been 
bequeathed to me and mine. They were and still are just like you and I. We are 
breathing the same ancient air that they did and partaking of those very same ancient 
waters that gives us life and strength. The gods and the god they worshipped haven't 
changed-only the way that Great Mystery is being perceived has changed. Its names are 
many because they reflect to us its wonderous multi-dimensionality. 
Over a hundred years ago thirteen names had been written upon a humble piece of 
butcher's paper within the town of Salinas, Puerto Rico. The names had been associated 
with, "tres cuerdas," three acres of land within that place that belonged to them. 
Little did they realize it at the time that the humble piece of butcher's paper was, 
in essence, a rough mapping out of a family tree. That paper had been passed down to 
my blessed mother who kept it safe for all of her life. My sister has it now keeping 
it safe in her turn. That cuenta was an areyto that had also been passed to me to 
cherish and build upon it. It was in that way I became the story teller of the family 
history. I have worked upon this tree since 1956 and along the way others have added 
minute parts of the data that comprise the whole work. I thank those of you who have 
contributed on behalf of myself and my ancestors. (You know who you are.) It is said 
that when a story teller speaks, writes or thinks the name of an ancestor with good 
intent the good words charge it - vivifies and animates their spirits giving them 
renewed energy and life. This is the great responsibility I am carrying today. 
Hopefully one of mine will take my place when I finally also shed this old rainment to 
become an ancestor myself.
You will discover as I already have that many of the families contained herein are 
connected to one another by way of the marriage contracts they initiated with one 
another. It is my sincere wish that you too will realize that those connections have 
survived the test of time and the frailty of human life. 
Enter this sacred place and learn the lessons and history herein. Gaze well into the 
faces of my ancestors and know that they are yours too because we all are part of the 
intricate web of the life that nourishes and connects us all.
Know that a lot of work has gone into the researching of data in the many individuals 
who are within this family tree. Also know that I have worked the art of genealogy to 
perfection outside of the box of conventions and protocol. The norm would be to work a 
family tree beginning with one's most recent ancestors. Since information is scarce 
coming out of Puerto Rico I chose to work the tree from Europe into Puerto Rico. In 
that way I made many surprising connections with some very interesting ancestors.
A word to the unwise. As you browse these pages you need to consider this Web Site in 
the same way that you think of the content within books, CD's, Video Tapes etc.
Copying any part of this Web Site is tantamount to plagerizing for the latter.
Its against the law since I have placed my copyright herein.
                 Copyright 1956 through 2008 John J. Browne Ayes
                 All Rights Reserved National and International.

Update 05 21 2009:
Juan Louis Alles: An Ongoing Research Project.

Research Copyright 2006 – 2009 John J. Browne Ayes.
Story Copyright 2006 – 2009 John J. Browne Ayes. All Rights Reserved. National And 
International.

At the age of twenty I began researching data out on my fourth great grand father, 
Juan Louis Alles. Back then the Internet didn’t exist. Much later there were computers 
and one was able to log onto bulletin boards. The running speed computers back then 
were five hundred and eighty six and people really thought that they were cruising 
along fast. At least it was a little faster than those old 386 computers. Back then 16 
bits was considered fast too. 

Today’s computers are very fast compared to the ones that we used and now we can do 
most of our researching online when the time permits it. That’s how I gather all of my 
data these days. I also study a lot of old history via the Internet. I can log onto 
Google Books and download old books that contain a lot of genealogical data. But even 
then one has to be careful with the information they contain because I have found many 
errors within the family connections and lineages contained within the old books. 
Their authors sometimes didn’t know that an individual had a paramour or two and as a 
result they omitted branches from the family tree. I always verify a specific marriage 
and try to verify who were an individual’s parents and grand parents. If I am lucky I 
sometimes come away with the whole family tree. My prime source for the copies of 
documents and reference data to documents comes from browsing the Ministry of Culture, 
Spain online.
Sometimes I need to research the specific events that were going on at the time an 
individual lived in. That’s what I did a few years ago while trying to make sense of 
three documents I found on my fourth great grandfather, Juan Louis Alles.  

The year 1812 was a tumultuous one. America was involved in what was in essence a 
second revolutionary war against Britain. The fight was over the southern part of the 
country, Mobile, Louisiana, the Carolinas and the United States itself were 
threatened. 

Ultimately La Florida, Cuba - the entire Caribbean holdings of the Spanish were lost 
in the official Spanish American War of 1898.

My ancestor, Juan Louis Alles, AKA, Juan Louis Ayez has been a mysterious figure in my 
research. I have found many documents relative to men who were named Juan Alles.
One was living in Cuba during the year 1813 and had proposed trade between America and 
Cuba that would bring harina to Spanish ports in Cuba. But as history tells it Spain 
and the United States of America were involved in an undeclared war. 
That undeclared and unofficial Spanish American war during 1812 that involved Spain, 
Britain and the United States affected my fourth great grandfather and might have been 
the reason why he might have had to lie saying he was a “carpenter” to get into Puerto 
Rico in 1824 under a cedula de gracia issued by the Spanish government. It might have  
been the reason behind his having to leave Cuba to flee from the Spanish authorities.  
You see, the family verbal history as it was related to me by my mother and 
grandmother said that he had been a merchant who did his business via the sea trade. 
This meant he must have owned a ship or two to conduct that trade. Yet I was directed 
to a spot online where my fourth great grandfather was listed as having been granted a 
cedula de gracia and he had declared that he was a carpenter. That little document was 
found within Box # 89. In Box number 90 it said that he was married to my fourth great 
grandmother Juana de Jesus and he was living in the town of Coamo. The date was 1824. 
Mind you, no actual date of their marriage had been written in. The written 
statement’s were flat ones without any dimension or attention to details. There also 
was evidence that the escribano had misspelled Juan Luis Alles surname. He wrote Ayez. 
It was perfect Juan Louis Alles real identity would be hidden from that day on the 
family name stayed that way because a couple of his children carried it until some 
other clerk or cleric made another error and wrote the name Ayes. That one stuck. 

I’ve written this story many times and it changes each time I retell it as new 
documents and historical facts are discovered by me during my research. I have been 
hoarding the results of my research into the history of the time period for quite a 
long time now.
I am writing this now because questions have been asked regarding my terminology that 
refers to the Spanish American war having been waged during the years 1812 through 
1898. The war of 1812 has been recorded as being waged between Britain and the United 
States. Our books in grade school never mentioned Spain’s involvement behind the 
scenes.   

As a result of my research, Juan Louis Alles is becoming less mysterious and elusive 
as I continue to find more documents that hint at who he really might have been. On 
sheer instinct I began browsing the Ministry of Culture Spain. A few years ago, in 
2005 I was just beginning to wet my feet within that labyrinth learning to get around –
 what to do and what not to do. I found documents that led me back to Menorca Balears 
where the Alles family lived. They had mixed their genes with the Nieto and the Prieto 
as well as the de Silva. I even got to download a copy of an old book that contained 
their genealogy.
The more I researched more reference to documents showed that those Alles were 
connected to the Orfila families of Puerto Rico. Teresa Alles was the founder of the 
line.
Getting back on tangent, on my update and how history might have affected Juan Luis 
Alles’ life.

The year 1812 began what has been called the second American Revolution against 
Britain. On the year 1814 a British fleet stood poised on the waters off the coast of 
the Gulf of Mexico, east of lake Pontchartrain and Lake Borgne. In command was Sir 
Alexander Cochrane. There were over 10,000 soldiers and sailors whose mission was to 
take hold of Louisiana from the French and hand it over to the Spanish. The British 
were confident that they would win the fight because the leading general on their 
eastern front was a paid agent of Spain. He was General James Wilkinson. History tells 
us that he had taken a oath of fealty to the Spanish king. In the Spanish archives of 
Cuba he was known simply as, “agent trese, agent thirteen”. As always, spying has its 
dangers and whenever he came close to being found out people would die. 

Things get quite complex and involved here. The United States had just purchased 
Louisiana from France. This territory was first claimed by the French but the French 
had secretly given it to Spain in the year in 1762. The British ratified the move by 
signing the Treaty of Paris during the year 1763. This gave the Spanish control over  
the Louisiana Territory. 

But as destiny would have it someone threw a monkey wrench into the works. Napoleon.
Napoleon had sold the Louisiana territory to the United States. The English and the 
Spanish were indignant. Spain had been losing its position as a world leader and could 
not react militarily. It was up to England now because it had a powerful navy that 
surpassed all others on the open sea. In essence, “Britannia ruled the waves”. 

The British refused to acknowledge Napoleon’s right to “requisition” the Louisiana 
territory from the Spanish and then sell it to the Americans. The British had become 
bold enough to think they could rush in and take it by sheer force and  give the 
territory back to Spain. There was one element they had overlooked. General Andrew 
Jackson. 

The British thought that their plan of conquest was perfect. The head officer in 
charge of the British forces was the brother in law of the Duke of Wellington, Sir 
Edward Parkenham. His assignment was to take over as provisional governor until 
Louisiana could be formally handed over to the Spanish.  But it never worked out that 
way. Jackson  and the American Army had defeated the British. 

After things settled down after the battle was won it was discovered that Parkenham 
had,  had a special document written up and signed it. The document stated flatly that 
Napoleon didn’t have the right to sell Lousiana to America. The document also refused 
to recognize America’s hard won right of independence. It also acknowledged Spain’s as 
the legal owner of the Louisiana Territory and decreed that Spain was incapable of 
enforcing and protecting her ownership thus giving the British the right of 
gubernatorial executor ship on behalf of the Spanish king and queen. 

One can logically assume that Spain had financed a large part of the British combined 
forces planned invasion.
 
In my mind I see this action as the true beginning of the Spanish American war that 
began with the loss of Louisiana and Spanish La Florida, and ended in 1898 with the 
loss of Cuba and Puerto Rico.

This course of events had a negative affect my fourth great grandfather’s life in the 
end. Because he had tried to initiate a merchant marine trade agreement with the 
Americans he and his associates had in fact begun trading with the United States 
probably in anticipation of the final go ahead from the Audencia. Perhaps the trade 
was begun with the knowledge that it was an illegal act. Whatever the true story was 
that trade turned out to be a treasonous criminal act in the face of what had been 
happening on the mainland.  My ancestor, Juan Luis Alles  might have sent his wife, 
Juana Evangelista de Jesus Santos to Puerto Rico, fled Cuba and ended up in Saint 
Tomas hoping that things would cool off for him.

By now you might be asking why, Juan Louis Alles didn’t know about the friction 
between America and Spain that was going on the mainland? 

For obvious reasons I discovered via my research into the time period’s history, the 
British and Spanish plans for invading the Louisiana territory was a covert operation. 
It was imperative that “agent thirteen”,  General James Wilkerson’s operation and 
identity be protected at all costs. If not, the good General’s reputation would suffer 
greatly because in the end his treason against the United States was discovered. 

Some interesting questions arose from my study that needed more researching: 
Were there more than one spy? Who were agents 0ne through twelve? 

I learned another interesting fact about the death of Meriwether Lewis, yes the famous 
and historical Lewis of the Lewis and Clark expedition that had traveled cross country 
to the Pacific Ocean. He was killed because he was on the verge of uncovering agent 
thirteen’s identity and covert operation.

I learned what finally became of General, Sir Edward Parkenham and that all important 
document that was intended to become an official proclamation The paper was either 
burned and destroyed in contempt or lost. General, Sir Edward Parkenham was summarily 
executed. His body was stuffed into a rum barrel and shipped of to England post haste 
under the orders of our national hero and president, Andrew Jackson. He was a tough 
adversary. So was his final justice. 

Another question arises: concerning my fourth great grandfather. Where was he born?
The source records discovered at the Ministry of Culture, Spain below tell about a 
Juan Alles who was a citizen of Asturias. The second reference document speaks to me 
about a Juan Alles who was residing in Habana, Cuba. There is a document referring to 
a licence that was granted for traveling to Habana to his nephew, the son of, Jose 
Porrero.  The document before that one speaks to us about the proposed business deal 
with the United States to import grain into Cuba. The final document implicates and 
sentences, Francisco Millet to four years in Prison. Juan Alles hasn’t been mentioned 
in that document, but others who were unnamed were also convicted and sentenced. The 
United States wasn’t even mentioned as being the source for the illegal shipment of 
that grain. One can assume that a license for transporting the grain wasn’t had. 

The final question concerns Juan Louis Alles’ possible connection to the families of 
Menorca Balears and Mahon Balears. I have placed him temporarily within that family 
group on a hunch despite the fact that the documents below say that a Juan Alles is a 
citizen of Asturias, Spain.  
 
Sources:

Online: http://www.reformation.org/president-jackson.html

Google Books Online:

(Buell, History of Andrew Jackson, Vol, II, pp. 80-81).
Lectures on the growth and development of the United States‎ - Page 232
by Edwin Wiley, Irving Everett Rines, Albert Bushnell Hart - History - 1916
76; Buell, History of Andrew Jackson, vol. ii., p. 161 et seq.; Parton, Life of 
Jackson, vol. iii., p. 22. t Stanwood, Presidential Elections, pp. 80-81 ...
Full view and dowloadable:   

Number for borrowing the above book from a library: OCLC Number: 35792850
Sources for Juan Louis Alles’ copy of an actual cedula de gracia: Dra. Ana Oquendo 
Pabon:

Source for the short historical records on Juan Louis Alles.
Source: Historical Archives of Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico online:
Caja 89, Box 89
Juan Luis Ales, from Saint Thomas to Coamo. 1824, "a carpenter."
Caja 90, Box 90
Juan Luis Ayez, from Saint Thomas. Lives in Salinas, district of Coamo. Married to 
Juana Evangelista de Jesus, from Salinas. "A carpenter." Coamo, Puerto Rico.

Sources for Juan Alles prior to the year 1824 in Cuba:
ES.41091.AGI/1.16411.156//ULTRAMAR,156,14.N,35
  Archivo: Archivo General de Indias
  Signatura: ULTRAMAR,156,N.35
  Juan Alles
  Fecha Formacion:
  1818-09-01 -
  Otras Fechas:
  1818
  Juan Alles, natural de Asturias y vecino de La Habana, solicita permiso para
  emplear ciertos caudales que tiene en los Estados Unidos en comprar harina y
  exportarla a La Habana y otros puertos de la isla de Cuba en buques
  extranjeros pagando los derechos como si fuera en buques nacionales (1818).
 Indices de Descripcion:
  Alles, Juan
  Asturias (Espana)
  Comercio
  Estados Unidos
  Harinas
  La Habana (Cuba)

ES.41091.AGI/16416.338//ULTRAMAR,337,N.22
1819-03-31
Jose Porrero, Vecino de Oviedo, en el Principado de Asturias, Solicita licencia para 
que su hijo,
Cipriano Porrero, de nueve anos, puede pasar a la Habana a la compania de su Tio Juan 
de Alles,
Vecino y del comercio de dicha ciudad. (1819-03-20).
Research, Copyright 2007-2008 John J. Browne Ayes

Source for the crime and its penalty. 
Título de la unidad: "Francisco Millet" 
  Archivo: Archivo General de Indias
  Signatura: ULTRAMAR,132,N.49
  Francisco Millet Fecha Formacion: 1818-03-23 - Otras Fechas: 1815 - 1818
  Real orden sobre el indulto que habia solicitado Francisco Millet, comerciante 
  de Torredembarra en Cataluna, profugo de la isla de Cuba con motivo del comiso 
  de 300 barriles de harina que el y otros companeros, (SIC, Juan Alles?) llevaban a 
Puerto Principe 
  desde Providencia, de la pena de cuatro anos de carcel que se le impuso 
  (1815-1818).
  Indices de Descripcion:
  Comerciante
  Comisos
  Harinas
  Millet, Francisco
  Providencia
  Puerto Principe
  Torredembarra
  Notas del Archivero:
  Descripcion elaborada por PURIFICACION MEDINA ENCINA
  Fecha de la Descripcion:
  2003-03-10

Simbologia basica del escudo Alles: Armas: en campo de plata, un rey Moro de su color, 
con una cadena al cuello. Origen: Espana
Cadena:
Significa generalmente cautivero sufrido por la defensa del rey o de la Patria; 
privative de Espana es la de ser simbolo de haber sistido alguno de la esterpe de la 
Batalla de las navas de Tolosa, en la que los cristianos rompieron en cerco de la 
tienda real enemiga, formado por gruesas cadenzas, en el ano 1212. La  cadena puede 
aparecer tambien como simbolo de union entre las diferentes ramas de un mismo linaje, 
enlazando entre varias torres o castillas.
Plata:
La Plata significa en su correspondencia con las piedras preciosas la perla, de los 
Astros, la luna; de los signos del zodiac, Cancer, y de los elementos, el agua; de los 
dias de la semana, el lunes; de los meses del ano, los de enero y febrero, de los 
arboles, la palmera; de las flores, la azucena; de la saves; la paloma; y de los 
animals, el armino. La plata en las armerias recibe el nombre de luna, en lo que se 
refiere a las de los sobreanos; en las de los titulos, perla, y en las de los 
restantes nobles, plata. La caracteristicas heraldicas que le corresponden son; 
Puresa, Integridad. Obediencia, Firmeza, Vigilancia, Elocuencia y Vencimiento, y los 
que la llevan en sus armas estan obligados a defender a las doncellas y amparar a los 
huerfanos.
Rey:
Representa majestad o procedencia del tronco Real, otras veces simboliza el ardor 
guerrero del que lo ostenta como un despojo, por lo que la figura del rey aparece 
cargada de cadenzas.

Translation:
The basic symbology of the Alles coat of arms:
Standing in a field of silver; a Moorish king of his color with a chain around his 
neck.
Origin: Spain.
Chain:
Signifies a capture suffered in the defense of a king or of a country; symbolic of one 
who participated in the battle of Las Navas in Tolosa, Spain, the chain can also 
symbolize a union between different branches within the same lineage.
Silver:
Silver corresponds with many items:
Precious stone: pearl.
Astronomy: the moon.
Sign of the zodiac: Cancer.
Elements: water.
Days of the week: Monday.
Months of the year: January and February.
Tree: Palm.
Flowers: the azucena, (tuberoses polyanthus tuberose.
The azucena is associated with purity and noble death.
Animals: ermine.
When the color silver is referring to sovereigns and those with titles: it is 
signifying the pearl.
In those who are of noble birth the characteristics are associated with purity, 
integrity, obedience, firmness, vigilance, eloquence and victory.
Those that have silver in their family shields are obligated to defend maidens and to 
help orphans.
King:
Represents majesty or royal birth, at other times it means the ardor of the warrior.
Historical facts regarding the Alles family crest and why the symbols were added to 
commemorate their participation within 
the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa.  This monumental battle took place on 16 July 1212 
and was an important turning point in the Reconquest of Iberia and in the medieval 
history of Spain. 
The united forces of King Alfonso VIII of Castile were joined by the armies of his 
Christian rivals, Sancho VII of Navarra, Pedro II of Aragon and Afonso II of Portugal 
united in battle to inflict an annihilating and crushing defeat upon the Berber 
Muslim - Almohad rulers of the southern half of the Iberian Peninsula. The sultan 
Caliph 
al-Nasir Miramamolín in the Spanish chronicles led the Almohad army, made up of people 
from the inhabitants of the Almohad empire. Most of the men in the Almohad army came 
from the African side of the empire, which included Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and even 
as far away as Mauritania and Senegal and much of the Iberian Peninsula's southern 
half.
The event was commemorated by a monument that stands outside of the town of Tolosa.
The Caliph Muhammad al-Nasir died shortly after the battle in Maracech where he had 
fled after his defeat. Later stories relate that the culmination of the battle took 
place when king Sancho VII of Navarre himself broke the line and rushed into the 
Caliph's fortified camp, his forces broke up the defensive ring and destroyed al-
Nasir's personal bodyguard; nonetheless Muhammad al-Nasir managed to escape. After 
that, the Christian army engaged in the annihilation of the Muslim troops, so that 
very few of them could escape the killing. Despite legends that Christian casualties 
were very few, in fact lost were some 2,000 men, and particularly heavy among the 
Orders. 
Those killed included Pedro Gomez de Acevedo who was the banner man of the Order of 
Calatrava, Alfonso Fernandez de Valladares comendator of the Order of Santiago, Pedro 
Arias master of the Order of Santiago, died of wounds on 3 August 1212 and Gomez 
Ramirez master of the Order of the Temple. Ruy Diaz, master of the Order of Calatrava 
was so grievously wounded that he had to resign his command.
 

                 The New Blazon of Navarre
According to legend, the emir had his tent surrounded with slaves who had been chained 
together as a defense. The Navarrese however cut the chains and broke into the tent. 
As a memorial, the kingdom of Navarre changed their national shield to one depicting a 
golden chain on a gules field with an emerald.
Somewhere there must be written documentation of what part the Alles ancestors took in 
this battle. I will find it someday.


Research Copyright, John J. Browne Ayes, All Rights Reserved, National and 
International.

I've finally got around to writing a book: Juan Ponce de Leon His New and Revised 
Genealogy. You can order the book directly from the author. Drop me a line if you are 
interested.